In 1851, he appears again in the capital... And from this moment begins the career of the Prince.
In the months since his return, Prince Rosenthal had accomplished the impossible. He was able convince, and if not all, then many, that possesses special a gift resurrection from the dead.
– But that's nonsense - the whole thing is nonsense. Where did he find so many suckers?
"Well, young man... there are several Reasons.
First, if you look good, Fuckers are everywhere. Of course, it was not easy... But you can imagine what it was for the time. Scammers who tried to do something like that, was then a lot. Predictions future, the fabrication from what -- something gold and diamonds, treatment any diseases without drugs and operations... Demand on such services was, and talked about this more often, than about politics... Plus to this – many new inventions, about which little who had a clear misconception, scientific discoveries... from technical Sciences, medicine and chemistry waited then much more, than they could give.
Don't forget Rosenthal's own reputation. I have already told you that his father had a certain reputation, though what he did no one knew for certain. But there were rumors... the name Rosenthal conjured up some pretty creepy associations. Behavior the most of the Prince neutralize rumors, as you understood, not contributed to.
Well, the main thing. Studying many thousands of cases of fraud, I often wondered how people, not seen in pronounced idiocy, could believe in frankly delusional stories? How? The child must have had suspicions, too... and the pattern seems to me to be simple. People believe what they really want to believe, very much.
What do you mean, for example, "greed fraera ruined"? A man who desires something passionately loses caution, and is caught where a cold mind would immediately sense danger.
Now think about it. Return from the world of the dead-what could be more desirable for a person? What could money, however large, mean compared to what could no longer be recovered – human life? Rosenthal's calculation, if I correctly guessed his plan, was unmistakable…
- Val shook his head:
- – All that is true - but I don't think even that is enough to believe in the revival of the dead."
- The Professor nodded:
- – Correctly. And so he did revive them.
Rosenthal brought with him from Africa a lot of jars with drugs, some fish, a bunch of religious objects and a Negro shaman, with whom, according to reliable information, was in a homosexual relationship. Shamans however, as far as I know, the Chukchi, and not blacks, but this all somehow be called that. Here, too, I follow the established tradition.
So they lived for a few weeks in a cheap apartment on the Fontanka embankment. The Prince very rarely appeared in public, but if he went out, he always wore exotic clothes, and always took a lover with him. The shaman was seen from time to time in cheap taverns in different parts of the city, he spoke good Russian.
The Prince's black carriage, his fatal look and the Negro twisting his ass made a strong impression on the inhabitants of St. Petersburg. His appearance was the sensation of high life of the season. Rosenthal received numerous invitations to balls, dinners and other events, but the hosts, who tried to get the Prince as a highlight of the evening, for a long time received polite refusals, citing the workload of scientific work... So it was until Rosenthal accepted an invitation to Countess Ershova.
Many thought then that the Prince could not refuse her only because a few days before she had lost her beloved brother, whom, it was said, she loved even more than her husband. A few days after the funeral, her husband, fearing the departure of the Countess in a long depression, and even her insanity (in this case, he was threatened with big money trouble), contrary to the rules of decency, required to observe mourning, gathered a small party, to which was invited and the Prince... the Prince came.
In the diary of one of the guests preserved fragmentary records of how the evening passed