"Gene Wolfe - Detective of dreams" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolfe Gene)

say that entering that gate meant sexual commerce. Do you think I might
have unnatural leanings?" Her voice had dropped to a whisper.
"Have you ever felt such desires?"
"Oh, no. Quite the reverse."
"Then I doubt it very much," I said. "Go on with your dream. How do you
feel as you pass through the gate?"
"As I did when walking down the road, but more so - more frightened,
and yet happy and excited. Triumphant, in away."
"Go on."
"I am in the garden now. There are fountains playing, and nightingales
singing in the willows. The air smells of lilies, and a cherry tree in blossom
looks like a giantess in her bridal gown. I walk on a straight, smooth path; I
think it must be paved with marble chips, because it is white in the
moonlight. Ahead of me is the Schloss - a great building. There is music
coming from inside."
"What sort of music?"
 "Magnificent - joyous, if you know what I am trying to say, but not the
tinklings of a theater orchestra. A great symphony. I have never been to the
opera at Bayreuth; but I think it must be like that - yet a happy, quick tune."
She paused, and for an instant her smile recovered the remembered
music. "There are pillars, and a grand entrance, with broad steps. I run up -
I am so happy to be there - and throw open the door. It is brightly lit inside;
a wave of golden light, almost like a wave from the ocean, strikes me. The
room is a great hall, with a high ceiling. A long table is set in the middle and
there are hundreds of people seated at it, but one place, the one nearest
me, is empty. I cross to it and sit down; there are beautiful golden loaves on
the table, and bowls of honey with roses floating at their centers, and crystal
carafes of wine, and many other good things I cannot remember when I
awake. Everyone is eating and drinking and talking, and I begin to eat too."
I said, "It is only a dream, Frфulein. There is no reason to weep."
"I dream this each night - I have dreamed so every night for months."
"Go on."
"Then he comes. I am sure he is the one who is causing me to dream
like this because I can see his face clearly, and remember it when the
dream is over. Sometimes it is very vivid for an hour or more after I wake -
so vivid that I have only to close my eyes to see it before me."
"I will ask you to describe him in detail later. For the present, continue
with your dream."
''He is tall, and robed like a king, and there is a strange crown on his
head. He stands beside me, and though he says nothing, I know that the
etiquette of the place demands that I rise and face him. I do this.
Sometimes I am sucking my fingers as I get up from his table."
"He owns the dream palace, then."
"Yes, I am sure of that. It is his castle, his home; he is my host. I stand
and face him, and I am conscious of wanting very much to please him, but
not knowing what it is I should do."
"That must be painful."
"It is. But as I stand there, I become aware of how I am clothed, and-"
"How are you clothed?"
"As you see me now, In a plain, dark dress - the dress I wear here at the