The Prince of Bohemia

During his residence in London, the accomplished Prince Florizel of Bohemia gained the affection of all classes by the seduction of his manner and by a well-considered generosity. He was a remarkable man even by what was known of him; and that was but a small part of what he actually did.

Who was this Prince of Bohemia? In Robert Louis Stevenson's New Arabian Knights, Prince Florizel is a daring, ingenious adventurer, who risks his kingdom and life merely for the whim of it. He might not be a wise man in real life, but he captures the imagination. The way he disguises himself and sets off on intrepid escapades is as thrilling as any invented account can be.

Although of a placid temper in ordinary circumstances, and accustomed to take the world with as much philosophy as any ploughman, the Prince of Bohemia was not without a taste for ways of life more adventurous and eccentric than that to which he was destined by his birth.

A Fictional Crusader

Since adventure is a dangerous thing, fictional adventurers are much more common than real ones, especially in our age of the novel and the movie. An early fictional adventurer was Don Quixote, invented by Cervantes. You can read of his famous episode with the windmills here. But more interesting, perhaps, is the story of a fictional crusader's life, related in the inn. The crusades, think, were one of the most fertile sources of adventure ever.