rnemuse. We have not a moment to lose. We must free the
Penguin people, we must deliver them from their tyrants, save them from
themselves, restore the Dragon's crest, reestablish the ancient State,
the good State, for the honour of religion and the exaltation of the
Catholic faith. Chatillon was a bad instrument; he broke in our hands.
Let us take a better instrument to replace him. I have the man who will
destroy this impious democracy. He is a civil official; his name is
Gomoru. The Penguins worship him, He has already betrayed his party for
a plate of rice. There's the man we want!"
At the beginning of this speech the monk of Conils had climbed into his
window and pulled up the ladder.
"I foresee," answered he, with his nose through the sash, "that you will
not stop until you have us all expelled from this pleasant, agreeable,
and sweet land of Penguinia. Good night; God keep you!"
Agaric, standing before the wall, entreated his dearest brother to
listen to him for a moment:
"Understand your own interest better, Cornemuse! Penguinia is ours. What
do we need to conquer it? just one effort more . . . one more little
sacrifice of money and . . ."
But without listening further, the monk of Conils drew in his head and
closed his window.
BOOK VI. MODERN TIMES.
THE AFFAIR OF THE EIGHTY THOUSAND TRUSSES OF HAY
O Father Zeus, only save thou the sons of the Acheans from the darkness,
and make clear sky and vouchsafe sight to our eyes, and then, so it be
but light, slay us, since such is thy good pleasure. (Iliad, xvii. 645
et seq.)
I. GENERAL GREATAUK, DUKE OF SKULL
A short time after the flight of the Emiral, a middle-class Jew called
Pyrot, desirous of associating with the aristocracy and wishing to serve
his country, entered the Penguin army. The Minister of War, who at the
time was Greatauk, Duke of Skull, could not endure him. He blamed him
for his zeal, his hooked nose, his vanity, his fondness for study, his
thick lips, and his exemplary conduct. Every time the author of any
misdeed was looked for, Greatauk used to say:
"It must be Pyrot!"
One morning General Panther, the Chief of the Staff, informed Greatauk
of a serious matter. Eighty thousand trusses of hay intended for the
cavalry had disappeared and not a trace of them was to be found.
Greatauk exclaimed at once:
"It must be Pyrot who has stolen them!"
He remained in thought for some time and said: "The more I think
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