22
PARTISAN REVIEW
required effect was rather the opposite to that in your case.... "
He giggled. "Unless you fancy the part of a Christian martyr-that I
can do for you without difficulty.. .. "
"You are talking utter mad, criminal nonsense," said Leontiev
with dignity. "Now I must beg you.. .."
"That's right.
It
was a perfect line. Just the correct words. Now
listen. Why am I taking such an interest in you? Answer the question
for yourself. I never liked you particularly, and since we last met you
have become a pompous ass. But I never had a chance of trying my
hand on a case like yours. And my work is beginning to bore me–
always the same monotonous job. In your case the method and aim
would be just the opposite. I feel a kind of creative itch; I have a
feeling that I could not only remove your inhibitory blocks but make
you write a real masterpiece within the strict limits of orthodoxy. That
may sound a little fantastic to you, but after all the performances of
our self-styled Mandarin-killers were no less fantastic.... "
"Assuming," said Leontiev, "that I gave the slightest credence
to your mad and treasonable fantasies- which I do not-let me ask
for curiosity's sake how you would set about it?"
Gruber laughed and, reaching across the table, patted Leontiev's
shoulder. "Perfect," he giggled. "You are the most perfect ham actor
I have seen.... Now to the method. It is fantastically simple. I can
put it into one phrase." He paused, then said with emphasis:
"I will make you believe in what you write."
There was a silence. Leontiev was on the point of saying "How
dare you" in a majestic voice; then he gave up. They had now both
gone too far. They had delivered themselves into each other's hands;
his tension snapped and suddenly he didn't care any longer. Instead
of "How dare you," he said with a tired smile: "And how are you
going to do that?"
"Ah," said Gruber. "There is a good boy. It
is
less difficult than
you imagine. All I need
is,
as I said before, something real to build
on. You remember old Archimedes: Give me one firm spot on which
to stand and I will move the earth. After all there must be
something
in which you still believe. . . . Let's see. You believe in the storming
of Bastilles? Good. In the Barricades of 1848? In the Commune of
1871? In the Proclamation of 1917? Better and better. Now I see the
pattern. You believe that basically all our premises were right, and
