Indeterminacy 25

An Eskimo lady who couldn’t speak or understand a
word of English was once offered free
transportation to the United States plus $500
providing she would accompany a corpse that was
being sent back to America for burial. She accepted.
On her arrival she looked about and noticed that
people who went into the railroad station left the
city and she never saw them again. Apparently they
traveled some place else. She also noticed that
before leaving they went to the ticket window, said
something to the salesman, and got a ticket. She
stood in line, listened carefully to what the person
in front of her said to the ticket salesman,
repeated what that person said, and then traveled
wherever he traveled. In this way she moved about
the country from one city to another. After some
time, her money was running out and she decided to
settle down in the next city she came to, to find
employment, and to live there the rest of her life.
But when she came to this decision she was in a small
town in Wisconsin from which no one that day was
traveling. However, in the course of moving about
she had picked up a bit of English. So finally she
went to the ticket window and said to the man there,
“Where would you go if you were going?” He named a
small town in Ohio where she lives to this day.

- John Cage