WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.620 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:07.340 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read part of a chapter of my new novel 00:00:07.340 --> 00:00:13.220 align:middle line:84% which got started by writing the fairy tale for the book. 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:15.560 align:middle line:84% The story Body Without Soul that's 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:20.780 align:middle line:84% in the fairy tale anthology was to my great happiness 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:25.340 align:middle line:90% the inception of this new novel. 00:00:25.340 --> 00:00:28.310 align:middle line:84% And Kate gave me permission to do 00:00:28.310 --> 00:00:33.330 align:middle line:90% this sort of unorthodox thing. 00:00:33.330 --> 00:00:36.300 align:middle line:84% So this is-- I'm going to read-- this is about half 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:39.900 align:middle line:84% of a chapter that comes a little ways into the book. 00:00:39.900 --> 00:00:45.925 align:middle line:84% And it really I think requires no explanation or introduction 00:00:45.925 --> 00:00:46.425 align:middle line:90% I hope. 00:00:46.425 --> 00:00:49.230 align:middle line:90% 00:00:49.230 --> 00:00:52.140 align:middle line:90% It's called The Rain of Beads. 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:54.915 align:middle line:90% Beads like necklace. 00:00:54.915 --> 00:00:58.000 align:middle line:90% 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.330 align:middle line:84% The story of the rain of beads goes back far enough 00:01:01.330 --> 00:01:03.520 align:middle line:84% to seem like it never really happened. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:07.460 align:middle line:84% The girl I first heard it from was always telling stories. 00:01:07.460 --> 00:01:10.300 align:middle line:84% She was one of the older girls and all the little girls 00:01:10.300 --> 00:01:12.220 align:middle line:90% were in awe of her. 00:01:12.220 --> 00:01:14.830 align:middle line:84% We were sitting on the porch stoop one night 00:01:14.830 --> 00:01:17.380 align:middle line:90% in late summer trading cards. 00:01:17.380 --> 00:01:21.550 align:middle line:84% The cards were separated into packs according to category. 00:01:21.550 --> 00:01:26.860 align:middle line:84% Still lives, famous paintings, horses, dogs. 00:01:26.860 --> 00:01:29.890 align:middle line:84% Most of the trading cards have been bought in a store 00:01:29.890 --> 00:01:32.560 align:middle line:84% and had an unpleasant texture making 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.870 align:middle line:84% them less desirable than the Joker 00:01:34.870 --> 00:01:38.320 align:middle line:84% stolen from the decks of cards everyone's parents used 00:01:38.320 --> 00:01:40.480 align:middle line:90% for bridge or poker. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.410 align:middle line:84% These playing cards were larger and smoother to the touch 00:01:44.410 --> 00:01:46.510 align:middle line:90% and often came in pairs. 00:01:46.510 --> 00:01:49.780 align:middle line:84% The girl wanted a black horse to complete the pair 00:01:49.780 --> 00:01:51.370 align:middle line:90% with her white horse. 00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:54.540 align:middle line:90% Her name was Janice. 00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:57.030 align:middle line:84% Generally speaking, the adults on the block 00:01:57.030 --> 00:01:59.100 align:middle line:90% considered her a liar. 00:01:59.100 --> 00:02:01.920 align:middle line:84% She said her mother beat her with a Willow branch 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:05.080 align:middle line:84% and she had stripes on her back to prove it. 00:02:05.080 --> 00:02:07.320 align:middle line:84% She said humans have been right when 00:02:07.320 --> 00:02:10.350 align:middle line:84% they said the world was flat and round like a coin 00:02:10.350 --> 00:02:12.600 align:middle line:90% and you could fall off the edge. 00:02:12.600 --> 00:02:14.880 align:middle line:84% Many things everyone had been told 00:02:14.880 --> 00:02:17.670 align:middle line:84% weren't real turned out to be real. 00:02:17.670 --> 00:02:20.040 align:middle line:84% The world had edges but you couldn't 00:02:20.040 --> 00:02:24.420 align:middle line:84% see them going only when you were trying to come back. 00:02:24.420 --> 00:02:28.320 align:middle line:84% Janice also said she had a brother who died of leukemia 00:02:28.320 --> 00:02:31.500 align:middle line:84% and that amazingly enough turned out to be true. 