Much was made of Esben and his brothers , and these now thanked him for all that he had done for them . The twelve of them received as much gold and silver as they could carry , and betook themselves home to their old father . When he saw again his twelve sons , whom he had never expected to see more , he was so glad that he wept for joy . The brothers told him how much Esben had done , and how he had saved their lives , and from that time forward he was no longer the butt of the rest at home . Princess Minon-minette Bibliotheque des Fees et aes Genies Once upon a time there lived a young king whose name was Souci , and he had been brought up , ever since he was a baby , by the fairy Inconstancy . Now the fairy Girouette had a kind heart , but she was a very trying person to live with , for she never knew her own mind for two minutes together , and as she was the sole ruler at Court till the prince grew up everything was always at sixes and sevens . At first she determined to follow the old custom of keeping the young king ignorant of the duties he would have to perform some day ; then , quite suddenly , she resigned the reins of government into his hands ; but , unluckily , it was too late to train him properly for the post . However , the fairy did not think of that , but , carried away by her new ideas , she hastily formed a Council , and named as Prime Minister the excellent ` Ditto , ' so called because he had never been known to contradict anybody . Young Prince Souci had a handsome face , and at the bottom a good deal of common sense ; but he had never been taught good manners , and was shy and awkward ; and had , besides , never learned how to use his brains . Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the Council did not get through much work . Indeed , the affairs of the country fell into such disorder that at last the people broke out into open rebellion , and it was only the courage of the king , who continued to play the flute while swords and spears were flashing before the palace gate , that prevented civil war from being declared . No sooner was the revolt put down than the Council turned their attention to the question of the young king 's marriage . Various princesses were proposed to him , and the fairy , who was anxious to get the affair over before she left the Court for ever , gave it as her opinion that the Princess Diaphana would make the most suitable wife . Accordingly envoys were sent to bring back an exact report of the princess 's looks and ways , and they returned saying that she was tall and well made , but so very light that the equerries who accompanied her in her walks had to be always watching her , lest she should suddenly be blown away . This had happened so often that her subjects lived in terror of losing her altogether , and tried everything they could think of to keep her to the ground . They even suggested that she should carry weights in her pockets , or have them tied to her ankles ; but this idea was given up , as the princess found it so uncomfortable . At length it was decided that she was never to go out in a wind , and in order to make matters surer still the equerries each held the end of a string which was fastened to her waist . The Council talked over this report for some days , and then the king made up his mind that he would judge for himself , and pretend to be his own ambassador . This plan was by no means new , but it had often succeeded , and , anyhow , they could think of nothing better . Such a splendid embassy had never before been seen in any country .
The kingdom was left in the charge of the Prime Minister , who answered ` Ditto ' to everything ; but the choice was better than it seemed , XXXXX the worthy man was much beloved by the people , as he agreed with all they said , and they left him feeling very pleased with themselves and their own wisdom .
Under as at for in lest over than that while