They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
Dog-gonnit… could you give just a tad more narrative help to those of us who are video impaired? A short summary would be really nice, Joel. 🙂
Sorry about that, ML. I just didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
Robber suddenly reaches across the counter with a pistol. Big Damn Dog, previously hidden, instantly lunges into the frame and grabs robber’s arm with clear intent to amputate. Robber drops guns, somehow shakes off dog, runs for door. Dog can’t make it to countertop – shopkeeper gives it a hand. Dog launches after robber.
Come back here, lunch.