"Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. The snail on the slope" - читать интересную книгу автора

The deadlings imperceptibly altered, as if they were turning inside
their own skins. Their eyes and mouth disappeared from view--they had turned
their backs. In a second they were retreating, flickering among the trees.
Where they had stood, a cloud of steam slowly settled.
The men, in an excited hubbub, moved back toward the furrow. It was
suddenly realized that it was time to return to the village for the meeting.
They set off.
"Go onto the square," repeated the elder to everyone. "Onto the square.
The meeting will take place on the square, so everyone must go to the
square."
Kandid was looking for Barnacle, but he was nowhere in the crowd for
some reason. Barnacle had disappeared somewhere. Buster was talking nervily
beside him.
"Remember, Dummy, when you jumped on that deadling? Yes, jumped on him,
you did, wool on yer nose, took him by the head an' all, cuddling him like
your Nava, wool on yer nose, and what a yell. . . . Remember, Dummy, what a
yell you gave out with? You got burned, and then came out in blisters, wet
and painful as well. . . . Why did you jump on him, Dummy? Somebody did
that, jumpy-jumped on a deadling, took all the skin off his belly, now he
doesn't jump anymore; tells children to jump, wool on yer nose. . . . They
say, Dummy, you jumped on his back so he'd carry you to the City, but you're
no dame, why should he carry you away with him? Anyway there's no City at
all, it's that old stump making up his words City, Accession. . . . Who's
seen this Accession? Ears gets drunk on beetles and goes out burbling, the
old stump listens, then he wanders off everywhere, guzzling other people's
food and repeating. . . ."
"I'm going out to New Village in the morning," said Kandid. "I'll be
back at night, I shan't be here during the day. You see Hopalong and remind
him about the day after tomorrow. I've been reminding him and I'll do it
again, still, you do it, otherwise he'll wander off . somewhere."
"I'll remind him," promised Buster. "I'll remind him if I have to break
his other leg off."
The whole village had come out onto the square. Everybody was talking,
shoving and scattering seeds on the bare earth so that stems might come up
and provide soft seating. Children were mixed in underfoot; their parents
were pulling them along by their ears or hair to avoid a mix-up. A column of
poorly trained ants attempting to drag worker-fly larvae straight across the
square were being driven off by the cursing elder. He was asking by whose
orders there were ants here, it was a disgrace that's what. Ears and Kandid
were suspected, but the matter was not conducive to proof.
Kandid found Barnacle and wanted to talk with him, but failed as the
assembly was then declared open and as always the old man crawled forward to
speak first. What he spoke about nobody could understand but everybody sat
quietly listening and hissed at their scuffling children not to scuffle.
Some--those seated most comfortably well away from the sunny spots--fell
into a doze.
The old man went on at length about what was not "right" and in what
senses this was to be understood. He called for a mass Accession, threatened
victories in North and South, cursed the village and, separately, New
Village, announced that new detachments of Maidens were everywhere and that