Thus a large sign pasted across the body of a taxi that rushes past me in the center of Zagreb. Next to the name, which surprises me out of my reverie, there are photographs of several shoes. It does not take me long to remember that this is the name of a German shoe company. But Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the leading demons of German literary tradition. Working for Satan, he is collecting souls of the fallen. My thoughts veer to contemporary capitalism and our moribund civilization. Any company name would do, as far as some money can be made from it. Working for Satan, Mephisto is collecting profits nowadays. The German literary tradition can go to hell. Everything can go to hell as long as profits are within sight. After two millennia and a half, everything is up in the air at this stage. And the Satan’s servant is rushing around the world, including the Croatian capital, with complete and total impunity.