– You named him Adam?
– This name was given it for fun, and then was assigned to it. Exclusively interesting copy. But … – professor Likorn sighed – if you knew how many he brought to me cares and troubles! At first I, certainly, could not release him from prison. He had to be trained as an animal. But he missed locked up. And when it «was a little civilized», I began to take it with myself on walk. It is attached to me and is obedient as a dog.
When I for the first time went with it to the Luxembourg garden, he literally went gaga over. And before I came round, he already climbed up a tree and cried for joy so that the walking children with crying in horror jumped aside aside. The watchman hardened from such sacrilege. Another time Adam rushed to the pool of the fountain of Carnot – he wanted to bathe. At the Place de la Concorde he climbed up a horse statue, having gathered around himself crowd of gapers…
Clothilda laughed. She listened to it with great interest.
– Once, when we came back with Adam on the carrier, to him bothered to go too slowly. Adam seized the carrier by a collar, put off from a trestle, one jump of villages astride a horse and rushed off at full speed.
Clothilda again loudly burst out laughing.
– You will not retell everything. And on my head protocols, penalties, trials pour. Shampollio-na Street where we live with it, was simply completely terrorized. At first the administration of Sorbonne disentangled me from a trouble, also the Ministry of Public Education sometimes came to the rescue. But eventually they were bothered by it. Fortunately, Adam considerably settled down. He already decently speaks French. I already rejoiced that with its wild tricks is through, and here the day before yesterday this unpleasant case with you…
– Let’s not speak about this case, dear professor. Tell better as you managed to tear off from native mountains of a biped young of wild animal and to transport to Paris.
– I prepare for printing my traveling diary. If you are interested, I can give you proof-sheets.
– Lovely professor, as I am grateful to you! Tomorrow send. – Clothilda fitfully got up and reaped both hands of Likorn.
III. DIARY OF PROFESSOR LIKORN
Next day the maid gave morning mail on a tray.
– It is the diary! – Clothilda exclaimed. – Mari, today I accept nobody.
When the maid left, Clothilda with nervous haste broke off a big envelope, took seat in a deep chair and began to read.
«June 11. When I went to an expedition to the Himalayas, one my colleague playfully wished me to meet among eternal snow of mountain tops «the living namesake» [73]. This wish was not executed. «The snow dwelling» [74] accepted me quite inhospitably. And in general my travel in the scientific relation went quite unsuccessfully.
I began the travel with a sole of the southern slope adjoining the Province of Assam. The mountains below covered with magnificent tropical vegetation shelter tigers, elephants, monkeys. Bright greens of all shades, from light yellow to dark blue, are decked by brighter paints of flowers of plumage of birds: parrots, pheasants, hens of the most unusual coloring. If not clouds of insects and unpleasant dampness at night and even in the afternoon, rising from the boggy lowland at a sole of mountains, this place would be worthy names of earthly paradise.
Also the second belt, at the height of 1000 meters, with its vegetation familiar to the European eye – oaks and wild chestnuts is fine.
It is higher than 2500 meters – already a kingdom of coniferous trees, and at the height of 5600 meters «the snow dwelling» begins in the true sense. Here the bear or a mountain goat only occasionally rises. As it is strange to stand on top of six-seven thousand meters, in ice air from which takes breath and to look down, at a green belt of tropical vegetation. Amazing show.
But I came not for the sake of beauty of the nature here. I looked for «the namesakes», traces of those who lived in this snow dwelling one hundred, one thousand, million years ago. My searches, however, were unsuccessful. Himalaja jealously hid the secrets under ice blocks.
The travel is accompanied by extraordinary difficulties here. Mountains are broken, crossed by gorges. At night intolerable cold. At all there is no fuel – either a bunch of a dry grass, or a bush. Snow, both ice, and eternal silence.
Conductors grumbled, and many of them abandoned me after one conductor fell in an abyss and broke. With me there were only three. To cut with them ice in search of remains of minerals would be madness. It was necessary to hope for the help of the nature: sometimes at a collapse of rocks or ice blocks bones of primitive animals are bared. But the destiny did not send me such lucky coincidence. And I already thought of disgraceful return.
But today’s morning rewarded me for everything. I represent how many noise will be done by my find in all scientific world.
Here is how it was.
Early in the morning I wandered between frozen rocks alone, with a rifle behind shoulders.
Having turned for the rock, I uvidat something forced me to shudder. It seemed to me that I hallucinate. I steps in twenty, at the rock, was faced a back to me by a biped animal. Otherwise I cannot call this being. Only the raincoat from the animal skin which is chopped off on the left shoulder was thrown his naked bronze body. A thick hair turned its head of hear into a shock. On hands and under skin of naked shoulders and a right shoulder-blade played muscles as huge spheres. He rested naked legs against ice as though it was the parquet, and held an ice block in hand. But this block did not constrain its movements at all. Holding suspended this weight, he all case moved forward and looked out for something below. At last, having snatched some moment, it with wild growl which was carried on the mountains as the thunderclap, threw a block down.
And immediately furious growl of a bear in reply sounded. The biped animal broke off still a big block and threw it down, and after that with the same growl itself rushed down.
In several jumps I was on its place.
Before me the new picture as if snatched out from Ice Age opened. Never to forget to me this picture.
At the bottom of a small ice hollow the blood-stained wild goat with the killed backbone lay. Over it there was on hinder legs, with the blood-stained head a bear. He furiously growled, having raised forepaws up, and from its mouth the blood stream flew on bluish ice. And towards to it, only with an ice block in hands, fearlessly there was other animal – biped.
Why the biped animal so hurried? Why it did not finish a bear from the safe rock? He was not able to cope with feeling of hunger at the sight of a delicious goat or considered a bear the informidable opponent?. Who will read thoughts under this thick skull?
Opponents quickly met halfway each other. When the distance between them was no more than one and a half meters, the biped animal laid down the ice shell into a bear. The blow had in the left eye. The bear sat down, raised a howl from pain and began paws to rub a muzzle.
But at the same moment, увидав the remained eye that the opponent made a jump, a bear, overcoming pain and falteringly growling, again rose in all the growth in a defensive pose. Also the biped animal stopped. Several minutes they were motionless. Then the biped animal slowly began to come from the gone blind eye of a bear. The bear began to move ahead in the same direction, around. So they passed two circles as fighters before a resolute fight.
I expected that they will fall arms of each other, but left differently.
At the beginning of the third circle the biped animal appeared near the goat lying on ice.