“Did you hear?” asked Coyote.
“What?” said Crow.
“Well, it turns out that the Prince of Beer was lying!
The royal mantle’s a fake!”
“A fake?” asked Crow.
“Yep, Made in Switzerland, land where people
with cash get away with anything.”
“A fake?” echoed Crow.
“Like Tom Paine said: The strongest natural proof “the folly
of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it.”
“Mother Nature disproves it?”
“No, dis-ap-proves it. “Otherwise, she would not so
frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.””
“An ass for a lion?” Crow pondered. Then, with a flash of insight
and an energetic flap of the wings, “Now I get it! That’s why
they cover themselves head to toe
with faux skin. The whole thing’s a fake!”
“Yes. A fake!” exclaimed Coyote, as he marks the trail with
a fresh bit of pee mixed with droppings, and Crow takes off
without a word heading into the longer shadows of the silent East.