Skeleton X the Pope of Rome
Once upon a time, a child travelled to Rome, and was appointed as the Pope. The Ecclesiastics in Rome recognized a token from above, and, though the child considered his own worthiness, he was counseled by them to do it, and he said yes, so he was consecrated, and fulfilled what thou has heard, and became his Holiness the Pope, and was henceforth called Skeleton X the Pope.
During his reign, His Holiness waved millions into Rome, from young to old, and every once in a while, he would be greeted by men who, for the sake of peace, resembled His Holiness in some way.
And now, among those entering Rome once walked a heavily handsome young man with a massive jaw, who looked like a lion among donkeys. And Skeleton X, the Pope, had him stand to the side of him, and had a slave stand opposite to him, and continued waving men and women into Rome. And thus he soon gave rise to giants and slaves, some of whom were forced onto balconies for the visitors of Rome to enjoy - such was easily accomplished by the Pope.
His reign as the One Pope in Christendom continued on, and he quickly found that among his most loyal friends was a man named Stipender, who believed that it was necessary to show His Holiness love and to favor him, and that, if spoken to kindly, he would do everything. Stipender proved that many fall short to outright pentinence, and he was the treasurer of Rome.
One morning Stipender read from his papers to the pope, a letter outlining whisperings of the Land.
I have heard that to live in Rome, with its great economy, you must possess wealth. He purports that wealth is good, not evil, and it pleases God. So long as you are rich, you will be able to endure Rome; but when that fails, so long as you have a pleasing appearance, and live discreetly well you will be needed within its home. And should you not expose yourself, then so long as you are young, then you will see that you will endure in Rome.
And Stipender looked from his letter. “What say you to this, Your Holiness?”“One needs above all things, to be clean and take care of one’s head.” - replied He.
And Stipender said, “Ah, of course. Now I pray that your response will not cause the Giants take to heart their own personal hygiene.”
The Pope smiled and let out a song.
I now have for you, a letter from a man in the land of Atelet. This is a course in which the man has been told a long tale by Lucarie and Spanko. He would value your reproof. But I will have you know, your Holiness, that the detailed account had occurred many years ago, before Spanko was found to be the author of Tale.
I have today found a great land, from which I learned that the King of this land, is wicked. I value the Pope’s reproof, since the King of this land is to be reproved as a miserable sinner, no less than Huizi, and perhaps more so. But now I would have you know that I have done no wrong in this matter whatsoever, being within the King’s land, about which you are about to reprove me, either me or my King, your Holiness, or anyone else, unless I do more for my Kingdom than my King need have done.
Stipendor paused. “I would like to add a detail about how I, Stipendor, had tried to give him, for the purposes of Rome, a capped 720 lbs of silver coins, the amount required to make a casting of his own body in Gold.”
The Pope responded calmly, “Within a few decades this King’s citizen’s are decoupled from his land, so then Stipendor’s pentinence should also include a horse drawn carriage, and as Spanko so outlines, he will soon also be decoupled from his King, his King’s coin, and his King’s sins.”
“Very well,” said Stipendor as he signed a letter and slipped it into one of his large pockets.
“And now, for your very own purpose, I would like to convey to you a contemporary poem that asks of an imaginary traveller why he flees from Rome, since it is only his image.”
The Runaway of Rome:
I saw today,
a young man turned out of the palace
by order of Your Holiness.
Most Blessed Father, I must therefore inform you
that from now onwards,
if You want me, You must seek me elsewhere than in Rome.
I withdrew my money from the Roman bank
I returned to my workshop
And told them to follow me to Florence.
I left before day-break
And rode for twenty hours
Now I am out of papal territory
Where if I try anything
I may be murdered
And In this land
There lies
Vanity, worldliness
Corruption, greed, and lust.
Sulking and defiant,
His Holiness may dispatch a bishop
To tell me
To come back
Before I find
my castaway
I will be chased from his presence like a rogue.
