Philosophical Dialogue between the Flying Mercury and a Common Smelter

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Smelter. Well then, do tell me, my dear friend, who you are, and who has done you so much harm that you complain about it in so many ways; rest assured that no harm shall come to you with me, for I am a peaceable man and offend no person, and my roasting- and smelting-fires Röst- und Schmelz-Feuer: metallurgical processes where ore is heated to remove sulfur (roasting) and then melted to extract metal (smelting). will likewise do you no harm, even if they be ever so large and usually have a most cruel stench.

Mercury. My dear Smelter, I am Mercury, and I come from the hospital Lazareth: traditionally a hospital for those with contagious diseases; here, Mercury uses it to describe the alchemists' laboratories as places where he was "wounded." of the alchemists, who have left me little peace; rather, as long as they had me in their power, they treated me so miserably that I am still much too weak to recount it.

Smelter. Aha! So you are that man; I have certainly heard much about you, for almost the whole world has something to say of you, and to this day no one can quite reconcile themselves to your strange form and properties, because everyone finds themselves deceived by you in the end; therefore I have often heard such things about you that it would likely bring you no great joy to hear them.

Mercury. Just tell me, my dear Smelter, who then has spoken of me, and whom am I supposed to have ever offended? Perhaps I can show you in this matter that I have been much wronged: for in one’s absence, people may say much about a person, which often does not hold up original: den Stich nicht hält; an idiom meaning "to not withstand scrutiny" or "to be proven false." when both parties are present.

Smelter. No, no, my mine- and foundry-officers Berg- und Hütten-Officirers: the administrative and technical supervisors of a mining district and its processing plants. all complain about you, that you are such a