diff options
Diffstat (limited to '21279.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 21279.txt | 814 |
1 files changed, 814 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/21279.txt b/21279.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fcf1804 --- /dev/null +++ b/21279.txt @@ -0,0 +1,814 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 2 B R 0 2 B, by Kurt Vonnegut + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 2 B R 0 2 B + +Author: Kurt Vonnegut + +Release Date: May 3, 2007 [EBook #21279] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2 B R 0 2 B *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Geetu Melwani and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + 2_B_R_0_2_B + + By + Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. + + +Transcriber note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If, January 1962. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on +this publication was renewed. + + + + +Got a problem? Just pick up the phone. +It solved them all--and all the same way! + + + 2 + B + R + 0 + 2 + B + + +by KURT VONNEGUT, JR. + + + + +Everything was perfectly swell. + +There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no +poverty, no wars. + +All diseases were conquered. So was old age. + +Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers. + +The population of the United States was stabilized at forty-million +souls. + +One bright morning in the Chicago Lying-in Hospital, a man named Edward +K. Wehling, Jr., waited for his wife to give birth. He was the only man +waiting. Not many people were born a day any more. + +Wehling was fifty-six, a mere stripling in a population whose average +age was one hundred and twenty-nine. + +X-rays had revealed that his wife was going to have triplets. The +children would be his first. + +Young Wehling was hunched in his chair, his head in his hand. He was so +rumpled, so still and colorless as to be virtually invisible. His +camouflage was perfect, since the waiting room had a disorderly and +demoralized air, too. Chairs and ashtrays had been moved away from the +walls. The floor was paved with spattered dropcloths. + +The room was being redecorated. It was being redecorated as a memorial +to a man who had volunteered to die. + +A sardonic old man, about two hundred years old, sat on a stepladder, +painting a mural he did not like. Back in the days when people aged +visibly, his age would have been guessed at thirty-five or so. Aging had +touched him that much before the cure for aging was found. + +The mural he was working on depicted a very neat garden. Men and women +in white, doctors and nurses, turned the soil, planted seedlings, +sprayed bugs, spread fertilizer. + +Men and women in purple uniforms pulled up weeds, cut down plants that +were old and sickly, raked leaves, carried refuse to trash-burners. + +Never, never, never--not even in medieval Holland nor old Japan--had a +garden been more formal, been better tended. Every plant had all the +loam, light, water, air and nourishment it could use. + +A hospital orderly came down the corridor, singing under his breath a +popular song: + + If you don't like my kisses, honey, + Here's what I will do: + I'll go see a girl in purple, + Kiss this sad world toodle-oo. + If you don't want my lovin', + Why should I take up all this space? + I'll get off this old planet, + Let some sweet baby have my place. + +The orderly looked in at the mural and the muralist. "Looks so real," +he said, "I can practically imagine I'm standing in the middle of it." + +"What makes you think you're not in it?" said the painter. He gave a +satiric smile. "It's called 'The Happy Garden of Life,' you know." + +"That's good of Dr. Hitz," said the orderly. + + * * * * * + +He was referring to one of the male figures in white, whose head was a +portrait of Dr. Benjamin Hitz, the hospital's Chief Obstetrician. Hitz +was a blindingly handsome man. + +"Lot of faces still to fill in," said the orderly. He meant that the +faces of many of the figures in the mural were still blank. All blanks +were to be filled with portraits of important people on either the +hospital staff or from the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of +Termination. + +"Must be nice to be able to make pictures that look like something," +said the orderly. + +The painter's face curdled with scorn. "You think I'm proud of this +daub?" he said. "You think this is my idea of what life really looks +like?" + +"What's your idea of what life looks like?" said the orderly. + +The painter gestured at a foul dropcloth. "There's a good picture of +it," he said. "Frame that, and you'll have a picture a damn sight more +honest than this one." + +"You're a gloomy old duck, aren't you?" said the orderly. + +"Is that a crime?" said the painter. + +The orderly shrugged. "If you don't like it here, Grandpa--" he said, +and he finished the thought with the trick telephone number that people +who didn't want to live any more were supposed to call. The zero in the +telephone number he pronounced "naught." + +The number was: "2 B R 0 2 B." + +It was the telephone number of an institution whose fanciful sobriquets +included: "Automat," "Birdland," "Cannery," "Catbox," "De-louser," +"Easy-go," "Good-by, Mother," "Happy Hooligan," "Kiss-me-quick," "Lucky +Pierre," "Sheepdip," "Waring Blendor," "Weep-no-more" and "Why Worry?" + +"To be or not to