0:01

Hey, it's Otis here. Before we get

0:03

to the bedtime reading, I wanted to let you

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classic story that I'm sure

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3:57

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4:00

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5:19

well tonight i'm

5:21

going to be reading the curious case

5:24

of benjamin button. i

5:28

admittedly have only seen the

5:30

movie um for

5:33

this that was made what maybe

5:35

like 15 years ago Brad

5:38

Pitt and um

5:40

i've been meaning to read it for a

5:42

long time on this show and i'm

5:44

really glad i'm finally getting to it tonight

5:47

and uh for those of you

5:50

who don't know the curious case of benjamin

5:52

button was written by a scott fitzgerald

5:54

who wrote the great gatsby. He

5:58

really is a. Wonderfully poetic

6:01

writer on. The

6:03

Devlin feels like something that

6:05

written to be read out

6:08

loud and. In

6:10

that way, I think you're really, really gonna

6:12

like getting lost a this and. Fine.

6:14

Deeply asleep. do. So.

6:19

Without further ado, The.

6:21

Curious Case of Benjamin Button

6:23

by As Scott Fitzgerald. And

6:28

as the time for you to fluff

6:30

up your below just a lighter. Feel

6:33

yourself melt into your back, Gary

6:37

Accountable. Close.

6:39

Your eyes. And

6:42

let me retail. Chapter

6:58

One. As

7:01

long ago was eighteen sixty, it was the

7:04

proper thing to be born at home. At

7:07

present so I am told, the I

7:09

Gods of medicine have decreed that the

7:11

first cries of the young shall be

7:13

uttered upon the anesthetic. Arab a Hospital.

7:16

Preferably. A fashionable one. So.

7:20

Young Mr. and Mrs. Roger Button

7:22

were fifty years as style when

7:24

they decided. One. Day in

7:26

the summers. eighteen sixty. That. Their first

7:28

baby should be born in a hospital. Whether

7:33

this anachronism had any bearing upon

7:35

the astonishing history and about sat

7:37

down will never be known. I

7:42

shall tell you what occur. And let

7:44

you judge for yourself. The

7:47

Roger buttons held an enviable position.

7:49

Both. Social and Financial and

7:51

Antebellum Baltimore. They.

7:54

were related to that. This family

7:56

and the that family, which as

7:58

every southern New. Entitle them

8:01

to a membership in an enormous

8:03

peerage which largely populated the Confederacy.

8:07

This is the first experience with a

8:09

charming old custom of having babies. Mr.

8:12

Byrne was naturally nervous. He'll

8:15

do it. be a boy so that he could

8:18

be sent to jail college in Connecticut. I

8:20

was institution. Mr. By himself had been

8:22

known for four years by the somewhat

8:25

obvious nickname are. On

8:29

the September morning consecrated to the

8:31

enormous event. Heroes. Nervously at

8:34

six o'clock as them so. Adjusted

8:36

and impeccable. And

8:39

hurried Fourth Street to Baltimore to last.

8:42

To. Determine whether the darkness of the night at

8:44

Born and New Life. Opponents but.

8:49

When. He was approximately one hundred yards

8:51

from the Maryland Private Hospital for Ladies

8:53

and Gentlemen. He saw a doctor

8:55

teen. The. Family Physician the sending

8:58

the front steps. Roaming his

9:00

hands together with a washing movement, As

9:02

all doctors are required to do by

9:04

the unwritten ethics of their profession. Mr.

9:09

Roger Button. The. President of

9:11

Roger Button and Co. Wholesale Hardware.

9:13

Began to run toward doctor with

9:16

much less dignity than was expected

9:18

to a. Doctor.

9:23

Team Be gone. Oh

9:25

Doctor Dean. The.

9:28

Doctor them. Based. Around when

9:30

stood waiting. A. Curious

9:32

expression settling on as harsh

9:35

medicinal face and Mr. Biden

9:37

Jr. Will.

9:40

Happen. Demanded. Mr. Been. As

9:43

he came up in a gasping rush. What

9:46

was a. How. Is he. A

9:49

boy. Who. Is a. Dog.

9:53

Censor Doctor King sharply. A

9:56

parent summer air. Is

10:00

the child born?" begged Mr. Button. Dr.

10:04

Keen friend. Why,

10:06

yes, I suppose so, after

10:09

a fashion, again he threw

10:11

a curious glance at Mr. Button. Is

10:14

my wife all right? Yes.

10:19

Is it a boy or a girl? Here

10:25

now cried Dr. Keen in a perfect

10:27

passion of irritation. I'll

10:30

ask you to go and see for yourself. Outrageous.

10:35

He snapped the last word out in almost

10:37

one syllable, then he turned

10:39

away mittery. Do

10:41

you imagine a case like this will help

10:44

my professional reputation? One

10:46

more would ruin me. Ruin anybody.

10:51

What's the matter? Is it mated Mr.

