Человек в высоком замке

           Iwillleasethedesigns,orsellthemonapercentagebasis;somedealwillbemadebetweenmeandthisparty.

           Clearlyoutofyourhands.Entirely.Badtasteonyourparttopresumetostopmeorarguewithme.

           "Thereisachancehereforyou,"Paulsaid,"tobecomeextremelywealthy."Hecontinuedtogazestoicallyahead.

           "Theideastrikesmeasbizarre,"Childansaid."Makinggood-luckcharmsoutofsuchartobjects;Ican’timagineit."

           "Foritisnotyournaturallineofbusiness.Youaredevotedtothesavoredesoteric.Myself,Iamthesame.Andsoarethoseindividualswhowillshortlyvisityourstore,thosewhomImentioned."

           Childansaid,"Whatwouldyoudoifyouwereme?"

           "Don’tunder-evaluatethepossibilitysuggestedbytheesteemedimporter.Heisashrewdpersonage.YouandI—wehavenoawarenessofthevastnumberofuneducated.Theycanobtainfrommold-producedidenticalobjectsajoywhichwouldbedeniedtous.Wemustsupposethatwehavetheonlyoneofakind,oratleastsomethingrare,possessedbyaveryfew.And,ofcourse,somethingtrulyauthentic.Notamodelorreplica."HecontinuedtogazepastChildan,atemptyspace."Notsomethingcastbythetensofthousands."

           Hashestumbledontocorrectnotion,Childanwondered,thatcertainofthehistoricobjectsinstoressuchasmine(nottomentionmanyitemsinhispersonalcollection)areimitations?Thereseemsatraceofhintinhiswords.Asifinironicundertoneheistellingmeamessagequitedifferentfromwhatappears.