“The cough is a mere nothing. It will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough” this part of the passage is very ironic because he really won’t die of a cough but he is explaining the cough to be nothing for him to be worried about
Because it affects the climax
"me" would be the underlined pronoun.
Basically to charge something at a price that people wouldn't pay in their right mind. (Excessive charge).
