Frederick The Great
Three Anecdotes with Frederick the Great
Frederick was visiting a prison, and asked every prisoner what he was in prison for. All of them told
him they were innocent, except for one who confessed he was guilty of murder. The king had him
released, so he wouldn't corrupt the innocent.
While Frederick was riding in the street, a group of people came protesting about the high taxes.
They held up a large caricature of the king counting his money. Everybody expected the king to be
upset. But Frederick rode up and said, "Don't hold it too high, you might break your necks." They
tore up the picture and started cheering for the king.
Frederick decided to enlarge his park by the castle of Sans-souci. Part of the land he needed
belonged to a miller. Frederick offered to buy it from him, but the miller refused. The king offered a
larger sum, but still the miller refused.
"You know, I could take it by force," said Frederick.
"You could," replied the miller, "if there weren't judges in Berlin."
Delighted by the answer, the king left the miller alone. A French poet wrote:
...L� sont des jeux de prince:
Il respecte un moulin et il vole une province.
(Allusion to the province of Silesia, which Frederick took from Austria, without much right.)
