Saturday, June 13, 2009

Indeterminacy 85


I was on an English boat going from Siracusa in
Sicily to Tunis in North Africa. I had taken
the cheapest passage and it was a voyage of two
nights and one day. We were no sooner out
of the harbor than I found that in my class no
food was served. I sent a note to the captain
saying I’d like to change to another class.
He sent a note back saying I could not change
and, further, asking whether I had been vaccinated.
I wrote back that I had not been vaccinated
and that I didn’t intend to be. He wrote
back that unless I was vaccinated I would not be
permitted to disembark at Tunis. We had
meanwhile gotten into a terrific storm.
The waves were higher than the boat. It
was impossible to walk on the deck. The
correspondence between the captain and myself
continued in deadlock. In my last
note to him, I stated my firm intention
to get off his boat at the earliest
opportunity and without being vaccinated.
He then wrote back that I had been
vaccinated, and to prove it he
sent along a certificate with his signature.

- John Cage

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