went, the King and his gentles, and sat down by the river under
the rustle of the poplars, and they ate and drank and were merry. And
the King bade bear up the broken meats to the vine-dressers, and a good
draught of the archer's wine, and to the headman he gave a broad gold
piece, and to each man three silver pennies. But when the poor folk
had all that under their hands, it was to them as though the kingdom of
heaven had come down to earth.

In the cool of the evening home rode the King and his lords. The King
was distraught and silent; but at last the captain, who rode beside
him, said to him: "Preach me now thine after-sermon, O King!"

"I think thou knowest it already," said the King, "else hadst thou not
spoken in such wise to the carle; but tell me what is thy craft and the
craft of all these, whereby ye live, as the potter by making pots, and
so forth?"

Said the captain: "As the potter lives by making pots, so we live by
robbing the poor."

Again said the King: "And my trade?"

Said he, "Thy trade is to be a king of such thieves, yet no worser than
the rest."

The King laughed.

"Bear that in mind," said he, "and then shall I tell thee my thought
while yonder carle spake. 'Carle,' I thought, 'were I thou or such as
thou, then would I take in my hand a sword or a spear, or were it only
a hedge-stake, and bid others do the like, and forth would we go; and
since we would be so many, and with nought to lose save a miserable
life, we would do battle and prevail, and make an end of the craft of
kings and of lords and of usurers, and there should be but one craft in
the world, to wit, to work merrily for ourselves and to live merrily
thereby.'"

Said the captain: "This then is thy sermon. Who will heed it if thou
preach it?"

Said the King: "They who will take the mad king and put him in a
king's madhouse, therefore do I forbear to preach it. Yet it SHALL be
preached."

"And not heeded," said the captain, "save by those who head and hang
the setters forth of new things that are good for the world. Our trade
is safe for many an many a generation."

And therewith they came to the King's palace, and they ate and drank
and slept and the world went on its ways.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dream of John Ball, A King's Lesson, by
William Morris

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DREAM OF JOHN BALL, KING'S LESSON ***

***** This file should be named 357.txt or 357.