"Piper, H Beam - Fuzzy 2 - Other Human Race2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piper H Beam)

Well, somebody had to take it, and who'd started all this Fuzzy
business, anyhow?

The five newcomers had finished their Extee-Three, and been
given their shoulder-bags and their steel chopper-diggers, and
were trying the balance of the latter and beheading imaginary land-
prawns with them. He opened the other tin of Extee-Three and
divided it. This time, they nibbled slowly, with appreciative
comments. Little Fuzzy gathered up the two empty tins and put
them in the waste­basket.

"How you come this place?" he asked, when Little Fuzzy had
rejoined the circle.

They all began talking at once; with Little Fuzzy's help, he got the
general sense of it. They had heard strange noises and had come
to the edge of the woods, and seen frightening things. But Fuzzies
were people; they investigated, even if they were frightened. Then
they had seen other people. Hagga-gashta, big people, and shi-
mosh-gashta, people like us.

Little Fuzzy instantly corrected the speaker. Hagga-gashta were
just Hagga, Big Ones, and shi-mosh~gashta were Fuzzies. Why
were the Gashta called Fuzzies? Because Pappy Jack said so,
that was why. That seemed to settle it.

"But why come this place? You come from other place, far away.
Why come here?"

More argument. Little Fuzzy was explaining what he meant, and the
newcomers were answering.

"Tell them here are many-many zatku. They come, many lights and
darks. Many-many."

Fuzzies could count up to five, the fingers of one hand. The other
hand had to be used to count with. They could count in multiples of
five to a hand of hands, and after that it was many, and then
many­many. Somewhere in the mass of Fuzzy study notes that
were piling up was a suggestion to see what Fuzzies could do with
an abacus.

So, maybe three months ago and six or eight hundred miles north
of here, this gang had heard that the country to the south was
teem­ing with zatku, and they had joined the volkerwanderung. Little
Fuzzy and his family had been in the advance-guard; the big rush
was still coming. He tried to find out how they had learned of it.
Other Fuzzies had told them: that was as far as he could get.