As the bread lay next to the sword, the weapon demurred:
“You would certainly show me more respect if you heard
How by night and by day I conscientiously strive
So that you may safely go on keeping men alive.”
“I know,” said the bread, “the shape of your duty’s course:
You defend me less often than you take me by force.”
From Fables and Parables (1779) by Ignacy Krasicki, translated by Christopher Kasparek
