"Harry Harrison - 50 in 50 - Fifty Stories in Fifty Years" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

"Not with me or with this planet," Garth said firmly. "And that's the crux of the matter." He
half-drained the glass and sighed.
"Do you say that to shock me?" the priest asked with a smile. "I assure you that it doesn't."
"Not intended to shock. I meant it quite literally. I suppose I'm what you would call an atheist, so
revealed religion is no concern of mine. While these natives, simple and unlettered Stone Age types that
they are, have managed to come this far with no superstitions or traces of deism whatsoever. I had hoped
that they might continue that way."
"What are you saying?" The priest frowned. "Do you mean they have no gods, no belief in the
hereafter? They must die . . . ?"
"Die they do, and to dust returneth. Like the rest of the animals. They have thunder, trees and water
without having thunder-gods, tree sprites, or water nymphs. They have no ugly little gods, taboos, or
spells to hag-ride and limit their lives. They are the only primitive people I have ever encountered that are
completely free of superstition and appear to be much happier and sane because of it. I just wanted to
keep them that way."
"You wanted to keep them from GodтАФfrom salvation?" The priest's eyes widened and he recoiled
slightly.
"No," Garth said. "I wanted to keep them from superstition until they knew more and could think
about it realistically without being absorbed and perhaps destroyed by it."
"You're being insulting to the Church, sir, to equate it with superstition . . ."
"Please.тАЭ Garth said, raising his hand. "No theological arguments. I don't think your society footed the
bill for this trip just to attempt to convert me. Just accept the fact that my beliefs have been arrived at
through careful thought over a period of years, and no amount of undergraduate metaphysics will change
them. I'll promise not to try and convert youтАФif you will do the same for me."
"Agreed, Mr. Garth. As you have reminded me, my mission here is to save these souls, and that is
what I must do. But why should my work disturb you so much that you try and keep me from landing?
Even threaten me with your gun, andтАФ" The priest broke off and looked into his glass.
"And even slug you?" Garth asked, suddenly frowning. "There was no excuse for that, and I would
like to say that I'm sorry. Plain bad manners and an even worse temper. Live alone long enough and you
find yourself doing that kind of thing." He brooded down at his big hands where they lay on the table,
reading memories into the scars and calluses patterned there. "Let's just call it frustration, for lack of a
better word. In your business you must have had a lot of chance to peep into the darker places in men's
minds and you should know a bit about motives and happiness. I have had too busy a life to ever
consider settling down and raising a family, and right up until recently I never missed it. Maybe leakage
radiation is softening up my brain, but I had begun to think of these furry and fishy Weskers as being a
little like my own children, that I was somehow responsible to them."
"We are all His children," Father Mark said quietly.
"Well, here are some of His children that can't even imagine His existence," Garth said, suddenly
angry at himself for allowing gentler emotions to show through. Yet he forgot himself at once, leaning
forward with the intensity of his feelings. "Can't you realize the importance of this? Live with these
Weskers a while and you will discover a simple and happy life that matches the state of grace you people
are always talking about. They get pleasure from their livesтАФ and cause no one pain. By circumstances
they have evolved on an almost barren world, so have never had a chance to grow out of a physical
Stone Age culture. But mentally they are our matchтАФor perhaps better. They have all learned my
language so I can easily explain the many things they want to know. Knowledge and the gaining of
knowledge gives them real satisfaction. They tend to be exasperating at times because every new fact
must be related to the structure of all other things, but the more they learn the faster this process
becomes. Someday they are going to be man's equal in every way, perhaps surpass us. IfтАФwould you
do me a favor?"
"Whatever I can."
"Leave them alone. Or teach them if you mustтАФhistory and science, philosophy, law, anything that