"Bierce, Ambrose - The Damned Thing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bierce Ambrose)

with meЧ he has a level head. I can judge from his manner if he thinks me mad.
"Oct. 7.Ч I have the solution of the problem; it came to me last nightЧ
suddenly, as by revelation. How simpleЧ how terribly simple!
"There are sounds that we can not hear. At either end of the scale are notes
that stir no chord of that imperfect instrument, the human ear. They are too
high or too grave. I have observed a flock of blackbirds occupying an entire
treetopЧ the tops of several treesЧ and all in full song. SuddenlyЧ in a momentЧ
at absolutely the same instantЧ all spring into the air and fly away. How? They
could not all see one anotherЧ whole treetops intervened. At no point could a
leader have been visible to all. There must have been a signal of warning or
command, high and shrill above the din, but by me unheard. I have observed, too,
the same simultaneous flight when all were silent, among not only blackbirds,
but other birdsЧ quail, for example, widely separated by bushesЧ even on
opposite sides of a hill.
"It is known to seamen that a school of whales basking or sporting on the
surface of the ocean, miles apart, with the convexity of the earth between them,
will sometimes dive at the same instantЧ all gone out of sight in a moment. The
signal has been soundedЧ too grave for the ear of the sailor at the masthead and
his comrades on the deckЧ who nevertheless feel its vibrations in the ship as
the stones of a cathedral are stirred by the bass of the organ.
"As with sounds, so with colors. At each end of the solar spectrum the chemist
can detect the presence of what are known as 'actinic' rays. They represent
colorsЧ integral colors in the composition of lightЧ which we are unable to
discern. The human eye is an imperfect instrument; its range is but a few
octaves of the real 'chromatic scale.' I am not mad; there are colors that we
can not see.
"And, God help me! the Damned Thing is of such a color!"