"A. E. Van Vogt - The Rat & the Snake & Other Stories" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Vogt A E)

"What measurements have been taken?" it asked. Even through the mind radio, it sounded
interested.
"Photoelectric cells," I said, "have measured as much (or as little, which is really more accurate)
as 50 microvolts of energy, mostly in the active regions of the brain. Do you know what a
microvolt is?"
THE CATAAAA
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10
The creature nodded. It said after a moment, "I won't tell you what energy my brain develops. It
would probably frighten you, but it isn't all intelligence. I am a student on a tour of the galaxy,
what might be called a postgraduate tour. Now, we have certain rules--" It stopped. "You opened
your mouth. Did you wish to say something?"
I felt dumb, overwhelmed. Then, weakly, "You said galaxy."
That is correct."
"B-but wouldn't that take years?" My brain was reaching out, striving to grasp, to understand.
"My tour will last about a thousand of your years," said the cat.
"You're immortal?"
"Oh, no."
"But--"
There I stopped. I couldn't go on. I sat there, blank-brained, while the creature went on:
"The rules of the fraternity of students require that we tell one person about ourselves before we
leave the planet. And that we take with us a symbolical souvenir of the civilization of the beings
on it. I'm curious to know what you would suggest as a souvenir of earth. It can be anything, so
long as it tells at a glance the dominating character of the race."
The question calmed me. My brain stopped its alternation of mad whirling followed by
blankness. I began to feel distinctly better. I shifted myself into a more comfortable position and
stroked my jaw thoughtfully. I sincerely hoped that I was giving the impression that I was an
intelligent person whose opinion would be worthwhile.
A sense of incredible complication began to seize on me. I had realized it before, but now, with
an actual decision to make, it seemed to me that human beings were really immensely intricate
creatures. How could anybody pick one facet of their nature, and say, "This is man!" Or "This
represents man!" I said slowly:
"A work of art, science, or any useful article--you include those?"
"Anything."
My interest was now at its peak. My whole being accepted the wonderfulness of what had
happened. It seemed tremendously important that the great race that could travel the breadth and
length of the galaxy should have some true representation of man's civilization. It amazed me,
when I finally thought of the answer, that it had taken me so long. But the moment it occurred to
me, I knew I had it.
THE CATAAAA
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11
"Man," I said, "is primarily a religious animal. From times too remote to be a written record, he
has needed a faith in something. Once, he believed almost entirely in animate gods like rivers,
storms, plants, then his gods became invisible; now they are once more becoming animate. An
economic system, science--whatever it will be, the dominating article of it will be that he
worships it without regard to reason, in other words in a purely religious fashion.
I finished with a quiet satisfaction, "All you need is an image of a man in a durable metal, his
head tilted back, his arms raised to the sky, a rapt expression on his face, and written on the base
of the inscription, 'I believe'."