Ludwig Tieck

“ King
handing his sceptre to Prince Nathaniel
Here — hold my sceptre a moment, Sir.
He feels the rabbit.
King
Fat! Nice and fat! From the Count of—
Hinze
Carabas.
King
Indeed, he must be an excellent man. I must become better acquainted with him. — Who is this man? Which of you knows him? — Why does he hold himself aloof from society? Imagine the loss to the nation if such fellows are allowed to remain idle! I could almost cry out for joy: Send me a rabbit! Groom, give it to the cook immediately. ”

“ I ask you then, in whose hands does the power lie to foster the good humor of the monarch if not in the hands of his cook? — Are not rabbits innocent creatures? Anyone who thinks otherwise must surely, I fear, have lost the purest jewel of his soul: his innocence. — I could never grow tired of making my country happy by means of these gentle creatures — and yet you expect me to go without rabbit! — Suckling pig, every day nothing but suckling pig. — Well, I'm finally fed up with suckling pig, you scoundrel! ”

“ One cannot expend too much effort, my friends, ensuring that the king – on whose shoulders lies the well-being of an entire country and its countless subjects – is always in good spirits. For if he falls into a bad mood, he can very easily become a tyrant, an ogre. Good humor encourages cheerfulness, and cheerfulness, as all philosophers have observed, encourages good behaviour ”