"David Zindell - Requiem of Homo Sapiens 01 - The Broken God" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zindell David)

spears! he marvelled, and even though they were dressed much as
he was, in white fur parkas, they wore no skis. How could these
shadow-men hunt animals across snow using neither spears nor
skis?
Danlo approached as quietly as he could; he could be very
quiet when he had to be. None of the men looked his way, and
that was strange. There was something about the men's faces and
in their postures that was not quite right. They were not
alert, not sensitive to the sounds or vibrations of the world.
The animal was the first to notice him. He was as slender as an
otter; his fur was white and dense like that of a shagshay
bull. He stood too easily on his legs. No animal, Danlo
thought, should be so sure and graceful on two legs. The animal
was holding in his paw some kind of stick, though Danlo
couldn't guess what an animal would be doing with a stick,
unless he had been building a nest when the men surprised him.
The animal was staring at Danlo, watching him in a strange and
knowing manner. He had beautiful eyes, soulful and round and
golden like the sun. Not even Ahira had such large eyes; never
had Danlo seen eyes like that on any animal.
He moved closer and drew back his spear. He couldn't believe
his good luck. To find a large meat animal so soon after his
landfall was very good luck indeed. He was very
62
hungry; he prayed that he would have the strength to cast the
spear straight and true.
'Danlo, Danlo.'
 It was strange the way the animal stood there watching him,
strange that he hadn't fled or cried out. Something had cried
out, though. He thought it must be Ahira reminding him that he
was required to say a silent prayer for the animal's spirit
before he killed him. But he didn't know the animal's name, so
how could he pray for him? Perhaps the Song of Life told the
names of the Unreal City's strange animals. For the thousandth
time, he lamented not hearing the whole Song before Soli had
died.
Just then, one of the men turned to see what the animal was
staring at. 'Oh!' the man shouted, 'oh, oh, oh!'
The other men turned too, looking at him with his spear arm
cocked, and their eyes were wide with astonishment.
Danlo was instantly in shock. He could finally see that Soli
had told the truth. The shadow-men's faces were much more like
his own lean, beardless face than the rugged Alaloi faces of
his near-fathers. And here was the thought that shocked and
shamed him: what if the animal were imakla? What if these
beardless men knew the animal was imakla and may not be hunted
under any circumstances? Wouldn't the men of the City know
which of their strange animals was a magic animal and which was
not?
'No!' one of the men shouted, 'no, no, no!'