"The Giver Quartet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowry, Lois)

“I feel a little sorry for him,” Jonas said, “even though I don’t even know him. I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid.”



“How do you feel now, Lily?” Father asked. “Still angry?”



“I guess not,” Lily decided. “I guess I feel a little sorry for him. And sorry I made a fist.” She grinned.



Jonas smiled back at his sister. Lily’s feelings were always straightforward, fairly simple, usually easy to re-solve. He guessed that his own had been, too, when he was a Seven.



He listened politely, though not very attentively, while his father took his turn, describing a feeling of worry that he’d had that day at work: a concern about one of the newchildren who wasn’t doing well. Jonas’s father’s title was Nurturer. He and the other Nurturers were responsible for all the physical and emotional needs of every new-child during its earliest life. It was a very important job, Jonas knew, but it wasn’t one that interested him much.



“What gender is it?” Lily asked.



“Male,” Father said. “He’s a sweet little male with a lovely disposition. But he isn’t growing as fast as he should, and he doesn’t sleep soundly. We have him in the extra care section for supplementary nurturing, but the committee’s beginning to talk about releasing him.”



“Oh, no,” Mother murmured sympathetically. “I know how sad that must make you feel.”



Jonas and Lily both nodded sympathetically as well. Release of newchildren was always sad, because they hadn’t had a chance to enjoy life within the community yet. And they hadn’t done anything wrong.



There were only two occasions of release which were not punishment. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and release of a newchild, which always brought a sense of what-could-we-have-done. This was especially troubling for the Nurturers, like Father, who felt they had failed somehow. But it happened very rarely.



“Well,” Father said, “I’m going to keep trying. I may



ask the committee for permission to bring him here at night, if you don’t mind. You know what the night-crew Nurturers are like. I think this little guy needs something extra.”