"Yes," said Gold, "I am well aware of this royal duty. It was to test you that I said what I did. Now I will cut the bonds of all, and you will have in them a numerous retinue. For the proverb says:
The king who mercifully grants
Due share in all good circumstance
To serving-folk, may fitly rise
The triple world to supervise."
After making these observations, Gold cut the bonds of all, then said to Gay-Neck: "Now, my friend, you are free to go home." So Gay-Neck went home with his retinue. Yes, there is wisdom in the saying:
Because a man can gain his ends,
Though difficult, with aid of friends,
Get friends, and feel those friends to be
Integral with prosperity.
Now Swift, who had followed the whole matter of Gay-Neck's capture and release, was filled with astonishment, and he thought: "What intelligence has this Gold! What capacity! What an ingenious fortress! It would therefore be wise for me also to make friends with Gold. Even though I am of a suspicious temperament, confiding in nobody, even if I am too clever to be overreached by anybody, even so I should win a friend. For the proverb says:
Even the self-sufficient should
Get friends, and seek a greater good:
The ocean fears no diminution,
Yet waits Arcturus' contribution."
