THE PRINCE WHO LEARNED
EVERYTHING OUT OF
BOOKS
King. Weep no more, the welfare of our kingdom demands the sacrifice. The Prince has learned everything which may be had out of books or from teachers. It is necessary now that he should come to know the world.
Queen. Do you think that it is worth the trouble of knowing? I have no confidence in the world. Shall I expose my son, who is so lovely and innocent, to its risks and temptations?
King. We might indeed have confidence could life but detain itself, were it not inevitable that we should be removed from his side in the course of nature while he is still young. The affection of parents is able to raise up walls to protect their children against the evils and the sorrows of life, it can feign for them a world of illusion which is not the real world, but when we die, when our child is called to rule alone over millions of subjects of every condition and class, when he has no longer any friend to love him disinterestedly, to counsel him without malice, to advise him without deception and lies…
Queen. But then what has been the use of all these teachers ?
King. That he might become wearied of them, and be led
