He had a secret motive in this ; for , you are to understand , it is a fixed law , that when persons are carried off to the land of magic , if they once taste any food there , they can never get back to their friends . Now , if King Pluto had been cunning enough to offer Proserpina some fruit , or bread and milk -LRB- which was the simple fare to which the child had always been accustomed -RRB- , it is very probable that she would soon have been tempted to eat it . But he left the matter entirely to his cook , who , like all other cooks , considered nothing fit to eat unless it were rich pastry , or highly-seasoned meat , or spiced sweet cakes -- things which Proserpina 's mother had never given her , and the smell of which quite took away her appetite , instead of sharpening it . But my story must now clamber out of King Pluto 's dominions , and see what Mother Ceres had been about , since she was bereft of her daughter . We had a glimpse of her , as you remember , half hidden among the waving grain , while the four black steeds were swiftly whirling along the chariot , in which her beloved Proserpina was so unwillingly borne away . You recollect , too , the loud scream which Proserpina gave , just when the chariot was out of sight . Of all the child 's outcries , this last shriek was the only one that reached the ears of Mother Ceres . She had mistaken the rumbling of the chariot wheels for a peal of thunder , and imagined that a shower was coming up , and that it would assist her in making the corn grow . But , at the sound of Proserpina 's shriek , she started , and looked about in every direction , not knowing whence it came , but feeling almost certain that it was her daughter 's voice . It seemed so unaccountable , however , that the girl should have strayed over so many lands and seas -LRB- which she herself could not have traversed without the aid of her winged dragons -RRB- , that the good Ceres tried to believe that it must be the child of some other parent , and not her own darling Proserpina , who had uttered this lamentable cry . Nevertheless , it troubled her with a vast many tender fears , such as are ready to bestir themselves in every mother 's heart , when she finds it necessary to go away from her dear children without leaving them under the care of some maiden aunt , or other such faithful guardian . So she quickly left the field in which she had been so busy ; and , as her work was not half done , the grain looked , next day , as if it needed both sun and rain , and as if it were blighted in the ear , and had something the matter with its roots . The pair of dragons must have had very nimble wings ; for , in less than an hour , Mother Ceres had alighted at the door of her home , and found it empty . Knowing , however , that the child was fond of sporting on the sea-shore , she hastened thither as fast as she could , and there beheld the wet faces of the poor sea nymphs peeping over a wave . All this while , the good creatures had been waiting on the bank of sponge , and once , every half minute or so , had popped up their four heads above water , to see if their playmate were yet coming back . When they saw Mother Ceres , they sat down on the crest of the surf wave , and let it toss them ashore at her feet . `` Where is Proserpina ? '' cried Ceres . `` Where is my child ? Tell me , you naughty sea nymphs , have you enticed her under the sea ? ''
`` O , no , good Mother Ceres , '' said the innocent sea nymphs , tossing back their green ringlets , and looking her XXXXX the face .
above as at from in like over to under with