Last came an immense arch, a true military trophy, bearing as its motto,
TO THE BOLDEST AND MOST VALIANT OF KINGS
Here the army awaited its general, and the queen was saluted by the majestic voice of a hundred cannon and two hundred drums—a voice before which all human eloquence falters, and which always has the last word.
I spare you a description of the dinner, which was interminable, and of sixty more speeches from the court gazette, where they had already done service two or three times, and wherein they were again deposited for the use of future generations. There is nothing so monotonous as happiness, and we must be indulgent to those who sing its praises officially. In such cases, the ablest is he who says the least.
The long evening, during which the king had lavished his most gracious smiles on those whom he despised at the bottom of his heart, was at length at an end, and Charming led Pazza, no longer to a dungeon, but to a magnificent apartment, where a new surprise awaited her. At the bottom of the room was an illuminated transparency, on which were written lines so bad that a king alone could have been the author of them. These lines, which were published in the official gazette, have been handed down to us by one of those indiscreet persons who suffer no follies of the past to be lost. Such persons are the rag-pickers of history.
Ye indolent dunces, who rust in your sloth,
Too lazy or wilful to learn;
Ye courtiers, who crowd round the king, nothing loth
By base flattery his favor to earn;
Ye doctors, who laugh at us cowards, and sell
Long words and wise oracles dear—
Beware lest some night a mischievous sprite
Should give you a box on the ear.
And you, ye proud husbands, puffed up with conceit,
Who deem yourselves statesmen so wise
That the whole world admiringly bows at your feet—
Who truth, love, and goodness despise—
Beware lest some day your less frivolous wives,
Derided by those they held dear,
Should start from your side, aroused by just pride,
And give you a box on the ear.
"What means this enigma, sire?" asked Pazza.
"It means that I do myself justice," answered the king. "I am nothing except through you, dear Pazza; all that I know and all that I think I owe to you. Without you I am nothing but a soulless body, fit only for follies."
"Pardon me if I contradict Your Majesty," said Pazza.