Riddley Walker (Russell Hoban) читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги

3

This is stil that same day Im writing down here. The day my dad got kilt. We put the dogs head on the poal on top of the gate house. Lorna Elswint up there with it. Littl Kids zanting down be low. Playing Black Pack and singing:

Ful of the Moon Ful of the Moon

Ful of the Moon nor dont look back

Folleree Folleroo on your track

Oo hoo hoo Yoop yaroo

Folleree Folleroo follering you

If they catch you in the darga

Arga warga

Lorna she lookit oven the side she said to the kids, “There aint no Ful Moon this nite there aint no Black Pack running. Its 2 days pas the Ful.”

Littl Nimbel Potter he said, “3rd of the Ful and stil shewl pul. My dad he seen Riddley Walker kil that dog and my dad he said that dog wil fetch.”

Lorna said, “Fetch what?”

Nimbel said, “Fetch some 1 over to the dog peopl.” He laid his head over on 1 side to show his neck and he showit his teef like he wer a dog and going to bite.

Lorna said, “Nimbel you ever seen any dog peopl?”

Nimbel said, “O yes Ive seen them times a nuff.”

Lorna said, “Whatd they look like then?”

Nimbel said, “They throw a wite shadder dont they. Every body knows that.” He ternt his self roun then and gone back to playing with the others. Singing:

Gennl men wil do it front to back

When they do it with the ladys of the Ful Moon pack

All the ladys do it back to front

When they drop ther nickers and they show ther

Moony in the holler moony on the hil

If you wont do it then your sister wil

I gone up on the gate house and looking at the head. The day gone colder. The muddling from the rains froze hard and the calling of the crows col on the air. Looking at that old leaders woar down teef.

Lorna said to me, “You heard the story of why the dog wont show its eyes?”

I said, “No I never.”

She said, “Thats what happens with peopl on the way down from what they ben. The storys go.” She tol me the story then. This is it wrote down the same:

Why the Dog Wont Show Its Eyes

Time back way way back befor peopl got clevver they had the 1st knowing. They los it when they got the clevverness and now the clevverness is gone as wel.

Every thing has a shape and so does the nite only you cant see the shape of nite nor you cant think it. If you put your self right you can know it. Not with knowing in your head but with the 1st knowing. Where the number creaper grows on the dead stoans and the groun is sour for 3 days digging the nite stil knows the shape of its self tho we dont. Some times the nite is the shape of a ear only it aint a ear we know the shape of. Lissening back for all the souns whatre gone from us. The hummering of the dead towns and the voyces befor the towns ben there. Befor the iron ben and fire ben only littl. Lissening for whats coming as wel.

Time back way way back 1 time it wer Ful of the Moon and a man and woman sqwatting by then littl fire. Sqwatting by ther littl fire and afeart of the nite. The dog wer in the nite and looking tords the fire. It wernt howling it wer jus looking at the fire. The man and woman seen the fire shyning in the dogs eyes. The man throwit meat to the dog and the dog come in to them by the fire. Brung its eyes in out of the nite then they all lookit at the nite to gether. The man and the woman seen the nite in the dogs eyes and thats when they got the 1st knowing of it. They knowit the nite the same as the dog knowit.

You know what they got 1st knowing of. She has diffrent ways she shows her self. Shes that same 1 shows her moon self or she jus shows her old old nite and no moon. Shes that same 1 every thing and all of us come out of. Shes what she is. Shes a woman when shes Nite and shes a woman when shes Death. The nite bearths the day. Every day has the shape of the nite what it come out of. The man as knows that shape can go in to the nite in the nite and the nite in the day time. The woman as knows that shape can be the nite and take the day in her and bearth the new day.

Wel they got that 1st knowing they got it looking in the dogs eyes in the Ful of the Moon. When the man and woman got that 1st knowing from the dog they made a contrack with the dog in the Ful of the Moon. They roadit on to gether with the dog and foraging to gether. Dint have no mor fear in the nite they put ther self right day and nite that wer the good time. Then they begun to think on it a littl. They said, “If the 1st knowing is this good what myt the 2nd knowing and the 3rd be and so on?”

