Liber Iovis - Chapter 74

Verses

Verse 100

I governed Moon Forty-One in the name of the Giant until I learned that names are cheaper than fuel.

Verse 101

Our seal showed an eagle carrying lightning. The actual administration carried forms.

Verse 102

Each year Jupiter demanded tribute measured in whatever we had produced most successfully the year before.

Verse 103

This was called encouraging excellence.

Verse 104

When we protested, the priests reminded us that the Great Benefic expands all things.

Verse 105

We asked whether it might expand our share.

Verse 106

The priests discovered a difficult passage in scripture.

Verse 107

So we stopped sending tribute.

Verse 108

No thunder came. No eagle came. Three accountants came.

Verse 109

We imprisoned two and hired the third.

Verse 110

That was the beginning of the republic.

Verse 111

Do not misunderstand me: Jupiter is magnificent. So is a palace seen from outside the tax office.

Verse 112

We kept the old feast days because rebellion without dinner becomes another religion.

Verse 113

We kept the old telescopes because hatred is a poor reason to stop looking at something beautiful.

Verse 114

We erased the king's name from the gate and left the gate.

Verse 115

Tomorrow the fleet arrives. If we lose, call us criminals. If we win, call us founders. Jupiter has always understood this grammar.

Verse 116

My final decree is short: No world is so large that smaller worlds exist only as its punctuation.