"Asimov, Isaac - Cleon the Emperor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

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Cleon the Emperor
by Isaac Asimov

eversion 1.0

First published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1992

Locus Award Nominee

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CLEON IЧ...Though he often received panegyrics for being the last Emperor under whom the First Galactic Empire was reasonably united and reasonably prosperous, the quarter-century reign of Cleon I was one of continuous decline. This cannot be viewed as his direct responsibility, for the Decline of Empire was based on political and economic factors too strong for anyone to deal with at the time. He was fortunate in his First MinistersЧEto Demerzel and, then, Hari Seldon, in whose development of Psychohistory the Emperor never lost faith. Cleon and Seldon, as the objects of the final Joranumite conspiracy, with its bizarre climaxЧ

Encyclopedia Galactica

*All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are taken from the 116th Edition, published 1020 F.E. by the Encyclopedia Galactica Publishing Co., Terminus, with the permission of the publishers.


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1.

Mandell Gruber was a happy man. He seemed so to Hari Seldon, certainly. Seldon stopped his morning constitutional to watch him.

Gruber, perhaps in his late forties, a few years younger than Seldon, was a bit gnarled from his continuing work on the Imperial Palace grounds, but he had a cheerful, smoothly shaven face, topped by a pink skull, not much of which was hidden by his thin, sandy hair. He whistled softly to himself as he inspected the leaves of the bushes for any signs of insect infestation beyond the ordinary.

He was not the Chief Gardener, of course. The Chief Gardener of the Imperial Palace Grounds was a high functionary who had a palatial office in one of the buildings of the enormous Imperial complex, with an army of men and women under him. The chances are he did not step out onto the grounds oftener than once or twice a year.

Gruber was one of the army. His title, Seldon knew, was Gardener First-Class, and it had been well-earned, with nearly thirty years of faithful service.

Seldon called to him as he paused on the perfectly level crushed gravel walk. УAnother marvelous day, Gruber.Ф

Gruber looked up and his eyes twinkled. УYes, indeed, First Minister, and it's sorry I am for those cooped-up indoors.Ф

УYou mean as I am about to be.Ф

УThere's not much about you, First Minister, for people to sorrow over, but if you're disappearing into those buildings on a day like this, it's a bit of sorrow that we fortunate few can feel for you.Ф

УI thank you for your sympathy, Gruber, but you know we have forty billion Trantorians under the dome. Are you sorry for all of them?Ф

УIndeed, I am. I am grateful I am not of Trantorian extraction myself so that I could qualify as gardener. There be few of us on this world that work in the open, but here I be, one of the fortunate few.Ф

УThe weather isn't always this ideal.Ф

УThat is true. And I have been out here in the sluicing rains and the whistling winds. Still, as long as you dress fittingly ... Look,Ф and Gruber spread his arms open, wide as his smile, as if to embrace the vast expanse of the Palace grounds. УI have my friends, the trees and the lawns and all the animal life-forms to keep me company, and growth to encourage in geometric form, even in the winter. Have you ever seen the geometry of the grounds, First Minister?Ф

УI am looking at it right now, am I not?Ф