The Project Gutenberg eBook of The laugh
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: The laugh
Author: Robert Abernathy
Illustrator: Ed Emshwiller
Release date: February 15, 2026 [eBook #77941]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: King-Size Publications, Inc, 1956
Credits: Tom Trussel (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUGH ***
The Laugh
by Robert Abernathy
_If a lad of eight should get an urge to go tramping into a cosmic
shoestore in search of a giant’s boots his egotism might become a
frightening thing. Robert Abernathy probably hopes it won’t happen.
But he here plants such grave doubts in_ our _mind that we wonder if
it’s safe to spoil children._
=To Dicky grownups were absurdly like ants. They worked hard for no
good purpose. But some day a big, big change would be coming!=
Dicky lay comfortably on his stomach in the high backyard weeds,
watching the ants. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to see what
all of them were doing at the same time--all around their hill on the
sun-warmed bare slope by the weed patch.
But there were too many of them and they ran too fast in too many
different directions. They skirmished, climbed, and slid. They pushed,
lifted, and tugged at bits of straw, at seeds, and even the leg of a
beetle. They labored mightily and inefficiently to transport these
treasures to their nest. Dicky gazed at them in rapt absorption
obscurely awed by their incomprehensible fervor of dedication.
They reminded him-- He searched the teeming storehouse of a
five-year-old’s memories, and thought that the ants reminded him of the
lawn-tender which, every evening when it wasn’t raining, crept out of
its little kennel behind the house to see if the grass needed cutting
or watering. If it did, the dutiful machine went clicking and buzzing
up and down on its fat wheels, pivoting precisely at the edge of the
yard. It never came down here, where the ground sloped toward the brook
thirty yards away, and the weeds grew rank--where Dicky the courageous
wasn’t supposed to go either.
He glanced up the slope, suddenly conscious of the naked sun blazing
down on him through the thin cover of foliage and of the nearness of
the house beyond its clipped green rectangle of lawn. The cooling
intake on the house roof turned slowly, flaring to snare an unreliable
faint breeze. The windows had half-shuttered themselves against the
July afternoon brilliance, and they now resembled squinting eyes. The
eyes were dark with indoor shadow and you couldn’t tell whether they
were looking at you or not.
But if Mother did look out, she couldn’t possibly see him here. She
would think he was sitting in the sun by the wall of the house, playing
as he was supposed to do with his toy cars or his toy helicopter. The
cars would run just to the edge of the yard, and the helicopter would
fly only as high as the house. So naturally Dicky had grown bored with
them.
He wriggled closer to the busy ants, to the very edge of the weed
forest. The ants went on behaving as if Dicky wasn’t there. Softly,
Dicky said, “Boo! Woo? _You!_” But the ants didn’t notice.
Judicially, he decided that he would never be an ant, even if the
opportunity should be offered him. Ants were like grownups. They worked
hard for no good reason which Dicky could understand and they paid no
attention to more important things.
But it _would_ be fun to be very small, and live here among weeds like
giant trees. It would be fun to hide under the leaves when people came
looking for him. He scanned the ground minutely, picturing himself
walking here and there among the wonders of the little world--climbing
on a straw that was a fallen log, and looking up to see an insect
go whirring past with iridescent wings. Then the slope would be a
mountain, and the brook at its foot would become a vast shining ocean.
Not an ant, though. He would rather be a frog.
Vividly, for life, Dicky would remember the day when he’d first seen
the frog. It had been back when there’d been a hole in the fence,
hidden by weeds. It had been a hole which only he knew about, and
several times he’d crawled through and visited the forbidden shores
beyond. The brook flowed there dark, deep, and quiet between cement
banks, severely walled like almost all the world. But under the
footbridge a little way below the house lived the frog.
Dicky had known he was there, had heard him at twilight--_krraak!
krraak!_ But for a long time he hadn’t known who made the sound. And
then, one rain-washed afternoon, he’d crept stealthily along the wet
grass of the bank and peered into the shadows beneath the bridge.
The frog was sitting on the slimed rubble close to the water--fat,
green, self-important. He was squatting there with his tiny forefeet
accurately tucked up under him. He had lazy jewel eyes, and was
ballooning his mottled throat to send out his _krraak_. Smugly happy he
seemed, in his confidence that the world had only been waiting to hear
his frog noise.
The revelation had been too much for Dicky, and he had burst out
laughing. Then he had looked quickly around, alarmed, to see if anyone
had heard him. But nobody had except the frog, who promptly went
_gchonk!_ into the water.
Now the fence had been repaired and there was no way through. If Dicky
so much as went near it--forbidden as he was to go that far--his
father’s voice came to his ears, just as if his father were not away at
work. It said: “Dicky, go home!”
But Dicky didn’t grieve unduly. Having found the way blocked, he
dismissed it from his thoughts. After all, he had seen the frog, and he
could remember it any time he wanted to.
Remembering now, he rose to a crouching position among the weeds, and
said, “_Krraak, krraak!_” He said it softly under his breath, and
smiled to himself.
