"Bradbury, Ray - The Illustrated Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bradbury Ray)

Father Peregrine called again, and the echo of his last cry shook the hills above. Turning, he saw an avalanche shake out dust, pause, and then, with a thunder of stone wheels, crash down the mountain upon them.

УLook what youТve done!Ф cried Father Stone

Father Peregrine was almost fascinated, then horrified. He turned, knowing they could run only a few feet before the rocks crushed them into ruins. He had time to whisper, Oh, Lord! and the rocks fell!

УFather!Ф

They were separated like chaff from wheat. There was a blue shimmering of globes, a shift of cold stars, a roar, and then they stood upon a ledge two hundred feet away watching the spot where their bodies should have been buried under tons of stone.

The blue light evaporated.

The two Fathers clutched each other. УWhat happened?Ф

УThe blue fires lifted us!Ф

УWe ran, that was it!Ф

УNo, the globes saved us.Ф

УThey couldnТt!Ф

УThey did.Ф

The sky was empty. There was a feel as if a great bell had just stopped tolling. Reverberations lingered in their teeth and marrows.

УLetТs get away from here. YouТll have us killed.Ф

УI havenТt feared death for a good many years, Father Stone.Ф

УWeТve proved nothing. Those blue lights ran off at the first cry. ItТs useless.Ф

УNo.Ф Father Peregrine was suffused with a stubborn wonder. УSomehow, they saved us. That proves they have souls.Ф

УIt proves only that they might have saved us. Everything was confused. We might have escaped, ourselves.Ф

УThey are not animals, Father Stone. Animals do not save lives, especially of strangers. There is mercy and compassion here. Perhaps, tomorrow, we may prove more.

УProve what? How?Ф Father Stone was immensely tired now; the outrage to his mind and body showed on his stiff face. УFollow them in helicopters, reading chapter and verse? TheyТre not human. They havenТt eyes or ears or bodies like ours.Ф

УBut I feel something about them,Ф replied Father Peregrine. УI know a great revelation is at hand. They saved us. They think. They had a choice; let us live or die. That proves free will!Ф

Father Stone set to work building a fire, glaring at the sticks in his hands, choking on the gray smoke. УI myself will open a convent for nursling geese, a monastery for sainted swine, and I shall build a miniature apse in a microscope so that paramecium can attend services and tell their beads with their flagella.Ф

УOh, Father Stone.Ф

УIТm sorry.Ф Father Stone blinked redly across the fire. УBut this is like blessing a crocodile before he chews you up. YouТre risking the entire missionary expedition. We belong in First Town, washing liquor from menТs throats and perfume off their hands!Ф

УCanТt you recognize the human in the inhuman?Ф