A TRUMPETER who had been taken prisoner in a battle begged hard for
his life. “Spare me, I entreat you,” said he; “put me not to death
without cause. I have killed no one, nor do I carry arms, but only this
trumpet.”
“For that very reason,” said they who held him captive, “you shall the
more surely die; for though without the spirit to fight yourself, you
stir up others to violence and bloodshed.”
He who incites to strife is worse than he who takes part in it.