‘But what shall I do in the meanwhile?’ said the Princess; ‘for, you see, I don’t want to be fried in lard, as you say the townsmen are in the habit of doing.’
‘You’d better stop with us,’ said Abbonamento. ‘Eh, wife, what do you say?’
‘Oh yes, certainly; it’s the only thing to do. Do stop.’
‘Well, I suppose I must,’ said the Princess. ‘Only, shan’t I be rather in the way?’
‘Oh, not at all, quite the other way. You’ll be very useful. You can milk the cows, and pluck the fowls, and feed the pigs, and all sorts of things.’
‘But what will the people of the town say if they see me?’ asked the Princess.
‘The people of the town—oh, they never come near me, although they are glad to buy butter and milk and eggs of me in the market. They think it seems grand to say they buy their things of a king; but they never trouble about me at all except for that.’
Just at this moment the old lady, thinking it her turn to say something, said:
‘By the bye, you have not told us your name yet.’
‘Would you like it in full, or only what I’m generally called?’ asked the Princess.
‘Oh, say it in full, unless you’ve any objection.’
‘Well, you see, it’s rather long; it generally takes about a quarter of an hour to say, only if you want it particularly I’ll tell you.’
‘Ah! well, perhaps we’ll wait for a time, until we’ve got leisure to listen to it. Meanwhile you might tell us what the short of it is.’
‘They generally call me the Princess Ernalie. Now you might tell me your name, if you don’t mind.’
‘They generally call me Queen Araminta. If you like, and are not too tired, I’ll show you the farm, and then we’ll have dinner.’
So the Princess went through the yard to the cows’ byre, and from the stalls to the pig-sties, and from the sties to the poultry-run, and thence to the orchard, and from the orchard to the flower-garden, and after that home again.
So it was arranged that the Princess Ernalie was to stop with the King and Queen until something should turn up. But nothing ever did turn up, and the days lengthened into months, and the months into years, and still she stayed with the old couple; and as time went on she seemed to do almost all the work of the farm, for the old King and Queen were beginning to get too old and weak for hard work. And gradually she began to forget about her native land, and it seemed as if the farm were to be her home for ever. And every year she grew taller and more beautiful; but that’s a habit that princesses have pretty often. So five years passed quietly away, and nothing seemed likely to disturb the peace of the household.