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

For a moment Herr R____'s eyes widened. "Have you also had such
dreams?"
"No" I said. "It is only that I think I have heard of this house before.
Please continue."
"There are many servants - some work in the fields beyond the garden. I
give instructions to them - the details differ each night, you understand.
Sometimes I am concerned with the kitchen, sometimes with the livestock,
sometimes with the draining of a field. We grow wheat, principally, it seems;
but there is a vineyard too, and a kitchen garden. And of course the house
itself must be cleaned and swept and kept in repair. There is no wife; the
owner's mother lives with us, I think, but she does not much concern herself
with the housekeeping - that is up to me. To tell the truth, I have never
actually seen her, though I have the feeling that she is there."
"Does this house resemble the one you bought for your own mother in
Lindau?"
"Only as one large house must resemble another."
"I see. Proceed."
"For a long time each night I continue like that, giving orders, and
sometimes going over the accounts. Then a servant, usually it is a maid,
arrives to tell me that the owner wishes to speak to me. I stand before a
mirror - I can see myself there as plainly as I see you now - and arrange my
clothing. The maid brings rose-scented water and a cloth, and I wipe my
face; then I go in to him.
"He is always in one of the upper rooms, seated at a table with his own
account book spread before him. There is an open window behind him, and
through it I can see the top of a cherry tree in bloom. For a long time - oh, I
suppose ten minutes - I stand before him while he turns over the pages of
his ledger."
"You appear somewhat at a loss, Herr R____ - not a common condition
for you, I believe. What happens then?"
"He says, 'You owe . . .' " Herr R____ paused. "That is the problem,
monsieur, I can never recall the amount. But it is a large sum. He says, 'And
I must require that you make payment at once.'
"I do not have the amount, and I tell him so. He says, 'Then you must
leave my employment.' I fail to my knees at this and beg that he will retain
me, pointing out that if he dismisses me I will have lost my source of
income, and will never be able to make payment. I do not enjoy telling you
this, but I weep. Sometimes I beat the floor with my fists."
"Continue. Is the Dream-Master moved by your pleading?"
"No. He again demands that I pay the entire sum. Several times I have
told him that I am a wealthy man in this world, and that if only he would
permit me to make payment in its currency, I would do so immediately."
 "That is interesting - most of us lack your presence of mind in our
nightmares. What does he say then?"
"Usually he tells me not to be a fool. But once he said, 'That is a dream -
you must know it by now. You cannot expect to pay a real debt with the
currency of sleep.' He holds out his hand for the money as he speaks to
me. It is then that I see the blood in his palm."
"You are afraid of him?"
"Oh, very much so. I understand that he has the most complete power