Moses
[To Messenger.] What is the edict?
Messenger
The royal paunch of Pharaoh dangled worriedly,
Not knowing where the wrong: viands once giant-like
Came to him thin and thinner—what rats gnawed?
Horror, the swarm of slaves! The satraps swore
Their wives’ bones hurt them when they lay abed,
That before were soft and plump: the people howled
They’d boil the slaves three days to get their fat,