The Book of Lies

88

ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΠΗ

GOLD BRICKS

1

Teach us Your secret, Master! yap my Yahoos.

2

Then for the hardness of their hearts, and for the softness of their heads, I taught them Magick.

3

But ... alas!

4

Teach us Your real secret, Master! how to become invisible, how to acquire love, and oh! beyond all, how to make gold.

5

But how much gold will you give me for the Secret of Infinite Riches?

6

Then said the foremost and most foolish; Master, it is nothing; but here is an hundred thousand pounds.

7

This did I deign to accept, and whispered in his ear this secret:

8

A SUCKER IS BORN EVERY MINUTE.

COMMENTARY (ΠΗ)

The term "gold bricks" is borrowed from American finance.

The chapter is a setting of an old story.

A man advertises that he could tell anyone how to make four hundred a year certain, and would do so on receipt of a shilling. To every sender he dispatched a post-card with these words: "Do as I do."

The word "sucker" is borrowed from American finance.

The moral of the chapter is, that it is no good trying to teach people who need to be taught.

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