Golden Gregory

Capitalistic valuation

Golden Gregory

Gregory the Sleeper was trudging merrily down the snowy road. Today was not a good day. One after another, the clients he was supposed to meet with had punctures. “It must be the weather!” he consoled himself. Then he lamented his position as a salesman. How nice it would be if my father could work at the bank like he used to. How nice it would be if his mother could get a little more money from the boarders. If only my sister would stop trying to be a musician and start teaching bridal classes instead. But “if only” is just a what-if. Gregory walked through the front door of his house today, feeling pitifully swollen feet, sore cheeks, and calloused hands, even with leather gloves, as he struggled to make a few extra dollars.

I didn't have much of an appetite that evening, but I forced myself to eat to fit in with my family. But I was strangely full, even though I hadn't had more than three or four drinks. She excused herself and left, saying she needed to organize the files for the counselors she was meeting with tomorrow. When I got back to my room, my eyelids started drooping. He was so sleepy that he couldn't resist, so he fell into a deep sleep as soon as he got into bed.

Gregory woke up feeling very thirsty. He tilted the water bottle on the small table beside his bed, poured it into a glass, and took three or four “gulps” of water. He also felt very feverish, so he walked over to the bathtub, got some water, and stepped into the lukewarm water to cool himself down. Suddenly, he couldn't keep his eyelids open any longer because sleep kept coming.

“Oh my God!!!” Gregory opened his eyes, startled by his sister's loud shout. “Mother, Father, get over here and look at this!” His sister's near-screaming was terribly disturbing, but he didn't know why, so he stayed still. “Gregory!” my parents screamed in alarm.

“What the hell is that?

Gregory had been so fast asleep that he had forgotten he was in the bathtub. As he struggled to get out of the tub, he caught his right arm around the rim and slipped. In an instant, Gregory was underwater. However, the water was up his nose, which made it easier to breathe rather than harder.

“What the hell is going on?

Gregory poked his head out of the tub and looked at his body. His sister hadn't screamed because he was half naked.

“Oh my God, your body is gold.

“Your body is gold!”

The little sister exclaimed.

“Uh, what are these scales?

“My brother's body is covered in golden scales!”

The little sister exclaimed nervously.

“Rakes on his hands and feet?

“My brother has water rakes on his hands and feet!”

As if his sister had read his thoughts, she relayed them aloud to his parents.

“What kind of bizarre thing is this?” the parents exclaimed, sadly, as if in disbelief.

“What time is it?”

Gregory said with an effort, but his family paid no attention to his words.

“What are we going to do with this?”

His father said, spreading his arms out to the two female family members as if asking for help.

“He needs to go to work, but how is he going to get anywhere in this shape?”

The two women shook their heads wordlessly.

“Hurry up and call your brother at work!”

The father urged his sister to hurry up and call.

“It's not polite to be late!”

“Yes, it's not polite to keep him waiting.”

She quickly understood and went out to the living room to make the call.

One of the boarders appeared in the bathroom doorway. He was Ivan. A business student at Moscow University, Grand Gregory sometimes drank alcohol.

“No! What's going on?”

Ivan stumbled back in surprise.

“It happened all of a sudden,” his father said solemnly.

“We don't know what it is!”

Gregory's mother, dumb-founded, added, almost screaming.

“It's so peculiar!”

Ivan calmed down a bit, and this time he spoke to his parents in a mesmerized way.

“It's almost like a male mermaid, and it's golden!”

“I see,” his father agreed.

“It's very rare to see a mermaid like this, and a golden one at that!”

“I see.”

“Gregory's face is Gregory, but his body is a golden mermaid!”

“Gregory as a golden mermaid!” the parents exclaimed with sadness.

“What if we put this on display and get paid for it?”

The phrase “this?” made Gregory feel bad.

“How could you, Gregory?” his mother said in a one-word scream.

“I don't think we should be the only ones to see such a rare sight, do you?” Ivan's eyes lit up.

“No, what frivolous thing is that?” his father responded, his tone stern.

“In these depressed times, such rare material is a guaranteed jackpot.”

Ivan said, and thought about the words in the ad.

“Gregory of gold! The mermaid of gold! Just looking at him makes you rich! Touch him and you'll be rich!”

He blabbered on and on in front of Gregory, who was confused and excited.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Ivan's mother stopped him.

“Mother, such things are very rare!”

“What a rude thing to say! Just pretend you didn't see it,” his father pleaded with him.

“It's just that neither of you realize what a great opportunity this is yet! Let me know if you change your mind later.”

Ivan glanced ruefully in Gregory's direction several times before reluctantly slipping out of the bathroom and back to his dorm room.

“Oh, Gregory, what have you done!”

It was only then that his parents burst into tears, clutching at him.

“Brother!”

His sister, who had joined them late, sobbed too.

“What are we to do!”

Gregory was distraught when he realized that his family had ended their sobbing with pity for him.

“Who are we going to turn to now?”

Gregory resented the change, because he felt that Ivan had used him to put on a circus show for them, and that they were not concerned about him, but seemed to be calculating the consequences for themselves. In the end, they were all worried about themselves, and Gregory was bitter. The bitterness was short-lived. The first thing they did was lock him in the bathroom and go outside. From the sounds outside, it sounded like they were having an emergency meeting.

“I'm going to work security, honey, and you're going to sew with your daughter!”

The family seemed to have come to a rather grim conclusion. Gregory was inwardly relieved that things hadn't turned out the way Ivan had said.

“Here, eat this.”

