Are not these gems , which I have ordered to be dug for you , and which are richer than any in my crown -- are they not prettier than a violet ? '' `` Not half so pretty , '' said Proserpina , snatching the gems from Pluto 's hand , and flinging them to the other end of the hall . `` O my sweet violets , shall I never see you again ? '' And then she burst into tears . But young people 's tears have very little saltness or acidity in them , and do not inflame the eyes so much as those of grown persons ; so that it is not to be wondered at , if , a few moments afterwards , Proserpina was sporting through the hall almost as merrily as she and the four sea nymphs had sported along the edge of the surf wave . King Pluto gazed after her , and wished that he , too , was a child . And little Proserpina , when she turned about , and beheld this great king standing in his splendid hall , and looking so grand , and so melancholy , and so lonesome , was smitten with a kind of pity . She ran back to him , and , for the first time in all her life , put her small , soft hand in his . `` I love you a little , '' whispered she , looking up in his face . `` Do you , indeed , my dear child ? '' cried Pluto , bending his dark face down to kiss her ; but Proserpina shrank away from the kiss , for , though his features were noble , they were very dusky and grim . `` Well , I have not deserved it of you , after keeping you a prisoner for so many months , and starving you besides . Are you not terribly hungry ? Is there nothing which I can get you to eat ? '' In asking this question , the king of the mines had a very cunning purpose ; for , you will recollect , if Proserpina tasted a morsel of food in his dominions , she would never afterwards be at liberty to quit them . `` No indeed , '' said Proserpina . `` Your head cook is always baking , and stewing , and roasting , and rolling out paste , and contriving one dish or another , which he imagines may be to my liking . But he might just as well save himself the trouble , poor , fat little man that he is . I have no appetite for anything in the world , unless it were a slice of bread , of my mother 's own baking , or a little fruit out of her garden . '' When Pluto heard this , he began to see that he had mistaken the best method of tempting Proserpina to eat .
The cook 's made dishes and artificial dainties were not half so delicious , in the good child 's opinion , XXXXX the simple fare to which Mother Ceres had accustomed her .
In as besides for from if of than through with