A sudden commotion on the sunlit ground recalled his attention to the
ants. Two of them had seized hold of a tiny leaf, one on each side,
but they seemed unable to agree on which way it should go. They tugged
in opposite directions. First one of them found firm footing in a
half-buried pebble and dragged the other one, its feet scrabbling madly
in loose sand. Then the second ant got a purchase on the pebble and in
turn triumphantly wrestled the leaf, and its struggling rival for a
fraction of an inch in _its_ chosen direction. Both ants kept skidding.
Dicky bent close to watch them, a well of pure, delighted amusement
bubbling up inside him. Suddenly it all seemed irresistibly funny--that
grim Lilliputian determination see-sawing across a pebble just when
he’d been thinking of the frog and how he’d laughed at the funny frog--
Dicky felt the spasm starting in his stomach, and ascending sneezelike
into his throat, making his nose twitch and his eyes half-close. He
felt the laughter coming and couldn’t stop it, and suddenly he was
laughing uncontrollably, loudly, gleefully....
“_Dicky!_”
He heard his mother’s shocked voice and scrambled to his feet, the
laughter dying into indrawn sobs. The shining afternoon whirled about
him into cataclysm.
“What are you doing down there?” she demanded. She stood on the edge of
the lawn above him, her voice quivering with anger. “Dicky, answer me!”
“Looking at ants,” he gulped. “I was just--” He crumbled under her
reproachful eyes. “I couldn’t help it, Mommie,” he pleaded. “I
couldn’t--”
“Come here,” she said in the same strained tone. “What if the neighbors
heard you! Do you want them to think crazy people live here? Do you?”
She broke off with an effort, and took a deep breath.
“Come straight in the house now. And just you wait until your father
comes home!”
The next day Dicky’s father didn’t go to work at the yeast plant.
Instead, all three of them went for a ride. They went in a coptercab,
which meant downtown, instead of in the car which would have meant a
picnic in the country.
The night before there had been a consultation which Dicky had
overheard only in snatches: “Laughing at _ants!_ I caught him at it.”
“...At people next, I suppose!”
“But what can we have done wrong?”
Since then, happily, Dicky’s fall from grace hadn’t been mentioned, and
in the excitement of a ’copter trip he forgot it altogether.
The automatic pilot set them down on the roof of a building that loomed
large even in a neighborhood of huge buildings. Below were long halls
with slick tiles and rubber runners. There were also many doors, and a
great many people, dressed entirely in white, and all hurrying.
Without knowing quite how it happened, Dicky became separated from his
parents in a big room with two men and a lady in white, and a lot of
gleaming and mysterious apparatus. He’d been told not to be scared, and
he wasn’t--quite.
“Sit right here, Dicky. Just hold still, now....”
They tapped his knees with little mallets, tickled the soles of his
bare feet, and shone dazzling lights into his eyes.
“Say ‘black bugs’ blood,’ Dicky.”
“Black bugs’ blood,” stammered Dicky, and looked around anxiously to
see what, if anything, the strange incantation might have summoned up.
“That’s a good boy,” said the lady in white soothingly.
“Somatically okay,” said the biggest man in white at last. He nodded to
the other two, and they went out.
The big man sat down opposite Dicky and regarded him gravely, but not
sternly. He reminded Dicky of his own father in one of his good moods.
“Now, that didn’t hurt, did it?” inquired the big man.
“N-no,” said Dicky.
“We had to give you some tests to make sure you were all right. You
_are_ all right. But your parents seem to be a little upset about you.
Hmm. Why’s that?” The question was gently authoritative.
“I--I--” Dicky stumbled painfully over the truth. “I guess I _laughed_.”
The man nodded soberly, and Dicky was aware, with a sudden rush of
confidence, that he wasn’t surprised or shocked. It was plain that he
wouldn’t be, even if Dicky were to laugh right in his face. Not that
Dicky felt like doing that.
“Why did you laugh? Tell me, Dicky.”
“At some ants.” Dicky’s face felt hot, but the big man’s manner was
unchanged.
“Do you feel like telling me about the ants?” the big man asked. And
Dicky realized that he did.
* * * * *
Dicky’s mother demanded shakily, “But, Doctor, _what_ did we do wrong?”
“We’ve tried to bring the boy up with every scientific advantage,” his
father muttered uncertainly.
The man in white sighed imperceptibly. Here were two normally
intelligent and well-intentioned people. But obviously the explanations
he had just given them in terms of reality had not conveyed a great
deal to them. Public education, even in this day and age, left much to
be desired.
He said patiently, “So far as I can tell you haven’t done anything
_seriously_ wrong. You’ve provided the child with approved play
materials, and you’ve proceeded quite properly in supplying him with
safely limited opportunities for aggression against authority. Perhaps
you’ve left him alone a little too much. What has happened is that in
the absence of adult guidance an unhealthy fantasy element has crept
into his play.
“When you come back tomorrow, we’ll go over the home environment in
detail and I may suggest a few changes. Then, with the prescription
I’ve given you, and with Dicky coming to see me once a week, I think
we’ll have him entirely straightened out by the time school starts.”
