`` That 's the worst of it all , '' said Dick . `` Mother will break her heart . '' `` I must see her at once , '' said the king , `` and break it to her . '' This was a terrible task ; but the queen had such just confidence in her Prigio that she soon dried her tears , remarking that Heaven would not desert Jaqueline , and that the king would find a way out of the trouble . His Majesty retired to his study , put his head in his hands , and thought and thought . `` The thing is , of course , '' he said , `` to destroy the Earthquaker before he wakens ; but how ? What can kill such a monster ? Prodding him with the sword would only stir him up and make him more vicious . And I know of no other beast we can set against him , as I did with the Fire-beast and the Ice-beast , when I was young . Oh , for an idea ! '' Then his mind , somehow , went back to the Council and the ponderous stupidity of the Prime Minister . `` Heavier than lead , '' said the king . `` By George ! I have a plan . If I could get to the place where they keep the Stupidity , I could carry away enough of it to flatten out the Earthquaker . '' Then he remembered how , in an old Italian poem , he had read about all the strange lumber-room of odd things which is kept in the moon . That is the advantage of reading : Knowledge is Power ; and you mostly get knowledge that is really worth having out of good old books which people do not usually read . `` If the Stupidity is kept in stock , up in the moon , and comes from there , falling naturally down on the earth in small quantities , I might obtain enough for my purpose , '' thought King Prigio . `` But -- how to get to the moon ? There are difficulties about that . ''
But difficulties only sharpened the ingenuity XXXXX this admirable king .
By against as at from in of than that to