Well, monsieur, my object is to make those who come
here to have their hair cut or frizzed enjoy themselves. (Hold still,
you have a tuft which MUST be conquered.) A Jew proposed to supply me
with Italian cantatrices who, during the interludes, were to depilate
the young men of forty; but they proved to be girls from the
Conservatoire, and music-teachers from the Rue Montmartre. There you
are, monsieur; your head is dressed as that of a man of talent ought
to be. Ossian," he said to the lacquey in livery, "dress monsieur and
show him out. Whose turn next?" he added proudly, gazing round upon
the persons who awaited him.
"Don't laugh, Gazonal," said Leon as they reached the foot of the
staircase, whence his eye could take in the whole of the Place de la
Bourse. "I see over there one of our great men, and you shall compare
his language with that of the barber, and tell me which of the two you
think the most original."
"Don't laugh, Gazonal," said Bixiou, mimicking Leon's intonation.
"What do you suppose is Marius's business?"
"Hair-dressing."
"He has obtained a monopoly of the sale of hair in bulk, as a certain
dealer in comestibles who is going to sell us a pate for three francs
has acquired a monopoly of the sale of truffles; he discounts the
paper of that business; he loans money on pawn to clients when
embarrassed; he gives annuities on lives; he gambles at the Bourse; he
is a stockholder in all the fashion papers; and he sells, under the
name of a certain chemist, an infamous drug which, for his share
alone, gives him an income of thirty thousand francs, and costs in
advertisements a hundred thousand yearly.
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