The Trader and the Traitor
The trader and the traitor
walked down the road that day,
said the trader to the traitor,
“What have you to say
of this war, that ravage our land,
and kill our youth quicker than any god can?”
Said traitor to trader,
“Here’s what I say:
Damned be the war,
and all those who may
partake in its unholy task
the killing of men and boy so fast
that all of the womenfolk wail,
and cry for their sons,
who to next-life will sail.”
Said trader to traitor,
“Now here’s what I say,
nothing better for business than
death every day.
I used to sell candles,
now I sell swords,
and every day they all ask for more.
I buy all the weak ones, the ones
that may break,
so I sell twice the swords
in half of the days.”
Said traitor to trader,
“You devil, you ask
what I think of your
selfish and disast-
rous plan, your great ruse,
you’ve killed more men
than a red-clad hanger of noose--
and I cannot believe,
that you do not over any man grieve,
because truly,
when I say you do kill,
you kill more than I run,
and I was a runner,
but still,
there is something,
to say for your plan,
perhaps if I take some
of those swords from your hand
and sell them to the men I pass
by,
You’ll forgive my rude words,
and you’ll pay me sometimes?”
Comments
Damned be the war,
and all those who may
partake in its unholy task
the killing of men and boy so fast
that all of the womenfolk wail,
and cry for their sons,
who to next-life will sail.”
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