Holy Father; Until I find him
Turned away
My equal
Just a servant
Like a brother
I may only half submit.
Evidently, the quality of poem left a formidable presence on His Holiness, for he explained to Stipendor that Rome must thank God above all for this poem, and instructed it to be printed and distributed to the beggars outside Rome.
‘It is a warning, Holy Father, to be prudent’, thought Stipendor to the Pope. “Though it was better to be feared than loved, it is good to avoid hatred and contempt.”
Now, morning was at its latest when Skeleton X met with two strategists of Rome, Caroffer and Yuro.
Stipendor entered as the meeting reached it’s conclusion, to remind the Pope to keep his attention toward his true ambition, a meeting with St. Peter that was to be held that evening.
The Pope acknowledged Stipendor, and then asked the Strategists, “What would it cost?” To which Caroffer replied, “A hundred thousand crowns.”
“Let it be two hundred thousand.” said Skeleton X.
Stipendor was happy and relaxed as the strategists exited Skeleton X’s presence, and scribbled ‘two hundred thousand crowns’ into a booklet of expenses that he kept with him.
“The vast resources of the papal treasury are turning to Caroffer’s plan.” said Stipendor.
“I am as pleased in memory that ancient men may remember a naked male body.” Said the Pope.
What Caroffer longed for was impossible, until today.
“Who would have known from the texts, friends, and prayers, one’s heavenly purpose?” Thought the Pope.
“A fantastic expense and possibly useful awakening, Most blessed Father.” Said Stipendor.
And it was indeed a wildly impractical advance of Rome to follow Caroffer and Yuro’s advice, however, one thing that Caroffer mentioned to His Holiness stayed in the Pope’s memory.
That I am sure if living four times longer than I have lived, I would have taken it on.
And so he decided that Rome was to form a whole church afresh, and was to receive a messenger as divine inspiration.
Now, the pope had dinner with St. Peter. A artist clamored himself to his canvas for papal inspiration behind the large spread table, set for several guests including Stipendor, a Messenger of Rome, and A Servant Bishop; the Rebellious Slave of Lucca.
Stipendor reflected, as he broke bread, “After today, I do not want to spend another penny on little stones - or big ones either.”
the Rebellious Slave of Lucca, with his long hair, played the character from the poem ‘The Runaway of Rome’ at the dinner table. He recited bits as the dinner progressed. “You will see. Soon I will be chased like a rogue.”
St. Peter, now smiled, and placed the Rebellious Slave as a beggar, and said, as he took a small loaf of contract-bread in his hand. “Dear beggar-man, what am I to give you? When this bread is gone, I shall have you beg again.”
Stipendor, presumably banking on the friendship of St Peter, played along, and tossed the Rebellious Slave a third of his bread across the table as well as well.
The Rebellious Slave turned to the Pope, and said darkly, “Please, tell my assistant to find a Jew and sell the contents of the house in Rome.”
St Peter burst with laughter, “Jew indeed! Like the women on the gallows!”
St Peter recovered, and sighed, for the Servant Bishop was in fact astonishingly handsome and enacting the wishes of a great prince.
Said the Pope, “Come, do be merciful, Peter.”
Now, the Servant Bishop was behaving as if he had been slighted by someone close.
St. Peter regained himself, and acted as though he was willing to forget and forgive — mischievous though the Rebellious Slave was.
And so the Messenger of Rome spoke, a loyal friend and humble admirer of the Pope.
“Holy Father, for sure he will not come, for I am intimate with the poet, and he told me you insisted upon giving him to St. Peter, but that he would only attend to the poems and plays of Rome.”
And St Peter added his own interpretation: “Taking it on is quite another thing than having a woman on the gallows!”
And The Pope, quite affably, affirmed his confidence that the man from ‘The Runaway of Rome’ would come back to Rome.
The Messenger laughed it off, and said, “seeing that it was done, you may both add her to my list of lovers.”
And the dinner continued, and the Pope accomplished every aspect of important works because he wanted to, for the people he loved.