TEXT after Ray Bradbury
TEXT after Ray Bradbury The sign on the wall read: TIME SAFARI(охотничья экспедиция), INC.
SAFARIS TO ANY YEAR IN THE PAST.
YOU NAME THE ANIMAL
WE TAKE YOU THERE.
YOU SHOOT IT. Eckels put his hand slowly out with a cheque for ten thousand dollars to the man behind the desk.
''Does this safari guarantee I come back alive?''
''We guarantee nothing,'' said the official, ''except the dinosaurs.'' He turned. ''This is Mr Travis, your Safari guide in the Past. He'll tell you what and where to shoot. If he says no shooting, no shooting. If you disobey instructions, there's a stiff penalty(жесткий штраф) of another ten thousand dollars, plus possible government actions on your return.''
Eckels glanced across(взглянул) the vast office, at a mass of wires(провода) and steel boxes, at an aurora, that flickered(мерцали) now orange, now silver, now blue. There was a sound like a gigantic bonfire(костер) burning all of the Time, all the years, and all the hours set aflame. A touch of the hand and this burning would reverse itself. Eckels remembered the words in the advertisement. A touch of a hand might do it, only one touch of a hand.
Eckels breathed, the light of the Machine on his thin face, ''A real Time Machine.'' He shook his head. ''If the election(выборы) has gone badly yesterday, I might be here now running away from the results. Thank God Keith won. He'll make a fine President of the United States.''
''Yes,'' said the man behind the desk. ''We're lucky. If Deutscher had gotten in, we'd have the worst kind of dictatorship. People called us up, you know, joking but not joking. Said if Deutscher became President they wanted to go live in 1492. Of course it's not our business to conduct Escapes, but to form Safaris. Anyway, Keith's President now. All you got to worry about is - ''
''Shooting my dinosaur,'' Eckels finished it for him.
''A Tyrannosaurs rex. The Thunder Lizard, the most horrible monster in history. Sign this paper. Anything happens to you,
SAFARIS TO ANY YEAR IN THE PAST.
YOU NAME THE ANIMAL
WE TAKE YOU THERE.
YOU SHOOT IT. Eckels put his hand slowly out with a cheque for ten thousand dollars to the man behind the desk.
''Does this safari guarantee I come back alive?''
''We guarantee nothing,'' said the official, ''except the dinosaurs.'' He turned. ''This is Mr Travis, your Safari guide in the Past. He'll tell you what and where to shoot. If he says no shooting, no shooting. If you disobey instructions, there's a stiff penalty(жесткий штраф) of another ten thousand dollars, plus possible government actions on your return.''
Eckels glanced across(взглянул) the vast office, at a mass of wires(провода) and steel boxes, at an aurora, that flickered(мерцали) now orange, now silver, now blue. There was a sound like a gigantic bonfire(костер) burning all of the Time, all the years, and all the hours set aflame. A touch of the hand and this burning would reverse itself. Eckels remembered the words in the advertisement. A touch of a hand might do it, only one touch of a hand.
Eckels breathed, the light of the Machine on his thin face, ''A real Time Machine.'' He shook his head. ''If the election(выборы) has gone badly yesterday, I might be here now running away from the results. Thank God Keith won. He'll make a fine President of the United States.''
''Yes,'' said the man behind the desk. ''We're lucky. If Deutscher had gotten in, we'd have the worst kind of dictatorship. People called us up, you know, joking but not joking. Said if Deutscher became President they wanted to go live in 1492. Of course it's not our business to conduct Escapes, but to form Safaris. Anyway, Keith's President now. All you got to worry about is - ''
''Shooting my dinosaur,'' Eckels finished it for him.
''A Tyrannosaurs rex. The Thunder Lizard, the most horrible monster in history. Sign this paper. Anything happens to you,