"Mike Resnick - Barnaby in Exile (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

her hands that I can't do? It is very confusing. I decide that I must meet God
and ask him why he does these things, and why he forgot that even Barnabys
like to be touched. # As soon as Sally comes into the lab, I ask her, "Where
does God live?" "In heaven." "Is heaven far away?" "Yes." "Farther than a
zoo?" I ask. "Much farther." "Does God ever come to the lab?" She laughs. "No.
Why?" "I have many questions to ask him." "Perhaps I can answer some of them,"
she says. "Why am I alone?" "Because you are very special," says Sally. "If I
was not special, would I be with other Barnabys?" "Yes." "I have never hurt
God," I say. "Why has God made me special?" * * * The next morning I ask her
to tell me about the other Barnabys. "Barnaby is just a name," explains Sally.
"There are other apes, but I don't know if any of them are named Barnaby."
"What is a name?" "A name is what makes you different from everything else."
"If my name was Fred or Dino, could I be like everyone else?" I ask. "No," she
says. "You are special. You are Barnaby the Bonobo. You are very famous."
"What is famous?" "Many people know who you are." "What are People?" I ask.
"Men and women." "Are there more than you and Doctor and Bud?" "Yes." Then it
is time for my lessons, but I do them very badly, because I am still thinking
about a world that has more People in it than Sally and Doctor and Bud. I am
so busy wondering who lets them out of their cages when the dark goes away,
that I forget all about God and don't think about him any more for many days.
# I hear Sally talking to Doctor, but I do not understand what they are
saying. Doctor keeps repeating that we don't have any more fun, and Sally
keeps saying that Barnaby is special, and then they both say a lot of things I
can't understand. When they are through, and Doctor leaves, I ask Sally why we




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can't have fun any more. "Fun?" she repeats. "What do you mean?" "Doctor says
there will be no more fun." She stares at me for a long time. "You understood
what he said?" "Why can't we have any fun?" I repeat. "Fund," she says. "The
word was _fund_. It means something different." "Then Barnaby and Sally can
still have fun?" I ask. "Of course we can." I lay on my back and sign to her.
"Tickle me." She reaches into the cage and tickles me, but I see water in her
eyes. Human People make water in their eyes when they are unhappy. I pretend
to bite her hand and then race around my cage like I did when I was a baby,
but this time it doesn't make her laugh. # I hear voices coming from behind
the door. It is Sally and Doctor again. "Well, we can't put him in a zoo,"
says Doctor. "If he starts signing to the spectators, they'd have a million
people demanding his freedom by the end of the month, and then what would
happen? What would become of him? Can you picture the poor bastard in a
circus?" "We can't destroy him just because he's too bright," says Sally. "Who
will take him? _You_?" says Doctor. "He's only eight now. What happens when he
becomes sexually mature, when he is a surly adult male? It's not that far
away. He could rip you apart in seconds." "He won't -- not Barnaby." "Will
your landlord let you keep him? Are you willing to sacrifice the next twenty
years of your life caring for him?" "We might get renewed funding as early as
this fall," says Sally. "Be realistic," says Doctor. "It'll be years, if ever.
This program is being duplicated at half a dozen labs around the country, and