(Here the interlocutor, putting the index finger of his right hand on his forehead, shook his head, which may be translated thus: He is rambling terribly.)
—Well, upon my word, this is ingenious. I pay the Treasury a hundred francs; you relieve me of five francs on salt, five on postage; and in order that the Treasury may nevertheless receive one hundred francs, you relieve me of ten on some other tax?
—Precisely; you understand me.
—How can it be true? I am not even sure that I have heard you.
—I repeat that I balance one remission of taxes by another.
—I have a little time to give, and I should like to hear you expound this paradox.
—Here is the whole mystery: I know a tax which costs you twenty francs, not a sou of which gets to the Treasury. I relieve you of half of it, and make the other half take its proper destination.
—You are an unequaled financier. There is but one difficulty. What tax, if you please, do I pay, which does not go to the Treasury?
—How much does this suit of clothes cost you?
—A hundred francs.