'"
"All right!" says the army. "We'll fish up kingdoms for you with the
bayonet."
We couldn't back out, you know; and if he had taken it into his head to
conquer the moon, we should have had to get ready, pack our knapsacks,
and climb up. Fortunately, he didn't have any such intention.
The kings, who were very comfortable on their thrones, naturally didn't
want to get off to make room for his relatives; so they had to be
dragged off by the ears. Forward! We marched and marched, and
everything began to shake again. Ah, how he did wear out men and shoes
in those days! He struck such tremendous blows with us that if we had
been other than Frenchmen we should all have been used up. But Frenchmen
are born philosophers, and they know that a little sooner or a little
later they must die. So we used to die without a word, because we had
the pleasure of seeing the Emperor do this with the geographies. [Here
the old soldier nimbly drew a circle with his foot on the floor of the
barn.
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