KING. "'Have you had it here?'
ICH. "'Ja.'
KING. "'Do but diligently use rock-salt, you won't have the murrain again.'
ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty, I do use it too; but kitchen salt has very nearly the same effect.'
KING. "'No, don't fancy that! You must n't pound the rock-salt small, but give it to the cattle so that they can lick it.'
ICH. "'Yes, it shall be done.'
KING. "'Are there still improvements needed here?'
ICH. "'O ja, your Majesty. Here lies the Kemmensee [Kemmen-lake]: if that were drained out, your Majesty would gain some 1,800 acres [MORGEN, three-fifths English acre] of pasture-land, where colonists could be settled; and then the whole country would have navigation too, which would help the village of Fehrbellin and the town of Ruppin to an uncommon degree.'
KING. "'I suppose so! Be a great help to you, won't it; and many will be ruined by the job, especially the proprietors of the ground NICHT WAHR?' [Ha?]
ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon [EW. MAJESTAT HALTEN ZU GNADEN,—hold me to grace]: the ground belongs to the Royal Forest, and there grows nothing but birches on it.'