Lost World. Poison Belt

For the sake of the girl, journalist Edward Melone asks his superiors for a dangerous task, and he is sent to expose Professor Challenger, who claims to have found a plateau with prehistoric dinosaurs in South America. Melone does not report to the police after the fight with Challenger, inspiring confidence in the professor. At the conference, Challenger proposes sending an expedition to prove his case. Together with him, the skeptic Professor Summerlee, the hunter Lord John Roxton and Malone are called.

They hire the Negro Sambo, the mestizo Gomez and the Indians. A pterodactyl attacks the expedition camp under the plateau, and a shocked Summerlee apologizes to his colleague. Later, the heroes walk onto the plateau along a felled tree from a cliff. Gomez drops the tree, wanting to take revenge on Roxton for the death of his brother, the lord immediately shoots him. The Indians run away, Sambo goes down to the camp to wait for the travelers. On the plateau, members of the expedition meet various dinosaurs. Challenger refuses to return to London without a map. Melone climbs a tree, from where he sketches the territory. Inspired, at night he independently inspects the island. At the lake in the center of the plateau, Malone discovers traces of a man.

The young man does not find anyone in the camp. A day later, Roxton wakes him up and says that that night the apes attacked the camp, mistaking Challenger for the relatives of their leader, and taking Summerlee and Roxton prisoner; Challenger surreptitiously released the hunter. Armed, Roxton and Malone rescue friends and captive Indians, including the son of a tribal leader who is at war with the apes. The Indians admire the "aliens" and their weapons, together they defeat the apes, and their females and cubs are taken prisoner. The chief's son shows how to descend from the plateau.

In London, at a conference, Professor Challenger releases a living pterodactyl from its cage, it breaks out and flies away. Malone learns that Gladys is the wife of an ordinary clerk, and agrees to a new trip to the plateau.

Sometimes the reward for all our efforts is not what we expected.

Picture or drawing Lost world

Other retellings for the reader's diary

• Summary of Pilnyak's Tale of the Unextinguished Moon

  Having received reports from the employees, Army Commander Nikolai Gavrilov is talking with his close friend Alexei Popov, who barely managed to get into his car. In the morning papers they write

• Summary In the same land of Rasputin

  The story is about an elderly lady named Pashuta. The heroine worked in the kitchen all her life. She had to make a difficult path from the dishwasher to the manager.

• Summary Chekhov Up the stairs

  A certain Dolbonosov, an adviser from a county town, somehow comes to St. Petersburg on official business, where he unexpectedly ends up with Prince Fingalov for a party. Here he accidentally meets a young lawyer, a student of Shchepotkin, which was very surprised.

• Summary of Gorky's Passion-Muzzle

  A young guy pulls a drunk woman out of a puddle at night. He accompanies her home and enters the basement room. The room is dark, smelly and dirty.

• Summary Paper victory Ulitskaya

  The story Paper Victory, included in a series of works by Lyudmila Ulitskaya called Childhood 49, tells about a boy named Gene Pirapletchikov. In addition to the stupid last name, which the guy regarded as an insult

It is interesting to imagine what would have happened if the dinosaurs had not died out, but still lived in some part of the Earth. Surely, this would arouse the interest of all scientists. The reader has a good opportunity to make a trip to such a place with the help of Arthur Conan Doyle's book The Lost World. The novel was released about a century ago, but remains a popular adventure work and has been filmed more than once. Events quickly replace one another, the writer does not stop to reason, the characters get into dangerous situations, you worry about them and do not notice how you turn page after page. This book was the first in a series about the adventures of the Challenger.

The novel tells about a unique British expedition to the uncharted lands of America. Professor Challenger found the notes of a deceased scientist, which told about the lost world. Civilization did not reach there, and therefore dinosaurs, apes and primitive people still live there. Using the found diary, the professor went to that place, but as proof he was able to get only the wing of the lizard and take a few photographs. This was too little to prove the existence of the lost world in the scientific community.

Aspiring journalist Eduard Melone wants to win the heart of his beloved, and therefore asks the publisher for a more difficult task in order to impress the girl. Then he is sent to interview the taciturn and strange Professor Challenger. The journalist manages to find a common language with the professor, and later he goes with him on a scientific expedition in search of the lost world. Also with them goes the skeptical scientist Summerlee and the traveler Roxton. What awaits them in uncharted lands? What dangers do they pose?

