1The kings of steel, of petroleum, and all the other kings of the United States have always in a high degree excited my power of imagination. It seemed to me certain that these people who possess so much money could not be like other mortals. 2Each of them (so I said to myself) must call his own, at least, three stomachs and a hundred and fifty teeth. I did not doubt that the millionaire ate without intermission, from six o'clock in the morning till midnight. It goes without saying, the most exquisite and sumptuous viands! Toward evening, then, he must be tired of the hard chewing, to such a degree that (so I pictured to myself) he gave orders to his servants to digest the meals that he had swallowed with satisfaction during the day. Completely limp, covered with sweat and almost suffocated, he had to be put to bed by his servants, in order that on the next morning at six o'clock he might be able to begin again his work of eating. 3Nevertheless, it must be impossible for such a man -- whatever pains he might take -- to consume merely the half of the interest of his wealth. 4To be sure, such a life is awful, but what is one to do? For what is one a millionaire -- what am I saying? -- a billionaire, if one cannot eat more than every other common mortal! I pictured to myself that this privileged being wore cloth-of-gold underclothing, shoes with gold nails, and instead of a hat a diadem of diamonds on his head. His clothes, made of the most expensive velvet, must be at least fifty feet long and fastened with three hundred gold buttons; and on holidays he must be compelled by dire necessity to put on over each other six pairs of costly trousers. Such a costume is certainly very uncomfortable. But, if one is rich like that, one can't after all dress like all the world. 5The pocket of a billionaire, I pictured to myself so big that therein easily a church or the whole senate could find room. The paunch of such a gentleman I conceived to myself like the hull of an ocean steamer, the length and breadth of which I was not able to think out. Of the bulk, too, of a billionaire I could never give myself a clear idea; but I supposed that the coverlet under which he sleeps measures a dozen hundred square yards. If he chews tobacco, it was unquestionably only the best kind, of which he always sticks two pounds at a time into his mouth. And on taking snuff (I thought to myself) he must use up a pound at a pinch. Indeed, money will be spent! 6His fingers must possess the magic power of lengthening at will. In spirit, I saw a New York billionaire as he stretched out his hand across Bering Strait and brought back a dollar that had rolled somewhere toward Siberia, without especially exerting himself thereby. 7Curiously, I could form to myself no clear conception of the head of this monster. In this organism consisting of gigantic muscles and bones that is made for squeezing money out of all things, a head seemed to me really quite superfluous. 8Who, now, can conceive my astonishment when, standing facing one of these fabulous beings, I arrived at the conviction that a billionaire is a human being like all the rest! 9I saw there comfortably reclining in an armchair a long, wizened old man, who held his brown, sinewy hands folded across a body of quite ordinary dimensions. The flabby skin of his face was carefully shaved. The underlip, which hung loosely down, covered solidly built jaws, in which gilded teeth were stuck. The upper lip, smooth, narrow and pallid, scarcely moved when the old man spoke. Colorless eyes without brows, a perfectly bald skull. It might be thought that a little skin was wanting to this reddish face, to this countenance that was expressionless and puckered like that of one new-born. Was this being just beginning its life, or was it already nearing its end? 10Nothing in his dress distinguished him from the ordinary mortal. A ring, a watch, and his teeth were all the gold he carried with him. Scarcely half a pound, all told! Taken altogether, the appearance of the man recalled that of an old servant of an aristocratic family in Europe.
I’m very selfish. I don’t see it as that big of a problem, but sometimes I can annoy people by putting myself first. However, it has served me well.
I’m lazy. If I don’t feel like doing it, I won’t, unless it will impact me negatively. I’m willing to get up at 6 am to work every day because it benefits me. If it didn’t, I’d never do it. I like to see how little I can get away with until something starts to fail - one might say I like to know where the boundaries are.
I’m very proud. This means that if you try to manipulate me into doing something regardless of how it fits in with what I want, I’m very likely to do the opposite thing. For instance, my dad forced me to learn to ride the bike, so I could get him food from the store. The result? I didn’t touch a bike out of spite for four years. You might think this is bad for me, but you see, by the age of 16, I had never ridden a bike nor felt the need for one. My partner is using a different tactic to get me to get a driver’s license - he wants to drive around Europe, which we can’t do if he is the only driver. It is in my interest to do it because him being happy and satisfied is in my best interest. I care about how he feels. My dad still hasn’t learned the fact that I would sooner keep you from gloating at having taught me something than learn it for my own benefit, especially if I don’t really need to.
I don’t see this as a limitation, but I have a certain disregard for social convention and tradition, while still respecting some aspects of it. For instance, I believe marriage is utterly pointless, because I already am in a loyal and respecting partnered relationship that contains everything apart from a signed document and registration in state archives. I wear skate shoes to formal events because they cost as much as high heels do - by historical standards, your most expensive clothing is your best formal clothing as in that respect, I am wearing formal shoes. I hope you can follow.
I’m very, very, very hard-headed. It is very difficult to convince or persuade me unless you have ample evidence. No evidence, no results. This has lead to multiple arguments with both of my parents who are equally hard-headed..
I’m somewhat gullible if you catch me off guard. It annoys me. I’m a very sincere person and sometimes I don’t think.
I would choose A. religion is used to divide the clan. From what I read, it says that his brothers were converted form their religion to another, and taught that their old life was wrong.
Food plays a major part in affiliating us to our families, our memories, and our cultural identities. It is an "emotion" which represents our historical background, habits, etc. When immigrants move to a different location, they retain their cultural identity through food as it reminds them of their background and family history. We often witness that however, people shift their location yet their feeding habits do not change at once. It remains intact into the very roots of ours and carries a sense of belonging to our culture. If we talk about India which contains a diverse list of cultures, the regions do not define food instead the food represents them. The affiliation of 'Dhokla' to 'Gujarat' or 'Pizza' to 'Italy' exemplifies that the food associates us to our cultural identities and backgrounds. No matter wherever we move in the world, we'll always feel a sensitivity towards our traditional food consequently reminds us of our family and memories as food patterns or habits divides us into distinct cultural groups and it passes on from one generation to other.
