I fancied that there was no such thing as a Firedrake : he 's not in the Natural History books ; and I thought the boys were only making fun , and would be back soon , safe and sound . How horrid being too clever makes one ! And now , what am I to do ? '' What was he to do , indeed ? And what would you have done ? Bring the horns and tail he must , or perish in the adventure . Otherwise , how could he meet his lady ? -- why , she would think him a mere braggart . The prince sat down , and thought and thought ; and the day went on , and it was now high noon . At last he jumped up and rushed into the library , a room where nobody ever went except himself and the queen . There he turned the books upside down , in his haste , till he found an old one , by a French gentleman , Monsieur Cyrano de Bergerac . It was an account of a voyage to the moon , in which there is a great deal of information about matters not generally known ; for few travellers have been to the moon . In that book , Prince Prigio fancied he would find something he half remembered , and that would be of use to him . And he did ! So you see that cleverness , and minding your book , have some advantages , after all . For here the prince learned that there is a very rare beast called a Remora , which is at least as cold as the Firedrake is hot ! `` Now , '' thought he , '' if I can only make these two fight , why the Remora may kill the Firedrake , or take the heat out of him , at least , so that I may have a chance . '' Then he seized the ivory glass , clapped it to his eye , and looked for the Remora . Just the tip of his nose , as white as snow and as smooth as ice , was sticking out of a chink in a frozen mountain , not far from the burning mountain of the Firedrake . -LSB- Illustration : Page 46 -RSB- `` Hooray ! ''
said the prince softly to himself ; and he jumped like mad into the winged shoes of swiftness , stuck on the cap XXXXX darkness , girdled himself with the sword of sharpness , and put a good slice of bread , with some cold tongue , in a wallet , which he slung on his back .
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