"Роджер Желязны. Lord of Light (Лорд Света, engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

encircles this planet. That was over half a century ago. You are now
officially an avatar of Vishnu, whose teachings were misinterpreted by some
of his more zealous followers. You, personally, continued to exist only in
the form of self-perpetuating wavelengths, which I succeeded in capturing."
Sam closed his eyes.
"And you dared to bring me back?"
"That is correct."
"I was aware of my condition the entire time."
"I suspected as much."
His eyes opened, blazing. "Yet you dared recall me from that?"
"Yes."
Sam bowed his head. "Rightly are you called deathgod, Yama-Dharma. You
have snatched away from me the ultimate experience. You have broken upon the
dark stone of your will that which is beyond all comprehension and mortal
splendor. Why could you not have left me as I was, in the sea of being?"
"Because a world has need of your humility, your piety, your great
teaching and your Machiavellian scheming."
"Yama, I'm old," he said. "I'm as old as man upon this world. I was one
of the First, you know. One of the very first to come here, to build, to
settle. All of the others are dead now, or are gods - dei ex machini.
. .
The chance was mine also, but I let it go by. Many times. I never wanted to
be a god, Yama. Not really. It was only later, only when I saw what they
were doing, that I began to gather what power I could to me. It was too
late, though. They were too strong. Now I just want to sleep the sleep of
ages, to know again the Great Rest, the perpetual bliss, to hear the songs
the stars sing on the shores of the great sea."
Ratri leaned forward and looked into his eyes. "We need you, Sam," she
said.
"I know, I know," he told her. "It's the eternal recurrence of the
anecdote. You've a willing horse, so flog him another mile." But he smiled
as he said it, and she kissed his brow.
Tak leaped into the air and bounced upon the bed.
"Mankind rejoices," observed the Buddha.
Yama handed him a robe and Ratri fitted him with slippers.
Recovering from the peace which passeth understanding takes time. Sam
slept. Sleeping, he dreamed; dreaming, he cried out, or just cried. He had
no appetite; but Yama had found him a body both sturdy and in perfect
health, one well able to bear the psychosomatic conversion from divine
withdrawal.
But he would sit for an hour, unmoving, staring at a pebble or a seed
or a leaf. And on these occasions, he could not be aroused. Yama saw in this
a danger, and he spoke of it with Ratri and Tak. "It is not good that he
withdraw from the world in this way, now," he said. "I have spoken with him,
but it is as if I addressed the wind. He cannot recover that which he has
left behind. The very attempt is costing him his strength."
"Perhaps you misread his efforts," said Tak.
"What mean you?"
"See how he regards the seed he has set before him? Consider the
wrinkling at the edges of his eyes."