Chapter 10

THE PRINCE IN OFFAL COURT

John Canty was dragging the prince into Offal Court. The prince continued to struggle for freedom but could do nothing. Soon he found himself in John Canty's dirty room. There were two girls and two women in it. John Canty said to the older woman: " Just listen to what the lad says and then help me to give him a good whipping. Well, lad, repeat your foolish words again. Name your name. Who are you? "

The little prince's face got red with anger. He raised his head and said:

" I tell you now what I told you before. I am Edward, Prince of Wales. "

The old woman and John Canty began to laugh at his words, but Tom Canty's mother ran up to the prince, fell on her knees and put her hand upon his shoulders. Then she said:

" Oh, my poor boy. Your foolish reading has made you mad. You are breaking your mother's heart. "

The prince looked into her face and answered:

" Your son is well and he is not mad, my poor woman. Let us go together to the palace where he is, and the king, my father, will let him go home with you. "

The woman began to cry, covering her face with her hands. One of the girls said to her father:

" Let him go to bed, father, tomorrow he will be himself again, he will beg again and will not come home without money. "

" Show me what you have brought today, " John Canty said to Edward.

The prince answered: " I tell you again I am the king's son. "

Tom's father got so angry at these words that he stopped laughing at once and heavy blows began to fall upon Edward's shoulders and face. The grandmother went out of her corner to help her son to beat the boy; and when they finished with him, they gave the girls and their mother a beating too, because they had been kind to Edward.

" Now, " said Canty, " to bed all of you. I am tired. "

When everybody was asleep, the young girls came to where the prince lay and covered him from the cold with rags, and their mother came to him also. She brought him a piece of bread, but he lost his appetite and could not eat. At last he fell asleep.

Tom's mother lay thinking of what had happened. There was something strange about the boy. She could not tell what it was, but she felt that his manners and speech were different from the manners and speech of her son Tom. Was it possible that the boy was really not her son? She decided to give him a trial. She thought: " This trial will show me whether he is my son or not. "

When Tom was suddenly awakened or was frightened by something, he always covered his eyes with the back of his hand. She lit her candle and came up softly to the sleeping boy. Then suddenly she brought the candle close to his face and struck the floor near his ear with her hand. The boy's eyes opened at once and he looked around in surprise, but he did not cover his eyes. The poor woman did not know what to do. She went up to the boy several times and repeated the trial. The boy woke up and looked around in fear each time, but he did not cover his eyes with his hand. At last she dragged herself to the bed and fell asleep in tears.

The prince woke up from a heavy sleep, because John Canty was talking to somebody. A man had come into the room. He told the family that they had to leave their house and run away because John Canty had killed a man in a street fight. " They are looking for you now, John Canty, " he said: " If you want to save your neck — run away. "

In a hurry the family gathered up their few things and left the house. As they were walking along the dark streets, the prince decided to run away. When they were turning a corner, he suddenly began running. He ran and ran and ran, until he found himself near his father's palace. He told the guard to open the gates to him, because he was the Prince of Wales, but nobody believed him, of course, and the crowd near the palace laughed at him. When he began to cry, the people liked it very much. They laughed at him and pulled him this way and that way. But he repeated again and again: " I am the Prince of Wales. "

Suddenly a man appeared at Edward's side. He was tall and strong and his clothes were made of rich material, but were very old. He said: " I do not know whether you are the prince or not, but I shall not allow them to laugh at you. I, Miles Hendon, shall defend you. " He took Edward by the arm and they went away together.

At that time Tom Canty was sailing down the Thames on the royal barge. Princess Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey had asked him to sail with them. They wanted to give him some pleasure and to make him forget his strange illness. Suddenly the king's messenger appeared, and everybody stopped talking and looked at him in surprise. He came up to Tom and said loudly:

" The king is dead. "

All the people who were there fell upon their knees, turned their heads toward Tom and shouted:

" Long live the King! Long live Edward, King of England! "

1. Answer the questions.

1) Did the members of Tom’s family believe the prince’s words?

2) What did Tom’s mother decide to do?

3) Why did the prince wake up from a heavy sleep?

4) Did the prince have a chance to run away from John Canty?

5) Who decided to defend the prince?

6) What happened at that time in the royal court?

2. Put the events in the right order:

- Edward ran and ran and ran, until he found himself near his father's palace.

- Tom's father got very angry.

- Suddenly the king's messenger appeared.

- Soon he found himself in John Canty's dirty room.

- He came up to Tom and said loudly: " The king is dead. "

- In a hurry Tom’s family gathered up their few things and left the house.

- A man, called Miles Hendon took Edward by the arm and they went away together.

- The prince woke up from a heavy sleep.

- The prince continued to struggle for freedom but could do nothing.

- Heavy blows began to fall upon Edward's shoulders and face.

- The crowd near the palace laughed at him.

- All the people turned their heads toward Tom and shouted: " Long live the King! "

3. Make your own sentences with these words and expressions:

to struggle for freedom –

to drag –

a good whipping –

a trial –

softly –

to wake up from a heavy sleep –

to fall asleep –

to find oneself –

to defend –

to save (smb. ’s) neck –

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