OF THE DUTIES OF A KING.
128. If you be a king, be a just king,
You shall ordain no injustice;
Illustrious is the Man who has appointed you—
The Lord of holy Heaven!
129. You shall not be rash,
You shall not be prosperous and fierce;
You shall be watchful of the All Powerful,
Who has given thee the rank.
130. The wealth which you have obtained,
If you do not be obedient to Him,
Shall be taken from you in a short time;
They shall leave you in pain.
131. For it has been the full reduction
To every king who has been,
When you have bartered—hapless power!—
Your righteousness for unrighteousness.
132. For it is through the unrighteousness of kings
That all peace is disrupted
Between the Church and the laity—
All truth is broken.
133. For it is through their contention
Comes every plague, it is known;
It is through their excesses that there comes not
Corn, or milk, or fruit;
134. It is through them come all mortalities,
Which defy every power;
It is through them that battle-triumph attends
Every enemy over their countries;
135. It is through them come the tempests
Of the angry, cold skies,
The insects—the many distempers
Which cut off all the people.
[There were a few stanzas more, but they are illegible.]