Very different from the _Counsel of the Father_ is Smil's other important work, _The New Council_, written in 1394 or 1395, somewhat later than the book referred to before. As I have already mentioned, it is one of those beast-epics in which mediæval writers put their social and political ideas into the mouths of various animals, while certain animals generally became the representatives of persons or of classes of the people. Smil's work, one of the most noteworthy of these writings, is an elaborate and very striking satire on the condition of Bohemia at this period. The young lion who, on his accession to the throne, assembles all animals around him in council, is undoubtedly King Venceslas IV. of Bohemia; and the eagle, who is the first to appear before the king, represents Moravia, the land that for many centuries was suzerain to Bohemia. To most of the other animals who (forty-four in number)--a quadruped always alternating with a bird--successively appear before the king, an allegorical significance can be attributed. The leopard, who follows the eagle, is the representative of the Bohemian nobility; and, true to his character, he says to the king: "Allow no foreigners in your council; put not your trust in the peasant; rather consult your high-born and noble lords on the welfare of the land." The wolf here, as in many other beast-epics, represents the monks; the fox, who tells the king that "he has need of us, the lower ones," is the representative of the citizens, who were always opposed to the nobility, and therefore favoured the increase of the royal power. The starling is the representative of the ordinary court-poets; while the nightingale personifies Smil himself and those poets who were enthusiastic for the Bohemian nation. The praise of poetry which Smil puts into the mouth of the nightingale is considered the finest part of his work; and I shall translate a passage from it. The last "counsel," that of the swan, is couched in deeply religious language. Smil has indeed in this passage closely imitated the celebrated hymn, "Dies Iræ." Of this "counsel," also, it may be well to translate a small portion. Smil in his first verses expounds the motive of his tale; he writes: "King Lion once upon a time--Sent many messengers--To his princes, to his lords--To all counties, in every direction--He sent for the large beasts and the small ones--Saying that they should all appear before him--This also he decided, that the eagle should receive notice--That, taking all the other birds with him--He should appear before the throne of the king."