"Otis Adelbert Kline - Man from the Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kline Otis Adelbert)

sacred stone. A guard, posted outside the door, saw тАЬTo the letter. Permit me to deliver my
to it that but one pilgrim was admitted at a time. message, therefore, and depart, for I have much to
On the day following, I secreted writing materials do before Magong veils her face once more.тАЭ
in my clothing, and spent the time allotted to me Drawing a large, bulky envelope from his
on that day, and the five days following, in pocket, the Oriental arose and handed it to the
carefully copying the writings on the stone. professor with a profound bow.
тАЬI carried my prize away without detection, Springing to his feet with alacrity, the
but did not return to TтАЩainfu. Instead, I wandered professor accepted it with a bow as low and
from monastery to monastery, from temple to dignified as that of the donor.
temple, conversing with the learned men and тАЬMan of science,тАЭ said our guest. тАЬUse this
reading the ancient records to which I, as a pilgrim message as you will, for that is your privilege, but
priest, was usually given access without question. you will confer a favor on the illustrious sender
The task of translation, which had at first appeared and bring manifold blessings on yourself and your
easy, took me ten years to complete. descendants if you will use it to advance the
тАЬWhen it was finished I knew that it had not knowledge of mankind.тАЭ
been written by God, as was supposed, but by the тАЬI will endeavor to use it as you ask,тАЭ replied
first earthly ancestor of my race, and I found the professor, тАЬand thank you for it, and for the
myself charged with a trust which appeared as trust you have placed in me.тАЭ
difficult of fulfillment as the translation itself. The тАЬDo not thank me,тАЭ was the answer,
crater which you have been investigating was accompanied by a significant gesture skyward.
described to me тАУ yet its location was unknown to тАЬThank PтАЩan-ku.тАЭ
the writer. I was charged to find it and to find you. тАЬI will, and do. May we not have the pleasure
It took me nine years to find the crater, during of your company tomorrow?тАЭ
which time I visited thousands, none of which тАЬA thousand thanks, and as many regrets, but
my task will have ended when Magong veils her
5
Otis Adelbert Kline Man from the Moon Amazing Stories, October, 1930

face, and I am weary and would return to TтАЩainfu. communication with Mars, the only other planet
So farewell.тАЭ inhabited by intelligent beings. For over five
He took up his staff, and without a further thousand years, our interplanetary ships had visited
word, stalked majestically out into the moonlight. their planet, and their ships had made friendly calls
The last we saw of him was when his tall, gaunt on Magong, carrying passengers, manufactured
figure was silhouetted against the sky for a merchandise, and raw materials. A colony of their
moment on the crater rim. pale, white people, whose faces I wish we had
With trembling fingers the professor broke the never seen, was founded on one of our continents
seal of the envelope and drew therefrom a neatly and treated with every friendly consideration by
written manuscript. It was in English, and he read our rulers: that is, my ancestors. A colony of our
it aloud to me, while Alamo snored lustily from the stalwart yellow people had also settled on Mars,
folds of his blanket, several yards away. and had been received with every appearance of
With Professor ThompsonтАЩs permission, I good will.
publish it here for the first time, making it clear at Before I was sixteen years of age I had
the outset, that while it seems to explain many learned to navigate an ether ship, and when I had
matters which have puzzled our leading scientists demonstrated to my fatherтАЩs satisfaction that I was
for hundreds of years and is not, in the light of our a thorough master of interplanetary navigation, he
present knowledge, either susceptible of proof or permitted me a leave of absence of two years for
refutation, we cannot vouch for its veracity. the purpose of visiting the inner planets тАУ Earth,
Venus and Mercury. This trip was mostly for my
own education, as all three of the planets had been
explored thousands of years before, and had