The work belongs to the fantasy genre. It was published in 1912 by the White City publishing house. This book is part of the Professor Challenger series. On our site you can download the book "The Lost World" in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format or read online. The rating of the book is 4.45 out of 5. Here, before reading, you can also refer to the reviews of readers who are already familiar with the book and find out their opinion. In the online store of our partner you can buy and read the book in paper form.

Released in 1912.

This is the first book in the Professor Challenger series. The novel describes the adventures of a British expedition to South America. On a rocky inaccessible plateau (a reference to the table mountain Roraima), Challenger and his companions (Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton and reporter Malone, on whose behalf the story is being told) discover the "lost world" - an area inhabited by dinosaurs, mammals, apes and primitive people of the Stone Age .

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 2

✪ Wilderness Lost World Ancient Tepui Venezuela

✪ Lost World Of Pompeii (Ancient Rome Documentary) | Timeline

Subtitles

Plot

Trying to woo the beautiful Gladys, a young Irish journalist, Edward Malone, asks his publisher to give him some "dangerous assignment." Editor McArdle instructs him to interview the reclusive and eccentric Professor George Challenger, a well-known brawler and hater of journalists. Melone's first meeting with the professor ends in a fight, however, Melone manages to get Challenger's sympathy without filing a police complaint. The professor explains to the journalist the reason for his disagreement with the scientific world - once, during a trip to South America, the scientist discovered the body of a naturalist named Maple White in a small village. After examining the diary of the deceased, Challenger discovered that it contained sketches of a completely unexplored area, as well as dinosaurs next to people. Using the diary, the professor made a trip to the indicated place, which the local natives are very afraid of, considering it the abode of the evil spirit Kurupuri, and discovered a giant plateau, where he shot an animal that turned out to be a prehistoric pterodactyl. He brought with him a lizard wing and some photographs - rather weak evidence in favor of his theory.

The prototype of the Challenger expedition itself was the expedition of Major P. G. Fossett, a friend of A. Conan Doyle, a well-known traveler who conducted topographic surveys in the upper reaches of the Amazon basin and, at the same time, searched for lost Indian cities there, which were reported by Spanish and Portuguese pioneers. From the borders of Venezuela to the places of Fossett's research, the action of the novel was transferred. According to Fossett, some animals of the “lost world” are also described - a large water snake of Lake Gledis and apes. The prototype of the first is a 19-meter anaconda, which was, according to Fossett, killed by him, the prototype of the second is the Marikoska tribe met by Fossett. Both Fossett's messages, as well as the message about the possibility of the existence of cities lost in the selva and, for example, black jaguars, were repeatedly ridiculed by contemporaries. Now black jaguars can be seen in the zoo, at the end of the 20th century, the fossil remains of an anaconda, the size of Fosset's, but extinct, were discovered (the so-called "megaboa" [ ]), and already in the 21st century, original ceramics were discovered in the selva, which indicates the existence of settled Indian settlements in the recent past. [

Current page: 1 (the book has 15 pages in total)

Arthur Conan Doyle
lost World

© Translation. Volzhina N.A., heritage, 2017

© Nerucheva V.A., ill., 2017

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2017

* * *

Chapter I
Man is the creator of his own glory

Mr. Hungerton, the father of my Gladys, was an unbelievably tactless man, and looked like an untidy cockatoo with fluffy feathers, very good-natured, it is true, but preoccupied exclusively with his own person. If anything could put me off Gladys, it was my extreme reluctance to have a stupid father-in-law. I am convinced that Mr. Hungerton attributed my visits to the Chestnuts three times a week solely to the values ​​of his society, and especially to his discourses on bimetallism, a subject in which he considered himself a great expert.

That evening I listened to his monotonous chirping for more than an hour about the depreciation of silver, the depreciation of money, the fall of the rupee, and the need to establish a proper monetary system.

“Imagine that all of a sudden, all the debts in the world need to be paid immediately and at the same time! he exclaimed in a weak but terrified voice. – What will happen then under the existing order of things?

I, as was to be expected, said that in such a case I was in danger of ruin, but Mr. Hungerton, dissatisfied with my answer, jumped up from his chair, scolded me for my usual frivolity, depriving him of the opportunity to discuss serious matters with me, and ran out of the room to change clothes. to the Masonic meeting.

