DAVID [_Angry and disappointed_] Oh! [_Then smiling_] You see you _have_ to go by the people after all. PAPPELMEISTER [_Shakes head, smiling_] _Nein._ Ven critics disagree--I agree mit mineself. Ha! Ha! Ha! [_He slaps DAVID on the back._] A great vork dat vill be even better performed next time! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ten dousand congratulations. [_He seizes DAVID'S hand and grips it heartily._] DAVID Don't! You hurt me. PAPPELMEISTER [_Dropping DAVID'S hand,--misunderstanding_] Pardon! I forgot your vound. DAVID No--no--what does my wound matter? That never stung half so much as these clappings and congratulations. PAPPELMEISTER [_Puzzled but solicitous_] I knew your nerves vould be all shnapping like fiddle-shtrings. Oh, you cheniuses! [_Smiling._] You like neider de clappings nor de criticisms,--_was_? DAVID They are equally--irrelevant. One has to wrestle with one's own art, one's own soul, _alone_! PAPPELMEISTER [_Patting him soothingly_] I am glad I did not let you blay in Part Two. DAVID Dear Herr Pappelmeister! Don't think I don't appreciate all your kindnesses--you are almost a father to me. PAPPELMEISTER And you disobey me like a son. Ha! Ha! Ha! Vell, I vill make your excuses to de--vampires. Ha! Ha! _Also_, David. [_He lays his hand again affectionately on DAVID'S right shoulder._] _Lebe wohl!_ I must go down to my popular classics. [_Gloomily_] Truly a going down! _Was?_ DAVID [_Smiling_] Oh, it isn't such a descent as all that. Uncle said you ought to have given them comic opera. PAPPELMEISTER [_Shuddering convulsively_] Comic opera.... Ouf! [_He goes toward the elevator and rings the bell. Then he turns to DAVID._] Vat vas dat vord, David? DAVID What word? PAPPELMEISTER [_Groping for it_] _Mega--megasshu_.... DAVID [_Puzzled_] _Megasshu?_ [_The elevator comes up; the gates open._] PAPPELMEISTER _Megusshah!_ You know. [_He taps his forehead with his umbrella._] DAVID Ah, _meshuggah_! PAPPELMEISTER [_Joyously_] _Ja, meshuggah!_ [_He gives a great roar of laughter._] Ha! Ha! Ha! [_He waves umbrella at DAVID._] Well, don't be ... _meshuggah_. [_He steps into the elevator._] Ha! Ha! Ha! [_The gates close, and it descends with his laughter._]