A Comedy of Errors in Seven Acts | Page 9

Alas I know the temptress doth beguile;
Hence sympathy doth plead for helping hand.
If 'tis thy wish, I in
most guarded speech
Will whisper caution in his youthful ear.

_Francos:_ 'Tis well. But still I fear me over much
That he, like highly tempered steel, will bend
Only to swift rebound,
and further by
Reaction go from paths of rectitude.
_(Seldonskip
indolently approaches.)_
_Seldonskip:_ Most noble gentlemen, I
greet thee sweet:
I t tireth mightily, this placid sea.

Methinks a storm, a mighty, raging
storm,
To break monotony would lend to life
A phlegm, and hence a tedious day
become
More gladsome. Alack-a-day when I did
leave
Those gilded halls where beauty did
indwell.
O n this good ship naught but uncertain
age
Measures those forms divine to which
we kneel.
_(Seldonskip walks slowly on.)_
_Quezox speaking to Francos._
Most noble sire, in wonderment
I pause.
If I may query put, what mental rheum
Did cause selection
of such vacuous mind
To fill a post requiring mental grasp?

_Francos:_ Good Quezox, surely I was misinformed.
Full well; his sire, I dreamed, was made of clay Much finer than is
wont within the mold,
And so I eager seized his proffered aid.
But
keen regret doth fill my troubled soul
And fears prophetic, to the
future point.
But, noble friend, we'll let the matter drop
If it hath
weight to fall, which much I doubt.
_Quezox:_ Ha! Ha! I see! he hath
so little force,
That gravitation with him worketh not!
_Francos:_ Now, noble
Quezox, we must quick devise
Some method to surmount the vicious laws
Of civil service, which
with shrewd design
Purpose to keep those vultures in their nests,

While others long denied official posts,
Shall wander in the
wilderness, and ne'er
Set wary foot within the promised land.

_Quezox:_ Most worthy sire, when guile hath strong intrenched,
Guile of a firmer mould, should countermatch,
And beat the bulwarks
down; 'twere easy done.
In sooth so easy that no glory crowns
The

working of a scheme so patent to
An eagle eye, which hath
discernment keen.
To unmake offices, were quickly done.
To lower
stipends till the hungry mouth
Shall to the belly say: "We must go
hence
Or else we perish," were a shrewd device.
'Twere he who
holds the money bags, must rule
And we the golden sword hold in
our grasp.
_Francos:_ Ah noble Quezox, thou hast clearly solved
The riddle which hath cost me sleepless nights
It shall be done. But
who approacheth me?
_Quezox:_ Sire, heed him not! Let's to our
state rooms hie.
In truth methinks this man doth seek to spy,
And it were wise indeed
to guard each port.
To pass an idle moment, it were well
In
converse to enjoin; but this man speaks
Through eyes that warning
give that he hath brains. Hence it were best to pass him idly by,
And
only mouth vain words with those who, dull,
Can work no harm by
mouthing what were said.
_(Quezox takes Francos by the arm and
moves off
muttering to himself)_
'Tis thus I guard this weakling from the throng.
And hold his foolish ear unto myself.
ACT IV
Dramatis Personae
_Francos:_ . . . . . . _Governor General of a Province._

_Quezox:_ . . . . . . _Resident Delegate of the Province._
_Seldonskip:_ . . . . _Secretary of the Governor General._
_Commissioners_
_Halstrom:_ . . . . . _Aide to the Governor
General._
_Scene I. Garden of the Palace._
_Francos (Soliloquizes):_ Methinks the poet of the past who scrolled

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"
Indeed were wise and
kenned whereof he wrote.
His keen imagination doth amaze
And
fill my mind with wonder at his full
Discernment of the most
unhappy lot
Which great responsibility doth load
Upon the
shoulders of betroubled men
Whom fate relentless hath before
ordained
To, like the pack-horse, patiently, each day,
Upbear most
galling burden, born of cares
Which do encompass the affairs of state.

When in the Nation's forum I did sit,
Like to a minnow in a mighty
pool,
I did disport, and, nourishing no care,
Found naught to mar
the pleasures born each day. But now there looms before me mountain
high
Questions of mighty import to the state
Which I must quickly
and with wisdom solve
Without the bell mare's chime to charm mine
ear.