"The Giver Quartet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowry, Lois)

тАЬLily,тАЭ her mother said fondly, тАЬyouтАЩre very close to being an Eight, and when youтАЩre an Eight, your comfort object will be taken away. It will be recycled to the younger children. You should be starting to go off to sleep without it.тАЭ



But her father had already gone to the shelf and taken down the stuffed elephant which was kept there. Many of the comfort objects, like LilyтАЩs, were soft, stuffed, imaginary creatures. JonasтАЩs had been called a bear.



тАЬHere you are, Lily-billy,тАЭ he said. тАЬIтАЩll come help you remove your hair ribbons.тАЭ



Jonas and his mother rolled their eyes, yet they watched affectionately as Lily and her father headed to her sleeping-room with the stuffed elephant that had been given to her as her comfort object when she was born. His mother moved to her big desk and opened her briefcase; her work never seemed to end, even when she was at home in the evening. Jonas went to his own desk and began to sort through his school papers for the eveningтАЩs assignment. But his mind was still on December and the coming Ceremony.



Though he had been reassured by the talk with his parents, he hadnтАЩt the slightest idea what Assignment the Elders would be selecting for his future, or how he might feel about it when the day came.





3


тАЬOh, look!тАЭ Lily squealed in delight. тАЬIsnтАЩt he cute? Look how tiny he is! And he has funny eyes like yours, Jonas!тАЭ Jonas glared at her. He didnтАЩt like it that she had mentioned his eyes. He waited for his father to chastise Lily. But Father was busy unstrapping the carrying basket from the back of his bicycle. Jonas walked over to look.



It was the first thing Jonas noticed as he looked at the newchild peering up curiously from the basket. The pale eyes.



Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends. But there were a few exceptions: Jonas himself, and a female Five who he had noticed had the different, lighter eyes. No one mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals. Lily, he decided, would have to learn that soon, or she would be called in for chastisement because of her in-sensitive chatter.



Father put his bike into its port. Then he picked up the basket and carried it into the house. Lily followed behind, but she glanced back over her shoulder at Jonas and teased, тАЬMaybe he had the same Birthmother as you.тАЭ



Jonas shrugged. He followed them inside. But he had been startled by the newchildтАЩs eyes. Mirrors were rare in the community; they werenтАЩt forbidden, but there was no real need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. Now, seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a certain look тАФ what was it? Depth, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadnтАЩt been discovered yet. He felt self-conscious, realizing that he, too, had that look.



He went to his desk, pretending not to be interested in the newchild. On the other side of the room, Mother and Lily were bending over to watch as Father unwrapped its blanket.



тАЬWhatтАЩs his comfort object called?тАЭ Lily asked, picking up the stuffed creature which had been placed beside the newchild in his basket.