"Pohl, Frederik - Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pohl Frederick)

even the Paraguayan. They lunched grandly in the dining room at the summit of
the Fair's great central theme structure, the Cenotaph. And they did the rides,
all the rides, from the Slosh-a-Slide water chutes through the immense Ferris
wheel with the wind howling through the open car and Simon threatening to spit
down on the crowds below to the screaming, shattering rollercoaster that made
little Louisa wet her pants. Fortunately her mother had brought clean underwear
for the child. When she sent the little girl off with her sister to change in
the ladies' room, she followed them anxiously with her eyes until they were
safely past the ticket collector and then said. "Rand, honey. You paid for all
those rides yourself.
He shrugged defensively. "I want everybody to have a good time.
"Now, don't talk that way. We agreed. The children and I are going to pay our
own way all the rest of the day, and the subject is closed. She proved the point
by changing it. "Look, she said, "there are those two foreigners who lost their
tour group again. She waved, and Mrs. Millay and Mr. Katsubishi came up
diffidently.
"If we're not intruding? said Mrs. Millay. "We never did find our tour guide,
you see, but actually we're getting on quite well without. But isn't it hot!
It's never like this in Scotland.
Millicent fanned herself in agreement. "Do sit down, Mrs. Millay. Is that where
you're from, Scotland? And you, Mr. Kat- Kats-
"Katsubishi. He smiled, with an abrupt deep bow. Then he wrinkled his face in
concentration for a moment and managed to say: "I, too-Sukottaland.
Millicent tried not to look astonished but evidently did not succeed. Mrs.
Millay explained, "He's from around Kyle of Lochalth, you know. Since Millicent
obviously didn't know, she added, "That's the .Japanese colony in northern
Scotland, near my own home. In fact. I teach English to Japanese schoolchildren
there, since I know the language-my parents were missionaries in Honshu, you
see. Didn't you know about the colony'?
Actually, Millicent and Randolph did know about the colony. Or, at least, they
almost did, in the way that human beings exposed to forty channels of television
and with nothing much to do with their time have heard of, without really
knowing much about, almost every concept, phenomenon, event, and trend in human
history. In just that way they had heard of the United Kingdom's pact with
Japan, allowing large Japanese immigration into an enclave in the north of
Scotland. The Japanese made the area bloom both agriculturally and economically.
The United Kingdom got a useful injection of Japanese capital and energy, and
the Japanese got rid of some of their surplus population without pain. "I wish
we'd thought of that, Millicent observed in some envy, but her husband shook his
head.
"Different countries, different ways, he said patriotically, "and actually we're
doing rather well. I mean, just look at the Lottery Fair! That's American
ingenuity for you. Observing that Mrs. Millay was whispering a rapid- fire
translation into Mr. Katsubishi's ear, he was encouraged to go on. "Other
countries, you see, have their own way of handling their problems. Compulsory
sterilization of all babies born in even-numbered years in India, as I'm sure
you're aware. The contraceptive drugs they put in the water supply in Mexico-and
we won't even talk of what they're doing in, say, Bangladesh. Mrs. Millay
shuddered sympathetically as she translated, and the Japanese beamed and bowed
then spoke rapidly.