J R

— Can you ahm, yes can you pull the plug just pull the plug…

— What the… hell do you think I’m… trying to… came from the shadows behind the set where now a biceped Valkyrie bearing a dead warrior aloft gave way to an amazon Brünnhilde in massive concentric breastplates as the voice rose to challenge the stabbing rondo of the D-minor piano concerto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

— fairy tale isn’t it, that his life was a fairy tale that’s the real fairy tale isn’t it and in um, yes in the singalong to end our fairy tale today we can um, maybe we can find some of his own words in a letter for, to sing along with Amadeus Ah, muckl Sweet wordl Muckl chuckl

— You’d better watch your recordings on this open-circuit broadcasting you know. Royalty problems… The telephone rang. The door opened, closed, opened again to admit Mister Gall with the final allegro, assai.

— muckl suck, oh charmante, muck, suckl That’s what I likel Muck, chuck and suckl Chuck muck and…

An expletive broke from under the window planter as the sound cut off, leaving the screen filled with a face perspiring with silent imperative until the reassuring countenance of Smokey Bear restored one faltering note and then another of song.

— a laughing place, to go, hol hol

— Sen, Congressman? It’s for you, it’s Parentucelli…

— Who… Gibbs muttered immobile, eyes returning the fixity of the ursine stare from the screen — just who, exactly, was that.

— to go hol hol

— That, yes, well, the young com, ahmposer in, yes in residence, composer in residence from the Foundation. Placed with us by the Foundation that is, in the, an in-depth pilot program in the arts, that is to say a grant. Maybe Mister Ford can explain it more, more in depth?

— hol hol

— No, no, quite a different administrative area, Mister Ford sprawled easily. — Only about three percent of the Foundation’s budget goes on the arts, after all.

— A quarter, they want a quarter a yard maybe we get them down to twenty-two, twenty-three cents, Mister Pecci’s voice reached in. — No, it’s Flo-Jan. The Flo-Jan Corporation, that’s f, l, o…

— Did I miss something? Mister Gall appeared with his pencil.

— Technical difficulties creep in, trouble with their framing there a few times and they need some practice with their lenses but once you’ve got good hardware that’s all it takes. Practice.

Behind him Gibbs came slowly erect against the wall. — You can’t fault us on hardware, he said turning, as they all did, to Mister diCephalis’ entrance. — What goes into it, of course…

Gall wrote software? and waited, as Mister diCephalis with some effort pushed the frail door closed behind him to have it bob open again for Mister Leroy in his boxing shoes carrying a pail which he set down. — The control knobs here, Whiteback started as Leroy closed in silently, indicating the pail with a theatrical glance. — Well don’t, don’t bring it in here, don’t… just get rid of it! it’s not why I called for you, I just want you to fix the knobs on this set…! And they parted for Mister Leroy moving between them with his smile, fitting the knobs back on, pocketing his screwdriver and leaving the screen awash with a rain of dollar bills. — Yes now here we, wait you’re not leaving? Because we ahm, this lesson in sixth grade social studies yes we wanted you to see this lesson in terms of structuring the ahm… and his pastel flurry indicated a map of the United States mounting in distended animation toward the templed splendor of the Stock Exchange to disappear in a whirr of lines, — opening with this resource film…

— Lost their loop, Mister Ford obliged rising in his maze of cameras.

— But you both ahm, Mister Gall yes you might want to see this next lesson in terms of a good deal less ahm, less unplanlessness than the one we’ve just…

— No I meant to ask though, that line over the main entrance here? in Greek? I thought, is it Plato? or…

— someone to tell us what we mean by our share in America…?

— Yes well Mister Gibbs here might ahm, here she is now… he waved at Mrs Joubert’s image as though she might wave back.

— You might try Empedocles.

— Oh…? he juggled papers, book, pencil. — that’s e? m…?

— And if you could stay for the next studio lesson? came between them, — a re, resource program on, silkworms…

— I think it’s a fragment from the second generation of his cosmogony, maybe even the first…

— We’re yes we’re trying something new here the, combining the studio lesson with the classroom portion…

— When limbs and parts of bodies were wandering around everywhere separately heads without necks, arms without shoulders, unattached eyes looking for foreheads…

— and that’s the difference between our country and Russia isn’t it class…

— The youngsters themselves become part of the teaching process for a truly meaningful learning experience utilizing the ahm, the youngsters themselves…

— Never read it? In the second generation these parts are joining up by chance, form creatures with countless hands, faces looking in different directions…