Master: I don’t want to have anything in common with the twentieth century. No one dares bring letters to me. That’s my command.
Friend: Wise command! But I wrote to you, and, at the editor’s instructions, have even journeyed here to ask, persuade, entreat you even in God’s name to write just a little article for us. Really, jokes aside, doesn’t your conscience torture you? The editor is simply besieged with letters, “Why doesn’t he write?”—“Is it true that he doesn’t contribute any more?”—“Where are the articles you promised by him?” Listen! Now, really, give up this caprice! Write just a few lines. The paper will fall to pieces without you—you know it well.
Master: Please drink.
Friend: Come, answer me plainly. (Drinks a goblet of mead.)
Master: Excellent; I’ll send you a few articles; only I don’t know if they’ll suit a paper with Liberal tendencies. The first article is called, “The Positive Values of Serfdom.” The second
Friend: You want to laugh again.
