"Тед Чан. Seventy-Two Letters (72 буквы, Рассказ) (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

other member of the species."
"You had found a euonym for that species of frog," said Stratton.
Ashbourne smiled. "As this method of reproduction does not involve
sexual congress, I have termed it Сparthenogenesis.Т"
Stratton looked at both him and Fieldhurst. "ItТs clear what your
proposed solution is. The logical conclusion of this research is to
discover a euonym for the human species. You wish for mankind to
perpetuate itself through nomenclature."
"You find the prospect troubling," said Fieldhurst. "That is to be
expected: Dr. Ashbourne and myself initially felt the same way, as has
everyone who has considered this. No one relishes the prospect of humans
being conceived artificially. But can you offer an alternative?" Stratton
was silent, and Fieldhurst went on. "All who are aware of both Dr.
AshbourneТs and Dubuisson and GilleТs work agree: there is no other
solution."
Stratton reminded himself to maintain the dispassionate attitude of a
scientist. "Precisely how do you envision this name being used?"
he asked.
Ashbourne answered. "When a husband is unable to impregnate his wife,
they will seek the services of a physician. The physician will collect the
womanТs menses, separate out the ovum, impress the name upon it, and then
reintroduce it into her womb."
"A child born of this method would have no biological father."
"True, but the fatherТs biological contribution is of minimal
importance here. The mother will think of her husband as the childТs
father, so her imagination will impart a combination of her own and her
husbandТs appearance and character to the foetus. That will not change.
And I hardly need mention that name impression would not be made available
to unmarried women."
"Are you confident this will result in well-formed children?" asked
Stratton. "IТm sure you know to what I refer." They all knew of the
disastrous attempt in the previous century to create improved children by
mesmerizing women during their pregnancies.
Ashbourne nodded. "We are fortunate in that the ovum is very specific
in what it will accept. The set of euonyms for any species of organism is
very small; if the lexical order of the impressed name does not closely
match the structural order of that species, the resulting foetus does not
quicken. This does not remove the need for the mother to maintain a
tranquil mind during her pregnancy; name impression cannot guard against
maternal agitation. But the ovumТs selectivity provides us assurance that
any foetus induced will be well-formed in every aspect, except the one
anticipated."
Stratton was alarmed. "What aspect is that?"
"Can you not guess? The only incapacity of frogs created by name
impression was in the males; they were sterile, for their spermatozoa bore
no preformed foetuses inside. By comparison, the female frogs created were
fertile: their eggs could be fertilized in either the conventional manner,
or by repeating the impression with the name."
StrattonТs relief was considerable. "So the male variant of the name
was imperfect. Presumably there needs to be further differences between