"Alan Dean Foster - Humanx 1 - Midworld" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

only one more thing to do. Born walked back past
the heavily laden Ruumahum and stopped at the
brim of the bromeliad which had attracted such ex-
cellent prey. He ran his hands caressingly over the
broad leaves and strong petals. Hands cupped, he

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bent to drink deeply from the clear pool .that the
unlucky grazer had sought. Finishing, he shook the
droplets free and wiped wet palms on his cloak. He
stroked the nearest leaf again in silent tribute to the
plant, and then he and Ruumahum started the ar-
duous trek Homeward.

It was a green universe, true; but its stars and
nebulae were brilliantly colored. Cauliflorous air-trees
growing on the broad branches of the Pillars and
emergents bristled with fragrant blossoms of every
conceivable shape and color, some exuding fragrances
so pungent they had to be avoided lest olfactory
senses be smothered forever. These perfumed blooms
Bom and Ruumahum avoided assiduously. Their lo-
calized miasmas were as deadly as they were sensu-
ous. Vines and creepers put forth flowers of their
own, and in places aerial roots bloomed with their
own flowerings. There were color and variety to make
Earth's richest jungles seem pallid and wan in com-
parison.

. Although plant life held dominance, animal life was
also abundant and lush. Omithoid, mammaloid, and
reptiloid arboreals glided or flew through winding
emerald tunnels. They were outnumbered by crea-
tures that swung, crawled, and jumped along gravity-
defying highways of wood and pulp.

The steady cycle of life and death revolved around
Bom and Ruumahum as they made their way over
crosshatched tuntangcles and cubbies and winding
woody paths back toward the village. A drifter with
helical wings pounced upon an unwary six-legged
feathered pseudolizard, was swallowed in turn when it
chose to land on a false cubble. The false cubble
looked almost identical to the thick wooden creepers
Bom and Ruumahum strode across. Had Bom stepped
on it he would have lost a foot at the least. The
false cubble was a continuous chain of interlocking
mouths, stomachs, and intestines. Both drifter and
pseudolizard vanished down one link of the toothed