“Hum! Hum!” replied the king. “Then I…I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to…”
He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed.
For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience.
He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.
“If I ordered a general,” he would say, by way of example, “if I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not obeyme, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be my fault.”
〖精读笔记〗
sputter [ˈspʌtə(r)] v. 发劈啪声；气急败坏地说
vexed [vekst] adj. 生气的，烦恼的，恼怒的
fundamentally [ˌfʌndəˈmentəli] adv. 根本地，从根本上
insist [ɪnˈsɪst] v. 坚持认为（insist upon坚持，坚决要求）
authority [ɔːˈθɒrəti] n.权力; 威权; 当权(地位);
tolerate [ˈtɒləreɪt] vt. 忍受；宽恕
disobedience [ˌdɪsəˈbiːdiəns] n. 不服从；违反，违抗
absolute [ˈæbsəluːt] adj. 绝对的；完全的；专制的
reasonable [ˈriːznəbl] adj. 合理的；通情达理的
general [ˈdʒenrəl] n. 将军，上将
obey [əˈbeɪ] vt. 服从，听从
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