His private secretary happened to be absent, and the soldier who
brought the petition could not read. There was a page, or
favorite boy-servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the king
called. The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court,
but proved to be a very poor reader.
In the first place, he did not articulate distinctly. He huddled
his words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of
one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as
possible. His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate his
voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read. Every
sentence was uttered with a dismal monotony of voice, as if it
did not differ in any respect from that which preceded it.
"Stop!" said the king, impatiently. "Is it an auctioneer's list
of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? Send your
companion to me." Another page who stood at the door now entered,
and to him the king gave the petition. The second page began by
hemming and clearing his throat in such an affected manner that
the king jokingly asked him if he had not slept in the public
garden, with the gate open, the night before.
Pages:
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203