Конец вечности

           (ThatcamefairlyclosetooneofEternity’smostpotentfears,andHarlanshiveredandhasteneduneasilythroughthediscussion.)And,ofcourse,hediscussedatlengththefateofliteratureandartinvarioustypesandclassificationsofRealityChanges.

           ButTwissellwouldhavenoneofthelast."Ifthevaluesofartcan’tbecomputed,"hewouldshoutatHarlan,"thenwhat’stheuseofarguingaboutit?"

           AndTwissell’sviews,Harlanknew,weresharedbythelargemajorityoftheAllwhenCouncil.

           YetnowHarlanstoodattheshelvesdevotedtothenovelsofEricLinkollew,usuallydescribedastheoutstandingwriterofthe575th,andwondered.Hecountedfifteendifferent"CompleteWorks"collections,each,undoubtedly,takenoutofadifferentReality.Eachwassomewhatdifferent,hewassure.Onesetwasnoticeablysmallerthanalltheothers,forinstance.AhundredSociologists,heimagined,musthavewrittenanalysesofthedifferencesbetweenthesetsintermsofthesociologicalbackgroundofeachReality,andearnedstatusthereby.

           Harlanpassedontothewingofthelibrarywhichwasdevotedtothedevicesandinstrumentationofthevarious575th’s.Manyoftheselast,Harlanknew,hadbeeneliminatedinTimeandremainedintact,asaproductofhumaningenuity,onlyinEternity.Manhadtobeprotectedfromhisowntooflourishingtechnicalmind.Thatmorethananythingelse.