They said the blood cools from year to year,
And since you lack heat through an oversight,
Wrap a live wolf's skin about the flesh you'd redeem–
At the height of its natural heat.
That should compensate, it would seem,
For energy years can deplete.
To make a long story short,
Try a wolf-skin dressing-gown."
The king welcomed the report;
The wolf was flayed, torn up, choked down.
The king devoured his former escort
And found the skin a constant comfort.
Courtiers, don't be slanderers; better turn a deaf ear.
Why must one compromise a fair career?
The evil flies home faster than the good we have done.
This is sure; slanders are laid at the slanderer's door.
Courts are places, furthermore,
Where nothing is forgiven one.