Finally, I was alone with Gladys! The moment on which my future fate depended has arrived. All that evening I felt like a soldier waiting for the signal to attack, when the hope of victory is replaced in his soul by the fear of defeat.

Gladys was seated by the window, her proud thin profile set off by a crimson curtain. How beautiful she was! And at the same time, how far away from me! She and I were friends, great friends, but I never managed to get her beyond the kind of relationship I could have with any of my fellow Daily Gazette reporters, purely camaraderie, kind, and genderless. I hate it when a woman is too loose with me, too bold. This does not honor the man. If a feeling arises, it should be accompanied by modesty, alertness - a legacy of those harsh times when love and cruelty often went hand in hand. Not an impudent look, but an evasive, not glib answers, but a breaking voice, a bowed head - these are the true signs of passion. Despite my youth, I knew this, or perhaps such knowledge came to me from my distant ancestors and became what we call instinct.

Gladys was gifted with all the qualities that attract us so much in a woman. Some considered her cold and callous, but such thoughts seemed like a betrayal to me. Delicate skin, swarthy, almost like that of oriental women, raven-colored hair, lanky eyes, full but beautifully defined lips - all this spoke of a passionate nature. However, I sadly admitted to myself that so far I had not succeeded in winning her love. But come what may - enough uncertainty! I'll get an answer from her tonight. Maybe she will refuse me, but it is better to be a rejected admirer than to be content with the role of a modest brother!

These were the thoughts roaming in my head, and I was about to break the long awkward silence, when I suddenly felt the critical look of dark eyes on me and saw that Gladys was smiling, reproachfully shaking her proud head.

“I sense, Ned, that you are going to propose to me. No need. Let everything be the same as before, so much better.

I moved closer to her.

– Why did you guess? My surprise was genuine.

“As if we women don’t feel it beforehand!” Do you really think that we can be taken by surprise? Ah, Ned! I felt so good and pleased with you! Why spoil our friendship? You do not appreciate at all that here we are - a young man and a young woman - can talk to each other so naturally.

“Really, I don’t know, Gladys. You see, what's the matter ... I could just as naturally talk to ... well, let's say, with the head of the railway station. - I don’t understand where he came from, this boss, but the fact remains: this official suddenly grew up in front of us and made us both laugh. “No, Gladys, I expect much more. I want to hug you, I want your head pressed against my chest. Gladys, I want...

Seeing that I was about to put my words into practice, Gladys quickly got up from her chair.

“Ned, you ruined everything!” - she said. - How good and simple it is until this comes! Can't you pull yourself together?

But I'm not the first to think of this! I pleaded. “It's human nature. Such is love.

- Yes, if love is mutual, then, probably, everything is different. But I have never experienced this feeling.

- You with your beauty, with your heart! Gladys, you were made for love! You must love!

“Then you have to wait for love to come by itself.

"But why don't you love me, Gladys?" What is stopping you - my appearance or something else?

And then Gladys softened a little. She held out her hand - how much grace and condescension was in this gesture! and pulled back my head. Then she looked into my face with a sad smile.

“No, that's not the point,” she said. “You are not a vain boy, and I can boldly admit that this is not the case. Everything is much more serious than you think.

- My character?

She bowed her head sternly.

- I'll fix it, just tell me what you need. Sit down and let's discuss everything. Well, I won't, I won't, just sit down!

Gladys looked at me, as if doubting the sincerity of my words, but her doubt was dearer to me than complete trust. How primitive and stupid it all looks on paper! But maybe that's just how it seems to me? Whatever it was, but Gladys sat down in a chair.

“Now tell me, why are you unhappy?”

- I love another one.

It was my turn to jump up.

“Don't be alarmed, I'm talking about my ideal,” Gladys explained, looking at my changed face with a laugh. “I have never met such a person in my life.

- Tell me what it is! What does he look like?

“He might look a lot like you.

- How kind you are! Then what am I missing? One word from you is enough! That he is a teetotaler, a vegetarian, an aeronaut, a theosophist, a superman? I agree to everything, Gladys, just tell me what you need!

Such pliability made her laugh.

