No
doubt "the young white king" made an exceedingly prominent figure in
the discourse, but it was so quaint and so brilliant that it did not
need the charm of royal condescension to entrance the young knights,
who stood silent auditors. Ebbo at least was convinced that no
species of knowledge or skill was viewed by his kaisarly kingship as
beneath his dignity; but still he feared Friedel's being seized upon
to be as prime illustrator to the royal autobiography--a lot to
which, with all his devotion to Maximilian, he could hardly have
consigned his brother, in the certainty that the jeers of the ruder
nobles would pursue the craftsman baron.
However, for the present, Maximilian was keen enough to see that the
boy's mechanical skill was not as yet equal to his genius; so he only
encouraged him to practise, adding that he heard there was a rare
lad, one Durer, at Nuremburg, whose productions were already
wonderful. "And what is this?" he asked; "what is the daintily-
carved group I see yonder?"
"Your highness means, 'The Dove in the Eagle's Nest,'" said Kasimir.
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