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:35.910 align:middle line:84% Like everyone else, she could push buttons on her console 00:02:35.910 --> 00:02:38.430 align:middle line:84% and find out whatever she wanted to know 00:02:38.430 --> 00:02:40.980 align:middle line:90% about anybody or anything. 00:02:40.980 --> 00:02:44.190 align:middle line:84% For this reason she kept everything exceptional 00:02:44.190 --> 00:02:47.160 align:middle line:90% about herself hidden. 00:02:47.160 --> 00:02:50.430 align:middle line:84% Janice's parents were at work all day long. 00:02:50.430 --> 00:02:54.210 align:middle line:84% She was their only living child and they loved her dearly 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:56.070 align:middle line:84% though the older she got the harder 00:02:56.070 --> 00:02:58.230 align:middle line:90% it was for them to show it. 00:02:58.230 --> 00:03:01.020 align:middle line:84% Her mother worked in a lab at the university. 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:04.200 align:middle line:84% Her father sold the other fathers clothing. 00:03:04.200 --> 00:03:07.410 align:middle line:84% The newlyweds in the house that was the other half of theirs 00:03:07.410 --> 00:03:10.950 align:middle line:84% were paid to keep an eye on her when she got home from school. 00:03:10.950 --> 00:03:15.630 align:middle line:84% But the whole street knew they spent every waking hour in bed. 00:03:15.630 --> 00:03:19.680 align:middle line:84% If she got lonely, she had the family pet for company. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.190 align:middle line:84% She taught the dog to balance a cracker on his nose 00:03:23.190 --> 00:03:24.870 align:middle line:90% until she said OK. 00:03:24.870 --> 00:03:27.780 align:middle line:84% And then he'd dip his head and let the cracker drop 00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:31.740 align:middle line:84% to the floor and then he'd eat it. 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:34.560 align:middle line:84% The afternoon's had a way of stretching endlessly 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:38.670 align:middle line:84% in all directions as if time were taffy, something a person 00:03:38.670 --> 00:03:40.770 align:middle line:90% could get caught in. 00:03:40.770 --> 00:03:43.860 align:middle line:84% Janice said time was different now. 00:03:43.860 --> 00:03:45.870 align:middle line:90% It used to be sadder. 00:03:45.870 --> 00:03:49.380 align:middle line:84% The couple next door fought to get themselves in the mood. 00:03:49.380 --> 00:03:51.540 align:middle line:84% They would scream at one another and then 00:03:51.540 --> 00:03:53.610 align:middle line:84% Janice could hear the bed springs 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:58.580 align:middle line:84% creaking through the wall behind her parents' headboard. 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:02.930 align:middle line:84% Once there was a girl Janice said, like most girls 00:04:02.930 --> 00:04:04.640 align:middle line:90% she was a sap. 00:04:04.640 --> 00:04:07.100 align:middle line:84% By now everyone was listening even the girls 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:09.860 align:middle line:90% who were pretending not to. 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:12.410 align:middle line:84% In the beginning the fair tree of the void 00:04:12.410 --> 00:04:15.530 align:middle line:84% abounded with flowers Janice said, acts 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:17.990 align:middle line:90% of compassion of many kinds. 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:22.100 align:middle line:84% The fair tree of the void also lacked compassion. 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:25.250 align:middle line:84% The two trees sprang from one seed. 00:04:25.250 --> 00:04:28.250 align:middle line:84% Think of it like code she suggested. 00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:31.370 align:middle line:84% And for that reason there was but one fruit. 