1 70 BLACK DIAMONDS

drawn

toone _another,

and

the

homogeneous

^drift

asun-der. _If, therefore, ⁱⁿ the magnetic

kingdom

^{hearts are}

drawn

to one another, seek one another, love one an-other, which is an immutable _fact, so also is it an im-mutablefactthatthere must be

human

_beings

who

hate oneanother with an _{undying, a} deadly hatred, and that such hatredis no sin.

Am

^{I not} right^?"

Ivan felt that he

was

driven into a corner_; he under-stood the drift of the countess's question.

Here

his knowledge ^of natural philosophy

came

to his assistance.

"

It is true," he _said, ^"that so far as life

upon

^the earth is in question, there must also exist antipathies

and

sympathies.

You

have studiedmagnetism,you have read of the _poles, therefore you must

know

that there exists an _equator, or line, which is neither north nor south. This isthemagnetic equator,^thatneitherdraws the

magnet

^nor repulses it,

and

here there is perfect peace. Just such an _equator is found in

every

human

heart,

and

however a

man may

^{be carried}

away by

^the passions ^of love or hatred, his ^line remains unchange-able, and those

who

dwell there dwellin peace."

"

And who

are the people

who

live under the mag-netic equator^?" asked the countess, withcuriosity.

"For example, parents

and

their children should dwell there."

The _young

_girl's ^face

was

coveredwith avivid blush;

her beautifuleyes shot a battery of lightning glances ^at

,Ivan,

who

remained _quite

unmoved

under thisbattery.

"

We

must talk

more

of _this," she _said, with sudden dignity.

Ivan

bowed

before the haughty beauty,

who

turned and left

him

to the

company

^of her aunt or of his

own

sex.

He

preferred the ^latter.

Meantime, ^{the lecture} being over, a rush

had

been

171

made

to therefreshments.

The _army

of outsiders were thefirst in the field. If theywereof littleaccount else-where, they took first place ^at the _buffet,

and

here the citizen

showed

distinctly his origin.

Ivan

mixed

with the company,

and

conducted himself as one accustomed to such _society,

and

_quiteathisease in it,

and

he

was

well received.

The men

were _very

civil towards

him

; every

man

under _forty used the friendly

"thou^" in addressing

him

; he was

made

one of themselves. It didn't matter much, ^as he

was

said to be _leaving Pesth the next day,

and would

be lost in the depths ^of Mesopotamia.

Some

one said he

came

from Africa.

They

^tried teasing

him

a _bit, all in a friendly way, and were _pleased to find this pedant

was

an excellent fellow,

who

took the joke ⁱⁿ

good

^part, laughed heartily at a well^-delivered _thrust,

and

re-turned itwith a _{sly hit,} which never offended any ^one's feelings.

"

He

^{is one} of us," they ^{said. "}This

man

is

up

^to everything^; heis a capital fellow.

We must

_give

him

^a

good

^time."

"

Is it true that you don't drink wine?" asked the Marquis ^{SalistaofIvan.}

"Once

a year."

"

And

_to-dayis not the anniversary^?"

"No."

"

Then we

havedrunk

enough

^{for one} year; letusbe moving."

Some

ofthe

men

returnedto the drawing-room^{; these} were, ^for the most _part, the

young

^{fellows, and those}

who

wished to dance.

The

ladies, after their _tea, had begun ^to play quadrilles, and even the ^"Csardas^" for those

who

wished for it.

Count

Stefan, however,

drew away

^{the better}portion

172 BLACK

DIAMONDS

of the

men

to his quarters, which were on the second story of the countess's house.

Here

he entertained in his way. His

rooms

_being

on

the other side of the house,

no

noise penetrated ^to the _story below, which was _necessary, as the count's

champagne was

^of the very best,and _{given with} no sort of stint_; it flowed, ⁱⁿ fact. Ivan,

who

was of the party,

showed

himself in a

new

_light; he drank wine_; his toasts were _{spicy, his} anecdotes fresh and amusing, ^hiswit sharp

and

unre-strained;

and

_although he drank _freely, he didn't turn a _hair, he was _{quite steady.}

"

Brother," hiccoughed

Count

Geza,

who

towardstwo o'clock washalfdrunk, ^"the captain

and

^I have agreed that

when

_you are _quite

done up we

^shall carry you

home and

_{put you} to bed; but,

my

^dearfriend,

my

^dear

Ritter Magnet,the misery ^isthat I don't thinkI can_get

up

^the stairs; ^I

am

_quite done. Therefore, take your wings

and

_fly,

and

letthe captain take^his,andbothofyou

flyhome.

As

for

me

^"

Here

the count laid

down on

the sofa

and

fell asleep.

Every one laughed^; but the

name

he had _given Ivan Ritter

Magnet

^{stuckto him.}

"

Do _you

care to play cards,

my

^{learned one?" said}

theMarquis ^Salista.

"

Once

every three years."

"

That

is not often enough."

The

_marquis could not atthis

moment

_explain

why

^it

was

not often enough, ^{for at this}

moment Count

Stefan acquainted^hisguests^thatitwas timefor

them

_{to depart,} seeing ^that the ball below stairs

had

broken _up,

and

everyone had gone away.

The

countess's_{rest,therefore,} might be ^disturbed by any ^{noise overhead.} Every one agreed^{that this}was _{quite proper.}

"

Only," ^{said Salista,}

"

there is

no

need for us to go

173 home. Let us have the card-table. Let us spend ^our time well.

