'May it please you,' explained the Serpent, 'your slave has nothing to eat.'
'Eat a few of my frogs,' said the King. 'I give you leave.'
'I thank your Majesty!' answered the Serpent, and forthwith he began to eat the frogs, until the pond becoming clear, he finished with their monarch himself. 'I also,' said Night-cloud, 'stooped to conquer, but King Silver-sides is a good King, and I would your Majesty were at peace with him.'
'Peace!' cried King Jewel-plume, 'shall I make peace with my vassal! I have vanquished him—let him serve me!'
"At this moment the Parrot came in. 'Sire!' said he, breathlessly,' the Stork Strong-bill, Rajah of Ceylon, has raised the standard of revolt in Jambudwipa, and claims the country.'
'What! what!' cried the King in a fury.
'Excellent good, Goose!' muttered the Minister. 'This is thy work!'
'Bid him but await me!' exclaimed the King, 'and I will tear him up like a tree!'
'Ah, Sire,' said the Minister—
'Thunder for nothing, like December's cloud,
Passes unmarked: strike hard, but speak not loud.'