"And that is why I say that a king with shabby advisers brings no good to his dependents."
After telling the story, Lively continued: "Somebody must have set Rusty against me. Besides:
Soft water's scars elide
The mighty mountain side,
And leave it much diminished:
By those who have the trick
To make a whisper stick
Man's gentleness is finished.
"Under these circumstances, what action is opportune? Indeed, there is nothing left save battle. For the proverb says:
By gifts, by self-denial,
By sacrificial trial,
Some slowly win to heaven;
To him who yields his life
In glad, heroic strife,
Quick entrance there is given.
And again:
The slain attains the sky,
The victor joyful lives;
And heroes are content
With these alternatives.
And once again:
Gay maidens, smart with gems and gold;
The flyflap's royal toy;
Throne, horse, and elephant, and cash;
The white umbrella, joy
And sign of monarchs—shun the coward,
Are not for mamma's boy."