Chapter 1

WE OFTEN CONDEMN IN OTHERS WHAT WE PRACTISE OURSELVES.

(Alexander the Great in his tent. A man with a fierce countenance, chained and fettered, brought before him.)

ALEXANDER.—What, art thou the Thracian robber, of whose exploits I have heard so much?

ROBBER.—I am a Thracian, and a soldier.

ALEXANDER.—A soldier?—a thief, a plunderer, an assassin! the pest of the country! I could honour thy courage, but I must detest and punish thy crimes.

ROBBER.—What have I done of which you can complain?

ALEXANDER.—Hast thou not set at defiance my authority, violated the public peace, and passed thy life in injuring the persons and properties of thy fellow-subjects?

ROBBER.—Alexander! I am your captive. I must hear what you please to say, and endure what you please to inflict. But my soul is unconquered; and if I reply at all to your reproaches, I will reply like a free man.

ALEXANDER.—Speak freely. Far be it from me to take the advantage of my power, to silence those with whom I deign to converse!

ROBBER.—I must then answer your question by another. How have you passed your life?

ALEXANDER.—Like a hero. Ask Fame, and she will tell you. Among the brave, I have been the bravest; among sovereigns, the noblest; among conquerors, the mightiest.

+sich über etwas beklagen.+ Use the 2nd person Plural when the robber addresses Alexander.

+und dein Leben damit zugebracht.+

= the personal safety.

+deiner Nebenmenschen.+

+überhaupt.+

= to use.

‘Fame,’ here +Fama+, +die Göttin des Ruhmes+. FAME, or FAMA, was a poetical deity, represented as having wings and blowing a trumpet. A temple was dedicated to her by the Romans.

Section 226.

THE TWO ROBBERS.