They say that Caesar has Issued an Edict

	*tlf news*	Vol. x #3	December, 1989
	They say that Caesar has Issued an Edict

Sopiro: They say that Caesar has issued an edict
Ordering a head count of his subjects
Without exception: none's too old or young.
And everyone must register in person
In the town his tribe or family has its roots.

Ismael: But what could be the reason Caesar has
For ordering a census of the Jews?

Albano: The census has to be a general one
That covers the whole empire. I suspect
It's an attempt on Caesar Augustus' part
To get a clear statistical idea
Of how many healthy young men he's got
That he can count on to fill up the ranks
Of cannon fodder. And get the names of all,
In proportion as they are poor or rich,
So Rome can stick the poor with still more taxes.
The Empire's famed for pulling tricks like that.

Sopiro: Ain't it the truth. And what they really want
Is that the campesino and the shepherd
And the artisan work themselves to death:
Ripping up our feet on these rocky crags
Or wielding a machete, axe or plough.
We get to suffer T. B. and pneumonia
So that in Rome Caesar, the princesses,
The palace groupies and the ministers,
Not to mention provincial governors,
Can fill their pockets with our gold and silver.

Ester: But that is cruelty.

Ismael: It's tyranny.
But it's the sad condition of humankind.

-Padre José Trinidad Reyes (Honduras, 1797-1855)
La Pastorela de Albano

From all of us at teatro la fragua:

May your Christmas be filled
with peace and joy;
and may you help bring that peace
to this world of darkness in the new year.

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