>Marx's friend, Freidrich Engels, was left a house in his uncle's will. He and Marx went to inspect and explore his new property. On reaching the attics, Engels peered into the water tanks, gave a startled exclamation, put his arm into the water and withdrew two ancient fiddles. "Great Scott, Marx," he exclaimed, "Do you think they might be valuable?" "No," replied his friend, "They are merely the violins inherited in the cistern."

That same house came to be occupied by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who lived there during a very destitute part of his life. Alas, the house caught on fire in the middle of the night, and Henri grabbed his Bugle Boys and ran from the house, where he fell and knocked himself out. He came to and asked if the firefighters had saved anything. The reply, of course, was "You have nothing, Toulouse, but your jeans."


TEd