Not far from the gateway they came to an iron bridge.  Pluto stopped the chariot and told Proserpina to look at the river which ran underneath.  It was very black and muddy, and flowed slowly, very slowly, as if it had quite forgotten which way it wanted to go, and was in no hurry to flow anywhere.

“This is the river Lethe,” said King Pluto; “do you not think it a very pleasant stream?”

“I think it is very dismal,” said Proserpina.

“Well, I like it,” answered Pluto, who got rather cross when any one did not agree with him.  “It is a strange kind of river.  If you drink only a little sip of the water, you will at once forget all your care and sorrow.  When we reach the palace, you shall have some in a golden cup, and then you will not cry any more for your mother, and will be perfectly happy with me.”

“Oh no, oh no!” said Proserpina, sobbing again.  “O mother, mother, I will never forget you; I do not want to be happy by forgetting all about you.”

“We shall see,” said King Pluto; “you do not know what good times we will have in my palace.  Here we are, just at the gate.  Look at the big pillars; they are all made of solid gold.”

He got out of the chariot and carried Proserpina in his arms up a long stair into the great hall of the palace.  It was beautifully lit by hundreds of diamonds and rubies which shone like lamps.  It was very rich and splendid to look at, but it was cold and lonely and Pluto must have longed for some one to keep him company; perhaps that was why he had stolen Proserpina from her sunny home.

King Pluto sent for his servants and told them to get ready a grand supper with all kinds of dainty food and sweet things such as children like.  “And be sure not to forget a golden cup filled with the water of Lethe,” he said to the servant.

“I will not eat anything,” said Proserpina, “nor drink a single drop, even if you keep me for ever in your palace.”

“I should be sorry for that,” replied King Pluto.  He really wished to be kind if he had only known how.  “Wait till you see the nice things my cook will make for you, and then you will be hungry.”

Now King Pluto had a secret reason why he wanted Proserpina to eat some food.  You must understand that when people are carried off to the land of magic, if once they taste any food they can never go back to their friends.

If King Pluto had offered Proserpina some bread and milk she would very likely have taken it as soon as she was hungry, but all the cook’s fine pastries and sweets were things she had never seen at home, and, instead of making her hungry, she was afraid to touch them.

But now my story must leave King Pluto’s palace, and we must see what Mother Ceres has been about.

You remember she had gone off in her chariot with the winged dragons to the other side of the world to see how the corn and fruit were growing.  And while she was busy in a field she thought she heard Proserpina’s voice calling her.  She was sure her little daughter could not possibly be anywhere near, but the idea troubled her:  and presently she left the fields before her work was half done and, ordering her dragons with the chariot, she drove off.