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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: hair he cut, gave him the name of Marius, infinitely superior, you
perceive, to the Christian names of Armand and Hippolyte, behind which
patronymics attacked by the Cabot evil are wont to hide. All the
successors of Cabot have called themselves Marius. The present Marius
is Marius V.; his real name is Mongin. This occurs in various other
trades; for 'Botot water,' and for 'Little-Virtue' ink. Names become
commercial property in Paris, and have ended by constituting a sort of
ensign of nobility. The present Marius, who takes pupils, has created,
he says, the leading school of hair-dressing in the world.
"I've seen, in coming through France," said Gazonal, "a great many
signs bearing the words: 'Such a one, pupil of Marius.'"
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