Who

isfor a

game?"

Three_playerssoon_presentedthemselves;Baron Oscar

was

one of the first. But the fourth?

The

_captain

called to Ivan.

"

Now, my

^learned friend."

Count

Stefan thought ^it necessary ^to inform the stranger,

who

was his guest, that at the tarok-table the stakeswere _veryhigh.

"

Only

^{a kreuzer the}point," said the captain.

"

Yes,butkreuzer pointsⁱⁿsucha

game

^often

^amount

to seven _{or eight} hundred gulden ^{to the} losing ^side.

These

_gentlemen have changed a simple

game

^{into a} hazardous venture."

Ivan _laughed. ^"Every day ^of

my

^{life I play hazard}

with nature _itself; every

day

^I speculate with ^{all I}have on a

mere

_chance,and _playonly one card."

So

_saying, he rolled his chair to the green ^table.

The game ^commenced. The game

^ofhazard, as ^itis generally played,^isa

game

^of chance, ^it needs_{only luck}

and

boldness_; a drunken

man

can almost win

by

ac-cident. But as it is played ⁱⁿ Pesth it is something quite different; what is called luck, chance, accident, ^is here allied to skill, prudence, consideration,

and

bold-ness.

The

tarok-player must _{not only}study^{his cards,} butalso the faces of his adversaries.

He must

be La-vater

and

Tartuffe in one_; he

must

be _{a general}

who

develops^atevery

moment

afreshplan ^ofcampaign,

and

a Bosco

who

_can, from the first card that is played, divine thewhole situation_; he _must, however, be gener-ous,

and

sacrifice himself for the sake of the general good. Therefore it was that the spectators pitied Ivan

when

he sat

down

to the card-table to play with these three masters ^of the game.

174 BLACK

DIAMONDS

It wasseven o'clock

when

the players rose from the card-table.

As

Ivan pushed back his chair,the marquis said to him^:

"

Well, comrade, ^{it is a}

good

thing ^for the world at large that you only drink once _{a year}

and

_{play cards} oncein three _{years, for} ^ifyou ^did both _everyday ^there would be no

more

wine in Salista's cellar nor no _gold

left in Rothschild'sbank."

Ivan had, in truth, stripped the ^three gentlemen.

"

Nevertheless,

we

must have a parting cup," con-tinued Salista.

"Where

is the absinthe?"

As

_{he spoke} he filled two _{large glasses} with the green, sparkling spirit, of which moderate _{people, regretting} this pru-dence, ^it

may

^{be, neverdrink}

^more

than a liqueur glass.

Count

Stefanshookhis headoverwhat he considered a

bad

_joke,but Ivan did not shrinkfrom the challenge;

he clinked _{his glass}withthat of the captain,

and

_emptied

itwithout drawing^breath. Then, ^{with his} most courte-ous bow, he ^{took leave} of his host,

Count

_Stefan,

who

on his side assured

him

it would always be a pleasure ^to receive sodelightful a guest.

As

Ivan

made

his

way

^{into the anteroom his} step was steady, his^air composed.

Not

so the marquis^{; the} dose had been too potent ^for him.

He

insisted

upon

claiming Ivan's astrakhan cap ^{as his,}and,^as there was no use arguing the matter with an inebriate, Ivan

had

to go

home

in the _military helmet of a hussar officer.

On

the staircase the captain maintained that he could

fly, that he

was

one of the inhabitants of the magnetic kingdom, and hadwings.

The

othershadallthe trouble in the world toget

him down

thestairs.

When

he

came

to the first floor he thought ^of paying ^the Countess Theudelinde a_visit, to thankherfor her kind reception of his lecture, for he

was

^the lecturer, and he

was

_ready

175 toblow out the brains of any one

who

contradicted him.

He was

_{with great difficultygot} into a_fiacre,

and

driven to his hotel.

When

he _{got there} he

had

to be carried to his bed,where he _lay in a deep sleep^{until late in} the following day.

Meantime

_Ivan,aftera short_rest,went about as_usual, wrote his_letters,

and

_paid

some

visits.

"

He

carries his liquor^likeaman,"^said

Count

Stefan.

And

from this time all the world called

him

_{the knight}

ofthe magnet.

The

_knight was to be

met

everywhere.

He had numerous

visitors; he was invited to the best houses.

He was

elected honorary

member

of the club; he had been introduced

by

^{the abbe'.}

The

club had three classes of

members

the day grubs

and

the evening and_{the night} birds. In the daytime ^thelibrary,which

was

an excellent collection of rarebooks,was visited

by

all the litterateursofPesth.

From

six to eight

came

the lawyers and the politicians to play whist and talk poli-tics,

and

from _eight until midnight ^the

men

of fashion

had

their innings. In this

way

^two

men

_{might go every} day ^{to the club}

and

never meet one another.

Ivan first ransacked the _library, then he distributed his time _equally.

He

_thought no

more

of returning home.

He

_{enjoyed everything}

and

went everywhere, never missing on ^the opera nights ^to pay ^{a visit to the} Countess Theudelinde's

box

on thegrand ^tier.

In the second

week

of his stay the countessgave ^her

ball. Ivan

was

invited,and went.

"

Shall you dance^?" asked the _captain.

"

I haven't

done

sofor fifteen years."

"It suits

men

^of our _years to look on," remarked the marquis, languidly.

"

No man

dances

now

after two-and-thirty."

In document BLACK DIAMONDS (Pldal 182-188)