"Lem - Automathew's Friend" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lem Stanislaw)

sparks in his eyes and a cloud of powder in his nostrils, deafened
by the force of his own blows, until Alfred popped suddenly from his
ear and rolled between some stones with a faint cry of relief, that
it had finally ended.



Part 5. Indestructible Friend
Back to: TOC | Lem
Automatthew did not at first notice that his efforts had met with
success. Sinking down upon a sun-scorched stone, he rested there
awhile, and then, still unable to move his arms or legs, mumbled:
"Don't worry, it's only a momentary weakness. I'll shake you out
yet, yes, then under the heel you go, my dear friend, do you hear?
Do you hear? Hey! What's this?!"
He sat up quickly, aware of an emptiness in his ear. He looked
around, his mind not al together clear, and, getting down on his
hands and knees, began feverishly hunting for Alfred in the gravel.
"Alfred! Aaaal-fred!!! Where are you? Answer me!!" he hollered all
the while. But Alfred, whether out of wariness or for some other
reason, didn't make a sound. Automatthew then began to lure it with
the tenderest words, assured it that he had changed his mind, that
his only desire was to follow the good advice of his electrofriend
and drown himself, he only wanted first to hear it say once more how
wonderful death was. But this didn't work either, Alfred said
nothing. Then the castaway, cursing up and down, systematically
began to search inch by inch the surrounding area. Suddenly, in the
middle of throwing away a handful of gravel, Automatthew raised it
to his eyes and started trembling with evil delight, for among the
pebbles he spotted Alfred, a dully gleaming, serenely shining tiny
grain of metal.
"Ah! There you are, my little chum! There you are, old speck! I have
you now, my fine, forever-lasting friend!" he hissed, carefully
squeezing between his fingers Alfred, which didn't make so much as a
peep. "And now we'll see about that indestructibility of yours, yes,
we'll test it out right now. Take that!!!"
These words were accompanied by a powerful concussion; having placed
his electrofriend on the surface of a rock, Automatthew jumped upon
it with all his weight, and for good measure pivoted on his steel
heel until it made a screech. Alfred said nothing, only the rock
seemed to complain beneath that grinding drill; bending over,
Automatthew saw that the tiny granule hadn't been touched, only the
rock under it was a trifle dented. Alfred now lay in that small
depression.
"Strong, are you? We'll find a harder stone!" he growled, and began
running back and forth across the island, looking for the toughest
possible flints, basalts and porphyries, in order to crush Alfred
upon them. And as he pounded it with his heels, he spoke to it with
affected calm, or sometimes hurled insults at it, as if in the
expectation that it would reply or perhaps even burst into pleas and