"Henry Kuttner - Mimsy Were The Borogoves" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

тАЬYes. What does it suggest to you? It could be a crude representation ofтАФwhat?тАЭ
тАЬPlenty of things,тАЭ Paradine said. тАЬRim of a glass. A fried egg. A loaf of French bread. A cigar.тАЭ
Holloway added a little triangle to his drawing, apex joined to one end of the ellipse. He looked up at Paradine.
тАЬA fish,тАЭ the latter said instantly.
тАЬOur familiar symbol for a fish. Even without fins, eyes or mouth, itтАЩs recognizable, because weтАЩve been conditioned
to identify this par-ticular shape with our mental picture of a fish. The basis of a rebus. A symbol, to us, means a lot
more than what we actually see on paper. WhatтАЩs in your mind when you look at this sketch?тАЭ
тАШWhyтАФa fish.тАЭ
тАЬKeep going. What do you visualize? Everything!тАЭ
тАЬScales,тАЭ Paradine said slowly, looking into space. тАШWater. Foam. A fishтАЩs eye. The fins. The colors.тАЭ
тАЬSo the symbol represents a lot more than just the abstract idea 1 csh. Note the connotationтАЩs that of a noun, not a
verb. ItтАЩs harder to express actions by symbolism, you know. AnywayтАФreverse the process. Suppose
you want to make a symbol for some concrete noun, say bird. Draw it.тАЭ Paradine drew two connected arcs, concavities
down.
тАЬThe lowest common denominator,тАЭ Holloway nodded. тАЬThe natural tendency is to simplify. Especially when a child
is seeing something for the first time and has few standards of comparison. He tries to identify the new thing with
whatтАЩs already familiar to him. Ever notice how a child draws the ocean?тАЭ He didnтАЩt wait for an answer; he went on.
тАЬA series of jagged points. Like the oscillating line on a seismograph. When I first saw the Pacific, I was about
three. I remember it pretty clearly. It lookedтАФtilted. A flat plain, slanted at an angle. The waves were regular triangles,
apex upward. Now, I didnтАЩt see them stylized that way, but later, remembering, I had to find some familiar standard of
comparison. Which is the only way of getting any conception of an entirely new thing. The average child tries to draw
these regular tri-angles, but his coordinationтАЩs poor. He gets a seismograph pattern.тАЭ
тАЬAll of which means what?тАЭ
тАЬA child sees the ocean. He stylizes it. He draws a certain definite pattern, symbolic, to him, of the sea. EmmaтАЩs
scrawls may be symbols, too. I donтАЩt mean that the world looks different to herтАФbrighter, per-haps, and sharper, more
vivid and with a slackening of perception above her eye level. What I do mean is that her thought processes are
different, that she translates what she sees into abnormal symbols.тАЭ
тАЬYou still believeтАФтАЭ
тАЬYes, I do. Her mind has been conditioned unusually. It may be that she breaks down what she sees into simple,
obvious patternsтАФand real-izes a significance to those patterns that we canтАЩt understand. Like the abacus. She saw a
pattern in that, though to us it was completely random.тАЭ

Paradine abruptly decided to taper ofF these luncheon engagements with Holloway. The man was an alarmist. His
theories were growing more fantastic than ever, and he dragged in anything, applicable or not, that would support
them.
Rather sardonically he said, тАШDo you mean EmmaтАЩs communicating with Scott in an unknown language?тАЭ
тАЬIn symbols for which she hasnтАЩt any words. IтАЩm sure Scott under-stands a great deal of thoseтАФscrawls. To him, an
isosceles triangle may represent any factor, though probably a concrete noun. Would a man who knew nothing of
chemistry understand what H2 O meant? Would he realize that the symbol could evoke a picture of the ocean?тАЭ
Paradine didnтАЩt answer. Instead, he mentioned to Holloway ScottтАЩs curious remark that the landscape, from the hill,
had looked all wrong.
A moment later, he was inclined to regret his impulse, for the psycholo-gist was off again.
тАЬScottтАЩs thought patterns are building up to a sum that doesnтАЩt equal this world. Perhaps heтАЩs subconsciously
expecting to see the world where those toys came from.тАЭ
Paradine stopped listening. Enough was enough. The kids were get-ting along all right, and the only remaining
disturbing factor was Hollo-way himself. That night, however, Scott evinced an interest, later significant, in eels.
There was nothing apparently harmful in natural history. Paradine explained about eels.
тАЬBut where do they lay their eggs? Or do they?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs still a mystery. Their spawning grounds are unknown. Maybe the Sargasso Sea, or the deeps, where the
pressure can help them force the young out of their bodies.тАЭ