{"id":"01KG6FHSHJ710ARJ6AF1YZQT3B","cid":"bafkreictp4p5up53xvegp5a56r2f6q2hweffu2jvjii3hepmlq3wv43dte","type":"file","properties":{"cid":"bafkreig5euxg4dmdh4pqsr6daadzl6hlovtjlg4fco3tsh5nhtdiobxkle","content_type":"image/jpeg","filename":"Rye_page_0045.jpg","height":2400,"key":"pdf-page-1769744163153-8rfcj4ot739","label":"Rye_page_0045.jpg","page_number":45,"pdf_type":"born_digital","size":719677,"text":"\"What's different about it? Nothin's different about it,\" Horwitz said. Everything\nhe said, he sounded sore about something. \"It's tougher for the fish, the winter and all,\nthan it is for the ducks, for Chrissake. Use your head, for Chrissake.\"\nI didn't say anything for about a minute. Then I said, \"All right. What do they do,\nthe fish and all, when that whole little lake's a solid block of ice, people skating on it and\nall?\"\nOld Horwitz turned around again. \"What the hellaya mean what do they do?\" he\nyelled at me. \"They stay right where they are, for Chrissake.\"\n\"They can't just ignore the ice. They can't just ignore it.\"\n\"Who's ignoring it? Nobody's ignoring it!\" Horwitz said. He got so damn excited\nand all, I was afraid he was going to drive the cab right into a lamppost or something.\n\"They live right in the goddam ice. It's their nature, for Chrissake. They get frozen right\nin one position for the whole winter.\"\n\"Yeah? What do they eat, then? I mean if they're frozen solid, they can't swim\naround looking for food and all.\"\n\"Their bodies, for Chrissake--what'sa matter with ya? Their bodies take in\nnutrition and all, right through the goddam seaweed and crap that's in the ice. They got\ntheir pores open the whole time. That's their nature, for Chrissake. See what I mean?\" He\nturned way the hell around again to look at me.\n\"Oh,\" I said. I let it drop. I was afraid he was going to crack the damn taxi up or\nsomething. Besides, he was such a touchy guy, it wasn't any pleasure discussing anything\nwith him. \"Would you care to stop off and have a drink with me somewhere?\" I said.\nHe didn't answer me, though. I guess he was still thinking. I asked him again,\nthough. He was a pretty good guy. Quite amusing and all.\n\"I ain't got no time for no liquor, bud,\" he said. \"How the hell old are you,\nanyways? Why ain'tcha home in bed?\"\n\"I'm not tired.\"\nWhen I got out in front of Ernie's and paid the fare, old Horwitz brought up the\nfish again. He certainly had it on his mind. \"Listen,\" he said. \"If you was a fish, Mother\nNature'd take care of you, wouldn't she? Right? You don't think them fish just die when it\ngets to be winter, do ya?\"\n\"No, but--\"\n\"You're goddam right they don't,\" Horwitz said, and drove off like a bat out of\nhell. He was about the touchiest guy I ever met. Everything you said made him sore.\nEven though it was so late, old Ernie's was jampacked. Mostly with prep school\njerks and college jerks. Almost every damn school in the world gets out earlier for\nChristmas vacation than the schools I go to. You could hardly check your coat, it was so\ncrowded. It was pretty quiet, though, because Ernie was playing the piano. It was\nsupposed to be something holy, for God's sake, when he sat down at the piano. Nobody's\nthat good. About three couples, besides me, were waiting for tables, and they were all\nshoving and standing on tiptoes to get a look at old Ernie while he played. He had a big\ndamn mirror in front of the piano, with this big spotlight on him, so that everybody could\nwatch his face while he played. You couldn't see his fingers while he played--just his big\nold face. Big deal. I'm not too sure what the name of the song was that he was playing\nwhen I came in, but whatever it was, he was really stinking it up. He was putting all these\ndumb, show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of other very tricky stuff that gives","text_extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:36:03.153Z","text_extracted_by":"pdf-processor","text_has_content":true,"text_source":"born_digital","uploaded":true,"width":1855},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KFHMJM2J9JHQAQM1Q9SKBJWF","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KFF1K6A8V452X8SQKY55DD16","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6FHT88V5WGSD39224Q4ZKZ","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6FHSHPFT47G974XP791FZK","predicate":"next"},{"peer":"01KG6FKMN7X0SHD9HWCV9ZQRSV","peer_label":"Rye_page_0045_medium.jpg","peer_type":"file","predicate":"has_derivative"},{"peer":"01KG6FKR9HAK2DHGF2P1BWHEA6","peer_label":"Rye_page_0045_thumb.jpg","peer_type":"file","predicate":"has_derivative"},{"peer":"01KG6FT59BXAZ3C5HRJ6SW8F58","predicate":"has_assembly"}],"ver":6,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:36:04.402Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:40:41.741Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFFC4A8W8939TXGEXCK439ZK"}}