The soldier answered as he was instructed, Twenty-one years, an* please your Majesty.

The King was struck at his figure, which did not announce his age to be more than the time he had been in his service. How old are you? says the King in a surprize. He answered, One year, an please your Majesty. The King still more surprized said, Either, you or I must be a fool. The soldier taking this for the third question, relative to his pay and cloathing, says, Both, an please your Majesty.

This is the first time, says Frederick, still more surprized, that I have been called a fool at the head of my own guards. The soldier’s stock of instruction was now exhausted, and when the Monarch still pursued the design of unravelling the mystery, the soldier informed him that he could speak no more German; but that he would answer in his native tongue. Here Frederick perceived the nature of the man’s situation, at which he laughed very heartily, and advised the young man to apply himself to learning the language of Prussia, and mind his duty.