[Fries, John Williams, b. 1846]
And it came to pass that, in the year '66 in the month of Shebat
[May] there reigned over one the departments
Hildreth
whose surname is
Smith
, whose cognomen is
Tiger
. And he was a man of exceding height and fair to
look upon. And
in those days the subjects of
Hildreth
became exceeding wroth with him, and set about to
devise some plan whereby he might be overthrown. Now there was in those days a
man named
Jones
whose surname is
Watson
, a
dealer in Merchandise, and the subjects of
Hildreth
knew him and went to him, and they exchanged
shekels of silver with him, for a composition called powder, moreover they
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procured a string wrapped in powder—yea having powder all through it, and
they deposited them in their pockets—even on the inside of their
garments, and they journeyed to the place where
Hildreth
held his court. Now there chanced to be a rostrum
or throne
3 on
which sat
Hildreth
when he ruled, and the subjects removed this
rostrum or throne
4
from the place wher
eon it stood: and with an
auger the size of a man's finger did they bore a hole—even through the
floor, and
in it they inserted the string
wrapped in and through with powder, and over the hole th
ey placed the powder—even all that they had bought, and
they placed the
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throne
5 in
its accustomed place, yea over the powder, and the string led from under the
building to the outside thereof. And it came to pass that about the eleventh
hour
Hildreth
, the Prince, arrived at the place where he held his court and
the subjects were ranged beneath him to be judged, and he was judging them. Now
while
Hildreth
sat in judgement behold a man! one of his subjects
whose name is unknown even to this day—did with fire—yea with fire
which burneth—ignite the end of the string which led from the outside of
the building even to the thronn on which sat
Hildreth
; and it burned quickly, and when it drew nigh unto
the powder, which was under the throne
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whereon sat
Hildreth
, the Prince—behold the noise of a great
explosion met the air, yea it was heard afar off, even the fowls of the air did
fly away sorely frightened, and the beasts of the field did hide themselves in
the depths of their caverns, and
Hildreth
, the Prince, was inflated, yea, verily, he was
blown up to the height of about three cubits, and he fell backwards upon his
back, whereat his subjects rejoiced exceedingly; and in such manner was
Hildreth
, the Prince, whose surname is
Smith
whose cognomen is
Tiger
, whose ruleth over one of the departments of
David
, the King, blown up, Now
Jordan
, the Ethiopian, whose surname is
Swain
who is of the household of
David
, the King, drew nigh, and
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when his eyes beheld that which was done he lifted
up his voice in praise of the rebellious subjects, saying: eye hath not
seen—ear hath not heard, Neither hath aught like this before entered the
mind of man, to conceive it, and it pleased the subjects mightly. Now it came
to pass that it was noised abroad throughout the land. How
Hildreth
the Prince had been overthrown, and the
noise news came to the
year ear of
David
, the King; then he arose and rent his mantle and
shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and blasphemed and said: let the
hour perish wherein I was born; cursed be the cow that sustained me with milk
when my mother's breasts were dry; damned be that old grey mule that didn't
throw me off and break my neck when I journeyed towards
Chapel
Hill; let Hell be the portion of those of my subjects who hanged me in
effigy and not in reality; Oh! that I had never seen the light" Then he
arose and sent messengers to summon his Princes to Council, and the Princes who
assembled at the call of
David
the King were
James
,
surnamed
Phillips
, together with his son
Charles
;
Fordyce
, the dignified;
Manuel
,
who keepeth the monies;
Solomon
who oweth allegiance to a far off country, together with
William
, whose surname is
Martin
—a mighty man of war.
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And they were annoyed and marvelled exceedingly at that which had been done.
And behold
Hildreth
, the Prince, was not there! and
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they tarried for him; and when they beheld him a
far off and knew him they lifted up their voice and wept and they rent, every
one his mantle, and sprinkled dust on their heads towards heaven; and none
spake a word to him, for they saw his grief was very great. And they took
council together and resolved that the r
ebellious subjects should be banished—even from the
kingdom. And it came to pass on the day following that
David
, the King, stood in the presence of the rebellious
subjects and thus addressed them: "ye wicked and perverse generation,
whose paths are crooked, and whose deeds are shrouded in darkness, whose ways
are evil, and whose countenances betray ye devils. Know ye not that ye shall be
banished from our peacful presence, unless ye confess this outrage and humbly
ask forgiveness? know ye not that I shall be made acquainted with the
performers of this deed? Yea though I make ye swear who did it, are ye not
aware that my Princes shall be respected and the peace and quiet of my kingdom
maintained? And the King's anger was kindled against his rebellious subjects,
and he could not find words to speak it to them So he arose and departed, and
so wroth was he that his knees did knock one against the other as he left,
8
but neither did
King
David
nor any of his Princes discover the doers of the deed, and it is
covered with darkness—even until this day.
9