Атлант расправил плечи
The Non-commercial
Shehadalargecircleoffriends,andhehadhearditsaidthattheirnamesrepresentedtheheartofthecountry’sculture,buthehadneverhadtimetomeetthemoreventoacknowledgetheirfamebyknowingwhatachievementshadearnedit.Heknewonlythatheoftensawtheirnamesonthemagazinecoversonnewsstands.IfLillianresentedhisattitude,hethought,shewasright.Ifhermannertowardhimwasobjectionable,hedeservedit.Ifhisfamilycalledhimheartless,itwastrue.
Hehadneversparedhimselfinanyissue.Whenaproblemcameupatthemills,hisfirstconcernwastodiscoverwhaterrorhehadmade;hedidnotsearchforanyone’sfaultbuthisown;itwasofhimselfthathedemandedperfection.Hewouldgranthimselfnomercynow;hetooktheblame.Butatthemills,itpromptedhimtoactioninanimmediateimpulsetocorrecttheerror;now,ithadnoeffect....Justafewmoreminutes,hethought,standingagainstthemirror,hiseyesclosed.
Hecouldnotstopthethinginhismindthatwentonthrowingwordsathim;itwasliketryingtoplugabrokenhydrantwithhisbarehands.Stingingjets,partwords,partpictures,keptshootingathisbrain....
