"Heinlein, Robert A - A Tenderfoot in Space - Original Version v1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

УThat stuff. Sugar stick.Ф Hans thrust cautiously into the brush with his staff, pushed aside a Venus nettle, and broke off a foot of brown twig. УNixie! Get out of there! Heel!Ф
-Charlie accepted half of it, bit cautiously when he saw Hans do so.
It chewed easily. Yes, it did have a sweetish taste, about like corn syrup. Not bad!
Hans spat out pulp. УDonТt swallow the cudЧgive you trouble.Ф
УI wouldnТtТve guessed you could eat this.Ф
УNever go hungry in the bush.Ф
УHans? What do you do for water? If you havenТt got any?Ф
УHuh? Water all around you.Ф
УYeah, but good water.Ф
All water is good water ... . if you clean it.Ф HansТ eyes darted around. УFind a filter ball. Chop off top and bottom. Run water through. IТll spot one, show you.Ф
Hans found one shortly, a gross and poisonouslooking fungus. But it was some distance off the clearing and when Hans started after it, he was told gruffly by the flamer on that flank to get back from the edge and stay there. Hans shrugged. УLater.Ф

The procession stopped in the road clearing, lunched from duffel bags. Nixie was allowed to run free, with strict instructions to stay away from the trees. Nixie didnТt mind. He sampled every lunch. After a rest they went on. Occasionally they all gaye way to let some plantation- family, mounted on high trucks with great, low-pressure bolster wheels, roll past on the way to a Saturday night in town. The main road led past narrow tunnels cut into the bush, side roads to plantations. Late in the afternoon they passed one such; Hans hooked a thumb at it. УHome.Ф
УYours?Ф
УHalf a mile in.Ф
A couple of miles farther the troop left the road and started across country. But this was high land, fairly dry and semi-open, no more difficult than most forest back Earthside. Hans merely saw to it that Nixie stayed close at heel and cautioned Charlie, УMind where you step... and if anything drops on you, brush it off quick.Ф
They broke out shortly into a clearing, made camp, and started supper. The clearing was man-made, having been flamed down, although a green carpet had formed underfoot. The first step in making camp was to establish four corners of a rectangle, using Scout staffs; then Jock Quentin, the troopТs radioman, clamped mirrors to them. After much fiddling he had a system rigged by which a powerful flashlight beam bounced around the rectangle and back into a long tube which housed a photocell; the camp was now surrounded by an invisible fence. Whenever the beam was broken an alarm would sound. - -
While this was going on other Scouts were lashing staffs together, three to a unit, into long poles. Rags were sopped with a sickly-sweet fluid, fastened to the ends and the poles were erected, one at each corner of the rectangle. Charlie sniffed and made a face, УWhatТs that stuffТ?Ф
УFor dragonflies. They hate it.Ф
УI donТt blame Сem!Ф-
УHavenТt seen one lately. But if they were swarming, youТd rub it on your hide and be glad of the stink.Ф
УHans? Is it true that a dragonfly sting can paralyze a man?Ф
"No."
УHuh? But they sayЧФ
УTakes three or four stings. One sting will just do for an arm or a legЧunless it gets you in the spine.Ф
УOh.Ф Charlie couldnТt see much improvement.
УI was stung once,Ф Hans added.
УYou were? But youТre still alive.Ф
УMy paw fought it off and killed it. CouldnТt use my left leg for a while.Ф
УBoy! You must be lucky.Ф
УUnlucky, IТd say. But not unlucky as it was. We ate it.Ф
УYou ate it?Ф
УSure. Mighty tasty, they are.Ф
Charlie felt queasy. УYou eat insects?.Ф
Hans thought about it. УYou ever eat a lobster?Ф
УSure. But thatТs different.Ф
УIt sure is. Seen pictures of lobsters. Disgusting.Ф
This gourmetsТ discussion was broken up by the Scoutmaster. УHans! How about scaring up some oil weed?Ф
УOkay.Ф Hans headed far the bush. Charlie followed and Nixie trotted after. Hans stopped. УMake him stay. behind. We canТt gather weed and watch him, too.Ф
УAll right.Ф
Nixie protested, since it was his duty to guard Charlie. But once he understood that Charlie meant it and would not be swayed, he trotted back, tail in air, and supervised campmaking.
The boys went on. Charlie asked, УThis clearing. . . is it the regular Scout camp?Ф
Hans looked surprised. УI guess so. Paw and I arenТt going to set a crop till we flame it a few more times.Ф
УYou mean itТs yours? Why didnТt you say so?Ф
УYou never asked.Ф Presently he added, УSome planters, they donТt like Scouts tromping around, maybe hurting a crop.Ф
Oil weed was a low plant, resembling bracken. They gathered it in silence, except once when Hans brushed something off CharlieТs arm. УWant to watch that.Ф
While they were loading with weed Hans made quite a long speech: УThese dragonflies, they arenТt much. You hear them coming. You can fight Сem off, even with your hands, because they canТt sting till they light. They wonТt sting anyway, except when theyТre swarmingЧthen itТs just females, ready to lay eggs.Ф He added thoughtfully, УTheyТre stupid, they donТt know the eggs wonТt hatch in a man.Ф
УThey wonТt?Ф
УNo. Not that it does the man much good; he dies anyway. But they think theyТre stinging a big amphibian, thing called kteela.Ф
УIТve seen pictures of kteela.Ф