"Paul Di Filippo - The Reluctant Book" - читать интересную книгу автора (Di Filippo Paul)

 his fifth-level bunk, climbed cautiously down the ladder (his big feet
nearly becoming entangled in the rungs), and surveyed his fellow
chamber
mates.
Canto's eye fell on Papyrus and Parchment, Breviary, Octavo, and Folio,
Watermark and Septaugint, Microfiche and Athenaeum, among many others
whom
he had less familiarity with, since they had once resided on floors in
the
Holbrook library where Canto had not often ventured. He saw no original
books from Master Stallkamp's library. Those holdings seemed relegated
to
other stacks. But most importantly, his chamber contained no Vellum.
Cautiously, Canto poked his head out into the newly constructed yet
still
somehow dankly dismal, sweat-walled corridor of the bookbarn. He knew
the
location of the adjacent dormitory from trips to the food chutes. His
heart pounding violently (a wise librarian kept his books cosseted and
as
serene as possible, hoping to limit the amount of endocrinal emotional
flux on the blood-washed text), Canto hopped next door.
The books in the second dormitory stirred with uneasy and timorous
curiosity when Canto crept in. As soon as he got nose-deep into the
room,
he smelled Vellum. Within a second or two, he was by her side where she
lay in a low-level niche.
"Oh, Vell, are you all right?"
Vellum opened her limpid eyes and essayed a brave smile. "Nothing to
complain about that we aren't all sharing, dear. Just this knackered
sense
of uselessness."
Canto started. It wasn't like Vellum to swear. Her cursing revealed to
Canto how deeply she had been affected by their common tragedy. A
sudden
geyser of anger and rage fountained up in Canto's furry bosom.
"Let's escape, Vell. We'll run away, just the two of us."
Vellum squeezed Canto's paw with both of hers. "Being boxed up, we
didn't
get to see anything of our new surroundings, but I'm sure our new
master
lives someplace as remote as Master Holbrook did. All the librarians
do.
Outside is probably miles and miles of forest just teeming with
bibliovores. We wouldn't last a minute out there. No, we'd better just
resign ourselves to serving out our lives here. Once we get some new
texts
in us, I'm sure we'll all feel better. Life will go on, Canto. Perhaps
you
and I will even share a partial UDC. Then maybe we can breed. Wouldn't