10:53

Button, appalled? Triplets?

10:57

No, not triplets, answered the

10:59

doctor, cuttingly. What's

11:01

more, you can go and see for yourself

11:04

and get another doctor. I

11:07

brought you into the world, young man, and I've

11:09

been a physician to your family for 40 years,

11:12

but I'm through with you. I

11:14

don't want to see you or any of your relatives

11:16

ever again. Goodbye.

11:21

Then he turned sharply, and without

11:23

another word climbed into his fate, which

11:25

was waiting at the curbstone and

11:28

drove severely away. Mr.

11:32

Button stood there upon the sidewalk, stupefied

11:35

and trembling from head to foot. What

11:39

horrible mishap had occurred? He

11:42

had suddenly lost all desire to go into

11:44

the Maryland private hospital for ladies and gentlemen.

11:47

It was with the greatest difficulty that, a

11:49

moment later, he forced himself to

11:51

mount the steps and enter the front door. A

11:57

nurse was sitting behind a desk in the opaque

11:59

gloom of the the hall. Swallowing

12:02

his shame, Mr. Button approached her.

12:07

Good morning, she remarked, looking

12:09

up at him pleasantly. Good

12:12

morning. I am

12:14

Mr. Button. At

12:18

this, a look of utter terror spread

12:20

itself over the girl's face. She

12:23

rose to her feet and seemed about

12:25

to fly from the hall, restraining herself only

12:28

with the most apparent difficulty. I

12:32

want to see my child, said Mr. Button. The

12:36

nurse gave a little scream. Oh,

12:39

of course, she cried hysterically. Upstairs,

12:43

right upstairs, go, up. She

12:48

pointed the direction and Mr. Button,

12:50

bathed in cool perspiration, turned

12:53

falteringly, and began to mount to

12:55

the second floor. In

12:57

the upper hall, he addressed another nurse

13:00

who approached him, basin in hand.

13:04

I am Mr. Button, he managed to

13:06

articulate. I want to see my...

13:10

Clank. The basin clattered

13:12

to the floor and rolled in the direction

13:14

of the stairs. Clank,

13:17

clank. It

13:20

began a methodical descent, as

13:22

if sharing in the general terror which

13:24

this gentleman provoked. I

13:27

want to see my child, Mr. Button almost

13:29

shrieked. He was on the

13:32

verge of collapse. Clank.

13:36

The basin reached the first floor. The

13:39

nurse regained control of herself and

13:41

threw Mr. Button a look of hearty contempt. All

13:46

right, Mr. Button, she agreed in a hushed voice. Very well. But

13:50

if you knew what is stated to put us all in this

13:52

morning, it's perfectly outrageous.

13:56

The hospital will never have a ghost of a

13:58

reputation after. Hurry,"

14:01

he cried hoarsely. I can't stand this.

14:05

Come this way, then, Mr. Button." He

14:09

dragged himself after her. At

14:11

the end of a long haul, they reached a room

14:14

from which proceeded a variety of howls.

14:18

Indeed, a room which, in later

14:20

parlance, would have been known as

14:22

the Crying Room. They

14:24

entered. Well,

14:28

gasped Mr. Button. Which

14:30

is mine? There,

14:34

said the nurse. Mr.

14:38

Button's eyes followed her pointing finger,

14:40

and this is what he saw. Wrapped

14:43

in a voluminous white blanket and

14:45

partly crammed into one of the cribs, there

14:48

sat an old man, apparently about

14:50

seventy years of age. His

14:54

sparse hair was almost white, and

14:56

from his chin dripped a long, smoke-colored

14:58

beard, which waved absurdly back

15:00

and forth, fanned by the

15:02

breeze coming in at the window. He

15:07

looked up at Mr. Button with dim

15:09

faded eyes, in which lurked a puzzled

15:11

question. In

15:15

my man, thundered Mr. Button, his

15:17

terror resolving into rage, is

15:20

this some ghastly hospital joke? It

15:24

doesn't seem like a joke to us, replied the

15:26

nurse severely, and I don't know

15:29

whether you're mad or not, but that

15:31

is most certainly your child. The

15:36

cool perspiration redoubled on Mr. Button's

15:38

forehand. He closed his

15:40

eyes, and then, opening them, looked

15:42

again. There

15:45

was no mistake. He was

15:47

gazing at a man of three score and ten. A

15:50

baby of three score and ten. A

15:52

baby whose feet hung over the sides of the crib,

15:54

in which it was reposing. The

15:59

old man looked up and said, took placidly from one to the

16:01

other for a moment, and

16:03

then suddenly spoke in a cracked and ancient voice.

16:08

"'Are you my father?' he demanded. Mr.

