"Gordon R. Dickson - The Last Dream" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

massaged his stomach. тАЬOuch,тАЭ he said. The pages of the volume began to flip rapidly back and forth
before his eyes. тАЬDonтАЩt mind me,тАЭ he said to Jim. тАЬGo on.тАЭ

тАЬтАФThis time it was the Bridey Murphy craze. Hypnotism. WellтАФтАЭ

тАЬNot so fast,тАЭ said Carolinus. тАЬBridey Murphy ... HypnotismтАж yesтАжтАЭ

тАЬOh, he talked about the ego wandering, planes of reality, on and on like that. He offered to hypnotize
one of us and show us how it worked. Angie was mad at me, so she said yes. I went off to the bar. I was
mad. When I turned around, Angie was gone. Disappeared.тАЭ

тАЬVanished?тАЭ said Carolinus.

тАЬVanished. I blew my top at Hanson. She must have wandered, he said, not merely the ego, but all of
her. Bring her back, I said. I canтАЩt, he said. It seemed she wanted to go back to the time of St. George
and the Dragon. When men were men and would speak up to their bosses about promotions. HansonтАЩd
have to send someone else back to rehypnotize her and send her back home. Like an idiot I said IтАЩd go.
Ha! I mightтАЩve known heтАЩd goof. He couldnтАЩt do anything right if he was paid for it. I landed in the body
of this dragon.тАЭ

тАЬAnd the maiden?тАЭ

тАЬOh, she landed here, too. Centuries off the mark. A place where there actually were such things as
dragonsтАФfantastic.тАШтАЩ

тАЬWhy?тАЭ said Carolinus.

тАЬWell, I meanтАФanyway,тАЭ said Jim, hurriedly. тАЬThe point is, theyтАЩd already got herтАФthe dragons, I mean.
A big brute named Anark had found her wandering around and put her in a cage. They were having a
meeting in a cave about deciding what to do with her. Anark wanted to stake her out for a decoy, so
they could capture a lot of the local peopleтАФonly the dragons called people georgesтАФтАЭ

тАЬTheyтАЩre quite stupid, you know,тАЭ said Carolinus, severely, looking up from the dictionary. тАЬThereтАЩs only
room for one name in their head at a time. After the Saint made such an impression on them his name
stuck.тАЭ

тАЬAnyway, they were all yelling at once. TheyтАЩve got tremendous voices.тАЭ

тАЬYes, you have,тАЭ said Carolinus, pointedly.

тАЬOh, sorry,тАЭ said Jim. He lowered his voice. тАЬI tried to argue that we ought to hold Angie for ransomтАФтАЭ
He broke off suddenly. тАЬSay,тАЭ he said. тАЬI never thought of that. Was I talking dragon, then? What am I
talking now? Dragons donтАЩt talk English, do they?тАЭ

тАЬWhy not?тАЭ demanded Carolinus, grumpily. тАЬIf theyтАЩre British dragons?тАЭ

тАЬBut IтАЩm not a dragonтАФI meanтАФтАЭ

тАЬBut you are here!тАЭ snapped Carolinus. тАЬYou and this maiden of yours. Since all the rest of you was
translated here, donтАЩt you suppose your ability to speak understandably was translated, too? Continue.тАЭ