"RESNICK, Mike - The Land of Nod" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

daughter bore Christian names. And I myself had grown used to
European clothes and European conveniences." He paused. "I was
afraid if I went with you -- and I wanted to; I have been cursing
myself for my cowardice ever since -- that soon I would complain
about missing the technology and comfort I had left behind, and
that you would banish me." He would not meet my gaze, but stared
at the ground. "I did not wish to become an outcast on the world
that was the last hope of my people."
_You are wiser than I suspected,_ I thought. Aloud I uttered
a compassionate lie: "You would not have been an outcast."
"You are sure?"
"I am sure," I said, laying a comforting hand on his bony
shoulder. "In fact, I wish you had been there to support me when
the end came."
"What good would the support of an old man have been?"
"You are not just _any_ old man," I answered. "The word of a
descendant of Johnstone Kamau would have carried much weight among
the Council of Elders."
"That was another reason I was afraid to come," he replied,
the words flowing a little more easily this time. "How could I
live up to my name -- for everyone knows that Johnstone Kamau
became Jomo Kenyatta, the great Burning Spear of the Kikuyu. How
could I possibly compare to such a man as that?"
"You compare more favorably than you think," I said
reassuringly. "I could have used the passion of your belief."
"Surely you had support from the people," he said.
I shook my head. "Even my own apprentice, who I was preparing
to succeed me, abandoned me; in fact, I believe he is at the
university just down the road even as we speak. In the end, the
people rejected the discipline of our traditions and the teachings
of Ngai for the miracles and comforts of the Europeans. I suppose
I should not be surprised, considering how many times it has
happened here in Africa." I looked thoughtfully at the elephant.
"I am as much an anachronism as Ahmed. Time has forgotten us
both."
"But Ngai has not."
"Ngai, too, my friend," I said. "Our day has passed. There is
no place left for us, not in Kenya, not on Kirinyaga, not
anywhere."
Perhaps it was something in the tone of my voice, or perhaps
in some mystic way Ahmed understood what I was saying. Whatever
the reason, the elephant stepped forward to the edge of the force
field and stared directly at me.
"It is lucky we have the field for protection," remarked
Kamau.
"He would not hurt me," I said confidently.
"He has hurt men whom he had less reason to attack."
"But not me," I said. "Lower the field to a height of five
feet."
"But..."