"Harlan Ellison - Paladin of the Lost Hour" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ellison Harlan)

Harlan Ellison - Paladin of the Lost Hour

PALADIN OF THE LOST HOUR
by HARLAN ELLISON

"Paladin of the Lost Hour" copyright 1985, 1986 by the KilimanjaroCorporation.


THIS WAS AN OLD MAN. Not an incredibly old man; obsolete, spavined; not as worn as thesway-
backed stone steps ascending the Pyramid of the Sun to an ancient temple; not yet arelic. But even so, a
very old man, this old man perched on an antique shooting stick, itshandles open to form a seat, its spike
thrust at an angle into the soft ground and trimmedgrass of the cemetery. Gray, thin rain misted down at
almost the same, angle as that atwhich the spike pierced the ground. The winter-barren trees lay flat and
black against analuminum sky, unmoving in the chill wind. An old man sitting at the foot of a grave
moundwhose headstone had tilted slightly when the earth had settled; sitting in the rain andspeaking to
someone below.

"They tore it down, Minna.

"I tell you, they must have bought off a councilman.

"Came in with bulldozers at six o'clock in the morning, and you know that's notlegal. There's a Municipal
Code. Supposed to hold off till at least seven on weekdays,eight on the weekend; but there they were at
six, even before six, barely lightfor godsakes. Thought they'd sneak in and do it before the neighborhood
got wind of it andcall the landmarks committee. Sneaks: they come on holidays, can you imagine!

"But I was out there waiting for them, and I told them, 'You can't do it, that'sCode number 91.03002,
subsection E,' and they lied and saidthey had special permission, so I said to the big muckymuck in
charge, 'Let's see yourwaiver permit,'and he said the Code didn't apply in this case because it was
supposed tobe only for grading, and since they were demolishing and not grading, they could
startwhenever they felt like it. So I told him I'd call the police, then, because it came underthe heading of
Disturbing the Peace, and he said . . . well, I know you hate that kind oflanguage, old girl, so I won't tell
you what he said, but you can imagine.

"So I called the police, and gave them my name, and of course they didn't getthere till almost quarter
after seven (which is what makes me think they bought off acouncilman), and by then those 'dozers had
leveled most of it. Doesn't take long, you knowthat.

"And I don't suppose it's as great a loss as, maybe, say, the Great Library ofAlexandria, but it was the last
of the authentic Deco design drive-ins, and the carhopsstill served you on roller skates, and it was a
landmark, and just about the only placeleft in the city where you could still get a decent grilled cheese
sandwich pressed veryflat on the grill by one of those weights they used to use, made with real cheese
and notthat rancid plastic they cut into squares and call it 'cheese food.'



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 Harlan Ellison - Paladin of the Lost Hour

"Gone, old dear, gone and mourned. And I understand they plan to put up anotherone of those mini-malls