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48.<br />
·.<br />
,..<br />
(<br />
TO BOT AI<br />
I know I'm about to die. I came back--simply to ask you a<br />
question.<br />
Ask it!<br />
GENGHIS KHAN'<br />
Have yo~~ver once<br />
stretc9"out, to lie<br />
GENGHIS KHAl'J<br />
And think of a woman--<br />
A Mongol<br />
TO BOT AI<br />
felt tired? Tired, and wanting only to<br />
quietly somewhere--<br />
TOBOTAI<br />
woman, warm as wine--<br />
(TO ;THE SKYLARK)<br />
white-~<br />
TO BOT AI<br />
Under a clear blue sky--<br />
GENGHIS KHAN<br />
And look at a flock of sheep, immaculately<br />
..<br />
(<br />
' \<br />
e.: ·'<br />
GENGHIS KHAN<br />
And listen to the song of a shepherd?<br />
HE SINGS THE SAME SHEPHERD'S SONG.<br />
TOBOTAI, Du~!BFOONDED, STARES AT<br />
WHAT MIGHT BE A MADMAN. GENGHIS<br />
KHAN STOPS ABRUPTLY AND BURSTS IN<br />
TO LAUGHTER.<br />
You see, ~'m just. like you. There are moments when I, too,<br />
think of childishness. But at present--<br />
TO BOT AI<br />
At present, you have eyes only for the red of blood, the cold<br />
. blue of steel.<br />
GENGHIS KHAN<br />
And ears only for the moans of the tortured--the shriek of<br />
a babe as its head is lopped off, its mother's nipple still<br />
in its mouth; the sobs of a young wife over the warm corpse<br />
of her husband; the lugubrious song of a dull blade hacking<br />
into fresh bone. Tobotai? M~ destiny is to build an empire?<br />
You are a firefly: how could you understand the stars?<br />
TO BOT AI<br />
I regret that I don't have a sword in my hand.<br />
GENGHIS KHAi.'J<br />
You're not worthy to hold--<br />
------
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