SATINE

And why can't a crook at times speak the truth — since honest people at times speak like crooks? Yes — I've forgotten a lot — but I still know a thing or two! The old man? Oh — he's wise! He affected me as acid affects a dirty old silver coin! Let's drink to his health! Fill the glasses … The old man lives within himself … he looks upon all the world from his own angle. Once I asked him: "Grand-dad, why do people live? " And he replied: "Why, my dear fellow, people live in the hope of something better! For example — let's say there are carpenters in this world, and all sorts of trash … people … and they give birth to a carpenter the like of which has never been seen upon the face of the earth … he's way above everybody else, and has no equal among carpenters! The brilliancy of his personality was reflected on all his trade, on all the other carpenters, so that they advanced twenty years in one day! This applies to all other trades — blacksmiths and shoemakers and other workmen — and all the peasants — and even the aristocrats live in the hopes of a higher life!