"Moore, C L - Scarlet Dream UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore C. L)

УWhat do you mean? Why not?Ф A little absurd pity was starting up in his mind at the sorrow and the pity in her voice, the sureness of her words. Yet this was one of those r~re dreams wherein he knew quite definitely that he dreamed. He
could not be mistaken. . . . Ч
УThere are many dream countries,Ф she said, Уsitany nebulous~unreal half-lands where the souls of sleepers wander, places that have an actual, tenuous existence, if one knows the way. . . . But hereЧitbas happened before, you seeЧone may not blunder without passing a door that opens one way only. And he who has the key to open it may come through, but he can never find the way into his own waking land again. Tell meЧwhat key opened the door to
you?Ф -
УThe shawl,Ф Smith murmured. УThe shawl . . . of course. That damnable red pattern, dizzyЧФ
He passed a hand across his eyes, for the memory of it, writhing; alive, searingly scarlet, burned behind his eyelids.
УWhat was it?Ф she demanded, breathlessly, he thought, as if a half-hopeless eagerness forced the question from her lips. УCan you remember?Ф -
УA red pattern,Ф he said slowly, Уa thread of bright scarlet woven into a blue shawlЧnightmare pattern-Ч painted on the gate I caine by. . . but itТs only ~a dream, of
course. In a few minutes IТll wake. . . .У She clutched his knee excitedly.
УCan you remember?Ф she demanded. УThe patternЧ.-the red pattern? The Word?Ф
УWord?Ф he wondered stupidly. УWordЧin the sky?
NoЧno, I donТt want to r~emberЧcrazy pattern, you kflow. CanТt forget itЧbut no, I couldnТt tell you what it was, or trace it for you. i~ever was anything like itЧthank God. It was on that shawl. . .
УWoven on a shawl,Ф she murmured to herself. УYes, of course. But how you ever caine by it, in your worldЧwhen itЧwhen itЧoh!Ф
Memory of whatever tragedy had sent her flying down the stairs swept back in a flood, and her face crumpled into tears again. УMy sister!Ф
УTell me what happened.Ф Smith woke from his daze at the sound of her sob. УCanТt I help? Please let me tryЧtell
me about it.Ф - -
УMy sister,Ф she said faintly. УIt caught her in the haIlЧ caught her before my eyesЧspattered me with her blood. Oh!...
УIt?Ф puzzled Smith. УWhat? Is there danger?Ф and his hand moved instinctively~toward his gun.
She caught the gesture and smiled a little scornfully
through her tears. , -
УIt,Ф she said. УTheЧthe Thing. No gun can harm it, no man can fight itЧIt caine, and that was all.Ф
УBut what is it? What does it look like? Is it near?Ф
УItТs everywhere. One never knowsЧuntil the mist begins to thicken and the pulse of red shows throughЧand then itТs too late. We do not fight it, or think of it overmuchЧlife would be unbearable. For it hungers and must be fed, and we who feed it strive to live as happily as we may know before the Thing comes for us. But one can never know.Ф
- УWhere did it come from? What is it?Ф -
УNo one knowsЧit has always been hereЧalways will be
too nebulous to die or be killedЧa Thing out of some
alien place we couldnТt understand, СI supposeЧsomewhere so long ago, or in some such unthinkable dimension that we will never have any knowledge of its origin. But as! say, we try notto think.Ф -
УIf it eats flesh,Ф said Smith stubbornly, Уit must be vulnerableЧand I have my gun.Ф
УTryifyoulike,Ф she shnigged. УOthershavetriedЧand it still, comes. It dwells here, we believe, if it dwells any~ where. We areЧtakenЧmore often in these halls than elsewhere. When you are weary of life you might bring your gun and wait under this roof. You may not have long to wait.Ф
УIТm. no~ ready to try the experiment just yet,Ф Smith grinned. Уtf the Thing lives here, why do you come?Ф
She shrugged again, apathetically. УIf we do not, it will come after us when it hungers. And we come here forЧfor our food.Ф She shot him a curious glance from un4er lowered lids. УYou wouldnТt understand. But as you say, itТs a dangerous place. WeТd best go nowЧyou will come with me, wonТt you? I shall be lonely now.Ф And her eyes brimmed again.
УOf course. IТm sorry, my dear. IТll do what I can for youЧuntil! wake.Ф He grinned at the fantastic sound of this.
УYou will not wake,Ф she said quietly. УBetter not to hope, I think. You are trapped here with the rest of us and here you must stay until. you die.Ф -
He rose and held out his hand.
УLetТs go, then,Ф he said. УMaybe youТre right, butЧ well, come on.Ф

She took his hand and jumped up. The orange hair, too fantastically colored for anything outside a dream, swung about her brilliantly. He saw now that she wore a single white garment, brief and belted, over the creamy brownness of her body. It was torn now, and hideously stained. She made a pictd~e of strange and vivid loveliness, all white and gold and bloody, in the misted twilight of the gallery.
УWhere are we going?Ф she asked Smith. УOut there?Ф And he nodded toward the blueness beyond the windows.
Ч She drew her shoulders together in a little shudder of distaste. УOh, no,Ф she~aid.
ССWhat is it?ТТ
УListen.Ф She took him bythe anus and lifted a serious
face to his. УIf you must stay hereЧand you must, for there
is only one way out save death, and that is a worse way even than dyingЧyou musi learn to ask no questions about theЧ the Temple. This is the Temple. Here it dwells. Here weЧ feed.
УThere are halls we know, and we keep to them. It is wiser. You saved my life when you stopped me on those stairsЧno one has ever gone down into that mist and darkness, and returned. I should have known, seeing you climb them, that you were not of us. . . for whatever lies beyond, wherever that stairway leadsЧit is better not to know. It is better not to look out the windows of this place. We have learned that, too. For from the outside the Temple looks strange enough, but from the inside, looking out, one is liable to see things it is better not to see., . . What that blue space is, on which this gallery opens, I do not knowЧI have no wish to know. There are ~.Сindows here open g on stranger things than thisЧbut we turn our eyes away when we pass them. You will learn. , -.
She took his hand, smiling a little.
УCome with me, now.Ф - -~
And in silence they left the gallery opening on space and went down the hail where the blue mist floated so beautifully with its clouds of violet and green confusing, the eye, and a great stillness. all about.
The hallways led straight, as nearly as he could see, for the floating clouds veiled it, toward the great portals of the Temple. In the form of a mighty triple arch it opened out of the clouded twilight upon a shining day like no day he had ever seen, on any planet. The light came from no visible source, and there was a lucid quality about it, nebulous but
unmistakable, as if one were looking through the depths of a crystal, or through clear water that trembled a little now and then. It was diffused through the translucent day from a sky as shining and unfamiliar as everything else in this amazing dreamlend.
They stood under the great arch of the Temple, looking out over the shining land beyond~Т Afterward he could never quite remember what had made it so unutterably strange, so indefinably dreadful. There were trees, feathery masses of green and bronze above the bronze-green grass; the bright air shimmered, and through the leaves he caught the glimmer of water not far away. At first glance it seemed a perfectly normal senseЧyet tiny details caught his eyes that sent ripples of coldness down his back. The grass, for instance.