"Lester Del Rey - Return Engagement" - читать интересную книгу автора (Del Rey Lester)

'I never thought there was anything like that,' Tommy said flatly.

Shawn sighed. He should have known the answer that was a part of the man. Then they reached the little
village, no more than a mile from the farm. He got out, putting out a hand.

But Tommy wasn't ready to end it yet. 'If you're going to eat here, I'll join you,' he suggested.

Shawn shrugged, then nodded. He was sorry that he had given in to the man's importunings over the
phone and let him make the useless drive from Chicago. There should have been an end to it now. Yet
Shawn had intended to dine here, since his own cooking was no better than it should be.

He picked up tobacco and the paper at a little store before leading the other to the restaurant beside the
gas station. They ordered and waited for the food, with nothing to say between them.

The paper, Shawn saw from the headlines, had been another mistake, but he glanced at it while
consuming the tasteless food. There was a dark ugliness in the news. As there always was. The lilt of life
was lacking in every part of it. It was heavy and ponderous, even when it tried to be witty. And around
him, the few diners were filled with a heaviness that made their laughter' a deliberate effort and gave
them no pleasure in the stories they told endlessly to each other.

'Why?' Shawn asked abruptly, pointing to the headlines.

63

'You're still a sociologist, Tommy. Tell me, why all the dark ugliness ?'

For a moment, it seemed that there was a measure of understanding in the man. He sighed. 'Sociologists
don't know much more about the present cultural matrix than anyone else, Dan. Too much technology,
maybe, before the culture can absorb it. Or maybe this is just one of the plateaux in an evolution towards
a sense of group maturity.' 'Maturity?' Shawn questioned bitterly.

'It could be.' And now the administrator's optimism was creeping back into the face. 'Oh, I know, there's
still hate and ugly conflict. But think of the earlier ages, Dan. Look at the superstitious panics, the
persecutions, the witch-burnings. There was a time when anything different from what was considered
human was to be killed on sight. Children ostracize or fight with anyone who differs from the group
norm. Seems to me we've improved a lot in that respect - at least in this country. We're trying to
understand other peoples. Why right now, Dan, if little green men got out of a saucer, most people
would be delighted to meet them. Lots of men are hoping to find alien races - look at Project Ozma. Or
look at the case of that priest who is writing about the question of redemption for non-human beings. If
there were werewolves today, I'll bet that there'd be a lot more scientific interest in them than fear or
hatred. There wouldn't even be any persecution of witches, unless they went in for criminal activity.
That could be considered a form of maturity.'

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