The Turmoil - Booth Tarkington (good books to read for 12 year olds .txt) š
- Author: Booth Tarkington
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āIt hasnāt seemed to get anywhere, that I can see,ā said Bibbs. āYou think this city is rich and powerfulā ābut whatās the use of its being rich and powerful? They donāt teach the children any more in the schools because the city is rich and powerful. They teach them more than they used to because some peopleā ānot rich and powerful peopleā āhave thought the thoughts to teach the children. And yet when youāve been reading the paper Iāve heard you objecting to the children being taught anything except what would help them to make money. You said it was wasting the taxes. You want them taught to make a living, but not to live. When I was a little boy this wasnāt an ugly town; now itās hideous. Whatās the use of being big just to be hideous? I mean I donāt think all this has meant really going aheadā āitās just been getting bigger and dirtier and noisier. Wasnāt the whole country happier and in many ways wiser when it was smaller and cleaner and quieter and kinder? I know you think Iām an utter fool, father, but, after all, though, arenāt business and politics just the housekeeping part of life? And wouldnāt you despise a woman that not only made her housekeeping her ambition, but did it so noisily and dirtily that the whole neighborhood was in a continual turmoil over it? And suppose she talked and thought about her housekeeping all the time, and was always having additions built to her house when she couldnāt keep clean what she already had; and suppose, with it all, she made the house altogether unpeaceful and unlivableā āā
āJust one minute!ā Sheridan interrupted, adding, with terrible courtesy, āIf you will permit me? Have you ever been right about anything?ā
āI donāt quiteā āā
āI ask the simple question: Have you ever been right about anything whatever in the course of your life? Have you ever been right upon any subject or question youāve thought about and talked about? Can you mention one single time when you were proved to be right?ā
He was flourishing the bandaged hand as he spoke, but Bibbs said only, āIf Iāve always been wrong before, surely thereās more chance that Iām right about this. It seems reasonable to suppose something would be due to bring up my average.ā
āYes, I thought you wouldnāt see the point. And thereās another you probably couldnāt see, but Iāll take the liberty to mention it. You been balkinā all your life. Pretty much everything I ever wanted you to do, youād let out some kind of a holler, like you are nowā āand yet I canāt seem to remember once when you didnāt have to lay down and do what I said. But go on with your remarks about our city and the business of this country. Go on!ā
āI donāt want to be a part of it,ā said Bibbs, with unwonted decision. āI want to keep to myself, and Iām doing it now. I couldnāt, if I went down there with you. Iād be swallowed into it. I donāt care for money enough toā āā
āNo,ā his father interrupted, still dangerously quiet. āYouāve never had to earn a living. Anybody could tell that by what you say. Now, let me remind you: youāre sleepinā in a pretty good bed; youāre eatinā pretty fair food; youāre wearinā pretty fine clothes. Just suppose one oā these noisy housekeepersā āme, for instanceā ādecided to let you do your own housekeepinā. May I ask what your proposition would be?ā
āIām earning nine dollars a week,ā said Bibbs, sturdily. āItās enough. I shouldnāt mind at all.ā
āWhoās payinā you that nine dollars a week?ā
āMy work!ā Bibbs answered. āAnd Iāve done so well on that clipping-machine I believe I could work up to fifteen or even twenty a week at another job. I could be a fair plumber in a few months, Iām sure. Iād rather have a trade than be in businessā āI should, infinitely!ā
āYou better set about learninā one pretty damā quick!ā But Sheridan struggled with his temper and again was partially successful in controlling it. āYou better learn a trade over Sunday, because youāre either goinā down with me to my office Monday morningā āorā āyou can go to plumbing!ā
āAll right,ā said Bibbs, gently. āI can get along.ā
Sheridan raised his hands sardonically, as in prayer. āO God,ā he said, āthis boy was crazy enough before he began to earn his nine dollars a week, and now his moneyās gone to his head! Canāt You do nothinā for him?ā Then he flung his hands apart, palms outward, in a furious gesture of dismissal. āGet out oā this room! You got a skull thatās thickerān a whaleās thighbone, but itās cracked spang all the way across! You hated the machine-shop so bad when I sent you there, you went and stayed sick for over two yearsā āand now, when I offer to take you out of it and give you the mint, you holler for the shop like a calf for its mammy! Youāre cracked! Oh, but I got a fine layout here! One son died, one quit, and oneās a loon! The loonās all I got left! H. P. Ellerslyās wife had a crazy brother, and they undertook to keep him at the house. First morning he was there he walked straight though a ten-dollar plate-glass window out into the yard. He says, āOh, look at the pretty dandelion!ā Thatās what youāre doinā! You want to spend your life sayinā, āOh, look at the pretty dandelion!ā and you donāt care a tinkerās damā what you bust! Well, mister, loon or no loon, cracked and crazy or whatever you are, Iāll take you with me Monday morning, and Iāll work you and learn youā āyes, and Iāll lam you, if I got toā āuntil Iāve made something out of you thatās fit to be called a business man! Iāll keep at you while Iām able to stand, and if I have to lay down to die Iāll be whisperinā at
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