"Michael Kane - 01 - Warriors Of Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

laughing, I thought not.

Wherever I wasЧin dream or lost worldЧI knew
that I had fled in panic from a tame, friendly, do-
mestic animal. I blushed and then joined in the
girl's laughter.

After a moment I said: "If it's not a rude ques-
tion, I wonder, ma'am, if you could tell me where I
am."

She wrinkled her perfect brow when she heard
me and shook her head slowly. "Uhoi merrash?
Civinnee norshasa?"

I tried again in French but without any luck.
Then in GermanЧagain no success. Spanish was
equally ineffective at producing communication be-
tween us. My Latin and Greek were limited, but I
tried those, too. I am something of a linguist, pick-
ing up foreign tongues quickly. I tried to remem-
ber the little Sioux and Apache I had learned
during a brief study of the Red Indians at college.
But nothing worked.

She spoke a few more words in her language
which seemed to me, when I listened very care-
fully, to have certain faint similarities to classical
Sanskrit.

"We are both, it seems, at a loss," I remarked,
standing there with the beast still licking me lov-
ingly.

She stretched out a hand for me to take. My
heart pounded and I could hardly make myself

move. "Phoresha," she said. She seemed to want me
to go somewhere with her, and pointed towards
the distant hills.

I shrugged, took her hand and went along with
her.

So that was how, hand in hand with its loveliest
resident, I came to Varnal, City of the Green
MistsЧmost splendid of the splendid Martian cities.

Oh, how many thousands upon thousands of
years ago!