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

does not render an automaton able to reproduce itself. There would be many
other skills required."
The kabbalist nodded. "I am well aware of that. I myself, in the course
of my studies, have developed an epithet designating certain other skills
necessary."
Stratton leaned forward with sudden interest. After casting a body, the
next step would be to animate the body with a name. "Your epithet endows
an automaton with the ability to write?" His own automaton could grasp a
pencil easily enough, but it couldnТt inscribe even the simplest mark.
"How is it that your automata possess the dexterity required for
scrivening, but not that for manipulating molds?"
Roth shook his head modestly. "My epithet does not endow writing
ability, or general manual dexterity. It simply enables a golem to write
out the name that animates it, and nothing else."
"Ah, I see." So it didnТt provide an aptitude for learning a category
of skills; it granted a single innate skill. Stratton tried to imagine the
nomenclatoral contortions needed to make an automaton instinctively write
out a particular sequence of letters. "Very interesting, but I imagine it
doesnТt have broad application, does it?"
Roth gave a pained smile; Stratton realized he had committed a faux
pas, and the man was trying to meet it with good humor. "That is one way
to view it," admitted Roth, "but we have a different perspective. To us
the value of this epithet, like any other, lies not in the usefulness it
imparts to a golem, but in the ecstatic state it allows us to achieve."
"Of course, of course. And your interest in my epithets for dexterity
is the same?"
"Yes. I am hoping that you will share your epithets with us."
Stratton had never heard of a kabbalist making such a request before,
and clearly Roth did not relish being the first. He paused to consider.
"Must a kabbalist reach a certain rank in order to meditate upon the most
powerful ones?"
"Yes, very definitely."
"So you restrict the availability of the names."
"Oh no; my apologies for misunderstanding you. The ecstatic state
offered by a name is achievable only after one has mastered the necessary
meditative techniques, and itТs these techniques that are closely guarded.
Without the proper training, attempts to use these techniques could result
in madness. But the names themselves, even the most powerful ones, have no
ecstatic value to a novice; they can animate clay, nothing more."
"Nothing more," agreed Stratton, thinking how truly different their
perspectives were. "In that case, IТm afraid I cannot grant you use of my
names."
Roth nodded glumly, as if heТd been expecting that answer. "You desire
payment of royalties."
Now it was Stratton who had to overlook the other manТs faux pas.
"Money is not my objective. However, I have specific intentions for my
dexterous automata which require that I retain control over the patent. I
cannot jeopardize those plans by releasing the names indiscriminately."
Granted, he had shared them with the nomenclators working under Lord
Fieldhurst, but they were all gentlemen sworn to an even greater secrecy.