Bang. Ha-ha-ha! (Coughs.) I get such a cough when I laugh.
The King (seriously). I had no intention of provoking laughter in the presence of death. I can hear the sounds of mourning through the open door.
The Mayor. With all due respect to the church—the vast majority of the nation have no desire for things to come to that—to the accession of a pietist to the throne. If your Majesty threatens to abdicate you will have us all at your feet.
The General (with decision). The accession of a new king just now would be universally considered a national calamity. I will wager my life on that!
Bang. And I too!
The King. My excellent friends—you must take the consequences of your actions!
The Mayor (despairingly). But this! Who ever imagined such a thing?
The General and Bang. No one—no one!
The King. So much the worse. What is it you are asking me to do? To stay where I am, so as to keep another man down? Is that work for a man? Shame!
The Mayor (in distress). We ask more than that! Your Majesty is making a fatal mistake! The whole of your Majesty's dissatisfaction springs from the fact that you believe yourself to be deserted by your people because the elections are going contrary to what your Majesty had hoped. Nothing is further from the truth! The people fight shy of revolutionary ideas; but they love their King!