be" was the telephone number of the municipal gas +chambers of the Federal Bureau of Termination. + + * * * * * + +The painter thumbed his nose at the orderly. "When I decide it's time to +go," he said, "it won't be at the Sheepdip." + +"A do-it-yourselfer, eh?" said the orderly. "Messy business, Grandpa. +Why don't you have a little consideration for the people who have to +clean up after you?" + +The painter expressed with an obscenity his lack of concern for the +tribulations of his survivors. "The world could do with a good deal more +mess, if you ask me," he said. + +The orderly laughed and moved on. + +Wehling, the waiting father, mumbled something without raising his head. +And then he fell silent again. + +A coarse, formidable woman strode into the waiting room on spike heels. +Her shoes, stockings, trench coat, bag and overseas cap were all purple, +the purple the painter called "the color of grapes on Judgment Day." + +The medallion on her purple musette bag was the seal of the Service +Division of the Federal Bureau of Termination, an eagle perched on a +turnstile. + +The woman had a lot of facial hair--an unmistakable mustache, in fact. A +curious thing about gas-chamber hostesses was that, no matter how lovely +and feminine they were when recruited, they all sprouted mustaches +within five years or so. + +"Is this where I'm supposed to come?" she said to the painter. + +"A lot would depend on what your business was," he said. "You aren't +about to have a baby, are you?" + +"They told me I was supposed to pose for some picture," she said. "My +name's Leora Duncan." She waited. + +"And you dunk people," he said. + +"What?" she said. + +"Skip it," he said. + +"That sure is a beautiful picture," she said. "Looks just like heaven or +something." + +"Or something," said the painter. He took a list of names from his smock +pocket. "Duncan, Duncan, Duncan," he said, scanning the list. "Yes--here +you are. You're entitled to be immortalized. See any faceless body here +you'd like me to stick your head on? We've got a few choice ones left." + +She studied the mural bleakly. "Gee," she said, "they're all the same to +me. I don't know anything about art." + +"A body's a body, eh?" he said. "All righty. As a master of fine art, I +recommend this body here." He indicated a faceless figure of a woman who +was carrying dried stalks to a trash-burner. + +"Well," said Leora Duncan, "that's more the disposal people, isn't it? I +mean, I'm in service. I don't do any disposing." + +The painter clapped his hands in mock delight. "You say you don't know +anything about art, and then you prove in the next breath that you know +more about it than I do! Of course the sheave-carrier is wrong for a +hostess! A snipper, a pruner--that's more your line." He pointed to a +figure in purple who was sawing a dead branch from an apple tree. "How +about her?" he said. "You like her at all?" + +"Gosh--" she said, and she blushed and became humble--"that--that puts +me right next to Dr. Hitz." + +"That upsets you?" he said. + +"Good gravy, no!" she said. "It's--it's just such an honor." + +"Ah, You... you admire him, eh?" he said. + +"Who doesn't admire him?" she said, worshiping the portrait of Hitz. It +was the portrait of a tanned, white-haired, omnipotent Zeus, two hundred +and forty years old. "Who doesn't admire him?" she said again. "He was +responsible for setting up the very first gas chamber in Chicago." + +"Nothing would please me more," said the painter, "than to put you next +to him for all time. Sawing off a limb--that strikes you as +appropriate?" + +"That is kind of like what I do," she said. She was demure about what +she did. What she did was make people comfortable while she killed them. + + * * * * * + +And, while Leora Duncan was posing for her portrait, into the +waitingroom bounded Dr. Hitz himself. He was seven feet tall, and he +boomed with importance, accomplishments, and the joy of living. + +"Well, Miss Duncan! Miss Duncan!" he said, and he made a joke. "What +are you doing here?" he said. "This isn't where the people leave. This +is where they come in!" + +"We're going to be in the same picture together," she said shyly. + +"Good!" said Dr. Hitz heartily. "And, say, isn't that some picture?" + +"I sure am honored to be in it with you," she said. + +"Let me tell you," he said, "I'm honored to be in it with you. Without +women like you, this wonderful world we've got wouldn't be possible." + +He saluted her and moved toward the door that led to the delivery rooms. +"Guess what was just born," he said. + +"I can't," she said. + +"Triplets!" he said. + +"Triplets!" she said. She was exclaiming over the legal implications of +triplets. + +The law said that no newborn child could survive unless the parents of +the child could find someone who would volunteer to die. Triplets, if +they were all to live, called for three volunteers. + +"Do the parents have three volunteers?" said Leora Duncan. + +"Last I heard," said Dr. Hitz, "they had one, and were trying to scrape +another two up." + +"I don't think they made it," she said. "Nobody made three appointments +with us. Nothing but singles going through today, unless somebody +called in after I left. What's the name?" + +"Wehling," said the waiting father, sitting up, red-eyed and frowzy. +"Edward K. Wehling, Jr., is the name of the happy father-to-be." + +He raised his right hand, looked at a spot on the wall, gave a hoarsely +wretched chuckle. "Present," he said. + +"Oh, Mr. Wehling," said Dr. Hitz, "I didn't see you." + +"The invisible man," said Wehling. + +"They just phoned me that your triplets have been born," said Dr. Hitz. +"They're all fine, and so is the mother. I'm on my way in to see them +now." + +"Hooray," said Wehling emptily. + +"You don't sound very happy," said Dr. Hitz. + +"What man in my shoes wouldn't be happy?" said Wehling. He gestured with +his hands to symbolize care-free simplicity. "All I have to do is pick +out which one of the triplets is going to live, then deliver my maternal +grandfather to the Happy Hooligan, and come back here with a receipt." