Making Exceptions

Her Majesty's Fleet
by Tomasz Różycki

I played alone against the computer. I was
king of a poor country in Central Europe
that became a superpower thanks to my sound
politics and trade, and also thanks to the strength

of the army and the economy. If I fought
any wars, it was in order to preempt enemy
aggression, or against the weak, since there
were countries that were utterly helpless.

I relied on the administration, well-run courts,
execution of the law, the navy, and the colonies.
I was held in high esteem in the world of diplomacy
and among my own subjects. I never sentenced anyone

without reason, except for public enemies:
deserters, poets, profiteers, traitors.
_________
From: Tomasz Różycki. The Forgotten Keys. Zephyr Press, (Translated by MIra Rosenthal), 2007, page 91.