"Mike Resnick - Song of a Dry River" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

helped clear the land and plant the fields. It is not fair that I should be cast aside now, just because I am
old.тАЭ

тАЬYou are not being cast aside,тАЭ I explained patiently. тАЬYou came here to live the traditional life of the
Kikuyu, and it is our tradition to care for our elders. You shall never want for food, or for a roof over
your head, or for care when you are sick.тАЭ

тАЬBut I don'tfeel like an elder!тАЭ she protested. She pointed to her loom and her pots, which she had
brought up the hill from the village. тАЬI can still weave cloth and repair thatch and cook meals. I am not too
old to grind the maize and carry the water calabashes. If I am no longer permitted to do these things for
my family, than I shall live here on this hill and do them for myself.тАЭ

тАЬThat is unacceptable,тАЭ I said. тАЬYou must return to your home.тАЭ

тАЬIt is notmine any more,тАЭ she replied bitterly. тАЬIt is Wambu's.тАЭ

I looked down at her stooped, wrinkled body. тАЬIt is the order of things that the old shall make way for
the young,тАЭ I said once again.

тАЬWho willyou make way for?тАЭ she asked bitterly.

тАЬI am training young Ndemi to become the nextmundumugu ,тАЭ I said. тАЬWhen he is ready, I shall step
aside.тАЭ

тАЬWho will decide when he is ready?тАЭ

тАЬI will.тАЭ

тАЬThenI should decide when Wambu is ready to run my son'sshamba .тАЭ

тАЬWhat you should do is listen to yourmundumugu ,тАЭ I said. тАЬYour shoulders are stooped and your back
is bent from the burden of your years. The time has come to let your son's wives care for you.тАЭ

Her jaw jutted out pugnaciously. тАЬI will not let Wambu cook for me. I have always cooked for myself,
ever since we lived beside the dry river in Kenya.тАЭ She paused again. тАЬI was very happy then,тАЭ she
added bitterly.

тАЬPerhaps you must learn how to be happy again,тАЭ I answered. тАЬYou have earned the right to rest, and to
let others work for you. This should make you happy.тАЭ

тАЬBut it doesn't.тАЭ

тАЬThat is because you have lost sight of our purpose,тАЭ I said. тАЬWe left Kenya and came to Kirinyaga
because we wished to retain our customs and traditions. If I permit you to ignore them, then I must let
everyone ignore them, and then we will no longer be a Kikuyu Utopia, but merely a second Kenya.тАЭ

тАЬYou told us that in a Utopia, everyone is happy,тАЭ she said. тАЬWell,I am not happy, so something must be
wrong with Kirinyaga.тАЭ

тАЬAnd running Koinnage'sshamba will make it right?тАЭ I asked.