as cruel as the people who let the lion loose on
the man, you would be justly indignant. Now that we may no longer
see a man hanged, we assemble outside the jail to see the black
flag run up. That is our duller method of enjoying ourselves in
the old Roman spirit. And if the Government decided to throw
persons of unpopular or eccentric views to the lions in the
Albert Hall or the Earl's Court stadium tomorrow, can you doubt
that all the seats would be crammed, mostly by people who could
not give you the most superficial account of the views in question.
Much less unlikely things have happened. It is true that if such a
revival does take place soon, the martyrs will not be members of
heretical religious sects: they will be Peculiars, Anti-Vivisectionists,
Flat-Earth men, scoffers at the laboratories, or infidels who refuse
to kneel down when a procession of doctors goes by. But the lions
will hurt them just as much, and the spectators will enjoy themselves
just as much, as the Roman lions and spectators used to do.

It was currently reported in the Berlin newspapers that when
Androcles was first performed in Berlin, the Crown Prince rose
and left the house, unable to endure the (I hope) very clear and
fair exposition of autocratic Imperialism given by the Roman
captain to his Christian prisoners. No English Imperialist was
intelligent and earnest enough to do the same in London. If the
report is correct, I confirm the logic of the Crown Prince, and
am glad to find myself so well understood. But I can assure him
that the Empire which served for my model when I wrote Androcles
was, as he is now finding to his cost, much nearer my home than
the German one.

End of Project Gutenberg's Androcles and the Lion, by George Bernard Shaw

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANDROCLES AND THE LION ***

***** This file should be named 4003.txt or 4003.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/0/4003/

Produced by Eve Sobol. HTML version by Al Haines.

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of