Marley's Chain

Nourse describes a future filled with differences and exciting changes, but his interesting story also shows how some things -- good as well as bad -- remain the same.

From Marley's "I know right well what I'm saying," Dave Hawke roared, his eyes burning bitterly. "Oh, you have no idea how long I've thought, the fight I've had with myself, the sacrifices I've had to make. You weren't born like I was, you weren't raised on the wrong side of the fence—well, there was an old, old Christmas story that I used to read. Years ago, before they burned the Sharkie books. It was about an evil man who went through life cheating people, hating and hurting people, and when he died, he found that every evil deed he had ever done had become a link in a heavy iron chain, tied and shackled to his waist. And he wore that chain he had built up, and he had to drag it, and drag it, from one eternity to the next—his name was Marley, remember?" -- Alan E. Nourse, Author

This novella was introduced in the September 1952 issue of " Worlds of Science Fiction"

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