The Count picked up a newspaper and began leafing through the Style section. "'Today, the 22 February, will be executed Vermilingo Smeagollo, guilty of murthering the very respectable and venerable person of Don Deagollo Frodoni, canon of the church of St. Lutienna of the Long Hair, and the one named Pippino, convicted of complicity with the detestable bandit Luigi Vanya ...' Hum! 'The first will be goblinato, the second decapitato.' Yes, indeed," resumed the Count. "That was how things were originally planned, but I believe there's been a change, and that ..." (he glanced at the newspaper, as if to recall the name) "Pippino will be accorded mercy. That deprives you of the guillotinade, but the goblinata remains – it is a very curious punishment when you see it the first time, or even the second... My first time was when some rebel eagles were executed for refusing to take passengers to Mordor. Fifteen birds in five fir trees... What, I wondered, would the authorities do with the amusing little things? The guillotine, on the other hand, is boringly predictable; it never fails, never needs to be repeated three times, as happened to the Count of Brie... Bha!" exclaimed the Count contemptuously. "Don't speak to me about hobbites and their punishments; they are at the infancy, or rather the decrepitude of the art of cruelty."
"In verity, monsieur le comte," replied Arafrantz. "You seem to have made a comparative study of means of execution."
