"Defense Mechanism" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maclean Katherine)

УMeatТs going up again,Ф she said, unwrapping peas and fillets of mackerel. УMrs. WatkinТs boy, Tom, is back from the clinic. He can see fine now, she says.Ф

He put water on to boil and began greasing a skillet while she rolled the fillets in cracker crumbs. УIf IТd had to run a flame thrower during the war, IТd have worked up a nice case of hysteric blindness myself,Ф he said. УI call that a legitimate defense mechanism. Sometimes itТs better to be blind.Ф

УBut not all the time,Ф Martha protested, putting baby food in the double boiler. In five minutes lunch was cooking. УWhaaaaЧФ wailed Jake.

Martha went into the babyТs room, and brought him out, cuddling him and crooning. УWhat do you want, Lovekins? Baby just wants to be cuddled, doesnТt baby.Ф

УYes,Ф said Ted.

She looked up, startled, and her expression changed, became withdrawn and troubled, her dark eyes clouded in difficult thought.

Concerned, he asked: УWhat is it, Honey?Ф

УTed, you shouldnТtЧФ She struggled with words. УI know, it is handy to know what he wants, whenever he cries. ItТs handy having you tell me, but I donТtЧ It isnТt right somehow. It isnТt right.Ф

Jake waved an arm and squeaked randomly. He looked unhappy. Ted took him and laughed, making an effort to sound confident and persuasive. It would be impossible to raise the kid in a healthy way if Martha began to feel he was a freak. УWhy isnТt it right? ItТs normal enough. Look at E. S. P. Everybody has that according to Rhine.Ф

УE. S. P. is different,Ф she protested feebly, but Jake chortled and Ted knew he had her. He grinned, bouncing Jake up and down in his arms.

УSure itТs different,Ф he said cheerfully. УE. S. P. is queer. E. S. P. comes in those weird accidental little flashes that contradict time and space. With clairvoyance you can see through walls, and read pages from a closed book in France. E. S. P., when it comes, is so ghastly precise it seems like tips from old Omniscience himself. ItТs enough to drive a logical man insane, trying to explain it. ItТs illogical, incredible, and random. But what Jake has is limited telepathy. It is starting out fuzzy and muddled and developing towards accuracy by plenty of trial and errorЧlike sight, or any other normal sense. You donТt mind communicating by English, so why mind communicating by telepathy?Ф

She smiled wanly. УBut he doesnТt weigh much, Ted. HeТs not growing as fast as it says he should in the baby book.Ф

УThatТs all right. I didnТt really start growing myself until I was about two. My parents thought I was sickly.Ф

УAnd look at you now.Ф She smiled genuinely. УAll right, you win. But when does he start talking English? IТd like to understand him, too. After all, IТm his mother.Ф

УMaybe this year, maybe next year,Ф Ted said teasingly. УI didnТt start talking until I was three.Ф

УYou mean that you donТt want him to learn,Ф she told him indignantly, and then smiled coaxingly at Jake. УYouТll learn English soon for Mommy, wonТt you, Lovekins?Ф

Ted laughed annoyingly. УTry coaxing him next month or the month after. Right now heТs not listening to all these thoughts. HeТs just collecting associations and reflexes. His cortex might organize impressions on a logic pattern he picked up from me, but it doesnТt know what it is doing any more than this fist knows that it is in his mouth. That right, bud?Ф There was no demanding thought behind the question, but instead, very delicately, Ted introspected to the small world of impression and sensation that flickered in what seemed a dreaming corner of his own mind. Right then it was a fragmentary world of green and brown that murmured with the wind.

УHeТs out eating grass with the rabbit,Ф Ted told her.

Not answering, Martha started putting out plates. УI like animal stories for children,Ф she said determinedly. УRabbits are nicer than people.Ф

Putting Jake in his pen, Ted began to help. He kissed the back of her neck in passing. УSome people are nicer than rabbits.Ф



Wind rustled tall grass and tangled vines where the rabbit snuffled and nibbled among the sun-dried herbs, moving on habit, ignoring the abstract meaningless contact of minds, with no thought but deep comfort.

Then for a while JakeТs stomach became aware that lunch was coming, and the vivid business of crying and being fed drowned the gentler distant neural flow of the rabbit.

Ted ate with enjoyment, toying with an idea fantastic enough to keep him grinning, as Martha anxiously spooned food into JakeТs mouth. She caught him grinning and indignantly began justifying herself. УBut he only gained four pounds, Ted. I have to make sure he eats something.Ф

УOnly!Ф he grinned. УAt that rate heТd be thirty feet high by the time he reaches college.Ф