Before he knew it, lunch had arrived and his sister brought him something to eat. It was fish, which Gregory usually didn't eat because he was squeamish, but when she put it on his plate, the smell was irresistible. But Gregory wanted to preserve his dignity, so he waited for his sister to leave the room. When she did, he ate two fish that were on a plate right next to the bathroom, “slurping” them up. It was fish he would never normally eat, but it was strangely delicious to him. As his body changed, so did his appetite.

The sun had set and it was evening. He hoped his sister would bring him another delicious fish, but she never showed up. Instead, Ivan came back upstairs to take a look at him.

“Why don't you try to make some money, Ivan? It would be good for the family.”

Ivan muttered something to himself and disappeared back into the living room.

After that day, the sun rose and set several times, and time passed uneventfully. Gregory began to wonder if they were gradually forgetting him. He was right, for now that Gregory's income was gone, they were all forced to go to their respective jobs. They could only come together at dinner. Everyone's faces were sunken and tired, but no one spoke of Gregory; they were so focused on their own misfortunes that they had forgotten him.

“I wish he would come back to himself!”

His sister exclaimed, unable to contain the heavy mood.

“We wish he could walk out of there like he used to!”

The couple took the situation in their stride and spoke in a slightly more subdued tone.

“If you don't mind, may I join you?”

Suddenly, Ivan, who had not been invited to the dinner table, spoke to them from the shadows.

“Since it has come to this, why don't we show Gregory to the people instead of hiding him?”

Ivan blurted out his thoughts.

“How could you do such a thing!” Gregory's mother interrupted him, breathing hard.

“Mother, listen to Ivan, I'm getting tired of this life!”

Her sister listened to Ivan too easily.

“But how could you!” her mother interrupted again, impatiently.

This time the father nervously interrupted her.

“Honey, I think it's okay to listen to what Mr. Ivan has to say and then decide!”

Then she began to sob with guilt. She had already guessed what Ivan was going to say, and so had the rest of the family. They were just begging him to keep the words from coming out of their mouths.

“Gregory of gold! What a beautiful golden mermaid! It would be so selfish of us if we were the only ones to take his beauty. We should buy a glass tank right away, make it comfortable here, and let everyone see him, one by one, two by two, for he is priceless, and not just for a few coins! Who wouldn't want to see such a precious mermaid of gold, but with Gregory's usual philanthropy, two bills will not be the price for him; yes, we must have at least two bills for him, and only for those who show him homage!”

When the specific amount was given, the family glanced toward the bathroom in mild surprise and guilt.

“Yes! Gregory's philanthropy! Gregory's thinking of us, even at his own expense! He will not turn away from our decision, even if we show him off to others! It is for the good of the family, for the pleasure and happiness of the people of Moscow, and therefore he will be glad of it!”

“I think so!” replied the father, with a sharp intake of breath.

“So would my brother!” breathed his sister, urgently agreeing with him.

Poor mother didn't answer, only sobbed a little.

“But shouldn't I do the great work of gathering people together,” Ivan said, ”and shouldn't I get a little share of the credit for all that I have done?

Then his father and sister said in unison.

“Of course, of course, of course!”

“Then read the contract I brought you carefully and sign it, and I'll only take 10%!”

Ivan had pen and ink in front of them in no time, forcing them to sign without giving them time to think. The father hesitantly signed the contract, and Ivan was so pleased with himself that he shoved his ad in their faces and told them his plan. As they discussed their plan to turn Gregory into a spectacle, Gregory became rather depressed.

'I'm going to be a spectacle,' he thought, 'and I can't just be me, and my life is going to be controlled by this person and that person, and this is what I was born to do!'

Gregory could only cry.

After that day, Gregory spent a while feeling ashamed as he looked at the rowdy crowd. His father and sister were nervous at first, not knowing how people would react, but they were relieved when they realized how much they liked him. Even his mother, who had been crying at first, began to find comfort in the crowds that gathered to see Gregory.

“Look! I was right, wasn't I?”

Ivan shrugged, even blushing.

Gregory's house became a tourist attraction for Moscow. This changed the family's attitude towards Gregory: they brought him the finest caviar and salmon. One meal turned into two. Gregory, who was depressed at first, began to feel comforted by the kindness of his family and the respectful way people treated him.

“Gregory, you're tired, aren't you? From now on, I'm going to raise your wages and only see you ten times a day!”

Ivan quickly drew up a new plan and reported to him. Gregory could not speak to him, but strangely enough, he understood everything he said. Sensing this, Ivan got both his signature and his father's signature this time.

“Now that Gregory understands his work, we have nothing to worry about!”

Ivan exclaimed happily, very satisfied.

Their house had already changed hands a couple of times, and they had even raised the price of admission a couple of times, but his popularity never waned. In fact, people who had seen him before were coming back to see him again. But as they were leaving, they began to say things like this.

“Well... I like the guy, but I'd like to see a girl!”

Ivan and his father couldn't help but think of the opportunity to make this business bigger.

“But where do we get the girls' fish?” Ivan asked himself, and then he saw Gregory's sister walking into the bathroom with caviar and salmon. He smiled a converted smile.

“Yes... how wonderful it would be if Grete could be a girl fish!

Gregory's father, reading his thoughts, glanced over at his daughter, who was carrying food, and then locked eyes with Ivan.

“How wonderful that would be!”

The father had unwittingly spoken his mind. Ivan smiled back at him with an innocent smile.

“Would you like to sign it in advance, just in case?”

After exchanging a taciturn glance, they both nodded wordlessly & suggestively and watched Grete's back as she walked into the bathroom.