"
And the courtiers added, "If a prince may not have a hasty temper, who
may, we should like to know?"
And everybody laughed, except the godfather magician, who went out
sighing and shaking his head, and was seen no more.
Whilst the king's son was yet a child, the gift of the godfather
magician began to take effect. There was nothing so rare and precious
that he could not obtain it, or so difficult that it could not be
accomplished by his mere wish. But, on the other hand, no matter how
inconsiderately he spoke, or how often he changed his mind, what he
had once wished must remain as he had wished it, in spite of himself;
and as he often wished for things that were bad for him, and oftener
still wished for a thing one day and regretted it the next, his power
was the source of quite as much pain as pleasure to him. Then his
temper was so hot, that he was apt hastily to wish ill to those who
offended him, and afterwards bitterly to regret the mischief that he
could not undo. Thus, one after another, the king appointed his
trustiest counsellors to the charge of his son, who, sooner or later,
in the discharge of their duty, were sure to be obliged to thwart him;
on which the impatient prince would cry, "I wish you were at the
bottom of the sea with your rules and regulations;" and the
counsellors disappeared accordingly, and returned no more.
When there was not a wise man left at court, and the king himself
lived in daily dread of being the next victim, he said, "Only one
thing remains to be done: to find the godfather magician, and persuade
him to withdraw his gift.
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