- First of all, it is unlikely that my ideal would speak like that. He is a much more firm, harsh nature and will not want to adapt so readily to stupid female whims. But what is most important - he is a man of action, a man who fearlessly looks death in the eyes, a man of great deeds, rich in experience, and unusual experience. I will love not him himself, but his glory, because its reflection will fall on me too. Think Richard Burton. When I read the biography of this man, written by his wife, it became clear to me why she loved him. And Lady Stanley? Do you remember the wonderful last chapter from her book about her husband? These are the kind of men a woman should bow to! Here is a love that does not diminish, but exalts, because the whole world will honor such a woman as the inspirer of great deeds!

Gladys was so beautiful at that moment that I almost broke the sublime tone of our conversation, but restrained myself in time and continued the argument.

“Not everyone can be Burtons and Stanleys,” I said. - Yes, and there is no such possibility. I, in any case, did not introduce myself, but I would have taken advantage of it!

- No, such cases are presented at every turn. That is the essence of my ideal, that he himself goes towards achievement. No obstacles will stop him. I have not yet found such a hero, but I see him as alive. Yes, man is the creator of his own glory. Men should perform feats, and women should reward heroes with love. Remember that young Frenchman who went up in a hot air balloon a few days ago. A hurricane was raging that morning, but the rise was announced in advance, and he would never want to postpone it. In a day, the balloon was carried one and a half thousand miles, somewhere in the very center of Russia, where this daredevil landed. That's the kind of person I'm talking about. Think of the woman who loves him. What, probably, it arouses envy in others! Let them also envy me that my husband is a hero!

“I would do the same for you!”

- Just for me? No, that won't do! You must go on a feat because you cannot otherwise, because such is your nature, because the masculine principle in you requires its expression. For example, you wrote about the explosion at the coal mine in Vigan. And why didn't you go down there yourself and help people who were suffocating from suffocating gas?

- I went down.

“You didn't say anything about it.

- What's so special about it?

- I did not know that. She looked at me with interest. - A brave deed!

“I had nothing else to do. If you want to write a good essay, you have to visit the scene yourself.

- What a prosaic motive! It ruins all the romance. But still, I am very glad that you went down into the mine.

I couldn't help but kiss the hand that was extended to me - there was so much grace and dignity in this movement.

- You probably think I'm crazy, not parted with girlish dreams. But they are so real to me! I can't help but follow them - it has entered my flesh and blood. If I ever marry, it will be only for a famous person.

– How could it be otherwise! I exclaimed. - Who should inspire men, if not such women! Let me just have the right opportunity, and then we'll see if I can take advantage of it. You say that a person should create his own glory, and not wait for it to come into his hands. Yes, at least Clive! Modest clerk, but conquered India! No, I swear to you, I'll show the world what I'm capable of!

Gladys laughed at my outburst of Irish temperament.

- Well, go ahead. You have everything for this - youth, health, strength, education, energy. I felt very sad when you started this conversation. And now I'm glad that he awakened such thoughts in you.

- What if I...

Her hand, like soft velvet, touched my lips.

- Not another word, sir! You are already half an hour late to the editorial office! I just didn't have the heart to remind you of it. But in time, if you win your place in the world, we may resume our conversation today.

And that is why I, so happy, caught up with the Camberwell tram that foggy November evening, determined not to miss a single day in search of a great deed that would be worthy of my fair lady. But who could have foreseen what incredible forms this deed would take and by what strange paths I would arrive at it.

The reader, perhaps, will say that this introductory chapter has no connection with my story, but without it there would be no story itself, for who, if not a man, inspired by the thought that he himself is the creator of his glory, and ready for any feat , is able to break so decisively with his usual way of life and set off at random into a country shrouded in mysterious twilight, where great adventures await him and a great reward for them!

Imagine how I, the fifth spoke in the Daily Gazette's chariot, spent that evening in the editorial office, when an unshakable decision ripened in my head: if I can, today I will find an opportunity to perform a feat that will be worthy of my Gladys. What drove this girl who made me risk my life for the sake of her glorification - heartlessness, selfishness? Such thoughts can be embarrassing in adulthood, but not at twenty-three years old, when a person knows the ardor of first love.

Chapter II
Try your luck with Professor Challenger

I've always liked our Breaking News editor, the grumpy, red-headed McArdle, and I guess he's been kind to me too. Beaumont, of course, was our real master, but he usually lived in the rarefied atmosphere of the Olympian heights, from where only such events as international crises or the collapse of the cabinet were revealed to his eyes. Sometimes we saw how he majestically marches to his sanctuary, his eyes fixed on space and his mind wandering somewhere in the Balkans or in the Persian Gulf. For us, Beaumont remained out of reach, and we usually dealt with McArdle, who was his right hand.

