Yet I their quiet lives have ended.
Sometimes, with sorrow be it heard,
I e'en have eaten the shepherd,
And I acknowledge all—
And I will die like a quiet bird—
If my death keep you from your fall.
It must be hoped now in all justice,
That he who is most guilty perish."
"Sire," said the fox, "you are too good a king
To die for any trivial thing;