eyes were opened, she saw clearly enough that he was both annoyed

and puzzled at finding His Majesty rather better. He pretended



however to congratulate him, saying he believed he was quite fit to

see the lord chamberlain: he wanted his signature to something



important; only he must not strain his mind to understand it,

whatever it might be: if His Majesty did, he would not be



answerable for the consequences. The king said he would see the

lord chamberlain, and the doctor went.



Then Irene gave him more bread and wine, and the king ate and

drank, and smiled a feeble smile, the first real one she had seen



for many a day. He said he felt much better, and would soon be

able to take matters into his own hands again. He had a strange



miserable feeling, he said, that things were going terribly wrong,

although he could not tell how. Then the princess told him that



Curdie had come, and that at night, when all was quiet for nobody

in the palace must know, he would pay His Majesty a visit. Her



great-great-grandmother had sent him, she said. The king looked

strangely upon her, but the strange look passed into a smile



clearer than the first, and irene's heart throbbed with delight.

CHAPTER 22



The Lord Chamberlain

At noon the lord chamberlain appeared. With a long, low bow, and



paper in hand, he stepped softly into the room. Greeting His

Majesty with every appearance of the profoundest respect, and



congratulating him on the evident progress he had made, he declared

himself sorry to trouble him, but there were certain papers, he



said, which required his signature - and therewith drew nearer to

the king, who lay looking at him doubtfully. He was a lean, long,



yellow man, with a small head, bald over the top, and tufted at the

back and about the ears. He had a very thin, prominent, hooked



nose, and a quantity of loose skin under his chin and about the

throat, which came craning up out of his neckcloth. His eyes were



very small, sharp, and glittering, and looked black as jet. He had

hardly enough of a mouth to make a smile with. His left hand held



the paper, and the long, skinny fingers of his right a pen just

dipped in ink.



But the king, who for weeks had scarcely known what he did, was

today so much himself as to be aware that he was not quite himself;



and the moment he saw the paper, he resolved that he would not sign

without understanding and approving of it. He requested the lord



chamberlaintherefore to read it. His Lordship commenced at once

but the difficulties he seemed to encounter, and the fits of



stammering that seized him, roused the king's suspicion tenfold.

He called the princess.



'I trouble His Lordship too much,' he said to her: 'you can read

print well, my child - let me hear how you can read writing. Take



that paper from His Lordship's hand, and read it to me from

beginning to end, while my lord drinks a glass of my favourite



wine, and watches for your blunders.'

'Pardon me, Your Majesty,' said the lord chamberlain, with as much



of a smile as he was able to extemporize, 'but it were a thousand

pities to put the attainments of Her Royal Highness to a test



altogether too severe. Your Majesty can scarcely with justice

expect the very organs of her speech to prove capable of compassing



words so long, and to her so unintelligible.'

'I think much of my little princess and her capabilities,' returned



the king, more and more aroused. 'Pray, my lord, permit her to

try.'



'Consider, Your Majesty: the thing would be altogether without

precedent. it would be to make sport of statecraft,' said the lord



chamberlain.

'Perhaps you are right, my lord,' answered the king, with more



meaning than he intended should be manifest, while to his growing

joy he felt new life and power throbbing in heart and brain. 'So



this morning we shall read no further. I am indeed ill able for

business of such weight.'



'Will Your Majesty please sign your royal name here?' said the lord

chamberlain, preferring the request as a matter of course, and



approaching with the feather end of the pen pointed to a spot where

there was a great red seal.



'Not today, my lord,' replied the king.

'It is of the greatest importance, Your Majesty,' softly insisted



the other.

'I descried no such importance in it,' said the king.



'Your Majesty heard but a part.'

'And I can hear no more today.'



'I trust Your Majesty has ground enough, in a case of necessity

like the present, to sign upon the representation of his loyal

• princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)


• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)


• grandmother [´græn,mʌðə] n.(外)祖母 (初中英语单词)


• forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• handkerchief [´hæŋkətʃif] n.手帕，手绢 (初中英语单词)


• promising [´prɔmisiŋ] a.有希望的；有为的 (初中英语单词)


• majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)


• disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)


• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• cellar [´selə] n.地窑，地下室 (初中英语单词)


• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)


• hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)


• hesitate [´heziteit] vi.犹豫，踌躇 (初中英语单词)


• movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)


• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)


• fasten [´fɑ:sən] v.扎牢；闩住；钉牢 (初中英语单词)


• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)


• convey [kən´vei] vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词)


• companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)


• terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)


• guilty [´gilti] a.有罪的；心虚的 (初中英语单词)


• bundle [´bʌndl] n.包，捆；包袱(裹) (初中英语单词)


• meantime [´mi:ntaim] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)


• feeble [´fi:bəl] a.虚弱的，无力的 (初中英语单词)


• terribly [´terəbli] ad.可怕地 (初中英语单词)


• evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)


• therewith [ðɛə´wið] ad.于是，随即 (初中英语单词)


• prominent [´prɔminənt] a.突起的；凸出的 (初中英语单词)


• encounter [in´kauntə] vt.&n.偶然相遇；冲突 (初中英语单词)


• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)


• writing [´raitiŋ] n.书写；写作；书法 (初中英语单词)


• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)


• capable [´keipəbəl] a.有能力；能干的 (初中英语单词)


• altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)


• feather [´feðə] n.羽毛 (初中英语单词)


• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)


• shudder [´ʃʌdə] n.&vi.震颤；发抖 (高中英语单词)


• naughty [´nɔ:ti] a.顽皮的；下流的 (高中英语单词)


• shutter [´ʃʌtə] n.百叶窗；(相机)快门 (高中英语单词)


• dungeon [´dʌndʒən] n.地牢，土牢 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• counter [´kauntə] n.计算者；柜台；计算机 (高中英语单词)


• finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)


• congratulate [kən´grætjuleit] vt.祝贺 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• signature [´signətʃə] n.签名；盖章 (高中英语单词)


• strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)


• lordship [´lɔ:dʃip] n.贵族权力；阁下 (高中英语单词)


• highness [´hainis] n.高，高贵，高尚 (高中英语单词)


• manifest [´mænifest] a.明显的 v.表明 (高中英语单词)


• representation [,reprizen´teiʃən] n.描写；表现(法) (高中英语单词)


• unwilling [ʌn´wiliŋ] a.不愿意的；不情愿的 (英语四级单词)


• scamper [´skæmpə] vi.浏览；涉猎 n.蹦跳 (英语四级单词)


• chamberlain [´tʃeimbəlin] n.(国王的)侍从；管家 (英语四级单词)


• resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)


• downcast [´daunkɑ:st] a.沮丧的；向下看的 (英语六级单词)


• peacefully [´pisfuli] ad.平静地；安宁地 (英语六级单词)


• shapeless [´ʃeiplis] a.无定形的；不成样的 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• doubtfully [´dautfuli] ad.怀疑地，可疑地 (英语六级单词)