THE STEEL FLEA
Then the Englishmen invited the Emperor to the last museum of all, where were collected all the mineral stones and nymfozoria[1] from the whole world, beginning with the hugest Egyptian Keramids,[2] and going down to the subcutaneous flea, which cannot be seen by the eye, though its bite is between the skin and the body.
The Emperor went.
They had inspected the Keramids and all sorts of stuffed animals, and were on their way out, and Platoff thinks to himself: "Now, glory to God, all is well—the Emperor admires nothing!"
But no sooner had they reached the very last room, when lo! there stood workmen in their every-day waistcoats and aprons, holding a salver on which there was nothing at all. And the Emperor began to wonder what they were giving him on the empty salver.
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