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A Night in the Lonesome October :: Желязны Роджер
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"'Quicklime, is that you?' he answered.
"'Indeed,' I replied, 'and how go your farings?'
"'Well. Well,' he said. 'And your own twisting ways?'
"'Oh, capital,' I answered. 'I take it you hape come to feed?'
"'Yes. I always come here last, for these plums are my faporites and put a fine end to a harpesting of bugs. I prefer saping the best for last.'
"'As it should be,' I said, 'with all endeapors. Tell me' — for I was wise in these ways now, haping liped with Rastop — 'hape you eper sampled the long-fallen plums, those which look wrinkled, ruined, and unappetizing?'
"'No,' he replied, 'that would be silly, when so many good ones still hang upon the tree.'
"'Ah,' I told him, 'but looks may be deceptipe, and "good" is certainly a relatipe term.'
"'What do you mean?' he asked.
"'I, too, enjoy the fruits,' I said, 'and I hape learned their secret. Those oper yonder on the ground are far better than those which hang yet upon the limbs.'
"'How can that be?' he said.
"'The secret is that as they lie there, cut off foreper from the source of their existence, they draw upon their remaining life to continue a new kind of growth. True, the effects wither them, but they ferment from their own beings a new and special elixir, superior to the simple juices of those upon the tree.'
" They taste a lot better?'
"'No. They do not. This goes beyond mere taste. It is a thing of the spirit.'
"'I guess I ought to try it, then.'
"'You will not be disappointed. I recommend it highly.'
"So he descended to the earth, came upon one of those I had indicated, and bit into it.
"'Agh!' he exclaimed. 'These are no good! Operripe and — '
"'Gipe it a chance,' I said. 'Take more, swallow it down, and then some more. Wait just a bit.'
"And he sampled again, and again.
"A little later, he said, 'I feel slightly dizzy. But it is not unpleasant. In fact — '
"He tried another, suddenly more enthusiastic. Then another.
"'Quicklime, you were right,' he said after a while. 'There is something pery special about them. There is a warm feeling — '
"'Yes,' I answered.
"'And the dizziness is not quite dizziness. It feels good.'
"'Take more. Take lots more,' I told him. 'Go with it as far as it will take you.'
"Shortly, his words grew harder to understand, so that I had to slide down from the tree to be sure I heard eperything he said when I began, 'You were with the Count when he created his new grapes, were you not. . .
"'Quicklime, is that you?' he answered.
"'Indeed,' I replied, 'and how go your farings?'
"'Well. Well,' he said. 'And your own twisting ways?'
"'Oh, capital,' I answered. 'I take it you hape come to feed?'
"'Yes. I always come here last, for these plums are my faporites and put a fine end to a harpesting of bugs. I prefer saping the best for last.'
"'As it should be,' I said, 'with all endeapors. Tell me' — for I was wise in these ways now, haping liped with Rastop — 'hape you eper sampled the long-fallen plums, those which look wrinkled, ruined, and unappetizing?'
"'No,' he replied, 'that would be silly, when so many good ones still hang upon the tree.'
"'Ah,' I told him, 'but looks may be deceptipe, and "good" is certainly a relatipe term.'
"'What do you mean?' he asked.
"'I, too, enjoy the fruits,' I said, 'and I hape learned their secret. Those oper yonder on the ground are far better than those which hang yet upon the limbs.'
"'How can that be?' he said.
"'The secret is that as they lie there, cut off foreper from the source of their existence, they draw upon their remaining life to continue a new kind of growth. True, the effects wither them, but they ferment from their own beings a new and special elixir, superior to the simple juices of those upon the tree.'
" They taste a lot better?'
"'No. They do not. This goes beyond mere taste. It is a thing of the spirit.'
"'I guess I ought to try it, then.'
"'You will not be disappointed. I recommend it highly.'
"So he descended to the earth, came upon one of those I had indicated, and bit into it.
"'Agh!' he exclaimed. 'These are no good! Operripe and — '
"'Gipe it a chance,' I said. 'Take more, swallow it down, and then some more. Wait just a bit.'
"And he sampled again, and again.
"A little later, he said, 'I feel slightly dizzy. But it is not unpleasant. In fact — '
"He tried another, suddenly more enthusiastic. Then another.
"'Quicklime, you were right,' he said after a while. 'There is something pery special about them. There is a warm feeling — '
"'Yes,' I answered.
"'And the dizziness is not quite dizziness. It feels good.'
"'Take more. Take lots more,' I told him. 'Go with it as far as it will take you.'
"Shortly, his words grew harder to understand, so that I had to slide down from the tree to be sure I heard eperything he said when I began, 'You were with the Count when he created his new grapes, were you not. . .