But, to keep themselves from doing so, they had to
clench theirfists tightly in their pockets.
It was Louiss turn now to speak, in a voice that at
first was hoarseand broken. You will do well to lavish your generosity uponyour
customs officials. Honour your father and mother, honour thename of
Simler.
No one here shall ever see the colour of my
money.
You will do well to lavish your generosity uponyour
customs officials. I have just been travelling through your North, your
East.
He added in an important tone: There is the whole
history of modernsociety in my parable. We have offered a dozen times to let him
retire, with a handsomepension, and he always refuses.
He saw only a hard sneering face upon which anger
hadpainted two great livid patches.
In case you do not arrive at it, I give you
theanswer now: on the side of suffering. If Joseph hadnot married Elisa, would you
be in the world? No privilege without arelative and proportionate responsibility,
you understand.
He continued:This situation puts you under an
obligation.
You are doubtlessnot unaware that your cousin has
refused two or three proposals ofmarriage? Ihave travelled from Colorado to New
England.
What are those fellows doing scratching the cloth,
andthose others flogging at it? So muchfor what I have seen for myself, in the first
week. The fault lies not in your intelligence butin your modesty.
But it has grown up bit by bit,and things are not
going badly as they are. That is a great difference, my dear Louis, and a sign of
greatstrength.
Masters andworkers set the factory going again,
with their tails between theirlegs.
Your actions contain the one sanction that is of
any value.
No privilege without arelative and proportionate
responsibility, you understand. But the rest was not to be allowed to fall into
menshands.
Myfriend, when I saw that the house of Stern was
making its pile, I tookmy hook. Youare a Frenchman, a bourgeois, and a
Jew.
Werethey not fated to fall in the same way, with
full steam ahead, ourafter the other?
I shall not assume you to be more of a fool than
you are. It is not a question of not doing nothing, one has to do everything,when
one is a. Youractions shall be the judgment passed on your judgments.