American fables

Abstract

I am the official guide here at the site of the fountain. At the appointed hour I am to open the gate, take the tickets, and lead the tourists through the exhibit halls while explaining to them, step by step, the events commemorated here. In the old days, when the crowds were large and boisterous, I developed the habit of speaking to the visitors through a megaphone. I still maintain this habit although the groups of tourists are now quite small. These tourists invariably gape at my megaphone with such open-mouthed amazement that I often wonder which attracts them more--my curious instrument or the story of the ancient site. But it is not my business to question their motives. I am a guide. It is my business to conduct tours. To give them their money's worth. And this I try to do to the utmost of my ability.