"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 (which was the simple
fare to which the child had always been accustomed), 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.
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