"But it is not I who am occupying myself with them, Signor Magnus!"
"And how about the interviews? What about that flight of yours? You
should drive them away. This humbles your...three billions. And is
it true that you delivered some sort of a sermon?"
The joy of play forsook me. Unwilling as Magnus was to listen to me, I
told him all about my sermon and those credulous fools who swallowed
sacrilege as they do marmalade.
"And did you expect anything different, Mr. Wondergood?"
"I expected that they would fall upon me with clubs for my audacity:
When I sacrilegiously bandied about the words of the Testament...."
"Yes, they are beautiful words," agreed Magnus. "But didn't you know
that all their worship of God and all their faith are nothing but
sacrilege? When they term a wafer the body of Christ, while some
Sixtus or Pius reigns undisturbed, and with the approval of all
Catholics as the Vicar of Christ, why should not you, an American from
Illinois, call yourself at least...his governor? This is not meant
as sacrilege, Mr. Wondergood. These are simply allegories, highly
convenient for blockheads, and you are only wasting your wrath. But
when will you get down to _business_?"