The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
As
long
ago
as
1860
it
was
the
proper
thing
to
be
born
at
home
.
At
present
,
so
I
am
told
,
the
high
gods
of
medicine
have
decreed
that
the
first
cries
of
the
young
shall
be
uttered
upon
the
anaesthetic
air
of
a
hospital
,
preferably
a
fashionable
one
.
So
young
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Roger
Button
were
fifty
years
ahead
of
style
when
they
decided
,
one
day
in
the
summer
of
1860
,
that
their
first
baby
should
be
born
in
a
hospital
.
Whether
this
anachronism
had
any
bearing
upon
the
astonishing
history
I
am
about
to
set
down
will
never
be
known
.
I
shall
tell
you
what
occurred
,
and
let
you
judge
for
yourself
.
The
Roger
Buttons
held
an
enviable
position
,
both
social
and
financial
,
in
ante-bellum
Baltimore
.
They
were
related
to
the
This
Family
and
the
That
Family
,
which
,
as
every
Southerner
knew
,
entitled
them
to
membership
in
that
enormous
peerage
which
largely
populated
the
Confederacy
.
This
was
their
first
experience
with
the
charming
old
custom
of
having
babies
--
Mr.
Button
was
naturally
nervous
.
He
hoped
it
would
be
a
boy
so
that
he
could
be
sent
to
Yale
College
in
Connecticut
,
at
which
institution
Mr.
Button
himself
had
been
known
for
four
years
by
the
somewhat
obvious
nickname
of
"
Cuff
.
"
On
the
September
morning
consecrated
to
the
enormous
event
he
arose
nervously
at
six
o'clock
dressed
himself
,
adjusted
an
impeccable
stock
,
and
hurried
forth
through
the
streets
of
Baltimore
to
the
hospital
,
to
determine
whether
the
darkness
of
the
night
had
borne
in
new
life
upon
its
bosom
.
When
he
was
approximately
a
hundred
yards
from
the
Maryland
Private
Hospital
for
Ladies
and
Gentlemen
he
saw
Doctor
Keene
,
the
family
physician
,
descending
the
front
steps
,
rubbing
his
hands
together
with
a
washing
movement
--
as
all
doctors
are
required
to
do
by
the
unwritten
ethics
of
their
profession
.
Mr.
Roger
Button
,
the
president
of
Roger
Button
&
Co.
,
Wholesale
Hardware
,
began
to
run
toward
Doctor
Keene
with
much
less
dignity
than
was
expected
from
a
Southern
gentleman
of
that
picturesque
period
.
"
Doctor
Keene
!
"
he
called
.
"
Oh
,
Doctor
Keene
!
"
The
doctor
heard
him
,
faced
around
,
and
stood
waiting
,
a
curious
expression
settling
on
his
harsh
,
medicinal
face
as
Mr.
Button
drew
near
.
"
What
happened
?
"
demanded
Mr.
Button
,
as
he
came
up
in
a
gasping
rush
.
"
What
was
it
?
How
is
she
"
A
boy
?
Who
is
it
?
What
--
"
"
Talk
sense
!
"
said
Doctor
Keene
sharply
,
He
appeared
somewhat
irritated
.
"
Is
the
child
born
?
"
begged
Mr.
Button
.
