The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

Chapter 16
Nothing to It
The GLIB structure stood two storeys high with an impressive
stone façade. A well-dressed crowd clustered at the entrance,
waiting to enter. They pretended not to notice the mounting quarrel
that fl ared behind them in the square. As Jonathan joined the group,
he read with interest the heavy bronze letters above the doorway,
“LADY BESS TWEED PEOPLE’S LIBRARY.”
Visitors at the back of the crowd craned to look over those
standing in front. They exclaimed aloud at what they saw.
“Marvellous,” whispered some. “Stunning,” said others. Try as he
might, Jonathan couldn’t see what caught their attention.
Deft and slim, Jonathan squeezed around the crowd and
approached a librarian’s desk inside the entrance. “What does this
group fi nd so marvellous and stunning?” he asked of the man sitting
behind the desk.
“Shhhh!” reprimanded the librarian sternly. “Please lower your
voice.” The man tapped the corners of a pile of note cards and laid
them down neatly in front of him. He bent forward and looked
at Jonathan over his half-framed glasses. “These are members of
the Council’s Commission on the Arts. They have just opened an
exhibit of the latest acquisition for our collection of fi ne art.”
“How nice,” whispered Jonathan. Stretching his neck to catch a
glimpse, he said, “I love good art, but where is it? It must be very
small.”
“That depends,” sniffed the librarian. “Some would say it is
very expansive. That’s the beauty of this piece. It’s titled ‘Void in
Flight’.”
“But I don’t see anything,” said Jonathan, frowning as he scanned
the great white space in the passage that was visible just outside the
entrance.
“That’s the point. Impressive, isn’t it?” The librarian stared
at the vacant space with a dreamy expression. “Nothing captures