“When do you measure again?” he asked. “After eating? Yes, that’s a good time. When the organism is in full activity, it must show itself. Behrens must have been joking when he told me to take my temperature⁠—Settembrini laughed like anything at the idea; there’s really no sense in it, I haven’t even a thermometer.”

“Well,” Joachim said, “that is the least of your difficulties. You can get one anywhere⁠—they sell them in almost every shop.”