The kingdom to which Trurl repaired was
ruled by King Atrocitus. He was a
militarist to the core, and an incredible miser besides. To relieve the royal treasury, he did away
with all punishments except for the death sentence. His favorite occupation was to abolish
unnecessary offices; since that included the office of executioner, every
condemned citizen was obliged to do his own beheading, or else – on rare
occasions of royal clemency – have it done by his next of kin. Of the arts Atrocitus supported only those
that entailed little expense, such as choral recitation, chess, and military
calisthenics.
(from The Cyberiad Stories,
by Stanislaw Lem)
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