They cawt a goat and lookit in its eye. You know what eye the goat has its the clevver eye. The man and woman looking in that clevver eye and they thot: Why shud we be foraging the woal time? They cawt other goats they made a fents and pent them up. They gethert weat and barly they had bread and beer then they wernt moving on the lan no mor they startit in to form it. Stoppit in 1 place then with sheds and stock and growings. They wernt outside in the nite no mor they wer inside looking out. The nite jus lookit dark to them they dint see nothing else to it no mor. They los out of memberment the shapes of nite and worrit for ther parpety they myt get snuck and raidit. They made the dog keap look out for ther parpety.

Every morning they were counting every thing to see if any thing ben took off in the nite. How many goats how many cows how many measurs weat and barly. Cudnt stop ther counting which wer clevverness and making mor the same. They said, “Them as counts counts moren them as dont count.”

Counting counting they wer all the time. They had iron then and big fire they had towns of parpety. They had machines et numbers up. They fed them numbers and they fractiont out the Power of things. They had the Nos. of the rain bow and the Power of the air all workit out with counting which is how they got boats in the air and picters on the wind. Counting clevverness is what it wer.

When they had all them things and marvelsome they cudnt sleap realy they dint have no res. They wer stressing ther self and straining all the time with counting. They said, “What good is nite its only dark time it aint no good for nothing only them as want to sly and sneak and take our parpety a way.” They los out of memberment who nite wer. They jus wantit day time all the time and they wer going to do it with the Master Chaynjis.

They had the Nos. of the sun and moon all fractiont out and fed to the machines. They said, “Wewl put all the Nos. in to 1 Big 1 and that wil be the No. of the Master Chaynjis.” They bilt the Power Ring thats where you see the Ring Ditch now. They put in the 1 Big 1 and woosht it roun there come a flash of lite then bigger nor the woal worl and it ternt the nite to day. Then every thing gone black. Nothing only nite for years on end. Playgs kilt peopl off and naminals nor there wernt nothing growit in the groun. Man and woman starveling in the blackness looking for the dog to eat it and the dog out looking to eat them the same. Finely there come day agen then nite and day regler but never like it ben befor. Day beartht crookit out of crookit nite and sickness in them boath.

Now man and woman go afeart by nite afeart by day. The dog all lorn and wishful it keaps howling for the nites whatre gone for ever. It wont show its eyes no mor it wont show the man and woman no 1st knowing. Come Ful of the Moon the sadness gets too much the dog goes mad. It follers on the man and womans track and arga warga if it catches them.

The fires col

My storys tol

I said to Lorna, “I thot it ben Eusa made the 1 Big 1.”

Lorna said, “I never said he dint.”

I said, “Wel you jus tol in this story it ben that man and woman done it plus they bilt the Power Ring and all.”

She said, “You hear diffrent things in all them way back storys but it dont make no diffrents. Mosly they aint strait storys any how. What they are is diffrent ways of telling what happent.”

I said, “Ben there a strait story past down amongst the tel women?”

She said, “There bint no tel women time back way back. Nor there aint never ben no strait story I ever heard. Bint no writing for 100s and 100s of years til it begun agen nor you wunt never get a strait story past down by mouf over that long. Onlyes writing I know of is the Eusa Story which that aint nothing strait but at leas its stayd the same. All them other storys tol by mouf they ben put to and took from and changit so much thru the years theyre all bits and blips and all mixt up.”

I said, “That about the 1st knowing in the story. How they got it looking in the dogs eyes. Be that blip or jus a way of saying or what?”

She said, “Why you asking?”

I said, “Wel that old dog I kilt I lookit in its eyes dint I. Nor I never got no 1st knowing out of it did I.”

She said, “May be you got it only you dont know it yet.”

I said, “Have you got it?”

She said, “Every bodys got it its in every 1 of us only we cant get to it til it comes to us 1 way or a nother.”

I said, “Its come to you aint it.”

She said, “Yes its come to me nor there aint no use asking what it is becaws its what there aint no words for.”

Wel any way thats the story of why the dog wont show its eyes.

Back then in this time I ben writing of I never knowit any 1 ben dog kilt only a kid it wer Follery Digman he got dog et years back. It wer Ful of the Moon and he staggelt behynt a trade crowd coming back. Some times other times of mooning it lookit to me like the dogs ben near ready to come frendy only it never happent. Nor I never heard of no 1 tame a pup. Heard of some 1 got 1 1ce I dont know how they done it. They never tamit tho. Soons it got big a nuff it dug unner the fents and gone.

Theres dogs in the Eusa Story. Folleree & Folleroo. Theyre mor blip dogs nor real 1s tho.