"Gene Wolfe - Talk of Mandrakes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolfe Gene)

back. I've never really been sure..."

"That the mandrake was merely the plant we call by that name? Neither have I.
The old herbalists said it shrieked when it was dragged, after all; but the man-shaped
part was surely the root, so I prefer to talk of dryads. You will recall that dryads,
crowned with appropriate leaves, appeared from the trunks of their trees."

So suddenly it left Peak gasping, the dryad stood. What had been mere lumps
were trousered knees; the stubby arms grew longer. The mottled area about the eyes
became a jack-o-lantern face.

"You are repelled, Doctor Peak." Selim's voice murmured from the speaker.
"You see before you a Frankenstein, a golem. It senses your repulsion. Watch this."

The dryad's face writhed, seeming almost to shimmer.

"Now it seeks to become more like you to gain your approval. But it is not
our doppelganger we hope to meet."

For a second or two, Peak saw the figure of a man much like himself. Soon its
features softened and its hair lengthened. Breasts swelled beneath the threadbare
raincoat it wore.

"Like any animal, she believes your clothes to be part of your self," Selim
continued smoothly. "That's why the bull charges the matador's cape, as you
probably know. Should you attempt to unbutton that coat, you will find yourself
struggling to loosen the bark of a tree."

The threadbare coat faded, absorbed by the dryad's skin Slowly she lifted a
slender arm, beckoning.

He said, "You're not real..."

Her lip moved, opening and closing. A pink tongue moistened her lips.

"You wanted her to do that." Selim's voice came from overhead. "She cannot
speak, but your seed may provide the final impetus. If so, her spores will
spread--or would, if she were released from that chamber--and sprout wherever
they find a little moisture in a depleted soil. Go ahead."

Peak kept his voice firm. "Let me out of here."

"Do you find her so unpleasant? She will become beautiful for you, become
whatever you wish. Isn't she what we all want? Don't we speak of falling in love with
our disciplines? Of embracing our subjects? I have embraced mine, Doctor Peak,
and want more specimens of Selimus dryas. New specimens adapted to Earth, an
adaptation that will be provided by your genes."

Clumsy at first, the dryad's hands toyed with his clothing. It seemed to him
that her eyes were full of wonder.