II
Not knowing him ourselves, we have decided not to say very much about the waiter’s friend, Zeus, but just to report these few remarks.
INTERVIEW OF THE MIGLIONAIRE
The waiter:—Is it not true that you are very rich?
The Miglionaire, half turning towards Prometheus:—I am richer than you can ever imagine. You belong to me; he belongs to me; everything belongs to me.—You think I am a banker; I am really something quite different. My effect on Paris is hidden, but it is none the less important. It is hidden because it is not continuous. Yes, I have above all the spirit of initiative. I launch; then, once the affair is set going, I leave it; I have nothing more to do with it.
The waiter:—Isn’t it true that your actions are gratuitous?
The Miglionaire:—It is only I, only a person whose fortune is infinite, who can act with absolute disinterestedness; for man it is impossible. From that comes my love of gambling; I do not gamble for gain, you understand—I gamble for the pleasure of gambling. What could I gain that I do not possess already? Even time.... Do you know my age?
Prometheus and the waiter:—You appear still young, sir.
The Miglionaire:—Well, do not interrupt me, Prometheus.—Yes, I have a passion for gambling. My game is to lend to men. I lend, but it is not for pleasure. I lend, but it is sinking the capital. I lend, but with an air of giving.—I do not wish it known that I lend. I play, but I hide my game. I experiment; I play, as a Dutchman sows his seed; as he plants a secret bulb; that which I lend to men, that which I plant in man, I amuse myself by watching it grow; without that, man would be so empty!—Let me tell you my most recent experience. You will help me to analyse it. Just listen, you will understand later.
I went down into the street with the idea of making some one suffer for a gift I would make to another; to make one happy by the suffering of the other. A blow and a note of £20 was all that was necessary. To one the blow, and to the other the note. Is it clear? What is less clear is the way of giving them.
—I know it already, interrupted Prometheus.
—Oh, really, you know of it, said Zeus.
—I have met both Damocles and Cocles; it is precisely about them that I have come to speak to you:—Damocles looks and calls for you, he is very anxious; he is ill;—for goodness’ sake go and see him.
—Sir, stop—said Zeus—I have no need of advice from anybody.
—What did I tell you? said the waiter.
Prometheus was going away, but suddenly turned again: Sir, pardon me. Excuse an indiscreet question. Oh! show it to me, I beg you! I should love so much to see it....
—What?
—Your eagle.
—But I have no eagle, sir.
—No eagle? He has no eagle! But....
—Not so much of one as I can hold in the hollow of my hand. Eagles (and he laughed), eagles! It is I who give them.
Prometheus was stupefied.
—Do you know what people say? the waiter asked the banker.
—What do they say?
—That you are God.
—I let them say so, said he.