Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-10-14
The King and the COttdger'
A PERSIAN LEGEND.

w lIO lulON hAo hih9oOhi "NAh'
Il must build another palace
Observed this mighty King;
For this is-getting shabby
Along the southern wing;
And, really, for monarch,
1t isn't quite the thing.
SO | will have a new one,
Although [ greatly fear,
To build it just to suit me,
Will cost me rather dear;
And I'll choose, God wot, another spo
Much finer than this here
So he travelled Ger his kingdom
A proper sight to find.
Where he might build a palace
Exactly to his mind,
All with pleasant prospect
Before it, and behind
Not long with this endeavor
The King had travelled round,
Ere, to his royal pleasure,
A charming spot he found; A p
But an ancient widows cabin
Was standing on the ground.
'Ah, here exclaimed the monarch,
is just the proper spot,
If this woman would allow me
10 remove her little cot
But the beldam answered plainly,
She had rather he would not
Within this lonely cottage,
Great Monarch, | was born;
And only from this cottage
By Death will l be torn:
So spare it, in your justice,
Or spoil it in your scorn!'
Then all the courtiers Knocked her,
With cruel words and jeers =
''Tis plain her royal master
She neither loves nor fears
We would knock her ugly hovel
About her ugly ears !
When ever was a subject
Who might the King withstand ?
Or deem his spoken pleasure
AS less than his command?
OF course he'll rout the beldam,
And confscate her land =
But, to their deep amazement,
His Majesty replied:
Good woman, never heed them,
The King is on your side:
Your cottage is your castle,
And here you shall abide.
TO raze it in moment,
The power is mine, grant;
My absolute dominion
A hundred poets chant;
For being Khan of Persia,
There's nothing that | can't!
C'T was in this pleasant fashion
The mighty monarch spoke;
For kings have merry fancies
Like other mortal folk:
And none so high and mighty
But loves his little joke.)
But power is scarcely worthy
Of honor or applause,
That in its domination
Contemns the widows cause,
Orperpetrates injustice .H.a
By trampling on the laws.
THAT | have wronged the meanest
No honest tongue may say
So bide you in your cottage.
Good woman while you may:
What's yours by deed and purchase
No man may take away.
and I will build beside it,
For though your cot may be
In such lordly presence
No fitting thing to see,
If it honor not my castle,
1t will surely honor me
For so my loyal people,
Who gaze upon the sight,
Shall know that in oppression
[ do not take delight;
Nor hold a kings convenience
Before subjects right !''
Now from his spoken purpose
The King departed not;
He built the royal dwelling
! Upon the chosen spot,
And there they stood together,
The palace and the cot
Sure such unseemly neighbors
Were never seen before;
His Majesty is doting,
His silly courtiers swore
But all true loyal subjects,
They loved their king the more.
Long, Long he ruled his kingdom
In honor and renown;
But danger ever threatens
The head that wears a crown,
And Fortune, tired of smiling,
For once put on frown.
For ever secret Envy
. Attends high estate;
c And ever lurking Malice
Pursues the good and great;
And ever base Ambition
VIII end in deadly Hate
And so two wicked courtiers,
Who long had strove in vain,
By craft and evil counsels,
To mar the monarch's S reign,
Contrived a scheme internal
Whereby he should be slain
But as all deeds of darkness
Are won't to leave q clew
d Before the glaring sunlight
!. To bring the knaves to view,
: That sin may be rewarded,
l. And Satan get his due
: : To plan their wicked treason,
They sought lonely spot
Behind the royal palace,
Hard by the widows cot,
Who heard their Vaccinations,
And straight revealed the plot
Il see, exclaimed the Persian,-
The just are wise alone;
:, Who spares the rights of others
May chance to guard his own: