"Doorways in the sand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

"I never said that."
"You do not have to. I can feel it. You will be making a mistake if you do."
I headed for the door, and Sibla turned quickly to follow.
"I will not permit you to go-not after the indignities I have suffered to get at that miserable knot of ganglia!"
"That's a nice way to talk!" I said. "Especially when you want a favor."
I dashed up the hall and into the john. Sibla clattered after.
"We are doing you the favor! Only you are too stupid to realize it!"
" 'Uninformed' is the word-and that's your fault!"
I slammed the door, locked it.
"Wait! Listen! If you go, you could be in real trouble!"
I laughed. "I'm sorry. You came on too strong."
I turned to the window, flung it wide.
"Then go, you ignorant ape! Throw away your chance at civilization!"
"What are you talking about?"
Silence.
Then: "Nothing. I am sorry. But you must realize that it is important."
"I already know that. What I want to know is 'Why?' "
"I cannot tell you."
"Then go to hell," I said.
"I knew you were not worth it," Sibla replied. "From what I have seen of your race, you are nothing but a band of barbarians and degenerates."
I swung up onto the sill, crouched a moment while I estimated the distance.
"Nobody likes a smartass either," I said, and then I jumped.


Doorways in the Sand
Chapter 7

Dennis Wexroth didn't say a damn thing. If he had, I might have killed him just then. He stood there with his palms pressed against the wall behind him, a deepening redness about his right eyesocket where it would eventually puff up and go purple. The receiver of his uprooted telephone hung over the edge of the wastebasket where I had buried it.
In my hand was a fancy piece of parchment which told me that ydissaC mahgninnuC kcirederF had received a .ygoloporhtnA ni etarotcoD fo yhposolipP
Fighting for some measure of control, I slipped it back into its envelope and dammed my river of profanity.
"How?" I said. "How could you possibly do such a thing? It... It's illegal!"
"It is perfectly legal," he said softly. "Believe me, it was done under advice."
"We'll just see how that advice holds up in court," I said. "I was never admitted to grad school, I haven't submitted a dissertation, I never took any orals or language exams and no notice was filed. Now you tell me how you justify giving me a Ph. D. I'd really like to know."
"First, you are enrolled here," he said. "That makes you eligible for a degree."
"Eligible, yes. Entitled, no. There is a distinction"
"True, but the elements of entitlement are determined by the administration"
"What did you do? Have a special meeting?"
"As a matter of fact, there was one. And it was determined that enrollment as a full-time student was to be deemed indicative of the intention to take a degree. Consequently, if the other factors were met-"
"I've never completed a major," I said.
"The formal course requirements are less rigid when it comes to the matter of an advanced degree."
"But I never took a B.A.!"
He smiled, thought better of it, erased it.
"If you will read the regulations very carefully," he said, "you will see that nowhere do they state that a baccalaureate is a prerequisite for an advanced degree. A 'suitable equivalent' is sufficient to produce a 'qualified candidate.' They are phrases of art, Fred, and the administration does the construing."
"Even granting that, the dissertation requirement is written into the regs. I've read that part."
"Yes. But then there is Sacred Ground: A Study of Ritual Areas, the book you submitted to the university press. It is sufficiently appropriate to warrant treatment as an anthropology dissertation."
"I've never submitted it to the department for anything."
"No, but the editor asked Dr. Lawrence's opinion of it. His opinion, among other things, was that it would do for a dissertation."
"I'll nail you on that point when I get you in court," I said. "But go on. I'm fascinated. Tell me how I did on my orals."
"Well," he said, looking away, "the professors who would have sat on your board agreed unanimously to waive the orals in your case. You have been around so long and they know you so well that they considered it an unnecessary formality. Besides, two of them were classmates of yours as undergraduates and they felt kind of funny about it."
"I'll bet they did. Let me finish the story myself. The heads of the language departments involved decided I had taken sufficient courses in their respective bailiwicks to warrant their certifying as to my reading abilities. Right?"