THE ACTOR [loud, as if he had suddenly awakened] Yesterday the doctor in the hospital said to me: “Your organism,” he said, “is entirely poisoned with alcohol . . .”
SATINE [smiling] Organon . . .
THE ACTOR [stubbornly] Not organon—organism!
SATINE. Sibylline. . . .
THE ACTOR [shaking his fist at him] Nonsense! I’m telling you seriously . . . if the organism is poisoned . . . that means it’s bad for me to sweep the floor—to inhale the dust . . .
SATINE. Macrobistic . . . hah!
BUBNOFF. What are you muttering?
SATINE. Words—and here’s another one for you—transcendentalistic . . .
BUBNOFF. What does it mean?
SATINE. Don’t know—I forgot . . .