ing the truth?" asked Rusty. And Victor answered: "How could I report anything else to my gracious master? For the proverb says:
Whoever makes before a king
Small statements, but untrue,
Brings certain ruin on his gods
And on his teacher, too.
And again:
The king incarnates all the gods,
So sing the sages old;
Then treat him like the gods: to him
Let nothing false be told.
And once again:
The king incarnates all the gods,
Yet with a difference:
He pays for good or ill at once;
The gods, a lifetime hence."
"Yes," said Rusty, "I suppose you really did see him. The great do not become angry with the mean. As the proverb says:
The hurricane innocuous passes
O'er feeble, lowly bending grasses,
But tears at lofty trees: the great
Their prowess greatly demonstrate."
And Victor replied: "I knew beforehand that my master would speak thus. So why waste words? I will bring the creature into my gracious master's presence." And when Rusty heard this, joy overspread his lotus-face, and his mind felt supreme satisfaction.
Meanwhile Victor returned and called reproach-
