"David Gerrold - The Man Who Folded Himself" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

This book is for Larry Niven, a good
friend who believes that time travel is
impossible. He's probably right.

Oh wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It was frae monie a blunder free us,
An foolish notion.

тАФRobert Burns
To a Louse, stanza 8
***


In the box was a belt. And a manuscript.

** *


I hadn't seen Uncle Jim in months.
He looked terrible. Shrunken. His skin hung in
wrinkled folds, his complexion was gray, and he was thin
and stooped. He seemed to have aged ten years. Twenty.
The last time I'd seen him, we were almost the same
height. Now I realized I was taller.
"Uncle Jim!" I said. "Are you all right?"
He shook off my arm. "I'm fine, Danny. Just a little
tired, that's all." He came into my apartment. His gait
was no longer a stride, now just a shuffle. He lowered
himself to the couch with a sigh.
"Can I get you anything?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't have that much
time. We have some important business to take care of
How old are you, boy?" He peered at me carefully.
"HuhтАФ? I'm nineteen. You know that."
"Ah." He seemed to find that satisfactory. "Good. I
was afraid I was too early, you looked so youngтАФ" He
stopped himself. "How are you doing in school?"
"Fine." I said it noncommittally. The university was
a bore, but Uncle Jim was paying me to attend. Four
hundred dollars a week, plus my apartment and my car.
And an extra hundred a week for keeping my nose clean.
"You don't like it though, do you?"
I said, "No, I don't." Why try to tell him I did? He'd
know it for the lie it was.
"You want to drop out?"
I shrugged. "I could live without it."
"Yes, you could." he agreed. He looked like he
wanted to say something else, but stopped himself in-
stead. "I won't give you the lecture on the value of an