Page:Works of Voltaire Volume 36.djvu/125

Rh And, oh disaster dire to tell! He broke her eggs as down he fell. His courser started at the sight, To the next thicket took his flight. An honest monk, as people say, Happened, just then, to pass that way, The steed his monkship quickly strides, And, post-haste, to his convent rides; Her cap, which was become a fright, Marton's first care, was to set right. To Robert turning then she said, "My twenty crowns where are they fled?" The knight, in hesitating strain, Seeking his purse and steed in vain, Excuses offered, all were lame, For no excuse would serve the dame. Being thus injured, straight she went To tell the king her discontent: "A knight has robbed me, Sire," she said, "And ravished too, but never paid." Wisely the king replied, "'Tis clear A rape is what has brought you here: Before Queen Bertha plead your cause, In these points well she kens the laws; She'll hear attentive what you say, And judgment pass without delay." Marton, with reverence bowed the head, And to the queen her way she sped. The queen was quite humane and mild, Looked on each subject as a child; But she was still severely bent To punish the incontinent: