"Jack Vance - The Moon Moth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

temples and under the eyes hung a series of red folds, creating an effect at once lugubrious and comic.
Thissell asked, "Does this mask signify any degree of prestige?"
"Not a great deal."
"After all, I'm Consular Representative," said Thissell. "I represent the Home Planets, a hundred billion
peopleтАФ"
 * Skaranyi: a miniature bagpipe, the sac squeezed between thumb and palm, the four fingers controlling the stops along four
tubes.


"If the Home Planets want their representative to wear a Sea Dragon Conqueror mask, they'd better send out a
Sea Dragon Conqueror type of man."
"I see," said Thissell in a subdued voice. "Well, if I must . . ."
Rolver politely averted his gaze while Thissell doffed the Sea Dragon Conqueror and slipped the more modest
Moon Moth over his head. "I suppose I can find something just a bit more suitable in one of the shops," Thissell
said. "I'm told a person simply goes in and takes what he needs, correct?"
Rolver surveyed Thissell critically. "That maskтАФtempo-rarily, at leastтАФis perfectly suitable. And it's rather
impor-tant not to take anything from the shops until you know the strakh value of the article you want. The owner
loses pres-tige if a person of low strakh makes free with his best work." Thissell shook his head in exasperation.
"Nothing of this was explained to me! I knew of the masks, of course, and the painstaking integrity of the craftsmen,
but this insistence on prestigeтАФstrakh, whatever the word is. . . ."
"No matter," said Rolver. "After a year or two you'll begin to learn your way around. I suppose you speak the
language?"
"Oh, indeed. Certainly."
"And what instruments do you play?"
"WellтАФI was given to understand that any small instru-ment was adequate, or that I could merely sing."
"Very inaccurate. Only slaves sing without accompani-ment. I suggest that you learn the following instruments
as quickly as possible: The hymerkin for your slaves. The ganga for conversation between intimates or one a trifle
lower than yourself in strakh. The kiv for casual polite intercourse. The zachinko for more formal dealings. The
strapan or the krodatch for your social inferiorsтАФin your case, should you wish to insult someone. The gomapard*
or the double-kamanthil** for ceremonials." He considered a moment. "The crebarin, the water-lute and the slobo are
highly useful alsoтАФbut perhaps you'd better learn the other instru-ments first. They should provide at least a
rudimentary means of communication."


* Gomapard: one of the few electric instruments used on Sirene. An oscillator produces an oboelike tone which is modulated,
choked, vibrated, raised and lowered in pitch by four keys.
** Double-kamanthil: an instrument similar to the ganga, except the tones are produced by twisting and inclining a disk of
rosined leather against one or more of the forty-six strings.



"Aren't you exaggerating?" suggested Thissell. "Or jok-ing?"
Rolver laughed his saturnine laugh. "Not at all. First of all, you'll need a houseboat. And then you'll want
slaves."

Rolver took Thissell from the landing field to the docks of Fan, a walk of an hour and a half along a pleasant path
under enormous trees loaded with fruit, cereal pods, sacs of sugary sap.
"At the moment," said Rolver, "there are only four out-worlders in Fan, counting yourself. I'll take you to
Welibus, our Commercial Factor. I think he's got an old houseboat he might let you use."
Cornely Welibus had resided fifteen years in Fan, ac-quiring sufficient strakh to wear his South Wind mask with