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:33.980 align:middle line:84% The girl in the story spent a lot of time 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:36.770 align:middle line:90% most girls wishing for love. 00:04:36.770 --> 00:04:40.040 align:middle line:84% If she could have been cut open, her ideal mate 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.500 align:middle line:84% would have been able to see her inner markings 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:44.780 align:middle line:84% even though they were practically invisible 00:04:44.780 --> 00:04:48.050 align:middle line:84% like the black dots inside a banana. 00:04:48.050 --> 00:04:51.410 align:middle line:84% As it was, he never had a chance. 00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:54.140 align:middle line:84% He was a nice person but for some reason 00:04:54.140 --> 00:04:57.590 align:middle line:84% he thought it would be funny to pass the girl a note asking 00:04:57.590 --> 00:05:00.980 align:middle line:84% her to meet him at the pool mansion after school. 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:05.360 align:middle line:84% He lived one block over Janice said, above the movie theater. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.440 align:middle line:84% He probably got the idea to send the note from some friend. 00:05:09.440 --> 00:05:11.780 align:middle line:84% The theater was a family business 00:05:11.780 --> 00:05:17.010 align:middle line:84% and that's why to this day they never showed funny movies. 00:05:17.010 --> 00:05:20.310 align:middle line:84% After she arrived home, the girl washed the breakfast dishes. 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:22.230 align:middle line:84% She stood there with her head bowed, 00:05:22.230 --> 00:05:25.950 align:middle line:84% crying into the sink exposing the nape of her neck 00:05:25.950 --> 00:05:29.910 align:middle line:84% to the operational apparatus of the scow hovering 00:05:29.910 --> 00:05:31.530 align:middle line:90% in the air above her. 00:05:31.530 --> 00:05:35.340 align:middle line:84% All the way through the metal case of the scow and the debris 00:05:35.340 --> 00:05:38.940 align:middle line:84% floating in the upper atmosphere and the many different layers 00:05:38.940 --> 00:05:40.350 align:middle line:90% of her house. 00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:43.140 align:middle line:84% The nape of a human neck is especially 00:05:43.140 --> 00:05:45.600 align:middle line:90% attractive to non-humans. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.690 align:middle line:84% Unlike the ideal mate, the apparatus 00:05:48.690 --> 00:05:50.730 align:middle line:90% could see through her perfectly. 00:05:50.730 --> 00:05:55.120 align:middle line:84% It knew it wasn't meant for her but that didn't stop it. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.590 align:middle line:84% It was her fate, which had nothing to do with love. 00:05:58.590 --> 00:06:02.160 align:middle line:84% It had nothing to do with the boy and the note either. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:06.720 align:middle line:84% Things just worked out this way sometimes. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.160 align:middle line:84% Janice leaned in close, her attention to personal hygiene 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:15.750 align:middle line:84% left a lot to be desired and her breath was often stale. 00:06:15.750 --> 00:06:19.560 align:middle line:84% Everyone knew she'd stolen the fair tree of the void 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:23.490 align:middle line:84% from somewhere since her vocabulary wasn't normally 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:25.530 align:middle line:90% that impressive. 00:06:25.530 --> 00:06:28.200 align:middle line:84% Do you know why the girl was crying, Janis asked. 00:06:28.200 --> 00:06:31.710 align:middle line:84% She was crying because she felt sorry for the world 00:06:31.710 --> 00:06:33.810 align:middle line:90% and everyone in it. 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:37.830 align:middle line:84% The world was sadder then too and she wanted everyone 00:06:37.830 --> 00:06:41.010 align:middle line:84% to be happy like she was meeting the boy. 00:06:41.010 --> 00:06:44.640 align:middle line:84% If she hadn't wanted that things would be different now 00:06:44.640 --> 00:06:47.160 align:middle line:90% though not the way she hoped. 