Questions from a Worker who Reads by Bertolt Brecht Who built Thebes of the 7 gates ? In the books you will read the names of kings. Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock ? And Babylon, many times demolished, Who raised it up so many times ? In what houses of gold glittering Lima did its builders live ? Where, the evening that the Great Wall of China was finished, did the masons go? Great Rome is full of triumphal arches. Who erected them ? Over whom did the Caesars triumph ? Had Byzantium, much praised in song, only palaces for its inhabitants ? Even in fabled Atlantis, the night that the ocean engulfed it, The drowning still cried out for their slaves. The young Alexander conquered India. Was he alone ? Caesar defeated the Gauls. Did he not even have a cook with him ? Philip of Spain wept when his armada went down. Was he the only one to weep ? Frederick the 2nd won the 7 Years War. Who else won it ? Every page a victory. Who cooked the feast for the victors ? Every 10 years a great man. Who paid the bill ? So many reports. So many questions.