"Robert A. Heinlein - If this goes on" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

know about it-or can guess-I want to hear. ItтАЩs important to me.тАЩ
тАЪEasy now! You were afraid of shocking me; it could be that I donтАЩt want to
shock you.тАЩ
тАЪWhat do you mean? Tell me!тАЩ
тАЪEasy, I said. WeтАЩre out strolling, remember, without a care in the world,
talking about our butterfly collections and wondering if weтАЩll have stewed beef
again for dinner tonight.тАЩ
Still fuming, I let him take me along with him. He went on more quietly, тАЪJohn,
you obviously arenтАЩt the type to learn things just by keeping your ear to the
ground-and youтАЩve not yet studied any of the Inner Mysteries, now have
you?тАЩ
тАЪYou know I havenтАЩt. The psych classification officer hasnтАЩt cleared me for the
course. I donтАЩt know why.тАЩ
тАЪI should have let you read some of the installments while I was boning it. No,
that was before you graduated. Too bad, for they explain things in much
more delicate language than I know how to use-and justify every bit of it
thoroughly, if you care for the dialectics of religious theory. John, what is your
notion of the duties of the Virgins?тАЩ
тАЪWhy, they wait on him, and cook his food, and so forth.тАЩ
тАЪThey surely do. And so forth. This Sister Judith-an innocent little country girl
the way you describe her. Pretty devout, do you think?тАЩ
I answered somewhat stiffly that her devoutness had first attracted me to her.
Perhaps I believed it.
тАЪWell, it could be that she simply became shocked at overhearing a rather
worldly and cynical discussion between the Holy One and, oh, say the High
Bursar-taxes and tithes and the best way to squeeze them out of the
peasants. It might be something like that, although the scribe for such a
conference would hardly be a grass-green Virgin on her first service. No, it
was almost certainly the тАЮAnd so forth.тАЬтАЩ
тАЪHuh? I donтАЩt follow you.тАЩ
Zeb sighed. тАЪYou really are one of GodтАЩs innocents, arenтАЩt you? Holy Name, I
thought you knew and were just to stubbornly straight-laced to admit it. Why,
even the Angels carry on with the Virgins at times, after the Prophet is
through with them. Not to mention the priests and the deacons. I remember a
time when-тАЪHe broke off suddenly, catching sight of my face. тАЪWipe that look
off your face! Do you want somebody to notice us?тАЩ
I tried to do so, with terrible thoughts jangling around inside my head. Zeb
went on quietly, тАЪItтАЩs my guess, if it matters that much to you, that your friend
Judith still merits the title тАЮVirginтАЬ in the purely physical sense as well as the
spiritual. She might even stay that way, if the Holy One is as angry with her
as he probably was. She is probably as dense as you are and failed to
understand the symbolic explanations given her-then blew her top when it
came to the point where she couldnтАЩt fail to understand, so he kicked her out.
Small wonder!тАЩ
I stopped again, muttering to myself biblical expressions I hardly thought I
knew. Zeb stopped, too, and stood looking at me with a smile of cynical
tolerance. тАЪZeb,тАЩ I said, almost pleading with him, тАЪthese are terrible things.
Terrible! DonтАЩt tell me that you approve?тАЩ
тАЪApprove? Man, itтАЩs all part of the Plan. IтАЩm sorry you havenтАЩt been cleared for
higher study. See here, IтАЩll give you a rough briefing. God wastes not. Right?тАЩ