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.400 align:middle line:84% After she dried the dishes, the girl put on her jacket 00:06:50.400 --> 00:06:52.590 align:middle line:84% and got on her bike and started out 00:06:52.590 --> 00:06:55.380 align:middle line:84% even though she'd promised her mother and father she 00:06:55.380 --> 00:06:58.980 align:middle line:84% wouldn't go anywhere before they arrived home from work. 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:01.530 align:middle line:84% The bike was a red Schwinn with a bell 00:07:01.530 --> 00:07:05.070 align:middle line:84% and a basket over the handlebars. 00:07:05.070 --> 00:07:07.770 align:middle line:84% It was the time of day when the moon and sun 00:07:07.770 --> 00:07:09.700 align:middle line:90% are both out at once. 00:07:09.700 --> 00:07:12.930 align:middle line:84% The girl rode to the end of the block across the vacant lot 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:17.730 align:middle line:84% and up the hill past the school and over the trestle bridge. 00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:21.210 align:middle line:84% The shadow of the scowl rode behind her, 00:07:21.210 --> 00:07:25.260 align:middle line:84% tapping her onward like a cat toying with the mouse it's 00:07:25.260 --> 00:07:27.030 align:middle line:90% about to eat. 00:07:27.030 --> 00:07:30.990 align:middle line:84% She loved pumping her legs, feeling her heart beating. 00:07:30.990 --> 00:07:35.430 align:middle line:84% From above it was the size of the end of a pencil. 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:37.800 align:middle line:84% The street ran along the Western edge 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:40.020 align:middle line:84% of the pool estate and the only way 00:07:40.020 --> 00:07:43.170 align:middle line:84% in was a driveway so overgrown with vines 00:07:43.170 --> 00:07:44.880 align:middle line:84% she would have ridden right past it 00:07:44.880 --> 00:07:46.710 align:middle line:84% if it weren't for the two goddesses 00:07:46.710 --> 00:07:50.250 align:middle line:84% crouched atop pillars at the entryway. 00:07:50.250 --> 00:07:52.710 align:middle line:90% Young lady, Aphrodite called. 00:07:52.710 --> 00:07:54.340 align:middle line:90% Over here. 00:07:54.340 --> 00:07:57.060 align:middle line:84% She was missing her nose but Athena 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:59.250 align:middle line:84% was missing her whole head, which 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:01.500 align:middle line:84% was a pity since what the girl needed 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:03.630 align:middle line:84% to hear more than anything at this point 00:08:03.630 --> 00:08:06.410 align:middle line:90% was the voice of reason. 00:08:06.410 --> 00:08:08.450 align:middle line:84% I'm not telling her name, Janice said, 00:08:08.450 --> 00:08:12.020 align:middle line:84% so don't bother to ask it would make it hard to pay attention 00:08:12.020 --> 00:08:14.450 align:middle line:90% to the story. 00:08:14.450 --> 00:08:17.000 align:middle line:84% At first the driveway was almost impassable 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:19.970 align:middle line:84% and the girl had to get down off her bike to wheel it in. 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:22.130 align:middle line:84% She could see little eyes suspended 00:08:22.130 --> 00:08:24.770 align:middle line:84% in the thicket of bushes on either side of her. 00:08:24.770 --> 00:08:27.050 align:middle line:84% Could hear the sound of small things moving 00:08:27.050 --> 00:08:28.790 align:middle line:90% under the blanket of vines. 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:32.000 align:middle line:84% But she was too excited to feel frightened. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.190 align:middle line:84% The light was behaving the way it always 00:08:34.190 --> 00:08:35.820 align:middle line:90% did at the end of the day. 00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:40.640 align:middle line:84% The sun having hit bottom like an apple thrown down a well. 00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:44.840 align:middle line:84% Perhaps, this is why she didn't notice when the driveway began 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.070 align:middle line:90% to change before her very eyes. 00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:51.580 align:middle line:84% Now the lamps went on guiding her footsteps. 