"Robert Sheckley. Pilgrimage to Earth" - читать интересную книгу автора

Robert Sheckley.

Pilgrimage to Earth

Alfred Simon was born on Kazanga IV, a small agricultural planet near
Arcturus, and there he drove a combine through the wheat fields, and in the
long, hushed evenings listened to the recorded love songs of Earth.

Life was pleasant enough on Kazanga, and the girls were buxom, jolly,
frank and acquiescent, good companions for a hike through the hills or a
swim in the brook, staunch mates for life. But romantic - never! There was
good fun to be had on Kazanga, in a cheerful open manner. But there was no
more than fun.

Simon felt that something was missing in this bland existence. One day,
he discovered what it was.

A vendor came to Kazanga in a battered spaceship loaded with books. He
was gaunt, white-haired, and a little mad. A celebration was held for him,
for novelty was appreciated on the outer worlds.

The vendor told them all the latest gossip, of the price war between
Detroit II and III, and how fishing fared on Alana, and what the
president's wife on Moracia wore, and how oddly the men of Doran V talked.
And at last someone said, "Tell us of Earth."

"Ah!" said the vendor, raising his eyebrows. "You want to hear of the
old mother planet? Well, friends, there's no place like old Earth, no place
at all. On Earth, friends, everything is possible, and nothing is denied."

"Nothing?" Simon asked.

"They've got a law against denial," the vendor explained, grinning. "No
one has ever been know to break it. Earth is different, friends. You folks
specialize in farming? Well Earth specializes in impracticalities such as
madness, beauty, war, intoxication, purity, horror, and the like, and
people come from light- years away to sample these wares."

"And love?" a woman asked.

"Why girl," the vendor said gently, "Earth is the only place in the
galaxy that still has love! Detroit II and II tried it and found it too
expensive, you know, and Alana decided it was too unsettling, and there was
no time to import it on Moracia or Doran V. But as I said, Earth
specializes in the impractical, and makes it pay."

"Pay?" a bulky farmer asked.

"Of course! Earth is old, her minerals are gone and her fields are
barren. Her colonies are independent now, and filled with sober folk such