Чужак в чужой стране

           Heprobablyhasalltheinstinctsandnoinhibitions."

           "Huh?Idon’tthinkso.Isupposethey’vetoldhimaboutmaleandfemale;hejustwantedtoseehowwomenaredifferent."

           "’Viveladifference!’"Caxtonansweredenthusiastically.

           "Don’tbemorevulgarthanyouhavetobe."

           "Me?Iwasn’tbeingvulgar,Iwasbeingreverent.IwasgivingthankstoallthegodsthatIwasbornhumanandnotMartian."

           "Beserious."

           "Iwasnevermoreserious."

           "Thenbequiet.Hewouldn’thavegivenmeanytrouble.Hewouldprobablyhavethankedmegravely.Youdidn’tseehisface-Idid."

           "Whatabouthisface?"

           Jilllookedpuzzled."Idon’tknowhowtoexpressit.Yes,Ido!-Ben,haveyoueverseenanangel?"

           "You,cherub.Otherwisenot."

           "Well,neitherhaveI-butthatiswhathelookedlike.Hehadold,wiseeyesinacompletelyplacidface,afaceofunearthlyinnocence."Sheshivered.

           "’Unearthly’issurelytherightword,"Benansweredslowly."I’dliketoseehim."

           "Iwishyouhad.Ben,whyaretheymakingsuchathingoutofkeepinghimshutup?Hewouldn’thurtafly.I’msureofit."

           Caxtonfittedhisfingertipstogether."Well,inthefirstplacetheywanttoprotecthim.HegrewupinMarsgravity;he’sprobablyweakasacat."

           "Yes,ofcourse.Youcouldseeit,justlookingathim.Butmuscularweaknessisn’tdangerous;myastheniagravisismuchworseandwemanageallrightwithsuchcases."

           "Theywouldwanttokeephimfromcatchingthings,too.He’slikethoseexperimentalanimalsatNotreDame;he’sneverbeenexposed."