HOFFMANN. For me!
Hoffmann tries to pour; Loth resists; a slight scuffling of hands.
LOTH. No. . . . No. . . . I mean it . . . No! . . . No, thank you.
HOFFMANN. Don't be offended now, but aren't you being downright difficult?
KAHL. (To Mrs. Spiller.) A man who don't want nothin' 's already got what he has comin'. (Mrs. Spiller nods in resignation.)
HOFFMANN. Thy will be done . . . but all I can tell you is this: without a glass of wine at dinner . . .
LOTH. And a glass of beer right after breakfast . . .
HOFFMANN. Well, why not? A glass of beer's a very healthy thing.
LOTH. And a little nip of cognac now and then . . .
HOFFMANN. You're not going to deny me that little bit of pleasure, are you? You'll never have much chance of turning me into an ascetic. What are you trying to do? Deprive life of everything that's stimulating?
LOTH. Not quite. I'm thoroughly satisfied with the normal stimuli that touch my nervous system.
HOFFMANN. Well, as far as I'm concerned, a group of people who sit down together and keep their throats dry enough to spit feathers is, and always will be, a hopelessly dreary and tedious lot, and one which, as a rule, I can do very well without.
MRS. KRAUSE. Even all them blue bloods drink like fish.
MRS. SPILLER. (Solemnly confirming the remark with a stately bow.) Drinking large quantities of wine – nnngg – is second nature to a real gentleman.
LOTH. (To Hoffmann.) My response is the diametrical opposite. I generally find myself bored to tears at tables devoted to heavy drinking.
HOFFMANN. Well, of course, these things must be done in moderation.
LOTH. What would you call moderation?
HOFFMANN. Oh . . . as long as you manage to retain control of your senses . . .
LOTH. Aha! Then you're willing to admit that the consumption of alcohol does indeed impair the senses. And that, you see, is why I find drinking parties such a bore.
HOFFMANN. Are you afraid of losing control of your senses all that easily?
KAHL. Th-th-th'other day I drank a b-bottle o' R-Rrrr-Rü-Rüdesheimer, 'n th-then one o' champagne. And on top o' that an-n-nother one o' B-B-Bordeaux, b-but I was n-n-nowheres n-near drunk.
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