16:12

Button and the nurse started violently. "'Because

16:16

if you are,' went on the old man,

16:18

querulously, "'I wish you'd get me

16:20

out of this place, or

16:22

at least get them to

16:24

put a comfortable rocker in

16:27

here.' "'Where in God's name did you

16:29

come from?' "'Who are you?' burst

16:32

out Mr. Button frantically. "'I

16:36

can't tell you exactly who I am,'

16:39

replied the Querless Wine, "'because I've only

16:41

been born a few hours, but

16:43

my last name is

16:45

certainly Button.' "'You lie. You're

16:48

an imposter.' The

16:52

old man turned warily to the nurse. "'Nice

16:55

way to welcome a newborn child,' he complained

16:57

in a weak voice. "'Tell

17:00

him he's wrong. Why don't you?' "'You're

17:03

wrong, Mr. Button,' said the nurse severely.

17:07

"'This is your child, and you'll have to make

17:09

the best of it. We're

17:11

going to ask you to take him home with

17:13

you as soon as possible sometime today.' "'Home,'

17:18

repeated Mr. Button incredulously.

17:22

"'Yes, we can't have him here. We

17:25

really can't, you know.' I'm

17:28

right glad of it, wine-the-old man. This

17:31

is a fine place to keep a youngster of

17:33

quiet tastes. With all this

17:35

yelling and howling, I haven't been

17:37

able to get a wink of sleep. I

17:40

asked for something to eat. Here

17:43

his voice rose to a shrill note of protest,

17:46

and they brought me a bottle of milk. Mr.

17:51

Button sank down upon the chair near

17:53

his son and concealed his face in his hands.

17:56

"'My heavens,' he murmured, in an ecstasy of

17:59

horror. What will people say?

18:02

What must I do?" He

18:05

left to take him home, insisted the nurse, immediately.

18:11

A grotesque picture formed itself with dreadful

18:13

clarity before the eyes of the tortured

18:15

man, a picture of

18:17

himself walking through the crowded streets of the

18:19

city with this appalling apparition

18:22

stalking by his side. I

18:28

can't. I can't, he moaned. People

18:32

would stop to speak to him, and

18:34

what was he going to say? He

18:37

would have to introduce this, this

18:39

Septogenarian. This is

18:41

my son, born early this morning. And

18:44

then the old man would gather his blanket around

18:46

him, and they would plot on, past

18:49

the bustling stars, the market,

18:52

for a dark instant Mr. Button wished

18:54

passionately that his son was different, past

18:57

the luxurious houses of the residential

18:59

district, past the home for

19:01

the aged. Come,

19:04

pull yourself together, commanded the nurse. See

19:08

here, the old man announced suddenly, if you

19:11

think I'm going to walk home in this blanket, you're

19:14

entirely mistaken. Babies

19:18

always have blankets. With

19:21

a malicious crackle, the old man held

19:24

up a small white swaddling garment. Look,

19:27

he quavering, this

19:29

is what they had ready for me. Babies

19:34

always wear those, said the nurse primly. Well,

19:38

said the old man, this baby's

19:40

not going to wear anything in about two minutes.

19:43

This blanket itches. They might

19:45

at least have given me a sheet. Keep

19:51

it on, keep it on, said Mr. Button hurriedly. He

19:54

turned to the nurse. What'll I

19:58

do? Go downtown and buy your son. some clothes.

20:03

Mr. Button's son's voice followed him down into

20:05

the hall. And

20:07

a cane, father. I want to have

20:09

a cane. Mr.

20:13

Button banged the outer door savagely. Chapter

20:20

2 Good

20:23

morning, Mr. Button said nervously to the

20:25

clerk in the Chesapeake Dry Goods Company.

20:28

I want to buy some clothes for my child. How

20:33

old is your child, sir? About

20:36

six hours, answered Mr. Button,

20:38

without due consideration. Baby's

20:41

supply department in the rear. Why,

20:45

I don't think. I'm not

20:47

sure that's what I want. It's...

20:50

He's an unusually large-sized child. Exceptionaly,

20:54

uh, large. They

20:57

have the largest child sizes. Where

21:01

is the boys' department? inquired Mr. Button,

21:04

shifting his ground desperately. He

21:07

felt that the clerk must surely send his

21:09

shameful secret. Right

21:12

here. Well,

21:15

he hesitated. The

21:18

notion of dressing his son in men's clothes

21:20

was repugnant to him. If,

21:23

say, he could only find a very large

21:25

boy's suit, he might cut off

21:27

that long and awful beer, dye the

21:29

white hair brown, and thus manage to

21:31

conceal the worst, and to

21:33

retain something of his own self-respect. Not

21:36

to mention his position in Baltimore society.

21:41

But a frantic inspection of the boy's

21:43

department revealed no suits to fit the

21:45

newborn button. He

21:48

blamed the store, of course. In

21:50

such cases, it is the thing to blame the store. How

21:55

old did you say that boy of yours was,

21:57

demanded the clerk curiously? He's sixteen. Oh,

22:01

I beg your pardon, I thought

22:03

you said six hours. You'll

22:05

find the Youth's Department in the next hour." Mr.

