"Mike Resnick - The Lotus and the Spear" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

Copyright ┬й 1992 by Mike Resnick, All rights reserved. First appeared in Isaac Asimov's
Science Fiction Magazine , August 1992. For the personal use of those who have
purchased the ESF 1993 Award anthology only.


THE LOTUS AND THE SPEAR

by Mike Resnick

Once, many eons ago, there was an elephant who climbed the slopes of
Kirinyaga, which men now call Mount Kenya, until he reached the very summit,
where Ngai ruled the universe from His golden throne.
"Why have you sought me out?" demanded Ngai.
"I have come to ask you to change me into something else," answered the
elephant.
"I have made you the most powerful of beasts," said Ngai. "You need fear
neither the lion nor the leopard nor the hyena. Wherever you walk, all My other
creatures rush to move out of your path. Why do you no longer wish to be an
elephant?"
"Because as powerful as I am, there are others of my kind who are more
powerful," answered the elephant. "They keep the females to themselves, so that my
seed will die within me, and they drive me away from the water holes and the
succulent grasses."
"And what do you wish of me?" asked Ngai.
"I am not sure," said the elephant. "I would like to be like the giraffe, for there
are so many treetops that no matter where he goes he finds sustenance. Or perhaps
the warthog, for nowhere can he travel that there are no roots to be found. And the
fish eagle takes one mate for life, and if he is not strong enough to defend her against
others of his kind who would take her away from him, his vision is so keen that he
can see them approaching from great distances and move her to safety. Change me
in any way you wish," he concluded. "I will trust to Your wisdom."
"So be it," pronounced Ngai. "From this day forward, you shall have a trunk, so
that the delicacies that grow atop the acacia trees will no longer be beyond your
reach. And you shall have tusks, that you may dig in the ground for both roots and
water no matter where you travel upon My world. And where the fish eagle has but a
single superior sense, his vision, I shall give you two senses, those of smell and
hearing, that will be greater than any other animal in My kingdom."
"How can I thank you?" asked the elephant joyously, as Ngai began the
transformation.
"You may not wish to," answered Ngai.
"Why not?" asked the elephant.
 "Because when all is said and done," said Ngai, "you will still be an elephant."
###


Some days it is easy to be the mundumugu тАФ the witch doctor тАФ on our
terraformed world of Kirinyaga. On such days, I bless the scarecrows in the fields,
distribute charms and ointments to the ailing, tell stories to the children, offer my
opinions to the Council of Elders, and teach my youthful assistant, Ndemi, the lore
of the Kikuyu people тАФ for the mundumugu is more than a maker of charms and