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:55.180 align:middle line:84% Mechanical things are able to communicate with one another 00:08:55.180 --> 00:08:59.410 align:middle line:84% the way mushrooms grow out of a single long strand of fungus 00:08:59.410 --> 00:09:00.850 align:middle line:90% underground. 00:09:00.850 --> 00:09:05.170 align:middle line:84% The road was clear of brush and laid with paving stones. 00:09:05.170 --> 00:09:07.450 align:middle line:84% And up ahead, she could see the mansion, 00:09:07.450 --> 00:09:10.720 align:middle line:90% the windows brightly lit. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.180 align:middle line:90% Very eyes someone said. 00:09:13.180 --> 00:09:15.200 align:middle line:90% What are very eyes? 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.460 align:middle line:90% Shush said someone else. 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:22.450 align:middle line:84% Inside the mansion the scow's operational apparatus 00:09:22.450 --> 00:09:24.400 align:middle line:90% was waiting for her. 00:09:24.400 --> 00:09:28.420 align:middle line:84% The system was much less sophisticated in those days. 00:09:28.420 --> 00:09:30.790 align:middle line:84% It was a young man but everything was not 00:09:30.790 --> 00:09:32.500 align:middle line:90% quite right about him. 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:37.000 align:middle line:84% Still it was very handsome in an overly polished highly buffed 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:38.110 align:middle line:90% way. 00:09:38.110 --> 00:09:42.140 align:middle line:84% It could dance like most robots better than humans. 00:09:42.140 --> 00:09:44.650 align:middle line:84% And the girl was clumsy on her feet. 00:09:44.650 --> 00:09:49.150 align:middle line:84% Her father said she could trip on a smooth linoleum floor. 00:09:49.150 --> 00:09:51.310 align:middle line:84% She knew right away she'd been tricked 00:09:51.310 --> 00:09:53.890 align:middle line:84% but she didn't mind because it was giving her 00:09:53.890 --> 00:09:57.400 align:middle line:84% its special pleading look, the one it had been designed 00:09:57.400 --> 00:09:59.590 align:middle line:90% to give her to win her heart. 00:09:59.590 --> 00:10:01.570 align:middle line:90% It had nothing to do with love. 00:10:01.570 --> 00:10:03.610 align:middle line:90% It was her fate remember. 00:10:03.610 --> 00:10:05.590 align:middle line:84% It could come from out of nowhere 00:10:05.590 --> 00:10:08.470 align:middle line:84% and mow a person down just like sickness. 00:10:08.470 --> 00:10:10.690 align:middle line:84% And no matter how many things the doctors 00:10:10.690 --> 00:10:13.540 align:middle line:84% did to try to stop it, no matter how many machines 00:10:13.540 --> 00:10:16.270 align:middle line:84% they brought in or how many parts of the sick person's 00:10:16.270 --> 00:10:20.240 align:middle line:84% body they replaced with parts of a healthy person's body 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.200 align:middle line:84% it kept moving, killing everything in its path 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:27.410 align:middle line:84% until all that was left was a jar of ashes. 00:10:27.410 --> 00:10:29.720 align:middle line:84% She was a nice middle class girl and he 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.840 align:middle line:84% was a garbage man, which is the way this often 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:34.520 align:middle line:90% happened in movies. 00:10:34.520 --> 00:10:36.650 align:middle line:84% And then he would turn out to be a prince 00:10:36.650 --> 00:10:39.250 align:middle line:90% or something like that. 00:10:39.250 --> 00:10:41.410 align:middle line:90% They danced and they danced. 00:10:41.410 --> 00:10:43.780 align:middle line:84% The robot knew exactly how to lead the girl 00:10:43.780 --> 00:10:46.150 align:middle line:84% to make it seem like she knew what she was doing. 00:10:46.150 --> 00:10:48.220 align:middle line:84% And the music helped as well because it 00:10:48.220 --> 00:10:50.590 align:middle line:90% was coming from a pear drum. 00:10:50.590 --> 00:10:53.020 align:middle line:84% Next time he said, bring your friends. 00:10:53.020 --> 00:10:56.830 align:middle line:84% He encouraged her to imagine herself whirling among them, 00:10:56.830 --> 00:11:00.070 align:middle line:84% the most graceful and beautiful one in the bunch stirring 00:11:00.070 --> 00:11:00.940 align:middle line:90% their envy. 