"Фредерик Браун. Night of the Jabberwock (англ) " - читать интересную книгу автора

masqueraded under the alleged identity of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the
gentle don of Oxford."
I felt vaguely disappointed. Was this going to be another, and even
more ridiculous, Bacon-was-Shakespeare deal? Historically, there couldn't be
any possible doubt that the Reverend Dodgson, writing under the name Lewis
Carroll, had created Alice in Wonderland and its sequel.
But the main point, for the moment, was, to get the drink drunk. So I
said solemnly, "To avoid all difficulties, factual or semantic, Mr. Smith,
let's drink to the author of the Alice books."
He inclined his head with solemnity equal to my own, then tilted it
back and downed his drink. I was a little late in downing mine because of my
surprise at, and admiration for, his manner of drinking. I'd never seen
anything quite like it. The glass had stopped, quite suddenly, a good three
inches from his mouth. And the whisky had kept on going and not a drop of it
had been lost. I've seen people toss down a shot before, but never with such
casual precision and from so great a distance.
I drank my own in a more prosaic manner, but I resolved. to try his
system sometime in private and with a towel or handkerchief ready at hand.
I refilled our glasses and then said, "And now what? Do we argue the
identity of Lewis Carroll?"
"Let's start back of that," he said. "In fact, let's put it aside until
I can offer you definite proof of what we believe rather, of what we are
certain."
"We?"
"The Vorpal Blades. An organization. A very small organization, I
should add."
"Of admirers of Lewis Carroll?"
He leaned forward. "Yes, of course. Any man who is both literate and
imaginative is an admirer of Lewis Carroll. But much more than that. We
have a secret. A quite esoteric one."
"Concerning the identity of Lewis Carroll? You mean that you believe
the way some people believe, or used to believe, that the plays of
Shakespeare were written by Francis Bacon that someone other than Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson wrote the Alice books?"
I hoped he'd say no.
He said, "No. We believe that Dodgson himself How much do you know of
him, Doctor?"
"He was born in eighteen thirty-two," I said, "and died just before the
turn of the century in either ninety-eight or nine. He was an Oxford don, a
mathematician. He wrote several treatises on mathematics. He liked and
created acrostics and other puzzles and problems. He never married but he
was very fond of children, and his best writing was done for them. At least
he thought he was writing only for children; actually, Alice in Wonderland
and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, while having plenty of appeal for
children, are adult literature, and great literature. Shall I go on?"
"By all means."
"He was also capable of and perpetrated some almost incredibly bad
writing. There ought to be a law against the printing of volumes of The
Complete Works of Lewis Carroll. He should be remembered for the great
things he wrote, and the bad ones interred with his bones. Although I'll