Each one must bring his weapons all,
And lay them down in the guildhall;
And every kind of ammunition
Is subject to the same condition.
He who in any public spot
Ventures to reason, shall be shot;
He who by gestures dares to reason
Shall pay the penalty of treason.
Confide in the authorities,
So gracious, but withal so wise,
Who rule the fortunes of the city,
And hold your tongues, or more’s the pity.
21. THE AUDIENCE.
(An old Fable.)
“I’ll let not my children, like Pharaoh, be drown’d
“In the Nile’s deep turbulent water;
“Nor am I a tyrant, like Herod of old,
“No patron of children’s slaughter.
“I will, as my gracious Saviour did,
“Find the sight of the children pleasant;
“So suffer the children to come, and first
“The big one, the Swabian peasant.”
Thus spake the monarch; the chamberlain ran,
And return’d, introducing slowly
The stalwart child from Swabia’s land,
Who made a reverence lowly.
Thus spake the king: “A Swabian art thou?
“There’s no disgrace in that surely.”—
“Quite right! I was born in Swabia’s land,”
Replied the Swabian demurely.