Атлант расправил плечи
Their Brothers’ Keepers
"Imean,Iwantedtohaveaconference,Iwantedtoknowyourviewofthesituation—"
"Youknowit."
"Butyouhaven’tsaidaword!"
"IsaideverythingIhadtosay,threeyearsago.Itoldyouwhereyourcoursewouldtakeyou.Ithas."
"Nowthereyougoagain!What’stheuseoftheorizing?We’rehere,we’renotbackthreeyearsago.We’vegottodealwiththepresent,notthepast.Maybethingswouldhavebeendifferent,ifwehadfollowedyouropinion,maybe,butthefactisthatwedidn’t—andwe’vegottodealwithfacts.We’vegottotakerealityasitisnow,today!"
"Well,takeit."
"Ibegyourpardon?"
"Takeyourreality.I’llmerelytakeyourorders."
"That’sunfair!I’maskingforyouropinion—"
"You’reaskingforreassurance,Jim.You’renotgoingtogetit."
"Ibegyourpardon?"
"I’mnotgoingtohelpyoupretend—byarguingwithyou—thattherealityyou’retalkingaboutisnotwhatitis,thatthere’sstillawaytomakeitworkandtosaveyourneck.Thereisn’t."
"Well..."Therewasnoexplosion,noanger—onlythefeeblyuncertainvoiceofamanonthevergeofabdication."Well...whatwouldyouwantmetodo?"
"Giveup."Helookedatherblankly.