22:10

Button turned miserably away. Then

22:13

he stopped, frightened, and pointed

22:15

his finger toward a dressed dummy in the window

22:17

display. There,

22:20

he exclaimed, I'll take

22:22

that soon, out there in the dummy. The

22:27

clerk stared. Why,

22:29

he protested, that's not

22:31

a child suit. At least

22:33

it is, but it's for a fancy dress. You

22:36

could wear it yourself. Wrap

22:39

it up, insisted his customer

22:41

nervously. That's what I want. The

22:45

astonished clerk obeyed. Back

22:48

at the hospital, Mr. Button entered

22:50

the nursery and almost threw the package at his

22:52

son. Here's

22:55

your clothes, he snapped out. The

22:58

old man untied the package and viewed the

23:00

contents with a quizzical eye. They

23:03

looked sort of funny to me, he complained. I

23:07

don't want to be made a monkey of. You've

23:10

made a monkey out of me, retorted

23:12

Mr. Brown fiercely. Never

23:14

you mind how funny you look. Put

23:17

them on, or I'll, or

23:19

I'll spank you. He

23:22

swallowed uneasily at the penultimate word, feeling

23:24

nevertheless that it was the proper thing to say.

23:29

All right, father, this was

23:31

a grotesque simulation of filial respect.

23:34

You've lived longer, you know best, just

23:37

as you say. As

23:41

before, the sound of the word

23:43

father caused Mr. Button to start violently. And

23:47

hurry. I'm hurrying,

23:49

father. When

23:52

his son was dressed, Mr. Button regarded him

23:54

with depression. The

23:56

costume consisted of dotted socks, pink

23:58

pants, and a belt. blouse with

24:00

a wide white collar. Over

24:04

the ladder

24:06

waved the long whitish beer, drooping almost to the waist. The

24:10

effect was not good. Mr.

24:15

Button seized the hospital shears with three

24:18

quick snaps, amputated a large section of

24:20

the beer, but

24:22

even with this improvement the ensemble

24:24

fell short of perfection. The

24:28

remaining brush of scraggly hair, the

24:31

watery eyes, the ancient teeth seemed

24:33

oddly out of tone with the gaiety of the

24:35

costume. Mr.

24:38

Button, however, was obdura.

24:41

He held out his hand. Come

24:44

along, he said sternly.

24:47

His son took the hand trustingly. What

24:50

are you gonna call me, dad? He

24:53

quavored as they walked from the nursery. Just

24:56

baby for a while till

24:58

you think of a better name. Mr.

