"Naomi Novik - Temeraire 3 - Black Powder War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Novik Naomi)

recent discourse upon the subject of draconic aptitude for mathematics. For an amateur of so little
distinction as myself to make reply to so illustrious an authority must smack of vainglory, and I tremble at
the notion of offering offense to that gentleman or his many and justly deserved supporters. Only the
sincerest belief in the merits of my case, and, beyond this, a grave concern for the deeply flawed course
upon which the study of dragons seems bent, would suffice to overcome the natural scruple I must feel at
setting myself in opposition to the judgment of one whose experience so greatly outstrips my own, and to
whom I would show unhesitating deference, if not for evidence I must consider irrefutable; which, after
much anxiety, I herein submit to the consideration of this body. My qualifications for this work are by no
means substantial, my time for the pursuit of natural history being sadly curtailed by the demands of my
parish, so if I am to persuade it must be with the force of my argument alone, and not through influence or
impressive referencesтАж.

By no means do I intend any disparagement of those noble creatures under discussion, nor to quarrel
with any man who would call them admirable; their virtues are manifest, and among the highest of these
the essential good-humour of their nature, evident in their submitting to the guidance of mankind for the
sake of affection, rather than through a compulsion it were quite impossible for any man to bring to bear
upon them. In this they have shown themselves very like that more familiar and most amiable creature the
dog, who will shun the company of his own kind and cleave in preference unto his master, thus displaying
almost alone among the beasts a discrimination for the society of his betters. This same discrimination
dragons show, greatly to their credit, and certainly no one can deny that with it is matched an
understanding superior to virtually all of the animal world that renders them arguably the most valuable
and useful of all our domestic beastsтАж.

And yet it has been some years now since many eminent gentlemen, unsatisfied with these considerable
encomiums, have begun to put before the world, cautiously and in measured stages, a body of work
which in its sum total, almost as if by joint intention, leads the thinking man to the inevitable and seductive
conclusion that dragons rise beyond the animal sphere entirely: that they possess, in full measure equal to
man, the faculty of reason and intellect. The implications of such an idea I scarcely need enumerateтАж.

The foremost argument of these scholars to date has been that dragons alone among the beasts possess
language, and show in their speech to the observer all the attributes of feeling and free will. Yet this
argument I cannot allow even to be persuasive, much the less conclusive. The parrot, too, has mastered
all the tongues of men; dogs and horses may be trained to comprehend some scattered words: if the latter
possessed the facile throats of the former, would they not speak to us also, and solicit of us greater
attentions? And as for these other arguments, who that has heard a dog whine, left behind by his master,
would deny that animals know affection, and who that has set a horse at a fence and had it refused would
deny that beasts possess their ownтАФand often lamentably contrary!тАФwill. Apart from these examples
drawn from the animal kingdom, we have further seen in the famous work of Baron von Kempelen and
M. de Vaucanson that the most astonishing automata may be produced, from a little tin and copper,
which may produce speech through the operation of a few levers, or even mimic intelligent motion and
persuade the uninformed observer of a lifelike animation, though they are nothing but clockwork and
gears. Let us not mistake these simulacra of intelligence in brutish or mechanical behavior for true reason,
the province only of manтАж.

Once we have set these aside as insufficient proofs of draconic intelligence, we come to Sir Edward
HoweтАЩs most recent essay, which puts forth an argument not so easily dismissed: the ability of dragons to
perform advanced mathematical calculations, an achievement which eludes many an otherwise educated