The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest / The writings of philosophers, poets, novelists, social reformers, and others who have voiced the struggle against social injustice; selected from twenty-five languages; covering a period of five thousand years

by Unknown

Diomedes the Pirate to Alexander

By François Villon

(French poet and vagabond, 1431-1484)

The Emperor reasoned with him: “Why should you desire to be a pirate?” And the other replied: “Why call me a pirate? Because you see me going about in a little galley? If I could arm myself like you, like you I would be an emperor.”