`` Never ! '' sobbed Queen Telephassa ; and the three brothers and Thasus answered , `` Never ! Never ! Never ! Never ! '' And they kept their word . Year after year , King Agenor sat in the solitude of his beautiful palace , listening in vain for their returning footsteps , hoping to hear the familiar voice of the queen , and the cheerful talk of his sons and their playfellow Thasus , entering the door together , and the sweet , childish accents of little Europa in the midst of them . But so long a time went by , that , at last , if they had really come , the king would not have known that this was the voice of Telephassa , and these the younger voices that used to make such joyful echoes , when the children were playing about the palace . We must now leave King Agenor to sit on his throne , and must go along with Queen Telephassa , and her four youthful companions . They went on and on , and traveled a long way , and passed over mountains and rivers , and sailed over seas . Here , and there , and everywhere , they made continual inquiry if any person could tell them what had become of Europa . The rustic people , of whom they asked this question , paused a little while from their labors in the field , and looked very much surprised . They thought it strange to behold a woman in the garb of a queen -LRB- for Telephassa in her haste had forgotten to take off her crown and her royal robes -RRB- , roaming about the country , with four lads around her , on such an errand as this seemed to be . But nobody could give them any tidings of Europa ; nobody had seen a little girl dressed like a princess , and mounted on a snow-white bull , which galloped as swiftly as the wind . I can not tell you how long Queen Telephassa , and Cadmus , Phoenix , and Cilix , her three sons , and Thasus , their playfellow , went wandering along the highways and bypaths , or through the pathless wildernesses of the earth , in this manner . But certain it is , that , before they reached any place of rest , their splendid garments were quite worn out . They all looked very much travel-stained , and would have had the dust of many countries on their shoes , if the streams , through which they waded , had not washed it all away . When they had been gone a year , Telephassa threw away her crown , because it chafed her forehead . `` It has given me many a headache , '' said the poor queen , `` and it can not cure my heartache . '' As fast as their princely robes got torn and tattered , they exchanged them for such mean attire as ordinary people wore .
By and by , they come to have a wild and homeless aspect ; so XXXXX you would much sooner have taken them for a gypsy family than a queen and three princes , and a young nobleman , who had once a palace for a home , and a train of servants to do their bidding .
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