D’artagnan exclaims,
‘You cannot ask me to betray my king.
I have sworn an oath.’
(This is as if to uphold the letter of the ‘precept’.)
Athos retorts,
‘When a king is dishonourable,
you are removed from your oath of honour!’
(This is as if to uphold the spirit of the ‘precept’.)
D’artagnan rebuts,
‘An oath is an oath
precisely because it cannot be removed!’
(This is as if to be attached to the letter of the ‘precept’.)
The ‘impasse’ is resolved,
when the musketeers reunite,
to do the honourable, to be honour itself.
(This is as if to fulfil the true spirit over the mere letter of the ‘precept’.)
