"I assert, he said with a calm and low voice, I assert that Mr. Colomban has responsibility for an act that has put our country within two fingers of its loss. The case of Pyrot is secret and must remain secret. If disclosed, the most cruel wars, pillage, devastation, fires, massacres evils, epidemics, will be brought immediately on Penguinia. I would consider myself guilty of high treason if I uttered one word more." - General Greatauk, "L'Île des Pingouins", Anatole France, 1908, my translation with help from Google Translate
Colomban is Emile Zola who strongly defended Dreyfuss (Pyrot) in the press. For more on the Dreyfuss affair, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair.
Does this sound familiar a century after the Dreyfuss affair? At that time there was extreme anti-semitism. Are we now in a time of extreme anti-muslim paranoia?
The original French:
Je laisse, dit-il avec calme et d'une voix peu élevée, je laisse à monsieur Colomban la responsabilité d'un acte qui a mis notre pays à deux doigts de sa perte. L'affaire Pyrot est secrète; elle doit rester secrète. Si elle était divulguée, les maux les plus cruels, guerres, pillages, ravages, incendies, massacres, épidémies, fondraient immédiatement sur la Pingouinie. Je m'estimerais coupable de haute trahison si je prononçais un mot de plus.
- EBook #8524, Project Gutenberg
