A milk-white horse was waiting for him at the Goldsmith's door, a servant holding the bridle, and Beppo mounted and rode away.
When he returned to the fisherman's hut the princess was waiting for him. She had prepared a tray spread with a napkin, a cup of milk, and some sweet cakes.
"Listen," said she; "to-day the king hunts in the forest over yonder. Go you thither with this. The king will be hot and thirsty, and weary with the chase. Offer him this refreshment. He will eat and drink, and in gratitude he will offer you something in return. Take nothing of him, but ask him this: that he allow you once every three days to come to the palace, and that he whisper these words in your ear so that no one else may hear them--"A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.'"
"Why should I do that?" said Beppo.
"You will see," said the princess.
Beppo did not understand it at all, but the princess is a princess and must be obeyed, and so he rode away on his horse at her bidding.
It was as the princess had said: the king was hunting in the forest, and when Beppo came there he could hear the shouts of the men and the winding of horns and the baying of dogs. He waited there for maybe an hour or more, and sometimes the sounds were nearer and sometimes the sounds were farther away. Presently they came nearer and nearer, and then all of a sudden the king came riding out of the forest, the hounds hunting hither and thither, and the lords and nobles and courtiers following him.
The king's face was flushed and heated with the chase, and his forehead was bedewed with sweat. Beppo came forward and offered the tray. The king wiped his face with the napkin, and then drank the milk and ate three of the cakes.
"Who was it ordered you to bring this to me?" said he to Beppo.
"No one," said Beppo; "I brought it myself."
The king looked at Beppo and was grateful to him.
"Thou hast given me pleasure and comfort," said he; "ask what thou wilt in return and if it is in reason thou shalt have it."
"I will have only this," said Beppo: "that your majesty will allow me once every three days to come to the palace, and that then you will take me aside and will whisper these words into my ear so that no one else may hear them--A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.'"
The king burst out laughing. "Why," said he, "what is this foolish thing you ask of me? If you had asked for a hundred pieces of gold you should have had them. Think better, friend, and ask something of more worth than this foolish thing."
"Please your majesty," said Beppo, "I ask nothing else."
The king laughed again. "Then you shall have what you ask," said he, and he rode away.
The next morning the princess said to Beppo: "This day you shall go and claim the king's promise of him. Take this ring and this letter again to Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will fit you with clothes in which to appear before the king. Then go to the king's palace that he may whisper those words he has to say into your ear."
Once more Beppo went to Sebastian the Goldsmith, and the Goldsmith kissed the princess's ring and letter, and read what she had written.
Again the black slaves took Beppo to the bath, only this time they clad him in a fine suit of velvet and hung a gold chain around his neck. After that Sebastian the Goldsmith again served a feast to Beppo, and waited upon him while he ate and drank.
In front of the house a noble horse, as black as jet, was waiting to carry Beppo to the palace, and two servants dressed in velvet livery were waiting to attend him.
So Beppo rode away, and many people stopped to look at him.
He came to the palace, and the king was giving audience. Beppo went into the great audience-chamber. It was full of people--lords and nobles and rich merchants and lawyers.
Beppo did not know how to come to the king, so he stood there and waited and waited. The people looked at him and whispered to one another: "Who is that young man?" "Whence comes he?" Then one said: "Is not he the young man who served the king with cakes and milk in the forest yesterday?"
Beppo stood there gazing at the king. By-and-by the king suddenly looked up and caught sight of him. He gazed at Beppo for a moment or two and then he knew him. Then he smiled and beckoned to him.
"Aye, my foolish benefactor," said he, aloud, "is it thou, and art thou come so soon to redeem thy promise? Very well; come hither, I have something to say to thee."
Beppo came forward, and everybody stared. He came close to the king, and the king laid his hand upon his shoulder. Then he leaned over to Beppo and whispered in his ear: "A word, a word, only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels." Then he laughed. "Is that what you would have me say?" said he.
"Yes, majesty," said Beppo, and he bowed low and withdrew.
But, lo and behold, what a change!
Suddenly he was transformed in the eyes of the whole world. The crowd drew back to allow him to pass, and everybody bowed low as he went along.
"Did you not see the king whisper to him," said one. "What could it be that the king said?" said another. "This must be a new favorite," said a third.
He had come into the palace Beppo the Foolish; he went forth Beppo the Great Man, and all because of a few words the king had whispered in his ear.
Three days passed, and then Beppo went again to the Goldsmith's with the ring and a letter from the princess. This time Sebastian the Goldsmith fitted him with a suit of splendid plum-colored silk and gave him a dappled horse, and again Beppo and his two attendants rode away to the palace. And this time every one knew him, and as he went up the steps into the palace all present bowed to him. The king saw him as soon as he appeared, and when he caught sight of him he burst out laughing.
"Aye," said he, "I was looking for thee today, and wondering how soon thou wouldst come. Come hither till I whisper something in thine ear."
