"Ah, my Emperor, I have shaken my head in such mad earnest over your distress that the fool's bell fell from my cap; but it is none the worse for that!"
"Kunz von der Rosen, my Fool, what is that breaking and cracking outside there?"
"Hush! it is the saw and the carpenter's axe; the doors of your prison will soon be broken in, and you will be free, my Emperor!"
"Am I then really Emperor? Alas! it is only the Fool who tells me so!"
"Oh, do not sigh, my dear lord, it is the air of the dungeon which so dispirits you; when you have once regained your power, you will feel the bold imperial blood in your veins, and you will be proud as an emperor, and arrogant, and gracious, and unjust, and smiling, and ungrateful as princes are."
"Kunz von der Rosen, my Fool, when I am free again, what wilt thou be doing?"
"I will sew new bells on my cap."
"And how shall I reward thy fidelity?"
"Ah! dear master—do not let me be put to death!"