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:05.200 align:middle line:84% Because after all, she deserved to be envied he said. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.280 align:middle line:90% Just look at you. 00:11:07.280 --> 00:11:08.900 align:middle line:84% It was then she noticed the mirror 00:11:08.900 --> 00:11:12.170 align:middle line:84% that ran along the entire side of the ballroom. 00:11:12.170 --> 00:11:15.590 align:middle line:84% How can that be she thought for the window panes reflected 00:11:15.590 --> 00:11:19.040 align:middle line:84% in it were missing or broken with pieces of glass still 00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:22.670 align:middle line:84% stuck in the frames like knives and the outside of the building 00:11:22.670 --> 00:11:25.640 align:middle line:84% was overgrown with a thick net of creeper that 00:11:25.640 --> 00:11:28.490 align:middle line:84% kept the whole thing from falling in a heap. 00:11:28.490 --> 00:11:31.970 align:middle line:84% The dancing partner looked handsomer than ever. 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:36.260 align:middle line:84% The girl herself like a fluid shapeless sack of parts 00:11:36.260 --> 00:11:38.660 align:middle line:84% held together by skin and the skin 00:11:38.660 --> 00:11:42.920 align:middle line:84% pulsing with blood and pink with smudges here and there of hair 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:46.070 align:middle line:90% and blowing panels of fabric. 00:11:46.070 --> 00:11:49.970 align:middle line:84% Meanwhile, the creeper was filling with more and more gray 00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:51.380 align:middle line:90% brown birds. 00:11:51.380 --> 00:11:55.400 align:middle line:84% Hundreds of tiny bright eyes and beaks chirping and fluffing 00:11:55.400 --> 00:11:57.920 align:middle line:90% their wings. 00:11:57.920 --> 00:12:01.100 align:middle line:84% This was the way robots had viewed living flesh ever 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:04.100 align:middle line:84% since they've been granted the gift of color sightedness 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:07.130 align:middle line:84% and prophecy to compensate for the fact 00:12:07.130 --> 00:12:09.620 align:middle line:84% that they hadn't been made by God. 00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:11.570 align:middle line:84% In the robot universe, there were 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:14.270 align:middle line:84% six windows through which the sun rose, 00:12:14.270 --> 00:12:17.060 align:middle line:84% six windows through which the sun set. 00:12:17.060 --> 00:12:19.850 align:middle line:84% And the stars moved around opening and shutting 00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:22.280 align:middle line:90% the windows like servants. 00:12:22.280 --> 00:12:25.610 align:middle line:84% Even though they had no interest in the way humans measured time 00:12:25.610 --> 00:12:28.310 align:middle line:84% or how the planets affected their actions, 00:12:28.310 --> 00:12:31.580 align:middle line:84% the robot's knew mercury retrograde 00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:34.910 align:middle line:84% was a point of crisis for them, inaugurating 00:12:34.910 --> 00:12:38.300 align:middle line:84% a period of voluptuous activity one which 00:12:38.300 --> 00:12:43.020 align:middle line:84% would grow more and more intense as the days grew shorter. 00:12:43.020 --> 00:12:45.690 align:middle line:84% Really, it told her, bring your friends. 00:12:45.690 --> 00:12:48.810 align:middle line:84% It told her there was a nice surprise in store for her 00:12:48.810 --> 00:12:50.930 align:middle line:90% if she did. 00:12:50.930 --> 00:12:54.110 align:middle line:84% When the girl got home her shoes were torn to ribbons. 00:12:54.110 --> 00:12:57.140 align:middle line:84% Her father sat there in his easy chair and his white shirt 00:12:57.140 --> 00:13:00.350 align:middle line:84% and khaki pants looking through his reading glasses 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:02.000 align:middle line:90% at her worn-out shoes. