The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son. Lois Lowry

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СКАЧАТЬ off this old body.”

      “But it was such fun! And now you don’t have it any more! I took it from you!”

      But the old man laughed. “All I gave you was one ride, on one sledge, in one snow, on one hill. I have a whole world of them in my memory. I could give them to you one by one, a thousand times, and there would still be more.”

      “Are you saying that I – I mean we – could do it again?” Jonas asked. “I’d really like to. I think I could steer, by pulling the rope. I didn’t try this time, because it was so new.”

      The old man, laughing, shook his head. “Maybe another day, for a treat. But there’s no time, really, just to play. I only wanted to begin by showing you how it works.

      “Now,” he said, turning businesslike, “lie back down. I want to—”

      Jonas did. He was eager for whatever experience would come next. But he had, suddenly, so many questions.

      “Why don’t we have snow, and sledges, and hills?” he asked. “And when did we, in the past? Did my parents have sledges when they were young? Did you?”

      The old man shrugged and gave a short laugh. “No,” he told Jonas. “It’s a very distant memory. That’s why it was so exhausting – I had to tug it forward from many generations back. It was given to me when I was a new Receiver, and the previous Receiver had to pull it through a long time period, too.”

      “But what happened to those things? Snow, and the rest of it?”

      “Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.

      “And hills, too,” he added. “They made conveyance of goods unwieldy. Trucks; buses. Slowed them down. So …” He waved his hand, as if a gesture had caused hills to disappear. “Sameness,” he concluded.

      Jonas frowned. “I wish we had those things, still. Just now and then.”

      The old man smiled. “So do I,” he said. “But that choice is not ours.”

      “But sir,” Jonas suggested, “since you have so much power—”

      The man corrected him. “Honour,” he said firmly. “I have great honour. So will you. But you will find that that is not the same as power.

      “Lie quietly now. Since we’ve entered into the topic of climate, let me give you something else. And this time I’m not going to tell you the name of it, because I want to test the receiving. You should be able to perceive the name without being told. I gave away snow and sledge and downhill and runners by telling them to you in advance.”

      Without being instructed, Jonas closed his eyes again. He felt the hands on his back again. He waited.

      Now it came more quickly, the feelings. This time the hands didn’t become cold, but instead began to feel warm on his body. They moistened a little. The warmth spread, extending across his shoulders, up his neck, on to the side of his face. He could feel it through his clothed parts, too: a pleasant, all-over sensation; and when he licked his lips this time, the air was hot and heavy.

      He didn’t move. There was no sledge. His posture didn’t change. He was simply alone somewhere, out of doors, lying down, and the warmth came from far above. It was not as exciting as the ride through the snowy air, but it was pleasurable and comforting.

      Suddenly he perceived the word for it: sunshine. He perceived that it came from the sky.

      Then it ended.

      “Sunshine,” he said aloud, opening his eyes.

      “Good. You did get the word. That makes my job easier. Not so much explaining.”

      “And it came from the sky.”

      “That’s right,” the old man said. “Just the way it used to.”

      “Before Sameness. Before Climate Control,” Jonas added.

      The man laughed. “You receive well, and learn quickly. I’m very pleased with you. That’s enough for today, I think. We’re off to a good start.”

      There was a question bothering Jonas. “Sir,” he said, “the Chief Elder told me – she told everyone – and you told me, too, that it would be painful. So I was a little scared. But it didn’t hurt at all. I really enjoyed it.” He looked quizzically at the old man.

      The man sighed. “I started you with memories of pleasure. My previous failure gave me the wisdom to do that.” He took a few deep breaths. “Jonas,” he said, “it will be painful. But it need not be painful yet.”

      “I’m brave. I really am.” Jonas sat up a little straighter.

      The old man looked at him for a moment. He smiled. “I can see that,” he said. “Well, since you asked the question – I think I have enough energy for one more transmission.

      “Lie down once more. This will be the last today.”

      Jonas obeyed cheerfully. He closed his eyes, waiting, and felt the hands again; then he felt the warmth again, the sunshine again, coming from the sky of this other consciousness that was so new to him. This time, as he lay basking in the wonderful warmth, he felt the passage of time. His real self was aware that it was only a minute or two; but his other, memory-receiving self felt hours pass in the sun. His skin began to sting. Restlessly he moved one arm, bending it, and felt a sharp pain in the crease of his inner arm at the elbow.

      “Ouch,” he said loudly, and shifted on the bed. “Owwww,” he said, wincing at the shift, and even moving his mouth to speak made his face hurt.

      He knew there was a word, but the pain kept him from grasping it.

      Then it ended. He opened his eyes, wincing with discomfort. “It hurt,” he told the man, “and I couldn’t get the word for it.”

      “It was sunburn,” the old man told him.

      “It hurt a lot,” Jonas said, “but I’m glad you gave it to me. It was interesting. And now I understand better, what it meant, that there would be pain.”

      The man didn’t respond. He sat silently for a second. Finally he said, “Get up, now. It’s time for you to go home.”

      They both walked to the centre of the room. Jonas put his tunic back on. “Goodbye, sir,” he said. “Thank you for my first day.”

      The old man nodded to him. He looked drained, and a little sad.

      “Sir?” Jonas said shyly.

      “Yes? Do you have a question?”

      “It’s just that I don’t know your name. I thought you were the Receiver, but you say that now I’m the Receiver. So I don’t know what to call you.”

      The man had sat back down in the comfortable upholstered chair. He moved his shoulders around as if to ease away an СКАЧАТЬ