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if he orders crops to be destroyed or fields to be planted, it is done.
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Everybody, soldier or civilian, obeys the emperor. And when he sits down to eat or drink and then falls asleep,
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his servants stand guard around him, without being able to go and take care of their own affairs, for they never disobey him.
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Gentlemen," he concluded, "since people obey the emperor like this, certainly nothing in the world is stronger than he is."
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The bodyguard who had written about women and the truth - it was Zerubbabel - spoke last.
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"Gentlemen," he began, "the emperor is certainly powerful, men are numerous, and wine is strong, but who rules and controls them all? It is women!
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Women gave birth to the emperor and all the men who rule over land and sea.
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Women brought them into the world. Women brought up the men who planted the vineyards from which wine comes.
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Women make the clothes that men wear; women bring honor to men; in fact, without women, men couldn't live.
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"Men may accumulate silver or gold or other beautiful things, but if they see a woman with a pretty face or a good figure,
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they will leave it all to gape and stare, and they will desire her more than their wealth.