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XI . The Queen and the Dwarf Then an order came from the palace . The Queen wanted to see me . She was delighted with my good manners . I asked to kiss her foot , but she held out her little finger instead . I put my arms around it and kissed the tip . She asked me if I would like to live at court . “ I am my master’s slave , ” I said . “ But if I were free , I would be proud to serve Your Majesty . ” So the Queen bought me from the farmer for a thousand pieces of gold . He was happy to sell , because he thought I would die soon . Then I asked the Queen for one favour . “ Please let Glumdalclitch stay with me , ” I said . “ She has always taken such good care of me . ” The Queen agreed , and the girl could not hide her joy . The Queen carried me to the King . He was a serious and learned man . At first he thought that I was a clever clockwork toy . When he heard me speak , he was amazed . Then he called three great scholars . They looked at me carefully and argued for a long time . I could not run fast or climb trees . So they said that I was not a normal creature . I was also much too small to be a dwarf . At last they decided that I was a “ freak of nature ” . I told them that I came from a country of millions of people like me . But they only smiled . “ The farmer has taught him his lesson well , ” they said . The King was wiser than his scholars , and he began to believe me . The Queen’s carpenter made me a wooden box to live in . It was sixteen feet square , with windows , a door and a lock , like a little bedroom in London . The walls were soft , so that I would not get hurt when people carried it . Soon the Queen could not eat dinner without me . My little table stood on her big table . It was frightening to watch the Queen eat . She put a piece of bread as big as two loaves into her mouth . The King liked to ask me about Europe . Once I talked for a long time about my dear country , its trade and its wars . The King laughed . He picked me up and stroked me gently . “ How small human greatness is ! ” he said . “ Even tiny creatures like this one have their titles and honours . They build little nests and call them cities . They love , they fight , they argue , they cheat ! ” My face went red with anger . But after some months among these people , I began to see things differently . By that time , English lords and ladies in their fine clothes would have made me laugh too . Nobody made me as angry as the Queen’s dwarf . He was only thirty feet tall , and he was proud to see someone smaller . He often said rude things about my size . Once , at dinner , the Queen had a marrow bone on her plate . When Glumdalclitch was not looking , the dwarf pushed my legs into the hollow bone . I was stuck there up to my waist . I was too proud to cry out , and for a minute nobody noticed .
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