On a platform one hundred feet tall, the best diver in the world stands on display for the crowd below. People mill about, exclaiming to one another their opinions of the diver. One girl admires his bravery, a farmer declares the diver is stupid, a boy attempts to force his mother to let him stay and watch, and another girl tells her father she thinks he just wants to see the diver miss the tank. The diver cannot hear them, and even with their excitement, the dive is a mundane task for him. He reflects on his accidental beginnings in the sport: how a mishap during his work on a ship led him to fall cleanly into the water. He thinks of his predecessor, the former best diver in the world, Pentagon. The diver never let Pentagon’s death interfere with his performances, never thought he would make a similar miscalculation of the height of the platform and suffer a terrible fall. For the diver, the performance has become inherent to him. It also pays well, and he hopes he will one day have enough saved to settle down. However, the diver also begins thinking of a girl he wants to marry. She told him she would only marry him if he changed his profession, unable to cope with the fear of him losing his life to this sport. The diver thinks she is being preposterous, confident in his ability to dive safely. He then remembers the solemnness in her expression when she told him her worries. Suddenly, he realizes he is thinking much more than he usually does before a dive. His watch signals the time has come for him to perform, and the diver steels his nerves. He calculates the distance to the tank below, freezing for a split second at the realization of how far away it is, then leaps from the platform. For the first time, he feels a rush of fear during his dive. Fortunately, his body enters the water. The crowd erupts in relief and enthusiasm, with some laughing and chatting and others fainting. The diver emerges from the tank, hands shaking, and one girl points out that he looks horribly nervous.