25:02

Button grunted. I

25:04

don't know, he answered harshly. I think

25:07

we'll call you Methuselah. Chapter

25:15

3 Even

25:18

after the new addition to the Button family that

25:21

had his hair cut sharp and then

25:23

died to a sparse unnatural black, had

25:26

had his face shaved so close that he glistened

25:29

and had a tired and small boy clothes

25:31

made to order by a flabbergasted tailor, it

25:34

was impossible for Button to ignore the fact

25:36

that his son was a poor excuse for

25:38

a first-family baby. Despite

25:42

his age too, Benjamin Button,

25:45

for it was this name that they

25:47

called him instead of the appropriate but,

25:50

invidious Methuselah, was five feet

25:52

eight inches tall. His

25:57

clothes did not conceal this nor

25:59

did the clipping. and dying of his

26:01

eyebrows disguised the fact that the eyes

26:03

under were faded and watery and

26:05

tired. In

26:08

fact, the baby nurse who had

26:10

been engaged in advance left the house after

26:12

one look in a state of

26:14

considerable indignation. But

26:18

Mr. Button persisted in his

26:20

unwavering purpose. Benjamin

26:23

was a baby, and a baby he

26:25

should remain. At

26:28

first he declared that if Benjamin didn't like

26:30

warm milk, he could go without

26:32

food altogether. But he

26:34

was finally prevailed upon to allow his son bread

26:36

and butter, and even oatmeal by

26:38

way of a compromise. One

26:42

day he brought home a rattle, giving

26:45

it to Benjamin, insisted in no

26:47

uncertain terms that he should play with it, whereupon

26:50

the old man took it with a weird

26:53

expression and could be

26:55

heard jingling it obediently at intervals throughout the

26:57

day. There

27:01

can be no doubt, though, that the rattle

27:03

bored him, and that he

27:05

found other and more soothing amusements when he was

27:07

left alone. For

27:10

instance, Mr. Button discovered one day that

27:13

during the preceding week he

27:15

had smoked more cigars than ever before. A

27:18

phenomenon, which was explained a few days

27:20

later, when entering the

27:22

nursery unexpectedly, he found

27:24

the room full of faint blue haze and

27:26

Benjamin with a guilty expression on his face,

27:29

trying to conceal the butt of a

27:31

dark Havana. This

27:35

of course called for a severe spanking, but

27:38

Mr. Button found that he could not bring himself

27:40

to administer it. He

27:42

merely warned his son that he would

27:44

stunt his girl. Nevertheless,

27:49

he persisted in his attitude. He

27:52

brought home lead soldiers, he brought

27:54

home toy trains, he brought

27:56

large, pleasant animals made of cotton, and

27:59

to perfect the illusion which he was creating, for

28:02

himself at least, he passionately demanded

28:04

of the clerk in the toy store whether

28:06

the paint would come off the pink duck if

28:09

the baby put it in his mouth. But

28:13

despite all his father's efforts, Benjamin

28:15

refused to be interested. He

28:19

would steal down the back stairs and

28:21

return to the nursery with a volume

28:23

of the Encyclopedia Britannica over

28:25

which he would pour through an afternoon, while

28:28

his cottony cows then as Noah's Ark were

28:30

left neglected on the floor. Against

28:35

such stubbornness, Mr. Button's efforts were

28:37

of little avail. The

28:41

sensation created in Baltimore was, at

28:43

first, prodigious. What

28:46

the mishap would have cost the Buttons and

28:48

their kinsfolk socially could not be determined, for

28:51

the outbreak of the Civil War drew the city's

28:53

attention to other things. A

28:57

few people who were unfailingly polite racked

28:59

their brains for compliments to give the

29:01

parents, and finally hit

29:03

upon the ingenious device of

29:05

declaring that the baby resembled his grandfather, a

29:09

fact which, due to the standard state of

29:11

decay, common to all men of seventy, could

29:13

not be denied. Mr.

29:16

and Mrs. Roger were not pleased, and

29:19

Benjamin's grandfather was furiously insulted.

29:24

Benjamin, once he left the hospital,

29:27

took life as he found it. Several

29:30

small boys were brought to see him, and

29:32

he spent a stiff jointed afternoon trying to

29:35

work up an interest in tops and marbles.

29:39

He even managed, quite accidentally, to break

29:41

a kitchen window with a stone from

29:43

a slingshot, a fee which

29:45

secretly delighted his father. Thereafter,

29:50

Benjamin contrived to break something every day,

29:54

but he did these things only because they were expected

29:56

of him, and because he

29:58

was by nature obliging. When

30:04

his grandfather's initial antagonism wore

30:06

off, Benjamin and that gentleman

30:08

took enormous pleasure in one another's company.

30:12

They would sit for hours, these two, so

30:15

far apart in age and experience, and

30:17

like old cronies discussed with tireless monotony

30:20

the slow events of the day. Benjamin

30:25

fell more at ease in his grandfather's presence than

30:27

in his parents. They seemed

30:29

always somewhat in awe of him, and

30:32

despite the dictatorial authority they exercised

30:34

over him, frequently adjust

30:36

him as Mr. He

30:41

was as puzzled by anyone else at the

30:43

apparently advanced age of his mind and body

30:45

at birth. He

30:47

read up on it in the medical journal, but

30:50

found that no such case had been previously

30:52

recorded. At

30:54

his father's urging, he made an honest attempt

30:56

to play with other boys, and

30:59

frequently he joined in the milder games. Football

31:03

shook him up too much, and he feared

31:05

that in case of a fracture his ancient

31:07

bones would refuse to knit. When

31:12

he was five, he was sent to kindergarten, where

31:15

he initiated into the art of pasting

31:17

green paper and orange paper, of

31:19

weaving colored maps and manufacturing

31:21

eternal cardboard necklaces. He

31:25

was inclined to drowse off to sleep in the middle

31:27

of these tasks, a habit

31:29

which both irritated and frightened his young teacher.

31:34

To his relief, she complained to his

31:36

parents, and he was removed from the

31:39

school. The

31:41

Roger Buttons told their friends that they felt he

31:43

was too young. By

31:47

the time he was twelve years old, his parents had

31:49

grown used to him, indeed

31:51

so strong as the force of custom that they

31:53

no longer felt that he was different from any

31:55

other child, except when some curious

31:57

anomaly reminded them of the fact that he was a young child. back.

32:03

One day a few weeks after his twelfth

32:05

birthday, while looking in the mirror,

32:07

Benjamin made, or thought he

32:09

made, an astonishing discovery. Did

32:12

his eyes deceive him, or

32:15

had his hair turned in a dozen years

32:17

of his life from white to iron grey

32:19

under its concealing dye? Was

32:22

the network of wrinkles on his face becoming

32:25

less pronounced? Was his

32:27

skin healthier and firmer, with even

32:29

a touch of ruddy winter colour? He

32:32

could not tell. He

32:34

knew that he no longer stewed, and

32:36

that his physical condition had improved since the early

32:39

days of his life. Can

32:43

it be, he thought to himself, or

32:45

rather, scarcely dared to think? He

32:50

went up to his father. I

32:52

am grown, he announced, determinedly. I

32:55

want to put on long trousers. His

33:00

father hesitated. Well,

33:02

he said, finally, I don't know.

