They ran against him exactly as if they did not see him , and then staggered back in the greatest surprise , looking in every direction for the person they had jostled . In one of these encounters , the prince pushed so hard against a poor old beggar woman that she fell down . As he was usually most kind and polite , he pulled off his cap to beg her pardon , when , behold , the beggar woman gave one dreadful scream , and fainted ! A crowd was collecting , and the prince , forgetting that he had thrown down all his money in the tavern , pulled out his purse . Then he remembered what he had done , and expected to find it empty ; but , lo , there were three pieces of gold in it ! Overcome with surprise , he thrust the money into the woman 's hand , and put on his cap again . In a moment the crowd , which had been staring at him , rushed away in every direction , with cries of terror , declaring that there was a magician in the town , and a fellow who could appear and disappear at pleasure ! -LSB- Illustration : Page 35 -RSB- By this time , you or I , or anyone who was not so extremely clever as Prince Prigio , would have understood what was the matter . He had put on , without knowing it , not only the seven-league boots , but the cap of darkness , and had taken Fortunatus 's purse , which could never be empty , however often you took all the money out . All those and many other delightful wares the fairies had given him at his christening , and the prince had found them in the dark garret . But the prince was so extremely wise , and learned , and scientific , that he did not believe in fairies , nor in fairy gifts . `` It is indigestion , '' he said to himself : `` those sausages were not of the best ; and that Burgundy was extremely strong . Things are not as they appear . '' Here , as he was arguing with himself , he was nearly run over by a splendid carriage and six , the driver of which never took the slightest notice of him . Annoyed at this , the prince leaped up behind , threw down the two footmen , who made no resistance , and so was carried to the door of a magnificent palace . He was determined to challenge the gentleman who was in the carriage ; but , noticing that he had a very beautiful young lady with him , whom he had never seen before , he followed them into the house , not wishing to alarm the girl , and meaning to speak to the gentleman when he found him alone . A great ball was going on ; but , as usual , nobody took any notice of the prince . He walked among the guests , being careful not to jostle them , and listening to their conversation . It was all about himself ! Everyone had heard of his disgrace , and almost everyone cried `` Serve him right ! ''
They said that the airs he gave himself were quite unendurable -- XXXXX nothing was more rude than to be always in the right -- that cleverness might be carried far too far -- that it was better even to be born stupid -LRB- `` Like the rest of you , '' thought the prince -RRB- ; and , in fact , nobody had a good word for him .
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