I suppose you mean that we discourse on some variety of
subjects, so that you can see who I am discreetly," he said.
"Exactly," I replied, "You say it better than I."
"Perhaps it is for the best, as you will draw your own conclusions
rather than be given mine, and instead of my telling you what I would
like to think I am, you would see what I am in truth. Strange, isn't it,
that though we think we know ourselves, we very much do not, and it is
only the unbiased observer who sees us as we are. You know, I was once
thinking of writing my memoirs, and I would have, except that I was
afraid that if I read them afterward I would be forced to see myself as
I am and be horrified at the truth."
"Damn the truth," I said.
"You're starting to sound like a philosopher," he laughed.
"And you a psychologist," I rejoined.
"And where would that place us on the scale of artificial intelligence,"
Bernibus jested.
"Following the footsteps of Jeroboam," I returned.
"Hmm?
"Oh, nothing. Tell me," I asked more solemnly, "What position does
Wagner hold among the Canitaurs?"
"He is the Khedive Kibitzer, our ruler in that he leads the council."
"And you?"
"I am his brother-in-law, a relationship that our culture places great
importance on, especially as he has no blood brothers.
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