nder whether it is essential to the whole?

SCHLOSS.

I never worry about the whole; if I cry, I cry--that's
enough; that was a divine passage.

HINZE.

Such a pair of lovers is good for something in the world after
all; they have fallen plump into the poetical again down there and the
stamping has ceased. There's no game to be caught.

(_A rabbit creeps into the bag; he rushes over and draws the strings
over him._)

Look here, good friend! A kind of game that is a cousin of mine, so to
speak; yes, that's the way with the world nowadays, relatives against
relatives, brother against brother; if one wants to get through the
world oneself, one must push others out of the way.

(_He takes the rabbit out of the bag and puts it into the knapsack._)

Hold! Hold!--truly I must take care not to devour the game myself. I
must just tie up the knapsack quickly only to be able to restrain my
passion. Fie! for shame, Hinze! Is it not the duty of the nobleman to
sacrifice himself and his desires to the happiness of his brother
creatures? That's the reason why we live, and whoever cannot do
that--oh, it were better for him if he had never been born!

(_He is on the point of withdrawing; violent applause and shouting of
"Encore;" he has to repeat the last beautiful passage, then he bows
respectfully and goes of with the rabbit._)

FISCHER.

Oh, what a noble man!

MUeLLER.

What a beautifully human state of mind!

SCHLOSS.

One can still be benefited by things like this, but when I
see such nonsense I should like to smash it with a single blow.

LEUTNER.

I began to feel quite sad too--the nightingale--the
lovers--the last tirade--why the play has some really beautiful
passages after all!

_Hall in the palace_

_Large company. The_ KING. _The_ PRINCESS. _Prince_ NATHANIEL. _The_
COOK (_in gala costume_)

KING (_sitting on throne_).

Over here, cook; now is the time to speak
and answer; I want to examine the matter myself.

COOK (_falls on his knees_).

May it please your majesty to express
your commands for your highness's most faithful servant?

KING.

One cannot expend too much effort, my friends, in keeping a
king--on whose shoulders lies the well-being of a whole country and
that of innumerable subjects--always in good humor. For if he falls
into a bad humor, he very easily becomes a tyrant, a monster; for good
humor encourages cheerfulness, and cheerfulness, according to the
observations of all