When I entered the editorial office, the old man nodded to me and pushed his glasses to his bald head.

“Well, Mr. Malone, from everything I hear, you are making progress,” he said affably.

I thanked him.

“Your essay on the mine explosion is excellent. The same can be said about the correspondence about the fire in Southwark. You have all the data of a good journalist. Have you come for any business?

“I want to ask you for one favor.

McArdle's eyes darted around fearfully.

- Hm! Hm! What's the matter?

“Could you, sir, send me on some errand for our newspaper?” I will do my best and bring you interesting material.

“What mission do you mean, Mr. Malone?”

“Anything, sir, as long as it is adventurous and dangerous. I won't let the paper down, sir. And the harder it is for me, the better.

“You don’t seem to be averse to saying goodbye to life?”

“No, I don't want it to go to waste, sir.

“My dear Mr. Malone, you are too…too soaring. Times are not right. Spending on special correspondents has ceased to justify itself. And, in any case, such instructions are given to a person with a name who has already won the trust of the public. The white spots on the map have been filled for a long time, and for no reason at all you dreamed about romantic adventures! However, wait…” he added, and suddenly smiled. - By the way, about white spots. But what if we debunk one charlatan, the modern Munchausen, and ridicule him? Why don't you expose his lies? It will be good. Well, how do you look at it?

- Anything, anywhere - I'm ready for anything!

McArdle was lost in thought.

“There is one person,” he said at last, “but I don’t know if you can get to know him or even get an interview. However, you seem to have a gift for winning over people. I don’t understand what’s the matter here - either you are such a handsome young man, or it’s animal magnetism, or your cheerfulness - but I experienced it myself.

“You are very kind to me, sir.

"Well, why don't you try your luck with Professor Challenger?" He lives in Enmore Park.

I must confess that I was somewhat taken aback by this proposal.

- Challenger? The famous zoologist Professor Challenger? Isn't that the one that cracked the skull of Blundell from The Telegraph?

The Breaking News editor chuckled grimly.

- What, you don't like it? You were ready for any adventure.

- No, why not? Anything happens in our business, sir,” I replied.

- Quite right. However, I do not think that he was always in such a ferocious mood. Blundell obviously didn't get to him at the right time, or treated him wrong. I hope that you will be luckier. I also rely on your tact. This is just your part, and the newspaper will gladly publish such material.

“I know absolutely nothing about this Challenger. I only remember his name in connection with the Blundell beating trial,” I said.

“I have some information, Mr. Malone. At one time I was interested in this subject. He took out a sheet of paper from the drawer. - Here is a brief summary of what is known about him: “Challenger George Edward. Born in Largs in 1863. Education: School in Largs, University of Edinburgh. In 1892 he was an assistant at the British Museum. In 1893 he was assistant curator of a department at the Museum of Comparative Anthropology. In the same year, he left this place, exchanging poisonous letters with the director of the museum. He was awarded a medal for scientific research in the field of zoology. Member of foreign societies ... "Well, here follows a long enumeration, ten lines long: the Belgian Society, the American Academy, La Plata and so on, the ex-president of the Paleontological Society, the British Association and the like. Printed works: "On the question of the structure of the skull of the Kalmyks", "Essays on the evolution of vertebrates" and many articles, including "The False Theory of Weismann", which caused heated debate at the Vienna Zoological Congress. Favorite pastimes: hiking, climbing. Address: Enmore Park, Kensington. Here, take this with you. Today I can't help you anymore.

I put the paper in my pocket, and seeing that instead of McArdle's red-cheeked face his pink bald head was looking at me, I said:

- One minute, sir. It is not entirely clear to me on what subject this gentleman should be interviewed. What did he do?

My eyes again met the red-cheeked physiognomy.

