The Martian Chronicles / Марсианские хроники. Рэй БрэдбериЧитать онлайн книгу.
were in a vast sunlit hall. Men and women sat at tables and stood in groups. At the sound of the door they regarded the four uniformed men.
One Martian stepped forward, bowing. “I am Mr. Uuu,” he said.
“And I am Captain Jonathan Williams, of New York City, on Earth,” said the captain without emphasis.
Immediately the hall exploded!
The ceiling trembled with shouts and cries. The people, rushing forward, waved and shrieked happily, knocking down tables, seizing the four Earth Men, lifting them swiftly to their shoulders. They went about the hall six times, six times making a full and wonderful circuit of the room, jumping and singing.
The Earth Men were so stunned that they rode the shoulders for a full minute before they began to laugh and shout at each other:
“Hey! This is more like it[15]!”
“This is the life! Boy! Whoopee!”
They winked at each other. They flung up their hands to clap the air. “Hey!”
“Hooray!” said the crowd.
They set the Earth Men on a table. The shouting died.
The captain almost broke into tears. “Thank you. It's good, it's good.”
“Tell us about yourselves,” suggested Mr. Uuu.
The captain cleared his throat.
The audience ohed and ahed[16] as the captain talked. He introduced his crew; each made a small speech and was embarrassed by the thunderous applause.
Mr. Uuu clapped the captain's shoulder, “It's good to see another man from Earth. I am from Earth also.”
“How was that again[17]?”
“There are many of us here from Earth.”
“You? From Earth?” The captain stared. “But is that possible? Did you come by rocket? Has space travel been going on for centuries?” His voice was disappointed. “What – what country are you from?”
“Tuiereol. I came by the spirit of my body, years ago.”
“Tuiereol.” The captain mouthed the word. “I don't know that country. What's this about spirit of body?”
“And Miss Rrr over here, she's from Earth, too, aren't you, Miss Rrr?”
Miss Rrr nodded and laughed strangely.
“And so is Mr. Www and Mr. Qqq and Mr. Vvv!”
“I'm from Jupiter,” declared one man.
“I'm from Saturn,” said another, eyes glinting slyly.
“Jupiter, Saturn,” murmured the captain, blinking.
It was very quiet now; the people stood around and sat at the tables which were strangely empty for banquet tables. Their yellow eyes were glowing, and there were dark shadows under their cheekbones. The captain noticed for the first time that there were no windows; the light seemed to come through the walls. There was only one door. The captain winced. “This is confusing. Where on Earth is this Tuiereol? Is it near America?”
“What is America?”
“You never heard of America! You say you're from Earth and yet you don't know!”
Mr. Uuu spoke angrily. “Earth is a place of seas and nothing but seas. There is no land. I am from Earth, and know.”
“Wait a minute.” The captain sat back. “You look like a regular Martian. Yellow eyes. Brown skin.”
“Earth is a place of all jungle,” said Miss Rrr proudly. “I'm from Orri, on Earth, a civilization built of silver!”
Now the captain turned his head from Mr. Uuu and then to Mr. Www and Mr. Zzz and Mr. Nnn and Mr. Hhh and Mr. Bbb. He saw their yellow eyes waning in the light. He began to shiver. Finally he turned to his men and regarded them somberly.
“Do you realize what this is?”
“What, sir?”
“ This is no celebration,” replied the captain tiredly. “ This is no banquet. These aren't government representatives. Look at their eyes. Listen to them!”
Nobody breathed. There was only a soft white move of eyes in the close room.
“Now I understand” – the captain's voice was far away – “why everyone gave us notes and passed us on, one from the other, until we met Mr. Iii, who sent us down a corridor with a key to open a door and shut a door. And here we are…”
“Where are we, sir?”
The captain said, “In an insane asylum[18].”
It was night. The large hall was quiet and dimly illuminated by hidden light sources in the transparent walls. The four Earth Men sat around a wooden table, their heads bent over. On the floors, men and women lay huddled. Every half-hour one of the captain's men would try the silver door and return to the table. “Nothing doing, sir. We're locked in proper.”
“They think we're really insane, sir?”
“Quite. That's why there was no hullabaloo to welcome us. They merely tolerated what, to them, must be a constantly recurring psychotic condition[19].” He gestured at the dark sleeping shapes all about them. “Paranoids, every single one! What a welcome they gave us! For a moment there” – a little fire rose and died in his eyes – “I thought we were getting our true reception. All the yelling and singing and speeches. Pretty nice, wasn't it – while it lasted?”
“How long will they keep us here, sir?”
“Until we prove we're not psychotics.”
“That should be easy.”
“I hope so.”
“You don't sound very certain, sir.”
“I'm not. Look in that corner.”
A man squatted alone in darkness. Out of his mouth issued a blue flame which turned into the round shape of a small naked woman, whispering and sighing.
The captain nodded at another corner. A woman stood there, changing. First she turned into a crystal pillar, then she melted into a golden statue, and finally back to a woman.
“Magicians, sorcerers,” whispered one of the Earth Men.
“No, hallucination. They pass their insanity over into us so that we see their hallucinations too. Telepathy.”
“Is that what worries you, sir?”
“Yes. If hallucinations can appear this 'real' to us, to anyone, if hallucinations are catching and almost believable, it's no wonder they mistook us for psychotics. If that man can produce little blue fire women and that woman there melt into a pillar, how natural if normal Martians think we produce our rocket ship with our minds.”
“Oh,” said his men.
In the morning everyone stood around looking fresh, happy, and normal. There were no flames or demons in the room. The captain and his men waited by the silver door, hoping it would open.
Mr. Xxx arrived after about four hours. They had a suspicion that he had waited outside the door, peering in at them for at least three hours before he stepped in, beckoned, and led them to his small office.
He was a jovial, smiling man, if one could believe the mask he wore, for upon it was painted not one smile, but three. Behind it, his voice was the voice of a not so smiling psychologist. “What seems to be the trouble?”
“You think we're insane, and we're not,” said the captain.
“Contrarily, I do not think all of you are insane.” The psychologist pointed a
Вот это другое дело!
охали и ахали
Как вы сказали?
В сумасшедшем доме.
часто встречающееся психическое состояние