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(THE TUDOR MONARCHY)
ONCE on a time was a King anxious to understand | |
| What was the wisest thing a man could do for his land. | |
| Most of his population hurried to answer the question, | |
| Each with a long oration, each with a new suggestion. | |
| They interrupted his meals—he wasn’t safe in his bed from ’em— | 5 |
| They hung round his neck and heels, and at last His Majesty fled from ’em. | |
| He put on a leper’s cloak (people leave lepers alone), | |
| Out of the window he broke, and abdicated his throne. | |
| All that rapturous day, while his Court and his Ministers mourned him, | |
| He danced on his own highway till his own Policemen warned him. | 10 |
| Gay and cheerful he ran (lepers don’t cheer as a rule) | |
| Till he found a philosopher-man teaching an infant-school. | |
| The windows were open wide, the King sat down on the grass, | |
| And heard the children inside reciting “Our King is an ass.” | |
| The King popped in his head, “Some people would call this treason, | 15 |
| But I think you are right,” he said; “Will you kindly give me your reason?” | |
| Lepers in school are as rare as kings with a leper’s dress on, | |
| But the class didn’t stop or stare; it calmly went on with the lesson: | |
| “The wisest thing, we suppose, that a man can do for his land, | |
| Is the work that lies under his nose, with the tools that lie under his hand.” | 20 |
| The King whipped off his cloak, and stood in his crown before ’em. | |
| He said: “My dear little folk, Ex ore parvulorum— | |
| (Which is Latin for “Children know more than grown-ups would credit”) | |
| You have shown me the road to go, and I propose to tread it.” | |
| Back to his Kingdom he ran, and issued a Proclamation, | 25 |
| “Let every living man return to his occupation!” | |
| Then he explained to the mob that cheered in his palace and round it, | |
| “I’ve been to look for a job, and Heaven be praised I’ve found it!” | |
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