"Wolfe, Gene - The Urth Of The New Sun" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolfe Gene)

uh..."
"Severian," I said. "I was the Autarch--the ruler--of
the Commonwealth; now I'm the surrogate of Urth, and its
ambassador. Do you come from Urth, Purn?"
"Don't think I've ever been, but maybe I have." He
looked thoughtful. "Big white moon?"
"No, it's green. You were on Verthandi, perhaps; I've
read that its moons are pale gray"
Purn shrugged. "I don't know."
Idas had come up to us by then, and he said, "It must be
wonderful." I had no notion of what he meant. Purn
moved away, looking at the beasts.
As if we were two conspirators Idas whispered, "Don't
worry about him. He's afraid I'll report him for not
working."
"Aren't you afraid I'll report _you?_" I asked. There was
something about Idas that irritated me, though perhaps it
was only his seeming weakness.
"Oh, do you know Sidero?"
"Who I know is my own affair, I believe."
"I don't think you know anyone," he said. And then, as
if he had committed a merely social blunder, "But maybe
you do. Or I could introduce you. I will, if you want me to."
"I do," I told him. "Introduce me to Sidero at the first
opportunity. I demand to be returned to my stateroom."
Idas nodded. "I will. Perhaps you wouldn't mind if I
came there to talk with you sometime? You--I hope you'll
excuse me for saying this--you know nothing about ships,
and I know nothing about such places as, ah..."
"Urth?"
"Nothing of worlds. I've seen a few pictures, but other
than that, all I know are these." He gestured vaguely
toward the beasts. "And they are bad, always bad. But
perhaps there are good things on the worlds too, that never
live long enough to find their way to the decks."
"Surely they're not all evil."
"Oh, yes," he said. "Oh, yes they are. And I, who have to
clean up after them, and feed them, and adjust the atmosphere
for them if they need it, would rather kill them all;
but Sidero and Zelezo would beat me if I did."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they killed you," I told him. I
had no desire to see such a fascinating collection wiped out
by this petty man's spite. "Which would be just, I think.
You look as though you belong among them yourself."
"Oh, no," he said seriously. "It's you and Purn and the
rest who do. I was born here on the ship."
Something in his manner told me he was trying to draw
me into conversation and would gladly quarrel with me if
only it would keep me talking. For my part, I had no desire
to talk at all, much less quarrel. I felt tired enough to drop,