to deal direct with a woman he wants for his whorehouse. He wants to go through her 'marlu.' The pimp takes care of business so the woman can get on with it in peace. Johns don't harass her. If she's busted, he bails her out, if she's sick, he gets her to the doctor and gets her fixed up, and he generally keeps her out of trouble and all kinds of really useful stuff. Look, if a woman goes it alone she's just asking for a beating or some kind of con or anyway something will happen to her. But if a woman has a man, she just does what she does, and nobody's about to mess with her and they all have to respect her. And since it was her decision to earn it that way, it follows she should be free to spend her money on something that will give her the security she needs.
"Of course, it all sounds new to you, but you'll catch on. And if not, tell me this: how do you explain away the pimp who has up to seven women? Old Repollo once had eleven in his stable at his peak. Julio the Galician had eight. Most all Frenchmen have three. And they get to be friends, they live in peace and each tries to bring in more than the others, since it's a big deal to be the favorite of some dude who can make mobsters cool it with a single glance. And, poor things, they're all so crazy you don't know whether to feel sorry for them or sock it to them good."
Erdosain was overwhelmed by the massive contempt the man had for all women. And he remembered another time when the Astrologer told him: "The Melancholy Ruffian is a guy who sees a woman and right away he's thinking , 'She'd bring in five, ten, twenty pesos on the street.' That's it for him."
Now Erdosain felt revolted by the man. Trying to switch the conversation around, he said:
"Answer me this: Do you believe the Astrologer's plan can work?"
"No."
"Does he know you don't think so?"
"Sure."
"Well then, what are you in it for?"
"I'm in it only more or less, and even that much just from boredom. Life has no meaning, so it's about the same to go off wherever it takes you."
"So for you life has no meaning?"
"Not the least bit. We get born, live, die, without the stars stopping in their tracks or the ants stopping work over it."
"And are you very bored?"
"Average. I have my day compartmentalized like an industrialist. Every day I go to bed at twelve and get up at nine in the morning, do an hour of exercises, take a bath, read the papers, eat lunch, take a nap, at six I have a glass of vermouth, go to the barber, eat dinner at eight, then I go out on the town a bit, and in a couple of years when I'll have gotten two hundred thousand pesos together, then I'll retire and live off dividends and what I've got set up."
"And what's your real part in the Astrologer's group?"
"If the Astrologer can get up the money, I'll help get the women and get the brothels going."
"But what's your deep-down, private opinion of the Astrologer?"
"One of those madmen who just might pull it off, or maybe not."
"But his ideas—"
"Some are a mess, others make sense, and really I don't know what the guy's shooting for. Sometimes it seems like I'm listening to a reactionary, sometimes a leftist and, to tell the truth, I don't think he himself knows what he wants."
"What if he pulls it off?"
"Then God knows what all might happen. Oh, by the way, did you talk to him about growing an Asian cholera bacillus?"
"Yes ... it would be a terrific weapon to unleash on the army. Just let one culture loose in each barracks. See? Thirty or forty men could destroy the army in one action and then let the proletarian masses make revolution—"
"The Astrologer really admires you a lot. He always talks about you to me like you're somebody who could really have a big success."
Erdosain smiled, flattered:
"Yes, you have to work on some project to sabotage the present system. But about this other thing, what I can't figure out is what your relationship to us is."
Haffner turned around quickly, sized Erdosain up with a cold eye,
"Of course, it all sounds new to you, but you'll catch on. And if not, tell me this: how do you explain away the pimp who has up to seven women? Old Repollo once had eleven in his stable at his peak. Julio the Galician had eight. Most all Frenchmen have three. And they get to be friends, they live in peace and each tries to bring in more than the others, since it's a big deal to be the favorite of some dude who can make mobsters cool it with a single glance. And, poor things, they're all so crazy you don't know whether to feel sorry for them or sock it to them good."
Erdosain was overwhelmed by the massive contempt the man had for all women. And he remembered another time when the Astrologer told him: "The Melancholy Ruffian is a guy who sees a woman and right away he's thinking , 'She'd bring in five, ten, twenty pesos on the street.' That's it for him."
Now Erdosain felt revolted by the man. Trying to switch the conversation around, he said:
"Answer me this: Do you believe the Astrologer's plan can work?"
"No."
"Does he know you don't think so?"
"Sure."
"Well then, what are you in it for?"
"I'm in it only more or less, and even that much just from boredom. Life has no meaning, so it's about the same to go off wherever it takes you."
"So for you life has no meaning?"
"Not the least bit. We get born, live, die, without the stars stopping in their tracks or the ants stopping work over it."
"And are you very bored?"
"Average. I have my day compartmentalized like an industrialist. Every day I go to bed at twelve and get up at nine in the morning, do an hour of exercises, take a bath, read the papers, eat lunch, take a nap, at six I have a glass of vermouth, go to the barber, eat dinner at eight, then I go out on the town a bit, and in a couple of years when I'll have gotten two hundred thousand pesos together, then I'll retire and live off dividends and what I've got set up."
"And what's your real part in the Astrologer's group?"
"If the Astrologer can get up the money, I'll help get the women and get the brothels going."
"But what's your deep-down, private opinion of the Astrologer?"
"One of those madmen who just might pull it off, or maybe not."
"But his ideas—"
"Some are a mess, others make sense, and really I don't know what the guy's shooting for. Sometimes it seems like I'm listening to a reactionary, sometimes a leftist and, to tell the truth, I don't think he himself knows what he wants."
"What if he pulls it off?"
"Then God knows what all might happen. Oh, by the way, did you talk to him about growing an Asian cholera bacillus?"
"Yes ... it would be a terrific weapon to unleash on the army. Just let one culture loose in each barracks. See? Thirty or forty men could destroy the army in one action and then let the proletarian masses make revolution—"
"The Astrologer really admires you a lot. He always talks about you to me like you're somebody who could really have a big success."
Erdosain smiled, flattered:
"Yes, you have to work on some project to sabotage the present system. But about this other thing, what I can't figure out is what your relationship to us is."
Haffner turned around quickly, sized Erdosain up with a cold eye,
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