33:05

Fourteen is the age for putting on long trousers,

33:07

and you are only twelve. But

33:11

you'll have to admit, protested Benjamin,

33:14

that I'm big for my age. His

33:18

father looked at him with illusory speculation.

33:22

Oh, I'm not so sure of that. I

33:24

was as big as you when I was twelve. This

33:28

was not true. It was all

33:31

part of Roger Button's silent agreement with himself

33:33

to believe in his son's normality.

33:37

Finally, a compromise was reached. Benjamin

33:40

was to continue to dye his hair. He

33:43

was to make a better attempt to play with boys of

33:45

his own age. He was

33:47

not to wear his spectacles or carry a cane in the

33:49

street. In

33:52

return for these concessions, he

33:54

was allowed his first suit of long trousers.

34:01

Chapter 4 Of

34:05

the life of Benjamin Button between his

34:07

twelfth and twenty-first year, I intend

34:09

to say little. Suffice

34:12

to recall that they were years of normal

34:14

ungrow. When

34:17

Benjamin was eighteen, he was erect as

34:19

a man of fifty. He

34:21

had more hair, and was of a dark

34:23

gray. His

34:25

step was firm. His voice had

34:27

lost its cracked quaver and descended to

34:29

a healthy baritone. So

34:32

his father sent him up to Connecticut

34:35

to take examinations for entrance to Yale

34:37

College. Benjamin

34:39

passed his examination and became a member

34:41

of the freshman class. On

34:46

the third day, following his matriculation,

34:48

he received a notification from Mr.

34:50

Hart, the college registrar, to

34:53

call at his office and arrange his schedule. Benjamin,

34:59

glancing in the mirror, decided that his hair

35:01

needed a new application of its brown dye.

35:04

But an anxious inspection of his bureau

35:06

drawer disclosed that the dye bottle was

35:08

not there. Then

35:11

he remembered. He had emptied it

35:13

the day before, then thrown it away. He

35:18

was in a dilemma. He was

35:20

due at the registrar's office in five minutes. There

35:23

seemed to be no help for him. He must

35:25

go as he was. He did. Good

35:30

morning, said the registrar politely. You've

35:33

come to inquire about your son. Why,

35:37

as a matter of fact, my name's Button,

35:40

began Benjamin. Began

35:43

Benjamin, but Mr. Hart cut him off. I'm

35:47

very glad to meet you, Mr. Button. I'm

35:49

expecting your son here any minute. That's

35:53

me, burst out, Benjamin. I'm

35:55

a freshman. What?

35:59

I'm a freshman. Surely

36:02

you're joking." Not

36:04

at all. The

36:07

registrar frowned and glanced at the card before him.

36:11

Why, I have Mr. Benjamin Button's age

36:13

down here as eighteen. That's

36:17

my age, asserted Benjamin, flushing

36:19

slightly. The

36:22

registrar eyed him wearily. Now,

36:26

surely, Mr. Button, you don't expect me to

36:28

believe that. Benjamin

36:31

smiled wearily. I

36:33

am eighteen, he repeated. The

36:37

registrar pointed sternly to the door. Get

36:40

out, he said. Get out

36:42

of college and get out of town. You

36:45

are a dangerous lunatic. I

36:48

am eighteen. Mr.

36:51

Harr opened the door. The

36:53

idea, he shouted. A man

36:55

of your age, trying to enter here as a freshman. Eighteen

36:58

years old, are you? Well,

37:00

I'll give you eighteen minutes to get out of town.

37:06

Benjamin Button walked with dignity from the room, and

37:09

half a dozen undergraduates who were waiting in

37:11

the hall followed him curiously with their eyes.

37:15

When he had gone a little way, he turned around, faced

37:18

the infuriated registrar who was

37:21

still standing in the doorway, and repeated

37:23

in a firm voice, I

37:25

am eighteen years old. To

37:29

a chorus of tidders, which went up

37:31

from the group of undergraduates, Benjamin

37:33

walked away. But

37:36

he was not fated to escape so easily. On

37:40

his melancholy walk to the railroad station, he

37:43

found that he was being followed by a group, then

37:45

by a swarm, and finally

37:47

by a dense mass of undergraduates. The

37:51

word had gone around that a lunatic

37:53

had passed the entrance examinations for Yale,

37:56

and attempted to palm himself as a youth

37:58

of eighteen. A

38:02

fever of excitement permeated the college. Men

38:06

ran hatless out of classes. The

38:08

football team abandoned its practice and joined

38:10

the mob. Professors

38:12

wives with bonnets, a wry, and bustles

38:15

out of position ran shouting

38:17

after the procession, from

38:19

which proceeded a continual succession of remarks

38:21

aimed at the tender sensibilities of

38:24

Benjamin Button. He

38:27

must be the wandering man. He

38:30

ought to go to prep school at his age. Look

38:33

at the infant prodigy. He

38:36

thought this was an old men's home. Go

38:38

up to Harvard. Benjamin

38:42

increased his gape and soon he

38:44

was running. He would show

38:47

them. They would go to Harvard and

38:49

then they would regret these ill-considered taunts. He

38:54

on board the train for Baltimore. He

38:56

put his head from the window. He'll

38:59

regret this, he shouted. Ha-ha,

39:03

the undergraduates laughed. Ha-ha.

