Beelzebubs-Tales-to-His-Grandson-by-G-I-Gurdjieff

"The venerable Hadji Asvatz Troov paid no attention to this but went onstriking the same keys."When at last he had finished, he turned to us and, addressing me, said'Friend of my friend, will you please get up, take the envelope off thehook, and read what is written inside. '"I stood up, took the envelope, opened it, and read aloud as follows:" 'On each of you, from the vibrations issuing from the piano, there mustbe formed on the left leg an inch below the knee and half an inch to the left ofthe middle of the leg what is called a "boil. " '"When I had read this, the venerable hadji requested us both to bare theindicated places on our left legs."When we had done so, we saw a 'boil' precisely on that spot on the leftleg of the dervish Bogga Eddin, but to the great amazement of the venerableHadji Asvatz Troov, there was nothing whatever to be seen on my leg."When Hadji Asvatz Troov ascertained this, he instantly leaped from hisplace like a young man and cried out very excitedly, 'This cannot be!' And hestared fixedly at my left leg with the eyes of a madman ."Almost five minutes passed in this manner I must confess that for the firsttime on that planet I was at a loss and could not immediately hit upon a wayout of this predicament."At last he came up to me and was about to speak, but he was so agitatedthat all at once his legs began to tremble so violently that he had to sit downon the floor, and he motioned me to sit down also."When we were seated, he gazed at me with very sorrowful eyes and, in apenetrating tone, spoke to me as follows:'Friend of my friend! In my youth I was a very rich man, so rich that no fewerthan ten of my caravans, each