– What did he do? Two years ago, he went alone on an expedition to South America. Came back from there last year. He undoubtedly visited South America, but he refuses to specify exactly where. He began to describe his adventures in a very vague way, but after the first cavil he fell silent like an oyster. Apparently, some miracles have happened, unless he is telling us a grand lie, which, by the way, is more than likely. Refers to corrupted photographs, allegedly falsified. He was brought to such a point that he literally began to throw himself at everyone who turned to him with questions, and already knocked down more than one reporter from the stairs. In my opinion, this is simply a layman who dabbles in science and, moreover, is obsessed with the mania of homicide. That's who you'll have to deal with, Mr. Malone. Now march out of here and try to get the best out of him. You are an adult and you can take care of yourself. After all, the risk is not that great, considering the Employers' Liability Act.

The grinning red face again disappeared from my eyes, and I saw a pink oval, bordered by a reddish down. Our conversation was over.

I went to my Savage Club, but on the way I stopped at the parapet of Adelphi Terrace and gazed down at the dark, iridescent oily river for a long time in thought. In the open air, sound, clear thoughts always come to my mind. I took out a sheet of paper with a list of all the exploits of Professor Challenger and ran it through the light of a street lamp. And then inspiration came to me, there is no other way to call it. From what I had already learned about this grumpy professor, it was clear that a reporter could not get through to him. But the scandals mentioned twice in his brief biography indicated that he was a fanatic of science. So, is it possible to play on this weakness of his? Let's try!

I entered the club. It was the beginning of the twelfth, and people were already crowding in the living room, although it was still far from the full gathering. A tall, thin man was sitting in an armchair by the fireplace. He turned to face me the moment I pulled my chair closer to the fire. I could only dream of such a meeting! It was an employee of the magazine "Nature" - a thin, withered Tharp Henry, the kindest creature in the world. I immediately got down to business.

What do you know about Professor Challenger?

“About the Challenger?” Tharp frowned in displeasure. “Challenger is the same man who told all sorts of tales about his trip to South America.

- What stories?

- Yes, he seemed to have discovered some strange animals there. All in all, incredible nonsense. In the future, he seems to have been forced to retract his words. In any case, he was silent. His latest attempt is an interview given to Reuters. But it caused such a storm that he immediately realized that things were bad. This whole story is scandalous. Some took his stories seriously, but he soon pushed those few defenders away from him.

- How?

“His incredible rudeness and outrageous behavior. Poor Wadley of the Zoological Institute was also in trouble. Sent him a letter like this: The President of the Zoological Institute expresses his respects to Professor Challenger and will consider it a courtesy on his part if he will do the institute the honor to attend its next meeting". The answer was completely obscene.

- Do not you say!

– In a very softened form, it sounds like this: “ Professor Challenger expresses his respects to the president of the Zoological Institute and will consider it a courtesy on his part if he fails to hell».

– Lord God!

“Yes, old Wedley must have said the same thing. I remember his cry at the meeting: "For fifty years of communication with scientists ..." The old man completely lost ground under his feet.

“Well, what else can you tell me about this Challenger?”

“But, as you know, I am a bacteriologist. I live in a world that is visible through a microscope that magnifies nine hundred times, and what is revealed to the naked eye is of little interest to me. I stand guard at the very limits of the Knowable, and when I have to leave my office and face people who are clumsy and rude, it always throws me off balance. I am an outsider, I have no time for gossip, but nevertheless, some of the gossip about Challenger reached me, because he is not one of those people who can simply be brushed aside. Challenger is smart. This is a bunch of human strength and vitality, but at the same time he is a rabid fanatic and, moreover, is not shy about the means to achieve his goals. This person has gone so far as to refer to some photographs, obviously falsified, claiming that they were brought from South America.

You called him a fanatic. What is his fanaticism?

- Yes, in anything! His latest escapade is an attack on Weismann's theory of evolution. They say that in Vienna he made a huge scandal about this.

- Can you tell me more about what's going on here?

– No, I can’t right now, but we have translations of the minutes of the Congress of Vienna in our editorial office. If you want to see them, come on, I'll show them to you.

“That would be very helpful. I was instructed to interview this subject, and so we need to find some kind of key to him. Thank you very much for your help. If it's not too late, then let's go.

* * *

Half an hour later, I was sitting in the editorial office of the magazine, and in front of me lay a voluminous volume, open to the article “Weismann v. Darwin,” with the subtitle “Stormy Protests in Vienna. Lively debate. My scientific knowledge is not fundamental, so I could not penetrate into the very essence of the dispute, nevertheless, it immediately became clear to me that the English professor was leading it in an extremely harsh form, which greatly angered his continental colleagues. I paid attention to the first three notes in brackets: “ Protesting exclamations from the seats”, “Noise in the hall”, “General indignation". The rest of the report was real Chinese writing for me. I was so little versed in matters of zoology that I did not understand anything.

