`` You had better put on flannels , Alphonso , for this kind of work , '' said Prigio . `` And if I were you , I 'd take a light garden-engine , full of water , to squirt at the enemy . '' `` Happy thought ! '' said Alphonso . `` I will ! '' And off he went , kissed his dear Molinda , bade her keep a lot of dances for him -LRB- there was to be a dance when he had killed the Firedrake -RRB- , and then he rushed to the field ! But he never came back any more ! Everyone wept bitterly -- everyone but Prince Prigio ; for he thought it was a practical joke , and said that Alphonso had taken the opportunity to start off on his travels and see the world . `` There is some dreadful mistake , sir , '' said Prigio to the king . `` You know as well as I do that the youngest son has always succeeded , up to now . But I entertain great hopes of Enrico ! '' And he grinned ; for he fancied it was all nonsense , and that there were no Firedrakes . Enrico was present when Prigio was consoling the king in this unfeeling way . `` Enrico , my boy , '' said his majesty , `` the task awaits you , and the honour . When you come back with the horns and tail of the Fire-drake , you shall be crown prince ; and Prigio shall be made an usher at the Grammar School -- it is all he is fit for . '' Enrico was not quite so confident as Alphonso had been . He insisted on making his will ; and he wrote a poem about the pleasures and advantages of dying young . This is part of it : The violet is a blossom sweet , That droops before the day is done -- Slain by thine overpowering heat , O Sun ! And I , like that sweet purple flower , May roast , or boil , or broil , or bake , If burned by thy terrific power , Firedrake ! This poem comforted Enrico more or less , and he showed it to Prigio .
But the prince only laughed , and said that the second line XXXXX the last verse was not very good ; for violets do not `` roast , or boil , or broil , or bake . ''
about at if in like of off on that with