Verse 88
There was a king who feared questions more than armies, for armies announce themselves at the gate.
Liber Caeli - Chapter 40
Verses
Verse 89
He decreed that every why must be replaced with because the king has considered it.
Verse 90
The scholars prospered briefly by considering nothing.
Verse 91
One winter a child asked why the sky must be above.
Verse 92
The guards arrested her for geometrical sedition.
Verse 93
She drew Uranus in the dust, tilted almost upon its side.
Verse 94
The judge said, That planet is improper. The child said, Then arrest it.
Verse 95
The court laughed, which was the first unauthorized sound in twelve years.
Verse 96
Laughter passed through the city faster than proclamations.
Verse 97
By evening people were asking why taxes had seven names and why the royal cats ate better fish.
Verse 98
By morning the palace gates were open because the gatekeepers had questions of their own.
Verse 99
The king escaped disguised as a scholar, but nobody recognized the costume.
Verse 100
The child refused the throne.
Verse 101
She said, I only asked about the sky. You did the rest yourselves.