Buttressed by elaborate account statements and a deep reservoir of trust from his investors and regulators, Mr. Madoff steered his fraud scheme safely through a severe recession in the early 1990s, a global financial crisis in 1998 and the anxious aftermath of the terrorist attacks in September 2001.

He might have flinched altogether from speaking if at this moment he had not seen Ampleforth, the hairy-eared poet, wandering limply round the room with a tray, looking for a place to sit down.

The hippie way of life seems to have rubbed off on him, as he's a flower power aficionado.

The farmer or the potter or the merchant takes down his father's old spear, puts the old armor on, practices the spearplay, takes his place in the ranks, and goes through the drill as is expected of him.