obsequies and eternal halleluiahs, dawn upon dawn, sunset upon sunset? PROMETHEUS But you did not suffer, I believe. It is something not to suffer. AHASVERUS Yes, but I saw other men suffer, and in the end the spectacle of joy gave me the same sensations as the discourses of an idiot. Fatalities of flesh and blood, unending strife,--I saw all pass before my eyes, until night caused me to lose my taste for day, and now I cannot distinguish flowers from thistles. Everything is confused in my weary retina. As Prometheus is but a vision, he is in reality identical with Ahasverus; and as Ahasverus here speaks, according to our interpretation, for Machado de Assis, so too does Prometheus. Particularly when he utters such sentiments as “The description of life is not worth the sensation of life.” Yet in Machado de Assis, description and sensation are fairly one; like so many ironists, he has a mistrust of feeling. The close of the dialogue is a striking commentary upon the retiring duality of the writer. Ahasverus, in his vision, is loosening the fetters of Prometheus, and the Greek addresses him: Loosen them, new Hercules, last man of the old world, who shall be the first of the new. Such is your destiny; neither you nor I,--nobody can alter it. You go farther than your Moses. From the top of Mount Nebo, at the point of death, he beheld the land of Jericho, which was to belong to his descendants and the Lord said unto him: “Thou hast seen with thine eyes, yet shalt not pass beyond.” _You_ shall pass beyond, Ahasverus; you shall dwell in Jericho. AHASVERUS Place your hand upon my head; look well at me; fill me with the reality of your prediction; let me breathe a little of the new, full life … King, did you say? PROMETHEUS The chosen king of a chosen people. AHASVERUS It is not too much in recompense for the deep ignominy in which I have dwelt. Where one life heaped mire, another life will place a halo. Speak, speak on … speak on … (_He continues to dream. The two eagles draw near._) FIRST EAGLE Ay, ay, ay! Alas for this last man; he is dying, yet he dreams of life. SECOND EAGLE Not so much that he hated it as that he loved it so much.[5]