The Count of Monte Cristo

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for if you indulged in such reflections, you would never risk your
principal, which is to the speculator what the skin is to civilized
man. We have our clothes, some more splendid than others,--this is our
credit; but when a man dies he has only his skin; in the same way, on
retiring from business, you have nothing but your real principal of
about five or six millions, at the most; for third-rate fortunes are
never more than a fourth of what they appear to be, like the locomotive
on a railway, the size of which is magnified by the smoke and steam
surrounding it. Well, out of the five or six millions which form your
real capital, you have just lost nearly two millions, which must, of
course, in the same degree diminish your credit and fictitious fortune;
to follow out my simile, your skin has been opened by bleeding, and this
if repeated three or four times will cause death--so pay attention to
it, my dear Monsieur Danglars. Do you want money? Do you wish me to lend
you some?"

"What a bad calculator you are!" exclaimed Danglars, calling to his