[_They touch glasses with one another._ EVERMANN _moves about, serving the guests, passing coal for the pipes, and so forth_.] KING (_aside_). Grumbkow, I wager it will be right jolly tonight. GRUMBKOW (_aside_). We'll soon begin to tap the Prince. KING (_aside_). Be merciful. His brow is already bedewed with the sweat of anxiety. [_Aloud_.] Tell me. Prince, since you have windbagged yourself about so much of the world--do they smoke tobacco in Versailles also? [Illustration: KING FREDERICK WILLIAM I AND HIS "TOBACCO COLLEGIUM" ADOLPH VON MENZEL] PRINCE. No. Your Majesty, but I've seen sailors in London who chew it. KING. Brr! Grumbkow, we'll not introduce that fashion here. It's not because of the taste, but such meals would be right costly. HOTHAM. Our sailors use tobacco as a remedy for scurvy. SECKENDORF. What is scurvy? PRINCE. The scurvy, Count, is a disease which begins with an evil tongue. KING (_aside_). Take notice, Grumbkow, he's pricked. On with the attack. GRUMBKOW. Eversmann, have the newest Dutch journals arrived? EVERSMANN. Yes, Your Excellency; full of lies, as usual. KING. Lies? Then, according to the proverb, that explains why our beer is so sour. GRUMBKOW. Tell me, Eversmann, is there no news from Ansbach in the journals? HOTHAM (_aside to_ PRINCE). Arm yourself. EVERSMANN (_impertinently_). Why should there be news from such a little country? KING. Be quiet! Prussia also was once a little country. Tell me rather, what do the Dutch write about Prussia? EVERSMANN. Outrageous things. They say that many deserters have again fled from Potsdam. KING. That's not a lie, unfortunately. PRINCE. But they express themselves with more politeness in Holland. KING. How then, Prince? PRINCE. They say that Your Majesty's Guards consist mostly of men who suffer from an abnormal growth. These giants, so they say, have periods where they shoot up to such an extent that they grow and grow beyond the tree-tops and disappear altogether from human ken. KING. Ha, ha! Wittily expressed. But drink, Prince, drink. GRUMBKOW. I imagined that Your Highness read only French journals. PRINCE. I would rather read Prussian newspapers. But, thanks to General von Grumbkow's policies, no newspaper dare appear in Prussia. KING. Ha, ha! There you have it! [_Aside_.] See, see, he's not afraid to speak his mind. 'Twill be a merry night. HOTHAM (_aside to_ PRINCE). Not too sharp--be milder at first. GRUMBKOW (_aside_). Seckendorf, it's time to exercise your wit. SECKENDORF (_aside_). Hush--I'm getting something ready. I will choose my own time. KING. But you're not drinking, Prince. You're expected to drink here. [_Aside_.] Eversmann, keep his glass well filled-- HOTHAM (_aside_). They want to make you drunk. Push your tankard nearer my place. KING. You know the old Dessauer, Prince? PRINCE (surprised). Why, Your Majesty-- KING.