- You could at least translate it into human language for me! I pleaded plaintively, turning to my colleague.

Yes, this is the translation!

"Then I'd better go back to the original."

Indeed, it is difficult for the uninitiated to understand what is the matter here.

- I would only extract from all this abracadabra one single meaningful phrase that would contain some definite content! Yep, this one seems to fit. I even almost understand it. Let's rewrite now. Let her serve as a link between me and your formidable professor.

"Is there anything else you want from me?"

- No, no, wait! I want to write to him. If you allow me to write it here and use your address, it will give a more impressive tone to my message.

“Then this individual will immediately come here with a scandal and break all our furniture.

- No, what are you! I will show you the letter. I assure you, there will be nothing offensive.

- Well, sit down at my table. You can find the paper here. And before sending the letter, give it to me for censorship.

I had to work hard, but in the end the results were good. Proud of my work, I read it aloud to a skeptical bacteriologist:

“Dear Professor Challenger! Being a humble natural scientist, I have followed with the deepest interest the assumptions that you made about the contradictions between the theories of Darwin and Weismann. I recently had the opportunity to brush up on your…”

- Shameless liar! Tharp Henry muttered.

– “…Your brilliant speech at the Congress of Vienna. This report, extremely clear in terms of the ideas expressed in it, should be considered the last word in science in the field of natural sciences. However, there is one passage there, namely: “I categorically object to the unacceptable and super-dogmatic assertion that every isolated individual is a microcosm, possessing a historically formed structure of the organism, developed gradually over many generations.” Don't you consider it necessary to introduce some amendments to your point of view in connection with the latest research in this area? Does it have some stretch? Do not refuse the courtesy to receive me, since it is extremely important for me to resolve this issue, and some thoughts that have arisen in my mind can only be developed in a personal conversation. With your permission, I will have the honor to visit you the day after tomorrow (Wednesday) at eleven o'clock in the morning. I remain, sir, your obedient servant

respecting you

Edward D. Malone.

- Well, how? I asked triumphantly.

Well, if your conscience doesn't protest...

“She never let me down.

- I'll go to him. I just want to get into his office, and there I'll figure out how to proceed. You may even have to sincerely repent of everything. If he has an athletic streak, I will only please him with that.

- Please? Be careful that he does not hit you with something heavy. I advise you to put on chain mail or an American football suit. Well, all the best. The answer will be waiting for you here on Wednesday morning, if only he will deign to answer. This is a ferocious, dangerous subject, the object of general dislike and a laughingstock for students, as they are not afraid to tease him. It would probably be better for you if you had never heard of him.

Man is the creator of his own glory

Mr. Hungerton, the father of my Gladys, was an incredible faux pas, and looked like a fluffy old cockatoo, very good-natured, it is true, but preoccupied exclusively with his own person. If anything could turn me away from Gladys, it was my extreme reluctance to acquire such a father-in-law. I am convinced that Mr. Hungerton ascribed my visits to the Chestnuts three times a week solely to the values ​​of his society, and in particular to his discourses on bimetallism, a subject in which he considered himself a great expert.

That evening, I listened to his monotonous chatter for more than an hour about the depreciation of silver, the depreciation of money, the fall of the rupee, and the need to establish a proper monetary system.

Imagine that all the debts in the world were suddenly required to be paid immediately and simultaneously! he exclaimed in a weak but terrified voice. - What will happen with the existing system then?

I, as was to be expected, said that in such a case I would be ruined, but Mr. Hungerton was not pleased with this answer; he jumped up from his chair, scolded me for my constant frivolity, depriving him of the opportunity to discuss serious issues with me, and ran out of the room to change clothes for the Masonic meeting.

Finally, I was alone with Gladys! The moment on which my future fate depended has arrived. All that evening I felt the way a soldier feels when he waits for the signal for a desperate attack, when the hope of victory is replaced in his soul by the fear of defeat.

