It is my opinion that even King Pluto had never been happy in his palace , and that this was the true reason why he had stolen away Proserpina , in order that he might have something to love , instead of cheating his heart any longer with this tiresome magnificence . And , though he pretended to dislike the sunshine of the upper world , yet the effect of the child 's presence , bedimmed as she was by her tears , was as if a faint and watery sunbeam had somehow or other found its way into the enchanted hall . Pluto now summoned his domestics , and bade them lose no time in preparing a most sumptuous banquet , and above all things , not to fail of setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe by Proserpina 's plate . `` I will neither drink that nor anything else , '' said Proserpina . `` Nor will I taste a morsel of food , even if you keep me forever in your palace . '' `` I should be sorry for that , '' replied King Pluto , patting her cheek ; for he really wished to be kind , if he had only known how . `` You are a spoiled child , I perceive , my little Proserpina ; but when you see the nice things which my cook will make for you , your appetite will quickly come again . '' Then , sending for the head cook , he gave strict orders that all sorts of delicacies , such as young people are usually fond of , should be set before Proserpina . 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 XXXXX 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 .
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