Retire

(Cont'd)

Queen: Christopher, I don't quite see your point. We do not have enough work force in our home land. How could we boost up the unemployment?

Columbus: Your majesty, you do not have to cut down the number your staff as such. All you have to do is to make their job unpalatable - little prospect, idle for their own duty but filled with paper work and bureaucracy.

King: That sounds horrible.

Columbus: My lord, you can do more. How about having the salary of your staff paid by the West India Company? When your men see nothing but dead water in the Iberian peninsula and their bread and butter come from the new-found-land, they would be eager to go and start a new life.

King: But, wouldn't that desert our own country?

Columbus (with a wicked smile): My lord, I suppose you would not be the Queen of Spain forever? How about becoming the Duke of Peru after stepping down? There are a whole lot of silver mines in Lima...