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 sive glass? A pity. Listen, I can make you explosive paper. You write a letter, someone throws it into the fire, and crash! The whole of the place collapses. Would you like that?”

“What for?” asked Plinius, raising his eyebrows.

“Well, I don’t know. Power must out. I’ll tell you something. If you were to walk on the ceiling, what would happen to you? To begin with I have no use for the theory of valency. Everything is possible. Listen, you hear that noise outside? That’s the grass growing; nothing but little explosions. Every seed is an explosive cartridge which goes off. Poof, like a rocket. And those fools think that there is no such thing as tautomerism. I’ll show them such merotropy that they’ll go off their heads. Pure laboratory experience, my dear sir.”

Prokop suddenly had a dreadful feeling that he was babbling nonsense. He tried to extricate himself from his position, but only jabbered all the more quickly, mixing everything up. Plinius nodded his head seriously and finally inclined his body forward more and more, as if he were bowing. Prokop gabbled confused formule, unable to stop himself, his eyes fixed on Plinius who was swinging backwards and forwards with increasing speed, like a machine. The floor began to move and lift under him.

“But stop it, man,” roared Prokop, terrified, and woke up.

Instead of Plinius he saw Thomas who grunted,