"Delany, Samuel R - The Ballad Of Beta2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Delaney Samuel R)

to his request, but the silence lengthened. When the

professor spoke, it was in a tone more distant than
before.

"You assert that they produced no significant con-
tribution to the arts. Are you completely familiar
with all the records?"

Joneny's face reddened. "I'm hardly an expert, sir.
But again, you'd think that in twelve generations
there would be one poem, one painting, something
—other than those insipid, maudlin, derivative ex-
ercises in nostalgia."

The professor's expression did not change, but he
raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Joneny stuck doggedly to his argument. "I've
looked through the collection of their ballads that
Xamol Nella made in '79, and there's not a single
metaphor or simile that could possibly be called
original or even indigenous to life on the Star Ships.
There's nothing but semi-mythical folk tales couched
in terms of sand and sea and cities and nations-
some of them very interesting, no doubt, but com-
plete fantasies with no relation to the people living
and dying on the ships. I couldn't be less interested
in such cotton-candy effusions."

The professor raised his other eyebrow. "Oh? Well,
before I give you your assignment, I want to stress
what I said in the beginning: the Star Folk did
something never done before—or since. They trav-
eled through space—a lot of it—for a very long
time. No one else has ever really been there because
the hyper-space drive actually takes you around in-
terstellar space." He laughed softly. "So perhaps

they did find all the sand and sea and cities and
nations there." He raised a hand as Joneny opened
his mouth to object. "You haven't been there, so you
can't disprove it. At any rate they made what is
perhaps the most dangerous journey imaginable, and
for that alone they deserve to be studied."

"What could be safer than interstellar space, sir?"
Joneny's tone was slightly contemptuous. "There's
nothing in it."