[rajnish manga]

As the shuttles dashed through the warp they lifted up the heavy battens, and when the
shuttles stopped they let the battens fall and pressed the threadstogether. Their faces were pinched with famine, and their thinhands shook and trembled. Some haggard women were seated at atable sewing. A horrible odour filled the place. The air was fouland heavy, and the walls dripped and streamed with damp.The young King went over to one of the weavers, and stood by himand watched him.

And the weaver looked at him angrily, and said, 'Why art thouwatching me? Art thou a spy set on us by our master?'

'Who is thy master?' asked the young King.

'Our master!' cried the weaver, bitterly. 'He is a man like myself.Indeed, there is but this difference between us - that hewears fine clothes while I go in rags, and that while I am weak
from hunger he suffers not a little from overfeeding.'

'The land is free,' said the young King, 'and thou art no man'sslave.'


'In war,' answered the weaver, 'the strong make slaves of the weak,and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work tolive, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil forthem all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and ourchildren fade away before their time, and the faces of those welove become hard and evil. We tread out the grapes, and anotherdrinks the wine. We sow the corn, and our own board is empty. We have chains, though no eye beholds them; and are slaves, though mencall us free.'