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LABOULAYE’S FAIRY "BOOK Three decrees had already placed in his hands the police, the courts, and the finances. The doctor well understood all the advantages of centralization. "The way in which he administered the taxes relieved him from all personal anxiety for the future. The courts punished those who clamored too loudly; the police silenced those who whispered too much. Nevertheless, in spite of the ability of these political schemes, the people, always ungrateful, did not appreciate their happiness. The inhabitants of Wild Oats delight in complaining; the pleasure was spoiled for them. King Bizarre’s name was in all hearts and every one regretted the good old times when they shouted over the roof-tops that they were gagged. The doctor was ambitious; he was born for a prime minister. Every morning some new ordinance made the people feel that the king was nothing and the minister everything. Charming was the only one that did not perceive his nothingness. Shut up in his palace, and dying of ennul, his sole companion was a page placed near him by the prime minister on Rachimburg’s recommendation. Frolicsome, chattering, and indiscreet, a good musician and capital card-player, Tonto, for that was the page’s name, amused the king by his pranks; he pleased the prime minister no less, but by other virtues. Devoted to his benefactor, the good-natured page innocently repeated to 176
