"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The Final Circle of Paradise (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

only one show; I had an attack and lost consciousness. But in
the whole town there is only one man who hasn't missed even one
show - Master Mille at the Central Salon."
He moved off a few paces, turned various colored lights on
and off, and resumed his work.
"The seventh year," he repeated. "And now - can you
imagine - the year before last they kill off Mirosa and throw
Levant into a Japanese prison for life, while Dan is burned at
the stake. Can you visualize that?"
"It's impossible," I said. "Dan? At the stake? Although
it's true that they burned Bruno at the stake, too."
"It's possible," he said with impatience. "In any case, it
became clear to us that they want to fold up the program fast.
But we didn't put up with that. We declared a strike and
struggled for three weeks. Mille and I picketed the barber
automates. And let me tell you that quite a lot of the
townspeople sympathized with us."
"I should think so," I said. "And what happened? Did you
win?
"As you see. They grasped very well what was involved, and
now the TV center knows with whom they are dealing. We didn't
give one step, and if need be, we won't. Anyway we can rest on
Tuesdays now just like in the old days - for real."
"And the other days?"
"The other days we wait for Tuesday and try to guess what
is awaiting us and what you literary fellows will do for us. We
guess and make bets - although we Masters don't have much
leisure."
"You have a large clientele?"
"No, that's not it. I mean homework. It's not difficult to
become a Master, it's difficult to remain one. There is a mass
of literature, lots of new methods, new applications, and you
have to keep up with it all and constantly experiment,
investigate and keep track of allied fields - bionics, plastic
medicine, organic medicine. And with time, you accumulate
experience, and you get the urge to share your knowledge. So
Mille and I are writing our second book, and practically every
month, we have to update the manuscript. Everything becomes
obsolete right before your eyes. I am now completing a treatise
on a little-known characteristic of the naturally straight
nonplastic hair; and do you know I have practically no chance
of being the first? In our country alone, I know of three
Masters who are occupied with the same subject. It's only to be
expected - the naturally straight nonplastic hair is a real
problem. It's considered to be absolutely
nonaestheticizable.... However, this may not be of interest to
you? You are a writer?"
"Yes," I said.
"Well, you know, during the strike, I had a chance to run
through a novel. That would not be yours, by any chance?"