Publisher's Synopsis
MANY hundreds of years ago there lived in the beautiful city of Palermo a littleprince who was thought, not only by his parents but by everyone who saw him, tobe the handsomest child in the whole world. When he was four years old, hismother, the queen, made up her mind that it was time to take him away from hisnurses, so she chose out two ladies of the court who had been friends of her ownyouth, and to them she entrusted her little son. He was to be taught to read andwrite, and to talk Greek, the language of his mother's country, and Latin, which allprinces ought to know, while the Great Chamberlain would see that he learned toride and shoot, and, when he grew bigger, how to wield a sword.For a while everything went on as well as the king and queen could wish. PrinceWilliam was quick, and, besides, he could not bear to be beaten in anything he triedto do, whether it was making out the sense of a roll of parchment written in strangeblack letters, which was his reading-book, or mastering a pony which wanted tokick him off. And the people of Palermo looked on, and whispered to each other: 'Ah! what a king he will make!
