CHAPTER 31. A LOVELY DREAM.

January 31, 1858.

“Do you know why I love a crowd, Robert?”

“And why, Mr. Howard?”

“First of all, my dear Robert, because it greatly, and often not just latently but also unconsciously, contributes to the rapid enlightenment of countless representatives of the human race who are undoubtedly inclined to the influence of wisdom, experience, and knowledge. For a crowd is nothing less than an uncommonly skilled creator and, at the very same time, an equally skilled sower of all sorts of rumors and news. It is often impossible for an individual to get what a crowd can provide with ease and, what is important, with joy, and so can its representatives, as the connecting links or, if you will, the constituent parts of it. Long before we arrived here, Robert, we already knew perfectly well, in the smallest details, what had been and was happening at the shipyard—isn't that a miracle?”

“Listening to you, Mr. Howard, I have just realized…”

“And I, in turn, contemplating the ascent of that ‘Leviathan’ to the throne predestined for it by fate itself and human nature, have now to a significant extent realized that from this moment on, humanity is no longer a helpless child of contradictory Mother Nature, who, by the way, is like any woman. Before my eyes, in the blink of an eye, a truly great picture unfolded, the greatest of all that have existed in my lifetime. My eyes discerned that, due to its age, humanity is already extremely prone to exceptional deeds because of their possible results! And the quality of these deeds—whether negative or positive—is in no way able to affect their greatness! You are astonished, Robert…”

“Indeed, Mr. Howard, you use the word ‘humanity’ where you should use the word ‘nation’…”

“Ah, young Robert… the words that just came out of your mouth have once again convinced me that you are a citizen of Great Britain, but by no means a citizen of the world! The ‘Leviathan’ is a creation of humanity, not a creation of a nation! Did the Millwall Iron Works make the steam boiler, the rigging, the sails, and the steel? All of this is an achievement of humanity, and only the most incorrigible fool is capable of appropriating to one nation what was created by humanity. Mr. Brunel simply made a very original concoction from the ingredients at his disposal, nothing more—if he had not had flour, sugar, salt, milk, and butter, would he have been able to make it? In a similar way, that same Leviathan was created, which—and not without reason!—is identified with Thomas Hobbes!”

“But nations…”

“Nations are just all sorts of fish that exist quite waywardly in that very infinite ocean whose name is… humanity! Humanity is no more and no less than an ecosystem: inside it, most fish want to live in a state of peace, but there are also those who, due to their inherent, unnatural nature, intensely crave blood! Nations… This ship, the ‘Leviathan’… is, first of all, created by man and for man! Isn't that so?”

“You are most likely right, Mr. Howard… after all, this ship, the ‘Leviathan,’ will be used to satisfy the natural needs not only of representatives of the United Kingdom but also of the constituent elements of other peoples and nations: the creation of this ship is, indeed, a universal human achievement! I am proud, truly proud, that I am nothing less than a blood relative of the human race!”

“Ah, good Robert, by changing your initial opinion, you have thereby agreed with the initial opinion of my nature… however, I do not in any way feel the slightest grain of genuine, and therefore sincere, astonishment: by continuously changing, a person, in truth, does not change his inborn, and therefore natural, instincts at all… like the one you mentioned a little earlier—I am now talking about pride, or rather, about vanity!...”

“You are too overconfident in the capabilities of man!” a third adept of the cult of Asclepius suddenly intervened in the aforementioned conversation between the two healers: that was Daniel Gaines, one of the most successful, and therefore most visited, healers in the capital of pale Albion. “Why do you deny the possibility of its creation, for example, by God or by Lucifer?”

“Ah, is that you, my dear Mr. Gaines? I most cordially greet you and, with truly exceptional hospitality, invite you to visit the confines of our conversation.”

“You see, my dear Mr. Howard, it is not quite appropriate to invite a gentleman to a place where he is already present without any invitation!” the forty-five-year-old London physician said very good-naturedly.

“However, a true gentleman will never cross the threshold of any house without one invitation or another!” Mr. Howard, in turn, said in tune with Mr. Gaines.

“Just as man changes… didn't you mention this a little earlier?… so do human morals change!”

“Well, then our society is doomed…”

“To ruin?” Mr. Gaines interrupted Mr. Howard’s undoubtedly interesting maxim with a melancholic melodiousness.

“Just the opposite—to life! Human society has properties that allow it to be characterized as consistently developing, so should what contradicts the morals of the past be called negative? I have no doubt that in a few decades, our descendants will view the morals of our time with the same curiosity with which we now study insects of various characteristics in golden amber…”

“But what will serve as this ‘golden amber,’ my dear Mr. Howard?”