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.670 align:middle line:84% The expression on his face like a person 00:13:04.670 --> 00:13:08.540 align:middle line:84% going through a closet trying to find some worthless article 00:13:08.540 --> 00:13:09.200 align:middle line:90% of clothing. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:12.920 align:middle line:84% He suddenly realized he wanted more than anything. 00:13:12.920 --> 00:13:15.350 align:middle line:84% His hair had turned gray at the temples 00:13:15.350 --> 00:13:17.690 align:middle line:84% but was otherwise thick and black, 00:13:17.690 --> 00:13:20.300 align:middle line:90% his skin mostly wrinkled. 00:13:20.300 --> 00:13:24.110 align:middle line:84% He hadn't changed that much since when he was a boy really. 00:13:24.110 --> 00:13:26.990 align:middle line:84% The girl was the one who had changed. 00:13:26.990 --> 00:13:30.080 align:middle line:84% I'm not made of money you know her father said and the girl 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:32.240 align:middle line:90% laughed because who was. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.730 align:middle line:84% People weren't made of paper or metal, 00:13:34.730 --> 00:13:37.720 align:middle line:90% that was what made them people. 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.570 align:middle line:84% The next day she returned to the mansion only this time 00:13:40.570 --> 00:13:42.670 align:middle line:90% she brought her friends. 00:13:42.670 --> 00:13:46.270 align:middle line:84% Girls can talk other girls into doing things with them 00:13:46.270 --> 00:13:50.080 align:middle line:84% by making it seem like it's the in thing to do like trading 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.370 align:middle line:84% cards or taking ballet lessons or going all the way 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:56.860 align:middle line:90% or entering a religious order. 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:03.020 align:middle line:84% Still, for the girl to get her friends to come with her, 00:14:03.020 --> 00:14:05.490 align:middle line:90% she had to twist the truth. 00:14:05.490 --> 00:14:09.320 align:middle line:84% Another thing girls do is lie to get what they want. 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.590 align:middle line:84% For instance, she didn't mention the mirror or that there 00:14:12.590 --> 00:14:15.660 align:middle line:90% was only the one dance partner. 00:14:15.660 --> 00:14:18.510 align:middle line:84% How many friends did she bring someone asked because I 00:14:18.510 --> 00:14:20.910 align:middle line:90% think I know this story. 00:14:20.910 --> 00:14:22.350 align:middle line:90% Lots, Janice said. 00:14:22.350 --> 00:14:25.470 align:middle line:90% Maybe 16 or 17, 20. 00:14:25.470 --> 00:14:27.930 align:middle line:84% All the girls from her class anyway. 00:14:27.930 --> 00:14:31.020 align:middle line:84% It was the first generation of girls. 00:14:31.020 --> 00:14:33.900 align:middle line:84% That's not the way the story goes someone else said. 00:14:33.900 --> 00:14:36.060 align:middle line:90% There should be 12. 00:14:36.060 --> 00:14:39.450 align:middle line:84% But Janice wasn't telling the 12 dancing princesses. 00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:43.140 align:middle line:84% That was make believe this was history. 00:14:43.140 --> 00:14:46.350 align:middle line:84% The girls came to the mansion just as it was getting dark. 00:14:46.350 --> 00:14:50.550 align:middle line:84% Like now, Janice said, only night was sadder then. 00:14:50.550 --> 00:14:53.100 align:middle line:84% The wind was blowing and it was starting to rain, 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:56.340 align:middle line:90% real rain not what came later. 00:14:56.340 --> 00:15:00.510 align:middle line:84% Oh Western wind when wilt thou blow that the small rain down 00:15:00.510 --> 00:15:01.620 align:middle line:90% can rain. 