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▒▓▄ ▓█ ██ █▀ ▀██ ▓ ▀██ ██ a$h ───║┬─── ╗
▀█████▄ ▓█████ ▓ ▓█ █ ██ ▓█ ╔══════ ║│╔══╗ ╔═══╗ ║│ ║
▀███ ▓ ▓█ ▒ ██ ▒██▀ ██ ║┌────── ║│║┌─║┐║┌──║┐║│ ║│
▓██ ▒ ██ ▓█▄██ ██ █▄ ██ ╚══════╗ ║│║│ ║│║│ ║│╚═══╣│
█▄▄███▀ █ ██ ▀███▀ ▓█ █▄■ ▒█ └─────║┐║│║│ ║│╬══╦╝│ └──║│
│ ║│║│║│ ║│║├─║┌┘ ║│
╚═════════════════════════════════════╝│╚ ╚══╝│║│ ║│ ════╝│
└─────────────────────────────────────┘ └ └──┘ │ ║│ ────┘
│ FROM DUSTY ARCHIVE OF DEMIURGE ASH │ ╚═════
└────────────────────────────────────┘ └─────
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Не любитель я новелл в компьютерных изданиях, ведь гораздо
приятней подержать книжку в руках, нежели пялиться в монитор.
Бывают конечно исключения, как например "Повелитель зубов".
Отпаднейшая вещь!
Но существуют такие короткие истории, которые чем то похожи
на анекдоты, т.е. в конце у них тоже есть своя "соль". Такие
даже на мониторе проглатываются на одном дыхании.
Помнится в детективном жанре такие истории собирал Альфред
Хичкок. Но я не любитель детективов, гораздо ближе мне жанр
fantasy. И среди fantasy-писателей есть мастера short story На
первый раз я подобрал вам Роджера Желязны.
А на затравку вам народная fantasy-very-short-story:
Жили-были старый шарманщик и маленькая девочка. Ходили они
из города в город, старый шарманщик крутил свою шарманку,
девочка пела и танцевала, а в конце представления девочка брала
старую шляпу и обходила собравшуюсяthe public. This is how they lived.
And then one day, at the end of the next performance, arose
the good fairy stood in front of them and said:
- I am a good fairy, and I will fulfill your every wish...
The little girl was happy and said:
- Dear good fairy! I want this old hat always
would be full of gold coins!
The old organ grinder did not believe in good fairies, and therefore
grumbled:
- Go to hell, good fairy!
...
And they continued on their way. The girl only had a hat
full of gold coins, and sticking out of the old organ grinder’s ass was a good
fairy...
──┐
│ ┌─┐
──────────══════════════════════ ════════════════════════════════
└──┘ └─┘
(C) Roger Zelazny
THE MONSTER AND THE VIRGIN
---────────────────────────----
There was great commotion among the people. It's time to accept
solution. The elders discussed the chosen ones, and the sacrifice was
determined, despite the dissatisfaction of Rillik - himself
venerable from the tribe.
The young girl was taken to the grotto and fed in a cloud of smoke
leaves of Oblivion.
Rillik did not like this process very much.
“We need to stop making concessions all the time,” he fumed. -
How long can you endure!
“That’s how we’ve always done it,” everyone else objected, “
every spring and every fall.
And they worriedly raised their gaze to the firmament, where the sun
heralded the beginning of a new day.
God alreadymoved through the Great Forest.
“It’s time to leave,” said the Elders.
- Have any of you thought at least once - maybe it’s worth
stay and find out what this monstrous God will do? -
Rillik persisted.
- We've had enough of your nonsense talk. Or let's go together
or - you can stay alone.
Rillik reluctantly obeyed.
“Every year there are fewer and fewer of us,”
he muttered, “the day will come when there will be no one left at all.”
because of these sacrifices!
But everyone just shook their heads in disbelief - the usual
a movement observed by Rillik over many centuries.
Of course, they all treated the elderly with respect
Rillik's years, but none of them shared his judgment. They
took a last look back when the sun was already shining
the figure of God sitting on a horse in a ringing golden blanket
with a deadly spear at the ready.
In a grotto where the fog swirled, the virgin began to panic
tail, rapidly rotating his crazed eyes under
scaly plates of eyebrows. She already felt
divine presence and began to howl low.
They had already turned away and moved on across the plain.
Having reached the forest, Rillik paused, raised his front
hard paw and, as if continuing to follow the course of their
reasoning, said:
- It seems to me that I still remember those times,when everything was
on the contrary.
───────────────────────--─---- -
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