harmony, everything moves with the solemnity of the absolutely predictable and –
(
Here the young man interrupted him impatiently.
)
AMBASSADOR: Go in fear of abstractions!
(
Pettishly he consumed the last crumbs of fish and fell silent until the waiters had replaced the plates with, to my delight and astonishment,
tournedos Rossini.
The Ambassador brusquely dismissed an offering of
pommes allumettes.
When he spoke again, his voice had deepened in colour.
)
AMBASSADOR: Our primary difference is a philosophical one, Minister. For us, the world exists only as a medium in which we execute our desires. Physically, the world itself, the actual world – the real world, if you like – is formed of malleable clay; its metaphysical structure is just as malleable.
MINISTER: Metaphysics are no concern of mine.
(
The Ambassador’s hair abruptly emitted a fountain of blue lights and, suddenly Charlotte Corday, he pointed a dagger at the Minister.
)
AMBASSADOR: Dr Hoffman will make metaphysics
your
business!
(
The Minister cut his meat phlegmatically.
)
MINISTER: I do not think so.
(
The words fell from his mouth with so heavy a weight I was surprised they did not drop straight through the table. I was deeply impressed by his gravity. It quenched even the enthusiasm I had experienced at mining a black gem of truffle from my wedge of paté, for it was the first time I had experienced the power of an absolute negative. The Ambassador visibly responded to this change in tone. If he instantly ceased to look like an avenging angel, he also instantly became less epicene.
)
AMBASSADOR: Please name your price. The Doctor would like to buy you.
MINISTER: No.
AMBASSADOR: Allow me to suggest a tentative figure… five provinces; four public transport systems; three ports; two metropolises and an entire civil administration.
MINISTER: No.
AMBASSADOR: The Doctor will go even higher, you know.
MINISTER: No!
(
The Ambassador shrugged and we all continued to eat our delicious meat until it was gone and the salad came. We were drinking red wine. The skin of the Ambassador’s throat was so luminously delicate one could see the glowing shadow of the burgundy trickle down his gullet after he had taken a sip.
)
AMBASSADOR: The Doctor’s campaign is still only in its preliminary stages and yet he has already made of this city a timeless place outside the world of reason.
MINISTER: All he has done is to find some means of bewitching the intelligence. He has only induced a radical suspension of disbelief. As in the early days of the cinema, all the citizens are jumping through the screen to lay their hands on the naked lady in the bathtub!
AMBASSADOR: And yet, in fact, their fingers touch flesh.
MINISTER: They believe they do. Yet all they touch is substantial shadow.
AMBASSADOR: And what a beautiful definition of flesh! You know I am only substantial shadow, Minister, but if you cut me, I bleed. Touch me; I palpitate!
(
Certainly I had never seen a phantom who looked at that moment more shimmeringly unreal than the Ambassador, nor one who seemed to throb with more erotic promise. The Minister, however, laughed.
)
MINISTER: Whether you are real or not, I know for sure that I am not inventing you.
AMBASSADOR: How is that?
MINISTER: I don’t have enough imagination.
(
Now it was the Ambassador’s turn to laugh and then he paused and harked for a moment, as if listening to an invisible voice. It was a childish trick but remarkably effective.
)
AMBASSADOR: The Doctor’s offer has just risen by four opera houses and the cities of Rome, Florence and Dresden before the fire. We will throw in John Sebastian Bach as your
Kapellmeister
, to clinch the bargain.
MINISTER: (
dismissively
) Come, now! We are well at work upon our counter measures!
AMBASSADOR: Yes, indeed. We have been watching the progress of your electronic harem with considerable interest.
(
I had never thought of the Minister’s computer centre as an electronic harem. The
(
Here the young man interrupted him impatiently.
)
AMBASSADOR: Go in fear of abstractions!
(
Pettishly he consumed the last crumbs of fish and fell silent until the waiters had replaced the plates with, to my delight and astonishment,
tournedos Rossini.
The Ambassador brusquely dismissed an offering of
pommes allumettes.
When he spoke again, his voice had deepened in colour.
)
AMBASSADOR: Our primary difference is a philosophical one, Minister. For us, the world exists only as a medium in which we execute our desires. Physically, the world itself, the actual world – the real world, if you like – is formed of malleable clay; its metaphysical structure is just as malleable.
MINISTER: Metaphysics are no concern of mine.
(
The Ambassador’s hair abruptly emitted a fountain of blue lights and, suddenly Charlotte Corday, he pointed a dagger at the Minister.
)
AMBASSADOR: Dr Hoffman will make metaphysics
your
business!
(
The Minister cut his meat phlegmatically.
)
MINISTER: I do not think so.
(
The words fell from his mouth with so heavy a weight I was surprised they did not drop straight through the table. I was deeply impressed by his gravity. It quenched even the enthusiasm I had experienced at mining a black gem of truffle from my wedge of paté, for it was the first time I had experienced the power of an absolute negative. The Ambassador visibly responded to this change in tone. If he instantly ceased to look like an avenging angel, he also instantly became less epicene.
)
AMBASSADOR: Please name your price. The Doctor would like to buy you.
MINISTER: No.
AMBASSADOR: Allow me to suggest a tentative figure… five provinces; four public transport systems; three ports; two metropolises and an entire civil administration.
MINISTER: No.
AMBASSADOR: The Doctor will go even higher, you know.
MINISTER: No!
(
The Ambassador shrugged and we all continued to eat our delicious meat until it was gone and the salad came. We were drinking red wine. The skin of the Ambassador’s throat was so luminously delicate one could see the glowing shadow of the burgundy trickle down his gullet after he had taken a sip.
)
AMBASSADOR: The Doctor’s campaign is still only in its preliminary stages and yet he has already made of this city a timeless place outside the world of reason.
MINISTER: All he has done is to find some means of bewitching the intelligence. He has only induced a radical suspension of disbelief. As in the early days of the cinema, all the citizens are jumping through the screen to lay their hands on the naked lady in the bathtub!
AMBASSADOR: And yet, in fact, their fingers touch flesh.
MINISTER: They believe they do. Yet all they touch is substantial shadow.
AMBASSADOR: And what a beautiful definition of flesh! You know I am only substantial shadow, Minister, but if you cut me, I bleed. Touch me; I palpitate!
(
Certainly I had never seen a phantom who looked at that moment more shimmeringly unreal than the Ambassador, nor one who seemed to throb with more erotic promise. The Minister, however, laughed.
)
MINISTER: Whether you are real or not, I know for sure that I am not inventing you.
AMBASSADOR: How is that?
MINISTER: I don’t have enough imagination.
(
Now it was the Ambassador’s turn to laugh and then he paused and harked for a moment, as if listening to an invisible voice. It was a childish trick but remarkably effective.
)
AMBASSADOR: The Doctor’s offer has just risen by four opera houses and the cities of Rome, Florence and Dresden before the fire. We will throw in John Sebastian Bach as your
Kapellmeister
, to clinch the bargain.
MINISTER: (
dismissively
) Come, now! We are well at work upon our counter measures!
AMBASSADOR: Yes, indeed. We have been watching the progress of your electronic harem with considerable interest.
(
I had never thought of the Minister’s computer centre as an electronic harem. The
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