How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
For instance (if, reader, you will indulge me, and allow me to continue this meditation on consequences), because the queen died while eating soup, the heartbroken king outlawed soup; and because soup was outlawed, so were all the instruments involved in the making and eating of soup: spoons and bowls and kettles. These things were collected from all the people of the Kingdom of Dor, and they were piled in the dungeon. (23.3)
Even though outlawing soup is a ridiculous thing to do, the king does so because he's completely blinded by his grief. He just wants someone or something to pay for the queen's death, and so he picks two scapegoats to go after—rats and soup.
Quote #2
The king's men succeeded only in getting lost in the dungeon's tortuous mazes. Some of them, in fact, did not ever find their way out again and died there in the dark heart of the castle. And so, the killing of all rats was not successful. And in desperation, King Phillip declared that rats were illegal. He declared them outlaws. (23.6)
It's also rather silly for the king to outlaw rats because they already live like outlaws—they stick to the dungeons, after all. It's not like they were hanging out in the open before the queen's death. Revenge isn't always logical.