KLESHTCH [testing the concertina] It’s ready! But its owner isn’t here yet—that young fellow is burning his life away . . .
SATINE. Care for a drink—now?
KLESHTCH. Thanks . . . it’s time to go to bed . . .
SATINE. Getting used to us?
KLESHTCH [drinks, then goes to his bunk] It’s all right . . . there are people everywhere—at first you don’t notice it . . . but after a while you don’t mind. . . .
[The Tartar spreads some rags over his bunk, then kneels on them and prays.]
THE BARON [to Satine, pointing at the Tartar] Look!
SATINE. Stop! He’s a good fellow! Leave him alone! [Roars with laughter] I feel kindly to-day—the devil alone knows the reason why . . .
THE BARON. You always feel kindly when you’re drunk—you’re even wiser at such times . . .
SATINE. When I’m drunk? Yes—then I like everything—right—He prays? That’s fine! A man may believe or not—that’s his own affair—a man is free—he pays for everything himself—belief or unbelief—love—wisdom . . . a man pays for everything—and that’s just why he’s free! Man is—truth! And what is man? It’s neither you nor I nor they—oh, no—it’s you and they and I and the old man—and Napoleon—Mohammed—all in one! [Outlines vaguely in the air the contour of a human being] Do you understand? It’s tremendous! It contains the beginning and the end of everything—everything is in man—and everything exists for him! Man alone exists—everything else is the creation of his hands and his brain! Man! It is glorious! It sounds—oh—so big! Man must be respected—not degraded with pity—but respected, respected! Let us drink to man, Baron! [Rises] It is good to feel that you are a man! I’m a convict, a murderer, a crook—granted!—When I’m out on the street people stare at me as if I were a scoundrel—they draw away from me—they look after me and often they say: “You dog! You humbug! Work!” Work? And what for? to fill my belly? [Roars with laughter] I’ve always despised people who worry too much about their bellies. It isn’t right, Baron! It isn’t! Man is loftier than that! Man stands above hunger!