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

in their ridiculous lack of Euclidean logic. They were a maze. Perhaps thatтАЩs what the gadget wasтАФa puzzle.
тАЬWhereтАЩd you get this?тАЭ
 тАЬUncle Harry gave it to me,тАЭ Scott said, on the spur of the moment. тАЬLast Sunday, when he came over.тАЭ Uncle Harry
was out of town, a circumstance Scott well knew. At the age of seven, a boy soon learns that the vagaries of adults
follow a certain definite pattern, and that they are fussy about the donors of gifts. Moreover, Uncle Harry would not
return for several weeks; the expiration of that period was unimagi-nable to Scott, or, at least, the fact that his lie would
ultimately be dis-covered meant less to him than the advantages of being allowed to keep the toy.

Paradine found himself growing slightly confused as he attempted to manipulate the beads. The angles were
vaguely illogical. It was like a puzzle. This red bead, if slid along this wire to that junction, should reach thereтАФbut it
didnтАЩt. A maze, odd, but no doubt instructive. Para-dine had a well-founded feeling that heтАЩd have no patience with the
thing himself.
Scott did, however, retiring to a corner and sliding beads around with much fumbling and grunting. The beads did
sting, when Scott chose the wrong ones or tried to slide them in the wrong direction. At last he crowed exultantly.
тАЬI did it, Dad!тАЭ
тАЬEh? What? LetтАЩs see.тАЭ The device looked exactly the same to Para-dine, but Scott pointed and beamed.
тАЬI made it disappear.тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs still there.тАЭ
тАЬThat blue bead. ItтАЩs gone now.тАЭ
Paradine didnтАЩt believe that, so he merely snorted. Scott puzzled over the framework again. He experimented. This
time there were no shocks, even slight. The abacus had showed him the correct method. Now it was up to him to do it
on his own. The bizarre angles of the wires seemed a little less confusing now, somehow.
It was a most instructive toyтАФ It worked, Scott thought, rather like the crystal cube. Reminded of
that gadget, he took it from his pocket and relinquished the abacus to Emma, who was struck dumb with joy. She fell to
work sliding the beads, this time without protesting against the shocksтАФwhich, indeed, were very minorтАФand, being
imitative, she managed to make a bead disappear almost as quickly as had Scott. The blue bead reappearedтАФ but Scott
didnтАЩt notice. He had forethoughtfully retired into an angle of the chesterfield and an overstuffed chair and amused
himself with the cube.
There were the little people inside the thing, tiny manikins much
enlarged by the magnifying properties of the crystal. They moved, all right. They built a house. It caught fire, with
realistic-seeming flames, and the little people stood by waiting. Scott puffed urgently. тАЬPut it out!тАЭ
But nothing happened. Where was that queer fire engine, with re-volving arms, that had appeared before? Here it
was. It came sailing into the picture and stopped. Scott urged it on.
This was fun. The little people really did what Scott told them, in-side of his head. If he made a mistake, they waited
till heтАЩd found the right way. They even posed new problems for him.
The cube, too, was a most instructive toy. It was teaching Scott, with alarming rapidityтАФand teaching him very
entertainingly. But it gave him no really new knowledge as yet. He wasnтАЩt ready. Later . later.

Emma grew tired of the abacus and went in search of Scott. She couldnтАЩt find him, even in his room, but once there
the contents of the closet intrigued her. She discovered the box. It contained treasure-trove
тАФa doll, which Scott had already noticed but discarded with a sneer. Squealing, Emma brought the doll downstairs,
squatted in the middle of the floor and began to take it apart.
тАЬDarling! WhatтАЩs that?тАЭ
тАЬMr. Bear!тАЭ
Obviously it wasnтАЩt Mr. Bear, who was blind, earless, but comfort-ing in his soft fatness. But all dolls were named
Mr. Bear to Emma.
Jane Paradine hesitated. тАЬDid you take that from some other little girl?тАЭ
тАЬI didnтАЩt. SheтАЩs mine.тАЭ
Scott came out from his hiding place, thrusting the cube into his pocket. тАЬUhтАФthatтАЩs from Uncle Harry.тАЭ
тАЬDid Uncle Harry give that to you, Emma?тАЭ