Атлант расправил плечи
The Sign of the Dollar
Well,theboygraduatedfromhighschoolinthesecondyearoftheplan—but‘thefamily’wouldn’tgivethefatherany‘allowance’forthecollege.Theysaidhissoncouldn’tgotocollege,untilwehadenoughtosendeverybody’ssonstocollege—andthatwefirsthadtosendeverybody’schildrenthroughhighschool,andwedidn’tevenhaveenoughforthat.Thefatherdiedthefollowingyear,inaknifefightwithsomebodyinasaloon,afightovernothinginparticular—suchfightswerebeginningtohappenamongusallthetime.
"Thentherewasanoldguy,awidowerwithnofamily,whohadonehobby:phonographrecords.Iguessthatwasallheevergotoutoflife.Intheolddays,heusedtoskipmealsjusttobuyhimselfsomenewrecordingofclassicalmusic.Well,theydidn’tgivehimany‘allowance’forrecords—‘personalluxury,’theycalledit.Butatthatsamemeeting,MillieBush,somebody’sdaughter,amean,uglylittleeight-year-old,wasvotedapairofgoldbracesforherbuckteeth—thiswas‘medicalneed,’becausethestaffpsychologisthadsaidthatthepoorgirlwouldgetaninferioritycomplexifherteethweren’tstraightenedout.Theoldguy’wholovedmusic,turnedtodrink,instead.Hegotsoyouneversawhimfullyconsciousanymore.Butitseemsliketherewasonetilinghecouldn’tforget.Onenight,hecamestaggeringdownthestreet,sawMillieBush,swunghisfistandknockedallherteethout.Everyoneofthem.
