Tannhäuser - Part Nineteen

A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale by Prince Stash with Audio Recording

From the exact opposite side of the Hall of Justice, a tall, somber prosecutor, clad all in black, arose. Unfurling a long parchment scroll, he began reading from it in lugubrious tones:

“The defendant is accused of every conceivable violation of the Laws of Love. Misusing the power of his position as a so-called “rock star,” he has become famous for expressing with shameless cynicism his abhorrent views.

Yet, driven by his insatiable lust, this hypocrite rushed into the trap deliberately laid out for him and, as planned, predictably fell in love with Her Divine Majesty.

Although his insecure, obsessive jealousy, along with his consequent ridiculous behavior, has provided a source of considerable amusement for Her Divine Majesty, the prosecution asks Your Honor to reject out of hand the contemptible appeal lodged by The Lady Silvia to the effect that the Defendant should simply be expelled from The Realm.

Instead, we submit to the court that he should be summarily condemned to toil in perpetual exile within the barren fields of Longing!”

The prosecutor’s startling statement that he had been deliberately lured into the Realm to be punished shook Tannhäuser out of his meek, contrite torpor, and he looked up startled as the Lord Chief Justice addressed him:

“Does the defendant have anything to say before we pass sentence?”