Page:Plunder (Perlman).djvu/8

2 itch remain engraved on your tongues, walls and skin--forever. But hold, Masters! I have it! To purge, ennoble, entertain? Obviously! Placed so far below you, I cannot approach your discernment. Oh Masters! To attribute my perspective to you! Forgive my impudent rashness! For how can you see dregs, froth and scum where I do? You have merely to see dregs, and you prosecute. Froth, and you judge. Scum, and you execute. Oh, Masters! Your generosity is truly unbounded! You grant a reprieve on such easy conditions! To purge you, ennoble, entertain you, I have merely to parade the dregs, froth and scum And let you prosecute, judge, and execute. What occupation can compete with the prosecutor's a soul-laxative, to purge-- What faster than a judge's bench can elevate a common conscience, ennoble it-- What greater joy than the executioner's--what entertainment? I have merely to prepare the surroundings. The steel beams. The marble walls. The security you crave in the court. And in the center, a rose.

SCENE: INDIA

Here, oh mighty prosecutor, is a dreg in far-off India. You'll quickly recognize the nature of his crime.