SOME Apes who had deposed1 their king fell at once into dissension
and anarchy2. In this strait they sent a Deputation to a
neighbouring tribe to consult the Oldest and Wisest Ape in All the
World.
"My children," said the Oldest and Wisest Ape in All the World,
when he had heard the Deputation, "you did right in ridding
yourselves of tyranny, but your tribe is not sufficiently3 advanced
to dispense4 with the forms of monarchy5. Entice6 the tyrant7 back
with fair promises, kill him and enthrone. The skeleton of even
the most lawless despot makes a good constitutional sovereign."
At this the Deputation was greatly abashed8. "It is impossible,"
they said, moving away; "our king has no skeleton; he was stuffed."
