At the same
time, Leander entered the court-hall of the palace with his red cap
upon his head, and perceiving Furibon listening at the door of the
king's chamber, he took a nail and a hammer, and nailed his ear to the
door. Furibon began to roar, so that the queen, hearing her son's
voice, ran and opened the door, and, pulling it hastily, tore her
son's ear from his head. Half out of her wits, she set him in her lap,
took up his ear, kissed it, and clapped it again upon its place; but
the invisible Leander, seizing upon a handful of twigs, with which
they corrected the king's little dogs, gave the queen several lashes
upon her hands, and her son as many on the nose: upon which the queen
cried out, "Murder! murder!" and the king looked about, and the people
came running in; but nothing was to be seen. Some cried that the queen
was mad, and that her madness proceeded from her grief to see that her
son had lost one ear; and the king was as ready as any to believe it,
so that when she came near him he avoided her, which made a very
ridiculous scene. Leander, then leaving the chamber, went into the
garden, and there, assuming his own shape, he boldly began to pluck
the queen's cherries, apricots, strawberries, and flowers, though he
knew she set such a high value on them, that it was as much as a man's
life was worth to touch one. The gardeners, all amazed, came and told
their majesties that Prince Leander was making havoc of all the fruits
and flowers in the queen's garden.
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