39:07

It was the biggest mistake that Yale

39:09

College ever made. Chapter

39:15

5 In

39:19

1880, Benjamin Button was 20 years

39:21

old and he

39:23

signalized his birthday by going to work for

39:26

his father in Roger Button & Co. wholesale

39:29

hardware. It

39:31

was in that same year that he began going

39:33

out socially. That is,

39:36

his father insisted on taking him to

39:38

several fashionable dances. Roger

39:41

Button was now 50 and

39:44

he and his son were more and more companionable. In

39:47

fact, since Benjamin had ceased to

39:49

die there, which was still grayish,

39:52

they appeared about the same age and

39:54

could have passed for brothers. One

39:59

night in August. They got into the

40:01

Fatin', attired in their full dress suits, and

40:03

drove out to a dance at the Shevlin's

40:05

Country House, situated just outside

40:07

of Baltimore. It

40:10

was a gorgeous evening. A

40:12

full moon drenched the road to the

40:14

lustreless color of platinum and

40:17

late-blooming harvest flowers breathed into the

40:19

motionless aero-romas that were like low,

40:21

half-heard laughter. The

40:25

open country, carpeted for rods

40:27

around with bright wheat, was translucent as

40:30

in the day. It

40:33

was almost impossible not to be affected by the

40:35

sheer beauty of the sky. Almost.

40:39

There's a great future in the dry goods

40:41

business, Roger Button was saying. He

40:44

was not a spiritual man. His

40:46

aesthetic sense was rudimentary. Old

40:50

fellows like me can't learn new tricks,

40:52

he observed profoundly. It's

40:55

you youngsters with energy and vitality that have the

40:57

great future before you. Far

41:02

up the road, the lights of the

41:04

Shevlin's Country House drifted into view, and

41:07

presently there was a sighing sound that

41:09

crept persistently toward them. It

41:12

might have been the fine plaintive violins or

41:15

the rustle of the silver wheat under the

41:17

moon. They

41:20

pulled up behind a handsome brogue whose

41:22

passengers were disembarking at the door. A

41:26

lady got out, then an elderly gentleman,

41:29

then another young lady, beautiful as sin. Benjamin

41:33

started, and almost

41:35

chemical change seemed to dissolve and recompose

41:37

the very elements of his body. A

41:43

rigor passed over him, blood

41:45

rose into his cheeks, his

41:47

forehead, and there was a steady thumping

41:49

in his ears. It

41:51

was first love. The

41:55

girls slender and frail, with

41:57

hair that was ashen under the moon and high.

42:00

honey-colored under the sputtering gas lamps of

42:02

the porch. Over

42:05

her shoulders was thrown a Spanish mantilla of

42:08

soft as yellow, butterflied and

42:10

black. Her feet were glittering

42:12

buttons at the hem of her bustled dress. Roger

42:17

Button leaned over to his son. Ah,

42:20

he said, his young Hildegard

42:22

Moncrie, the daughter of

42:24

General Moncrie. Benjamin

42:28

nodded coldly. Pretty

42:30

little thing, he said indifferently. But

42:34

when the servant had led the buggy

42:36

away, he added, Dad, you

42:38

might introduce me to her. They

42:42

approached a group, of which

42:44

Miss Moncrie was the center. Reared

42:47

in the old tradition, she curtleed

42:49

low before Benjamin. Yes,

42:52

he might have a dance. He

42:55

thanked her and walked away, staggered away.

42:59

The interval until the time for his

43:02

turn should arrive dragged itself out intermittently.

43:05

He stood close to the wall, silent

43:07

and scruitable, watching with

43:10

murderous eyes the young bloods of

43:12

Baltimore as they eddied around Hildegard

43:14

Moncrie, passionate admiration in

43:16

their faces. How

43:19

obnoxious they seemed to Benjamin! How

43:22

intolerably rosy! Their

43:25

curling brown whiskers aroused in him

43:27

a feeling equivalent to indigestion. But

43:31

when his own time came, and he drifted

43:33

with her out upon the changing floor of

43:36

the music of the latest waltz from Paris,

43:38

his jealousies and anxieties melted from

43:41

him like a mantle of snow.

