"Robert A. Heinlein - To Sail Beyond the Sunset" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

unsure of herself.
(Perhaps I am too sensitive. But since my sesquicentennial I have been
disposed to check the mirror each morning, wondering.)
There was only one woman in this mob of intruders. She looked at me and
sniffed, which made me feel better.
Then I recalled something. When I was twelve, my father told me that I was
going to have lots of trouble with men. I said, тАЪFather, you are out of your
veering mind. IтАЩm not pretty. The boys donтАЩt even throw snowballs at me.тАЩ
тАЪA little respect, please. No, you arenтАЩt pretty. ItтАЩs the way you smell, my
darling daughter. You are going to have to bathe oftener . . . or some warm
night you will wind up raped and murdered.тАЩ
тАЪWhy, I bathe every week! You know I do.тАЩ
тАЪIn your case, thatтАЩs not enough. Mark my words.тАЩ
I did mark his words and learned that Father knew what he was talking about.
My body odour when IтАЩm well and happy is much like that of a cat in heat. But
today I was not happy. First that dead man scared me and then those
bleeping machines made me angry... which adds up to a different sort of
stink. A tabby cat not in heat can walk right through a caucus of toms and
they will ignore her. As I was being ignored.
They stripped the top sheet off my erstwhile bedmate. The house physician
looked over the cadaver without touching it, then looked more closely at that
horrid red puddle - leant down, sniffed it, then made my skin crawl by dipping
a finger into the slop and tasting it.
тАЪTry it, Adolf. See what you think.тАЩ
His colleague (I assumed that he was another physician) also tasted the
bloody mess. тАЪHeinz.тАЩ
тАЪNo. SkinnerтАЩs.тАЩ
тАЪWith all due respect, Dr. Ridpath, you have ruined your palate with that
cheap gin you guzzle. Heinz. SkinnerтАЩs catsup has more salt. Which kills the
delicate tomato flavour. Which you canтАЩt taste, because of your evil habits.тАЩ
тАЪTen thousand, Dr Weisskopf? Even money.тАЩ
тАЪYouтАЩre on. What do you place as the cause of death, sir?тАЩ
тАЪDonтАЩt try to trap me, Doctor. тАЮCause of deathтАЬ is your job:
тАЪHis heart stopped.?тАЩ
тАЪBrilliant, Doctor, brilliant! But why did it stop?тАЩ
In the case of judge Hardacres, for some years the question has been: What
keeps him alive? Before I express an opinion I want to place him on a slab
and slice him up. I may have been hasty; he may turn out not to have had a
heart.тАЩ
тАЪAre you going to cut him up to learn something, or to make certain he stays
dead?тАЩ
тАЪNoisy in here, isnтАЩt it? Do you release the body? IтАЩll have it taken downtown.тАЩ
тАЪHand me a form nine-oh-four and IтАЩll drop it. Just keep the meat out of sight
of our guests. Grand Hotel Augustus does not have guests dying on its
premises.тАЩ
тАЪDr Ridpath, I was handling such things discreetly before you slid through that
diploma mill.тАЩ
тАЪIтАЩm sure you were, Adolf. Lawn ball later?тАЩ
тАЪThank you, Eric. Yes.тАЩ
тАЪAnd dinner after; Zenobia will be expecting you. IтАЩll pick you up at the