"It won't do;--don't go," said Pilgrim, disapprovingly. "Rely upon it, Lenz, that neither you nor I are born to great riches, and so much the better, probably, for us. My host, Don Bastian, is a proper man of the world, who can gain money: the fellow has been half through the world, and knows no more of it than a cow does of the Catechism. Wherever he arrived, or walked, or stood, his sole thought was--'How is money to be got here?--how can I best save or cheat?' And he is no worse than the rest of the world. The Spanish peasants are just as cunning and as stupid as the German ones, and their chief glory is to fleece their neighbours. When Don Bastian came home, the only thing he had acquired was his money, and see how profitably he has laid it out--a man like that is sure to prosper." "And why should not we?" "Those who take pleasure in things that gold cannot buy, do not require money. See! all the superfluous clinking sounds I hear proceed from my guitar, and it is enough for me. A few days ago I heard Don Bastian's youngest boy say the Ten Commandments, and a very sagacious thought occurred to me--'What is the first Commandment?'--'Thou shalt have none other gods but me.' Now, every man can have but one god. You and I love our professions. You are happy when you have finished a work of which the mechanism is perfect; and I too, in the same way--though it often goes sadly against the grain with me to paint that one everlasting village, with the same everlasting girl, and the same woman and child--but still I am glad when it is done; and when I am painting it I am as merry as a bird--do you see?--as that goldfinch sitting on the roof of the church. And he who takes pleasure in what he does, and throws his whole heart and soul into it, cannot possibly spare time to think of how to become rich, and to speculate, and to overreach others. 'Thou shalt have none other gods but me'--that is a wise command. In fact, the other god is generally the Devil, and you may see the truth of that by your uncle Petrowitsch." "Come and live with me," was the only answer that Lenz made to his friend. "I will build a couple of rooms for you upstairs."