43:45

Blind with enchantment, he felt that

43:47

life was just beginning. You

43:51

and your brother guy here just as we did, didn't

43:53

you? asked Hildegard, looking up

43:55

at him with eyes that were like bright

43:57

blue enamel. Benjamin

44:00

hesitated. If

44:03

she took him for his father's brother,

44:05

what would be best to enlighten her? He

44:08

remembered his experience at Yale, so

44:11

he decided against him. It

44:13

would be rude to contradict a lady. It

44:15

would be criminal to mar this exquisite occasion

44:18

with the grotesque story of his origin. Later,

44:22

perhaps. So he

44:24

nodded, smiled, listened, and

44:26

was happy. I

44:29

like men of your age, Hildegard told him. Young

44:32

boys are so idiotic. They

44:34

tell me how much champagne they drink at

44:36

college and how much money they lose playing

44:38

cards. Men of

44:40

your age know how to appreciate women. Benjamin

44:44

felt himself on the verge of a proposal.

44:48

With an effort, he choked back the

44:50

impulse. You're

44:53

just the romantic age, she continued. Fifty.

44:57

Twenty-five is too worldly wise. Thirty

45:00

is apt to be pale from overwork. Forty

45:03

is the age of long stories that take a

45:05

whole cigar to tell. Sixty

45:08

is, well, sixty is two

45:10

near seventy. But fifty

45:13

is the mellow age. I

45:15

love fifty. Fifty

45:18

seemed to Benjamin a glorious age. He

45:21

longed passionately to be fifty. I've

45:25

always said, when on Hildegard, that I'd rather

45:27

marry a man of fifty and be taken

45:29

care of than many a man

45:31

of thirty and take care of him. For

45:35

Benjamin, the rest of the evening was bathed

45:38

in a honey-colored mist. Hildegard

45:40

gave him two more dances and

45:43

he discovered that they were marvelously in accord

45:45

on all the questions of the day. She

45:49

was going to go driving with him on the

45:51

following Sunday and then they

45:53

would discuss all these questions further. Going

46:00

home in the Fadin, just before the crack

46:02

of dawn, when the first bees were

46:04

humming and the fading moon glimmered in the

46:06

cool dew, Benjamin knew

46:08

vaguely that his father was discussing

46:10

wholesale hardware. And

46:13

what do you think should merit our biggest

46:16

attention after hammer and nails? Nailed

46:18

her button was saying. No,

46:22

replied Benjamin absomitedly. Lugs?

46:27

Exclaimed Roger Button. Why?

46:29

I've just covered the question of lungs. Benjamin

46:34

regarded him with day's dyes, just as

46:36

the eastern sky was suddenly cracked with

46:38

light, and an aural

46:40

yawn piercingly in the quickening trees. Dr. Sacks.

46:50

When six months later the engagement

46:52

of Miss Hildegard Moncrieve to Mr.

46:54

Benjamin Button was made known. I

46:57

say made known for General Moncrieve declared he

46:59

would rather fall upon his sword than announce

47:01

it. The excitement of

47:03

Baltimore society reached a feverish pitch.

47:09

The almost forgotten story of Benjamin's birth

47:11

was remembered and sent out upon the winds

47:14

of scandal in picturesque

47:16

and incredible forms. It

47:19

was said that Benjamin was really the father of Roger

47:21

Button, that he was his brother

47:24

who had been in prison for 40 years, that

47:26

he was John Wilkes Booth in disguise, and

47:29

finally that he had had two small

47:31

conical horns sprouting from his head. The

47:37

Sunday supplements of the New York papers

47:39

played up the case with fascinating sketches,

47:42

which showed the head of Benjamin Button attached to

47:44

a fish, to a snake, and

47:46

finally to a body of solid brass. He

47:51

became known, journalistically, as

47:53

the mystery man of Maryland. But

47:55

the true story, as is usually

47:57

the case, had a very small circulation.

48:02

However, everyone agreed with

48:04

General Moncrie that it was criminal for

48:06

a lovely girl who could have married

48:09

any beau in Baltimore to throw

48:11

herself into the arms of a man who was

48:13

assuredly fifty. In

48:16

vain, Mr. Roger Button published his

48:18

son's birth certificate in large type

48:20

in the Baltimore blaze. No

48:23

one believed it. He owed only to

48:25

look at Benjamin and see. In

48:29

the part of the two people most concerned, there

48:32

was no wavering. So

48:34

many of the stories about her fiance

48:36

were false that Hildegard refused stubbornly to

48:38

believe even the true one. In

48:42

vain, General Moncrie pointed out to her

48:44

the high morality among men

48:46

of fifty, or at least among

48:49

men who look fifty. In

48:51

vain he told her of the instability of

48:54

the wholesale hardware business. Hildegard

48:56

had chosen to marry for Melanes. And

49:00

marry she did. Thank

49:10

you for listening to Sleepy. Goodnight.

49:25

Thank you.