“Oh, I hope so!” exclaimed the mother prayerfully.
The psychologist cast an approving glance at her, and said
reassuringly, “You shouldn’t be unduly alarmed. It’s important
to remember that at Dicky’s age an occasional emotional
explosion--laughter, tears, rage, or the like--isn’t necessarily a sign
of dangerous emotional instability. After all,” he smiled faintly, “a
hundred years ago your Dicky’s behavior would have been considered
quite normal.”
“Normal?” said the father with corrugated brow.
“Ideas of normality differ in different eras. Our ancestors considered
laughter--even violent laughter in public--quite permissible ... though
they would have frowned on various other types of emotional exhibition.
At sundry times and places there have been societies which condoned
or even encouraged orgies of grief and guilt--megalomaniac outbursts,
religious ecstasies, public sexual excesses.
“Our own forebears continued to laugh right into the twentieth
century, at a time when psychiatry had already taken its first great
steps forward--steps hampered, naturally, by the cultural bias....
The popular psychology of the period even worked out a theory of the
alleged value of ‘emotional outlets,’ disregarding, of course, the fact
that energy going into such outlets was wasted. The steam that blows
the whistle doesn’t turn the wheels.”
The parents nodded with an understanding that pleased the psychologist.
Maybe there was still hope for public education.
“No doubt,” he went on, “some of those immature societies I referred
to--when population was sparse and resources under-developed--could
_afford_ their eccentricities. But modern civilization requires that
all the individual’s inborn aggressive energy be channeled into
effective action, directed by the reality principle.
“Before we could accomplish that, we had to get rid of our forefathers’
sterile idea of ‘happiness,’ ideas which the early psychiatrists
actually regarded as a therapeutic goal. They tried to alleviate human
misery without realizing that it was only one face of the coin, and
that to succeed they must also study the causes and cure of happiness!
“So--” The psychologist caught himself with a glance at his watch,
which had begun to buzz quietly but insistently to remind him of an
appointment. “Don’t worry. You see, a century ago Dicky would have gone
without treatment. Upon reaching the age of puberty, he might have
fallen in love, or developed other psychosomatic ills--”
The parents exchanged horrified glances.
“But nowadays we know just what to do. You haven’t a thing to worry
about.”
He ushered them to the door beyond which Dicky waited with the nurse.
* * * * *
Fall was coming, a first chill in the air. Dicky stood at the edge of
the green lawn, looking down the bare slope toward the fence and the
brook beyond.
The backyard slope was no longer forbidden to him--hadn’t been since
the day the lawn-tender had clicked and buzzed its way along it, mowing
the weeds. But he no longer felt any particular urge to explore.
Once, a long time ago in the summer, there had been something very
special about the brook and the footbridge over it. But now he couldn’t
remember what had seemed so important. He remembered, of course, that
he had walked along the brook, and had seen a frog. But he’d been much
younger then.
Now summer was over, and in a few days Dicky would be starting to
school.
He scuffed his new shoes down the weedless slope aimlessly--as far as
the fence and back again. Suddenly he stopped, noticing that the ants
were still there. They seemed fewer than they had been, and not so
active as they straggled in thinning lines across a patch of ground
completely denuded of forage.
The ants reminded him of the big man in white, who was so good at
explaining things so that Dicky could understand. One thing he’d
explained on request was why ants couldn’t see you, even when you stood
right over them.
They couldn’t see you because you were too big. That seemed a strange
idea, but the big man, in his patient way, had made it all sound
perfectly reasonable. If ants _could_ see you, they’d be scared, but
only because you were so much bigger that they couldn’t do anything to
help themselves. So it was better for them not even to know you were
there.
Dimly, as an echo, he remembered too how he’d watched the ants on a
sunny afternoon, and wished he could be as small as they were. That was
a silly thought, fit only for little kids that laughed and cried and
wet their pants.
But it _would_ be fun to be a very big giant, so big that all the
people and cars in all the streets would look like little ants running
around. So big they couldn’t even see you, because if they could it
wouldn’t do them any good.
“Black bugs’ blood!” said Dicky abruptly to himself.
The hard sharp heel of his new shoe ground into the anthill,
obliterating the entrance, burying the frantic workers under tumbled
dust. He stamped the anthill flat with careful thoroughness.
Then he turned without another glance, not laughing or crying any more,
and walked sedately up the slope to the house.
Transcriber’s note:
This etext was produced from Fantastic Universe, June 1956 (Vol. 5,
No. 5.). Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Obvious errors in punctuation have been silently corrected in this
version.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUGH ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law 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™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. 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™ 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™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
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™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ 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™ 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™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
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™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law 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™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ 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™ 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™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than 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™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ 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 in the United States and most
other parts of the world 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. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (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™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ 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™ 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™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
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™ 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™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(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™ 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™ 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™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ 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™
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™
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™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ 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
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
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™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ 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 1.F.3. 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 MERCHANTABILITY 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™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
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™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ 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 are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ 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™ 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 information page at www.gutenberg.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. 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 business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
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 www.gutenberg.org/donate.
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 checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright 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 website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
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.
