French fiction -- 19th century; Prometheus (Greek deity) -- Fiction
_3 lunches (with conversation)_ Fr. 30.00
_Shop window_ 450.00
_A glass eye for Cocles_ 3.50
... and keep the rest for yourself, said Damocles, handing the
bank-note to the waiter. Then he quickly made off, beaming with joy.
* * * * *
The end of this chapter is much less interesting. Little by little
the restaurant became empty. In vain Prometheus and Cocles insisted
on paying their share of the bill--Damocles had already paid it.
Prometheus said good-bye to the waiter and Cocles, and going back
slowly to the Caucasus he thought: Sell it?--Smother it?... Tame it
perhaps?...
THE IMPRISONMENT OF PROMETHEUS
I
It was a few days after this that Prometheus, denounced by the
over-zealous waiter, found himself in prison for making matches without
a licence.
The prison was isolated from the rest of the world, and its only
outlook was on to the sky. From the outside it had the appearance of a
tower. In the inside Prometheus was consumed by boredom.
* * * * *
The waiter paid him a visit.
--Oh! said Prometheus smiling, I am so happy to see you! I was bored
to death. Tell me, you who come from outside; the wall of this dungeon
separates me from everything and I know nothing about other people.
What is happening?--And you, first tell me what you are doing.
--Since your scandal, replied the waiter nothing much; hardly anybody
has been to the restaurant. We have lost a great deal of time in
repairing the window.
--I am greatly distressed, said Prometheus;--but Damocles? Have you
seen Damocles? He left the restaurant so quickly the other day; I was
not able to say good-bye. I am so sorry. He seemed a very quiet person,
well-mannered, and full of scruples; I was touched when he told me so
naturally of his trouble.--I hope when he left the table he was happier?
--That did not last, said the waiter. I saw him the next day more
uneasy than ever. In talking to me he cried. His greatest anxiety was
the health of Cocles.
--Is he unwell? asked Prometheus.
--Cocles?--Oh no, replied the waiter. I will say more: He sees better
since he sees with only one eye. He shows every one his glass eye, and
is delighted when he is condoled with. When you see him, tell him that
his new eye looks well, and that he wears it gracefully; but add how
he must have suffered....
--He suffers then?
--Yes, perhaps, when people do not sympathize with him.
--But then, if Cocles is well and does not suffer, why is Damocles
anxious?
--Because of that which Cocles should have suffered.
--You advise me then strongly....
--To say it, yes, but Damocles thinks it, and that’s what kills him.
--What else does he do?
--Nothing. This unique occupation wears him out. Between us, he is
a man obsessed.--He says that without those £20 Cocles would not be
miserable.
--And Cocles?
--He says the same.... But he has become rich.
--Really ... how?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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