"L. Sprague De Camp - The Gnarly Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Camp L Sprague)

extraordinary in your background. I still think there is. Now, if you
think I'm crazy, say so and we'll drop the subject. But I want to get
to the bottom of this."
He took his time about answering. "That would depend." There
was another pause. Then he said, "With your connections, do you know
any really first-class surgeons?"
"But-yes, I know Dunbar."
"The guy who wears a purple gown when he operates? The guy who
wrote a book on God, Man, and the Universe?"
"Yes. He's a good man, in spite of his theatrical mannerisms.
\Vhv? What would you want of him?"
"sot what youre thinking, I'm satis~ed with mv-uh-~-unusual
physical type. But I have some old injuries-broken bones that didn't
knit properly-that I want fixed up. He'd have to be a good man,
though. I have a couple of thousand in the savings bank, but I know
the sort of fees those guys charge. If you could make the necessary
arrangements-"
"Why, yes, I'm sure I could. In fact I could guarantee it. Then
I was right? And you'll-" She hesitated.
"Come clean? Uh-huh. But remember, I can still prove I'm
Clarence Aloysius if I have to."
"Who are you, then?"
Again there was a long pause. Then the gnarly man said, "Might
as well tell you. As soon as you repeat any of it, you'll have put
your professional reputation in my hands, remember.
"First off, I wasn't born in Massachusetts. I was born on the
upper Rhine, near Mommenheim, and as nearly as I can figure out,
about the year ~o,ooo B.C."
Dr. Saddler wondered whether she'd stumbled on the biggest
thing in anthropology or whether this bizarre man was making Baron
Munchausen look like a piker.
I-Ic seemed to cuess her thoo~ht~~. 1 can't orov~ tln~t. of
course,
But so long as you arrange about that operation, I don't care whether
you believe me or not."
"But-but-how?"
"I think the lightning did it. We were out trying to drive some
bison into a pit. Well, this big thunderstorm came up, and the bison
bolted in the wrong direction. So we gave up and tried to find
shelter. And the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground with the
rain running over me, and the rest of the clan standing around
wailing about what had they done to get the storm-god sore at them,
so he made a bull's-eye on one of their best hunters. They'd never
said that about me before. It's funny how you're never appreciated
while you're alive.
"But I was alive, all right. My nerves were pretty well shot
for a few weeks, but otherwise I was all right except for some burns
on the soles of my feet. I don't know just what happened, except I
was reading a couple of nears ago that scientists had located the
machinery that controls the replacement of tissue in the medulla