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Hitz became rather severe with Wehling, towered over him. "You don't +believe in population control, Mr. Wehling?" he said. + +"I think it's perfectly keen," said Wehling tautly. + +"Would you like to go back to the good old days, when the population of +the Earth was twenty billion--about to become forty billion, then eighty +billion, then one hundred and sixty billion? Do you know what a drupelet +is, Mr. Wehling?" said Hitz. + +"Nope," said Wehling sulkily. + +"A drupelet, Mr. Wehling, is one of the little knobs, one of the little +pulpy grains of a blackberry," said Dr. Hitz. "Without population +control, human beings would now be packed on this surface of this old +planet like drupelets on a blackberry! Think of it!" + +Wehling continued to stare at the same spot on the wall. + +"In the year 2000," said Dr. Hitz, "before scientists stepped in and +laid down the law, there wasn't even enough drinking water to go around, +and nothing to eat but sea-weed--and still people insisted on their +right to reproduce like jackrabbits. And their right, if possible, to +live forever." + +"I want those kids," said Wehling quietly. "I want all three of them." + +"Of course you do," said Dr. Hitz. "That's only human." + +"I don't want my grandfather to die, either," said Wehling. + +"Nobody's really happy about taking a close relative to the Catbox," +said Dr. Hitz gently, sympathetically. + +"I wish people wouldn't call it that," said Leora Duncan. + +"What?" said Dr. Hitz. + +"I wish people wouldn't call it 'the Catbox,' and things like that," she +said. "It gives people the wrong impression." + +"You're absolutely right," said Dr. Hitz. "Forgive me." He corrected +himself, gave the municipal gas chambers their official title, a title +no one ever used in conversation. "I should have said, 'Ethical Suicide +Studios,'" he said. + +"That sounds so much better," said Leora Duncan. + +"This child of yours--whichever one you decide to keep, Mr. Wehling," +said Dr. Hitz. "He or she is going to live on a happy, roomy, clean, +rich planet, thanks to population control. In a garden like that mural +there." He shook his head. "Two centuries ago, when I was a young man, +it was a hell that nobody thought could last another twenty years. Now +centuries of peace and plenty stretch before us as far as the +imagination cares to travel." + +He smiled luminously. + +The smile faded as he saw that Wehling had just drawn a revolver. + +Wehling shot Dr. Hitz dead. "There's room for one--a great big one," he +said. + +And then he shot Leora Duncan. "It's only death," he said to her as she +fell. "There! Room for two." + +And then he shot himself, making room for all three of his children. + +Nobody came running. Nobody, seemingly, heard the shots. + +The painter sat on the top of his stepladder, looking down reflectively +on the sorry scene. + + * * * * * + +The painter pondered the mournful puzzle of life demanding to be born +and, once born, demanding to be fruitful ... to multiply and to live as +long as possible--to do all that on a very small planet that would have +to last forever. + +All the answers that the painter could think of were grim. Even grimmer, +surely, than a Catbox, a Happy Hooligan, an Easy Go. He thought of war. +He thought of plague. He thought of starvation. + +He knew that he would never paint again. He let his paintbrush fall to +the dropcloths below. And then he decided he had had about enough of +life in the Happy Garden of Life, too, and he came slowly down from the +ladder. + +He took Wehling's pistol, really intending to shoot himself. + +But he didn't have the nerve. + +And then he saw the telephone booth in the corner of the room. He went +to it, dialed the well-remembered number: "2 B R 0 2 B." + +"Federal Bureau of Termination," said the very warm voice of a hostess. + +"How soon could I get an appointment?" he asked, speaking very +carefully. + +"We could probably fit you in late this afternoon, sir," she said. "It +might even be earlier, if we get a cancellation." + +"All right," said the painter, "fit me in, if you please." And he gave +her his name, spelling it out. + +"Thank you, sir," said the hostess. "Your city thanks you; your country +thanks you; your planet thanks you. But the deepest thanks of all is +from future generations." + + +END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 2 B R 0 2 B, by Kurt Vonnegut + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2 B R 0 2 B *** + +***** This file should be named 21279.txt or 21279.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/2/7/21279/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Geetu Melwani and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |