Атлант расправил плечи
The Egoist
whatcankeepusapart,here,whereonlyheandIbelong?...Then,recapturingthecontextofthepresent,shehadwalkedsteadilyon,withthesenseofthesameunbrokenloyalty,butthesoundofdifferentwords:Youhaveforbiddenmetolookforyou,youmaydamnme,youmaychoosetodiscardme...butbytherightofthefactthatIamalive,Imustknowthatyouare...Imustseeyouthisonce...nottostop,nottospeak,nottotouchyou,onlytosee...Shehadnotseenhim.Shehadabandonedhersearch,whenshehadnoticedthecurious,wonderingglancesoftheundergroundworkers,followinghersteps.
ShehadcalledameetingoftheTerminaltracklaborersfortheallegedpurposeofboostingtheirmorale,shehadheldthemeetingtwice,tofaceallthemeninturn—shehadrepeatedthesameunintelligiblespeech,feelingastabofshameattheemptygeneralitiessheutteredand,together,astabofpridethatitdidnotmattertoheranylonger—shehadlookedattheexhausted,brutalizedfacesofmenwhodidnotcarewhethertheywereorderedtoworkortolistentomeaninglesssounds.Shehadnotseenhisfaceamongthem."Waseveryonepresent?"shehadaskedtheforeman."Yeah,Iguessso,"hehadansweredindifferently.
ShehadloiteredattheTerminalentrances,watchingthemenastheycametowork.
