| In return for providing them passage They give you two coins, stamped on one side With the face, grinning sideways, Of the latest mortal king, Who will himself, one day, pass by you, with the same coins, And he may even exclaim, �Look here, man! Here is my face on the coin of the realm And still this is what happens to me? Bemoan my fate, O Cruel Dark Immortal!� And you will brush him aside like all the rest. The other side of the coins will show a symbol, A building, a bird, a tree, maybe an olive branch Which is supposed to signify longevity or peace Or some other triviality which these mortals Find important. They will give you these coins and expect A spectral reply, and you will say �Gratia,� and once you say it They will float away satisfied, as if you had any place To spend their worthless coinage in this god detested pit. They will call you a Miser and they will call all-powerful Death a mere Daemon, and they consider it due process that you take them across. And you have nothing to do but pole the darkprowed boat slowly and chuckle slightly to yourself, under your robed hood, knowing that you throw all the coins into the water. |
| Charon, to his Apprentice |
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