My demands are in no way excessive. I shouldn’t insist on a salary; But treatment as friendly as things will permit. THE LEAN ONE. A fire in your room? PEER. Not too much fire;—and chiefly The power of departing in safety and peace,— The right, as the phrase goes, of freely withdrawing Should an opening offer for happier days. THE LEAN ONE. My dear friend, I vow I’m sincerely distressed; But you cannot imagine how many petitions Of similar purport good people send in, When they’re quitting the scene of their earthly activity. PEER. But now that I think of my past career, I feel I’ve an absolute claim to admission—— THE LEAN ONE. ’Twas but trifles, you said—— PEER. In a certain sense;— But, now I remember, I’ve trafficked in slaves—— THE LEAN ONE. There are men that have trafficked in wills and souls, But who bungled it so that they failed to get in. PEER. I’ve shipped Bramah-figures in plenty to China. THE LEAN ONE. Mere wish-wash again! Why, we laugh at such things. There are people that ship off far gruesomer figures In sermons, in art, and in literature, Yet have to stay out in the cold—— PEER. Ah, but then, Do you know—I once went and set up as a prophet! THE LEAN ONE. In foreign parts? Humbug! Why most people’s _Sehen Ins Blaue_[141] ends in the casting-ladle. If you’ve no more than that to rely upon, With the best of good will, I can’t possibly house you. PEER. But hear this: In a shipwreck—I clung to a boat’s keel,— And it’s written: A drowning man grasps at a straw,— Furthermore it is written: You’re nearest yourself,— So I half-way divested a cook of his life. THE LEAN ONE.