Purple eBooks

"O knave!" yelled the Prince,--"not to know where his head is!
Thinks it's his back! Give him fifteen stripes."
Which was instantly done.
The second attempt was partially successful. One of the hunters
broke through the ice, head foremost, going down, but he failed to
come up again; so the feat was only half performed.
The Prince became more furiously excited.
"This is the way I'm treated!" he cried. "He forgets all about
finishing the reisak, and goes to chasing sterlet! May the carps
eat him up for an ungrateful vagabond! Here, you beggars!"
(addressing the poor relations,) "take your turn, and let me see
whether you are men."
Only one of the frightened parasites had the courage to obey. On
reaching the brink, he shut his eyes in mortal fear, and made a
leap at random. The next moment he lay on the edge of the ice with
one leg broken against a fragment of rock.
This capped the climax of the Prince's wrath. He fell into a state
bordering on despair, tore his hair, gnashed his teeth, and wept
bitterly.


Pages:
48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72