"No; it would be useless trouble."
"Why so?"
"Because you fell into a nest of hired applauders."
"A nest of hired applauders!... What are they?" I asked.
"Oh! young man," exclaimed my neighbour in paternal accents, "do your utmost to preserve your holy innocence!"
"But suppose I beg you to put an end to it ...?"
"Have you ever heard that in former times there were emperors of Rome?"
"Certainly."
"Do you remember the name of the fifth of those emperors?" "I think it was Nero."