Атлант расправил плечи
“This is John Galt speaking”
"
"He’squit!Gone!Gonelikealltheothers!Lefthismills,hisbankaccounts,hisproperty,everything!Justvanished!Tooksomeclothingandwhateverhehadinthesafeinhisapartment—theyfoundasafeleftopeninhisbedroom,openandempty—that’sall!Noword,nonote,noexplanation!TheycalledmefromWashington,butit’sallovertown!Thenews,Imean,thestory!Theycan’tkeepitquiet!
They’vetriedto,but...Nobodyknowshowitgotout,butitwentthroughthemillslikeoneofthosefurnacebreak-outs,thewordthathe’dgone,andthen...beforeanyonecouldstopit,awholebunchofthemvanished!Thesuperintendent,thechiefmetallurgist,thechiefengineer,Rearden’ssecretary,eventhehospitaldoctor!AndGodknowshowmanyothers!Deserting,thebastards!Desertingus,inspiteofallthepenaltieswe’vesetup!He’squitandtherestarequittingandthosemillsarejustleftthere,standingstill!Doyouunderstandwhatthatmeans?"
"Doyou?"sheasked.
Hehadthrownhisstoryather,sentencebysentence,asiftryingtoknockthesmileoffherface,anodd,unmovingsmileofbitternessandtriumph;hehadfailed."It’sanationalcatastrophe!What’sthematterwithyou?Don’tyouseethatit’safatalblow?Itwillbreakthelastofthecountry’smoraleandeconomy!Wecan’tlethimvanish!You’vegottobringhimback!"
Hersmiledisappeared.
"Youcan!"hecried.
