THE KING. I have sent for you, O Eldest of the Wise Men, in an hour of
extreme perplexity. Not lightly would I have torn you from your
meditations. I have need of your wisdom.
THE WISE MAN. Whatever your majesty wishes to know, I shall answer out
of the fulness of knowledge born of long study and deep reflection.
Speak, O King! Is it of Infinity that you would ask? or of Eternity?--
or of the Absolute?
THE KING. Nothing so simple. I want to know what to do with a madwoman
who climbed in at my window an hour since, asserting herself to be the
daughter of the King of Basque, and my affianced bride--and with a
misguided populace which insists upon celebrating my alleged happiness.
(_The tumult is heard outside, this time with a harsh note in it. The
King starts, turning to the Gypsy_.) Is _that_ a sound of rejoicing?
THE GYPSY. No, your majesty. That sound means that the rumour has just
spread among them that the Princess of Basque has been falsely
imprisoned in the palace. They are calling for blood.
THE KING. What! An uprising against me?
THE GYPSY. Not at all, your majesty. They hold your majesty blameless.
They believe that you have been deceived by the false counsel of the
Eldest of the Wise Men. It is his blood they are calling for.
THE KING. (_to the Eldest of the Wise Men_) There you have it! That, as
some one has admirably phrased it, is the situation in a nutshell. What
shall we do?
THE WISE MAN. (_stupefied_) But your majesty--!
THE KING. Your advice--what is it? Come, be quick. Out of your wisdom,
born of long study and deep reflection, speak the word that shall set
this jangled chaos in order once more.
THE WISE MAN. Your majesty, I am afraid I do not understand these
things. If you had asked me about the Absolute--
THE KING. There is no Absolute any more! The Absolute has been missing
from this kingdom--and for all I know, from the Universe--since half-
past six o'clock this morning. No one regrets its absence more than I.
There can be no comfort, no peace, no order, without an Absolute. But
we must face the facts. The Absolute is gone, and this kingdom will be
without one until I restore it with my own hands. I shall set about
doing so immediately. And meanwhile, old man, you had better seek some
safe corner where my misguided populace cannot lay hands on you.