"Mack Reynolds - Equality in the Year 2000" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Mack)

would you go about spelling that, t-o,'t-o-o, or t-w-o?”
Julian had to laugh. "I admit we had some lulus."
Edith continued, "And take grammar and syntax. Interlingua is so
ingeniously devised that in place of the usual maze of rules occupying a
sizable volume on grammar, we have only sixteen short rules, which may
be written comfortably on a single sheet of notepaper."
"The vocabulary is so damned extensive…"
"That's due to the many new words that have come into the language,
but in actuality the rules are such that we cover several times the wordage
you do in a given area. For example, we carry the principle of affixes
through to its logical conclusion. In English you often form the feminine of
a noun by adding e-s-s: author-authoress, lion-lioness. Often, but by no
means always. You are not allowed to say bull-bulless or hero-heroess. In
Interlingua, the feminine ending may be added to any noun, and so
throughout the language there is no exception to any rule and no limit to
its applicability."
"As you say, as you say…" Julian sighed. "At any rate, I'm plodding
away. At this late date in life, it's a little difficult to get back into
studying."
She frowned at his notepad and stylo. "What in the world are you
doing?"
"Taking notes as I go along. I've always been a great note-taker when I
study."
"So am I, but the days when Abe Lincoln made his notes on a wooden
shovel with a piece of charcoal have passed."
He looked at her, not failing to note all over again the blue eyes, the
classical nose, the well-formed mouth, the golden hair cut boy-fashion. It
was a healthy face, bright and open—projecting honesty, sincerity. She
had told him that she had never worn any sort of cosmetic; it hadn't hurt
her complexion any. He refused to let his eyes drop to her figure. He had
long since been brought to the belief that her body was the most sexually
attractive that he had ever seen, and he didn't wish to tantalize himself
further. When he had mentioned marriage, she had pointed out, without
cruelty, how impossible a permanent relationship between them would be:
she, and her father and mother, had been selected to deal with this man
from a third of a century past; to be brutally frank, they had learned to
speak in what amounted to baby talk in order to communicate with him.
Now he asked, "What do you mean? This stylo isn't exactly a piece of
charcoal. So far as I understand, it's sort of a combination pencil and pen,
except you don't use either lead or ink, and it evidently lasts forever."
"The equivalent of lead or ink is in the paper,' Edith explained
patiently. "The advantage with this type of paper is that if you've mislaid
your stylo, you can still write with anything pointed—even with a finger
nail, if necessary. But what I meant was that your method of taking notes
is antiquated."
He kept his eyes on her, wearily waiting for more. An hour didn't go by
in the company of any of the Leetes but that they came up with something
that floored him.
She said, "There, next to you, is the voco-typer. I thought father
explained it to you."