10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

chapter 10. of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald, performed by Anna Butterworth

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Ten. At the termination of thisinterview, Benjamin wandered dismally upstairs and stared
at himself in the mirror. Hehad not shaved for three months, but
he could find nothing on his facebut a faint white down, with which
it seemed unnecessary to meddle. Whenhe had first come home from Harvard,

(00:21):
Roscoe had approached him with the propositionthat he should wear eyeglasses and imitation.
Whiskers glued to his cheeks, andit had seemed for a moment that the
farce of his early years was tobe repeated. But Whiskers had itched and
made him ashamed. He wept,and Roscoe had reluctantly relented. Benjamin opened
a book of boys stories, theboy Scouts in Bimini Bay, and began

(00:45):
to read, but he found himselfthinking persistently about the war. America had
joined the Allied cause during the precedingmonth, and Benjamin wanted to enlist,
but alas sixteen was the minimum age, and he did not look that his
true age, which was fifty seven, would have disqualified him anyway. There

(01:06):
was a knock at his door,and the butler appeared with a letter bearing
a large official legend in the cornerand addressed to mister Benjamin Button. Benjamin
tore it open eagerly and read theenclosure with delight. It informed him that
many reserve officers who had served inthe Spanish American War were being called back
into service with a higher rank,and it enclosed his commission as brigadier general

(01:30):
in the United States Army, withorders to report immediately. Benjamin jumped to
his feet, fairly quivering with enthusiasm. This was what he had wanted.
He seized his cap, and tenminutes later he had entered a large tailoring
establishment on Charles Street and asked inhis uncertain treble to be measured for a

(01:51):
uniform. Want to play the soldiersonny, demanded the clerk casually. Benjamin
flushed a never mind what I want? He retorted angrily. My name's Button,
and I live on Mount Vernon Place, so you know I'm good for
it, well, admitted the clerkhesitantly. If you're not, I guess

(02:14):
your daddy is all right. Benjaminwas measured, and a week later his
uniform was completed. He had difficultyin obtaining the proper general's insignia because the
dealer kept insisting to Benjamin that anice y w c A badge would look
just as well and be much morefun to play with. Saying nothing to

(02:34):
Roscoe, he left the house onenight and proceeded by train to Camp Mosby
in South Carolina, where he wasto command an infantry brigade. On a
sultry April day, he approached theentrance to the camp, paid off the
taxi cab which had brought him fromthe station, and turned to the sentry
on guard. Get some one tohandle my luggage, he said, briskly.

(02:57):
The sentry eyed him reproachfully say heremarked, we're a going with the
general's dud Sonny Benjamin, veteran ofthe Spanish American War, whirled upon him
with fire in his eyes, butwith a lass a changing treble voice.
Come to attention, he tried tothunder. He paused for breath, Then

(03:20):
suddenly he saw the sentry snap hisheels together and bring his rifle to the
present. Benjamin concealed a smile ofgratification, but when he glanced around,
his smile faded. It was nothe who had inspired obedience, but an
imposing artillery colonel who was approaching onhorseback, colonel called Benjamin shrilly. The

(03:43):
colonel came up, drew rein andlooked coolly down at him with a twinkle
in his eyes. Whose little boyare you, he demanded kindly. I'll
soon darn well show you whose littleboy I am, retorted Benjamin in a
ferocious voice. Get down, notthat horse, the colonel roared with laughter.
You want him head general here,cried Benjamin. Desperately read this,

(04:11):
and he thrust his commission toward thecolonel. The colonel read it, his
eyes popping from their sockets. Where'dyou get this, he demanded, slipping
the document into his own pocket.I've got it from the government, as
you'll soon find out. You comealong with me, said the colonel,
with a peculiar look. We'll goup to headquarters and talk this over.

(04:33):
Come along. The colonel turned andbegan walking his horse in the direction of
headquarters. There was nothing for Benjaminto do but follow with as much dignity
as possible, meanwhile promising himself tostern revenge. But this revenge did not
materialize. Two days later, however, his son Roscoe materialized from Baltimore,

(04:57):
hot and cross from a hasty tripand acordered the weeping General Sands uniform back
to his home