I also think of making a name. The
emperor made the Fuggers princes of Babenhausen; the title cost them a
million ducats in gold. For my part, I would like to be a nobleman at
a cheaper rate.
Sarpi
You! How could you accomplish it?
Avaloros
This fellow Fontanares holds the future of commerce in his own hands.
Sarpi
And is it possible that you who cling so persistently to the actual
have any faith in him?
Avaloros
Since the invention of gunpowder, of printing and the discovery of the
new world I have become credulous. If any one were to tell me that a
man had discovered the means to receive the news from Paris in ten
minutes, or that water contained fire, or that there are still new
Indies to discover, or that it is possible to travel through the air,
I would not contradict it, and I would give--
Sarpi
Your money?
Avaloros
No; my attention to the enterprise.
Sarpi
If the vessel is made to move in the manner proposed, you would like
then to be to Fontanares what Amerigo Vespucci was to Christopher
Columbus.
Avaloros
Have I not here in my pocket enough to pay for six men of genius?
Sarpi
But how would you manage the matter?
Avaloros
By means of money; money is the great secret. With money to lose, time
is gained; and with time to spend, everything is possible; by this
means a good business may be made a bad one, and while those who
control it are in despair the whole profit may be carried off by you.
Money,--that is the true method.
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