In Pantouflia , it is the custom that a ball must not end while one of the royal family goes on dancing . This ball lasted till the light came in , and the birds were singing out of doors , and all the mothers present were sound asleep . Then nothing would satisfy the prince , but that they all should go home singing through the streets ; in fact , there never had been so merry a dance in all Pantouflia . The prince had made a point of dancing with almost every girl there : and he had suddenly become the most beloved of the royal family . But everything must end at last ; and the prince , putting on the cap of darkness and sitting on the famous carpet , flew back to his lonely castle . -LCB- The mothers asleep : p56.jpg -RCB- CHAPTER VIII . The Prince is Puzzled . Prince Prigio did not go to bed . It was bright daylight , and he had promised to bring the horns and tail of a Firedrake as a present to a pretty lady . He had said it was easy to do this ; but now , as he sat and thought over it , he did not feel so victorious . `` First , '' he said , `` where is the Firedrake ? '' He reflected for a little , and then ran upstairs to the garret . `` It should be here ! '' he cried , tossing the fairies ' gifts about ; `` and , by George , here it is ! '' Indeed , he had found the spyglass of carved ivory which Prince Ali , in the Arabian Nights , bought in the bazaar in Schiraz . Now , this glass was made so that , by looking through it , you could see anybody or anything you wished , however far away . Prigio 's first idea was to look at his lady . `` But she does not expect to be looked at , '' he thought ; `` and I wo n't ! '' On the other hand , he determined to look at the Firedrake ; for , of course , he had no delicacy about spying on him , the brute . The prince clapped the glass to his eye , stared out of window , and there , sure enough , he saw the Firedrake .
He was floating about in a sea of molten lava , XXXXX the top of a volcano .
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