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:04.530 align:middle line:84% Poets used to write things like that. 00:15:04.530 --> 00:15:07.530 align:middle line:84% The mansion windows were ablaze and the girls 00:15:07.530 --> 00:15:10.110 align:middle line:84% could hear music very sweet and exciting, 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:13.920 align:middle line:84% strings and horns and woodwinds, and maybe, 00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:17.370 align:middle line:84% just maybe if only they'd been listening more closely, if only 00:15:17.370 --> 00:15:19.200 align:middle line:84% they'd stopped their endless chatter 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:21.540 align:middle line:84% and paid attention for a change they 00:15:21.540 --> 00:15:26.160 align:middle line:84% might also have heard the tap a tap tap of the pear drum. 00:15:26.160 --> 00:15:28.080 align:middle line:84% A pear drum in case you don't know, 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:32.400 align:middle line:84% Janice said, is shaped like a guitar and has three strings 00:15:32.400 --> 00:15:34.770 align:middle line:84% but only two pegs to tune them with 00:15:34.770 --> 00:15:37.650 align:middle line:84% and a little square box attached to the side 00:15:37.650 --> 00:15:39.690 align:middle line:90% for keeping fairies. 00:15:39.690 --> 00:15:42.060 align:middle line:84% They're the most beautiful fairies of all. 00:15:42.060 --> 00:15:46.080 align:middle line:84% Their faces are like crystal but alive with real eyes that 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:49.710 align:middle line:84% can see and the sweetest little tongues. 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:51.660 align:middle line:84% You never want to let them out though, 00:15:51.660 --> 00:15:55.180 align:middle line:84% they have no regard for human life. 00:15:55.180 --> 00:15:59.200 align:middle line:84% Of course, there weren't enough dance partners to go around. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.230 align:middle line:84% One of the beauties of the operational apparatus 00:16:02.230 --> 00:16:04.690 align:middle line:84% was that it could be reproduced infinitely 00:16:04.690 --> 00:16:06.910 align:middle line:90% and at the drop of a hat. 00:16:06.910 --> 00:16:10.120 align:middle line:84% Every girl thought her partner was the handsomest 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.420 align:middle line:84% and that she was the loveliest girl in the room. 00:16:13.420 --> 00:16:15.370 align:middle line:84% The later it got the harder it was 00:16:15.370 --> 00:16:17.740 align:middle line:84% to hear a thing over the noise of the orchestra 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:19.570 align:middle line:84% and the dancers feet and the wind 00:16:19.570 --> 00:16:22.450 align:middle line:84% and the rain and the gray brown birds. 00:16:22.450 --> 00:16:26.290 align:middle line:84% The girls were never able to compare notes to figure out 00:16:26.290 --> 00:16:27.790 align:middle line:90% what was happening. 00:16:27.790 --> 00:16:31.540 align:middle line:84% Dictators gather crowds for the same reason. 00:16:31.540 --> 00:16:34.690 align:middle line:84% The rain swept in through the broken windows. 00:16:34.690 --> 00:16:37.540 align:middle line:84% The wind blew away the girls dresses. 00:16:37.540 --> 00:16:41.410 align:middle line:84% They were too busy thinking how ugly all the other girls looked 00:16:41.410 --> 00:16:44.170 align:middle line:84% to look at themselves in the mirror. 00:16:44.170 --> 00:16:48.700 align:middle line:84% No one noticed when the first girl got taken up. 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:49.660 align:middle line:90% Taken up where? 00:16:49.660 --> 00:16:51.340 align:middle line:90% Someone asked. 00:16:51.340 --> 00:16:55.240 align:middle line:84% I would have noticed, said someone else. 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:57.460 align:middle line:90% Janice whirled around. 00:16:57.460 --> 00:16:59.770 align:middle line:84% You don't notice anything, she said. 00:16:59.770 --> 00:17:01.270 align:middle line:90% None of you do. 00:17:01.270 --> 00:17:05.710 align:middle line:84% She pointed at the cigar box in my lap it was empty. 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:07.450 align:middle line:84% Did you see him stealing your card? 00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:08.290 align:middle line:90% She asked. 00:17:08.290 --> 00:17:10.300 align:middle line:90% They're your ticket out of here. 00:17:10.300 --> 00:17:12.310 align:middle line:90% Don't you know anything? 00:17:12.310 --> 00:17:15.040 align:middle line:84% Where are your mothers and fathers? 00:17:15.040 --> 00:17:19.329 align:middle line:84% Shouldn't they be calling you in right about now. 00:17:19.329 --> 00:17:20.110 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:17:20.110 --> 00:17:21.960 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:31.000 align:middle line:90%