Can Paris compete with Normandy in the raising of cows?
Paul: I shall gain the advantage by saving the costs of transportation. John: All right. But even after paying these costs, the Normans can still bear the Parisians.6 Paul: Do you call it beating someone to let him have things at low prices? John: That is the customary term. The fact remains that you will be the one who is beaten. Paul: Yes, like Don Quixote. The blows will fall on Sancho. John, my friend, you forget the octroi. John: The octroi! What connection does it have with our butter? Paul: From tomorrow on, I shall demand protection; I shall persuade the commune to keep butter from Normandy and Brittany from entering Paris. Then the people will either have to get along without it or buy mine, and at my price, too. John: I must say, gentlemen, I feel myself quite caught up in the wave of your humanitarianism. “One learns to howl,” says the proverb, “by living with the wolves.” My mind is made up. No one shall say that I am an unworthy alderman. Peter, this crackling fire has set