Gladys was seated by the window, her proud thin profile clearly visible against the crimson curtains. How beautiful she was! And at the same time, how far away from me! She and I were friends, great friends, but I could not manage to get her beyond the purely comradely relations that I could maintain with, say, any of my fellow Daily Gazette reporters - purely comradely, kind and not knowing the difference between the sexes. I hate it when a woman is too loose with me, too bold. This does not honor the man. If a feeling arises, it must be accompanied by modesty, alertness - a legacy of those harsh times when love and cruelty often went hand in hand. Not an impudent look, but an evasive, not glib answers, but a breaking voice, a head bowed down - these are the true signs of passion. Despite my youth, I knew this, or maybe such knowledge came to me from my distant ancestors and became what we call instinct.

Gladys was gifted with all the qualities that draw us so much to a woman. Some considered her cold and callous, but such thoughts seemed like a betrayal to me. Delicate skin, swarthy, almost like that of oriental women, raven-colored hair, lanky eyes, full but beautifully defined lips - all this spoke of a passionate nature. However, I sadly admitted to myself that so far I had not been able to win her love. But come what may - enough uncertainty! I'll get an answer from her tonight. Maybe she will refuse me, but it is better to be a rejected admirer than to be content with the role of a virtuous brother imposed on you!

Having come to this conclusion, I was about to break the protracted awkward silence, when I suddenly felt the critical look of dark eyes on me and saw that Gladys was smiling, reproachfully shaking her proud head.

I sense, Ned, that you are going to propose to me. No need. Let everything be the same, it's much better.

I moved closer to her.

Why did you guess? My surprise was genuine.

As if we women don't feel it beforehand! Do you really think that we can be taken by surprise? Ah, Ned! I felt so good and pleased with you! Why spoil our friendship? You do not appreciate at all that here we are - a young man and a young woman - can talk to each other so naturally.

Really, I don't know, Gladys. You see, what's the matter ... just as at ease I could talk ... well, let's say, with the head of the railway station. - I don’t understand where he came from, this boss, but the fact remains: this official suddenly grew up in front of us and made us both laugh. - No, Gladys, I expect much more. I want to hug you, I want your head pressed against my chest. Gladys, I want...

Seeing that I was about to put my words into practice, Gladys quickly got up from her chair.

Ned, you ruined everything! - she said. - How good and simple it is until this comes! Can't you pull yourself together? But I'm not the first to think of this! I pleaded. - It's human nature. Such is love.

Yes, if the love is mutual, then it's probably different. But I have never experienced this feeling.

You with your beauty, with your heart! Gladys, you were made for love! You must love.

Then you have to wait for love to come by itself.

But why don't you love me, Gladys? What is stopping you - my appearance or something else?

And then Gladys softened a little. She held out her hand - how much grace and indulgence was in this gesture! and pulled back my head. Then she looked into my face with a sad smile.

No, that's not the point, she said. - You are not a conceited boy, and I can safely admit that this is not the case. It's much more serious than you think.

My character?

She bowed her head sternly.

I'll fix it, just tell me what you need. Sit down and let's discuss everything. Well, I won't, I won't, just sit down!

Gladys looked at me, as if doubting the sincerity of my words, but her doubt was dearer to me than complete trust. How primitive and stupid it all looks on paper! But maybe that's just how it seems to me? Whatever it was, but Gladys sat down in a chair.

Now tell me, what are you unhappy with?

I love another one.

It was my turn to jump up.

Don't be afraid, I'm talking about my ideal, - Gladys explained, looking at my changed face with a laugh. “I have never met such a person in my life.

Tell me what he is! What does he look like?

He may be very similar to you.

How kind you are! Then what am I missing? One word from you is enough! That he is a teetotaler, a vegetarian, an aeronaut, a theosophist, a superman? I agree to everything, Gladys, just tell me what you need!

Such pliability made her laugh.

First of all, it is unlikely that my ideal would speak like that. He is a much more firm, harsh nature and will not want to adapt so readily to stupid female whims. But what is most important - he is a man of action, a man who fearlessly looks death in the eyes, a man of great deeds, rich in experience, and unusual experience. I will love not him himself, but his glory, because its reflection will fall on me too. Think Richard Burton. When I read the biography of this man, written by his wife, it became clear to me why she loved him. And Lady Stanley? Do you remember the wonderful last chapter from her book about her husband? These are the kind of men a woman should bow to! Here is a love that does not diminish, but exalts, because the whole world will honor such a woman as the inspirer of great deeds!