Железный человек
The Iron Man’s Challenge
"Alas,"saidthespace-bat-angel-dragon,"Iamuseless. Utterlyuseless. Allwedoinspaceisfly,ormakemusic."
"Makemusic?"askedtheIronMan."How?Whatsortofmusic?"
"Haven’tyouheardofthemusicofthespheres?"askedthedragon. "It’sthemusicthatspacemakestoitself. Allthespiritsinsideallthestarsaresinging. I’mastarspirit.Isingtoo. Themusicofthespheresiswhatmakesspacesopeaceful."
"Thenwhatevermadeyouwanttoeatuptheearth?"askedtheIronMan. "Ifyou’reallsopeacefulupthere,howdidyougetsuchgreedyandcruelideas?"
Thedragonwassilentforalongtimeafterthisquestion.Andatlasthesaid: "Itjustcameoverme.Idon’tknowwhy. Itjustcameoverme,listeningtothebattlingshoutsandthewar-criesoftheearth –Igotexcited,Iwantedtojoinin."
"Well,youcansingforusinstead,"saidtheIronMan. "It’salongtimesinceanybodyhereonearthheardthemusicofthespheres. Itmightdousallgood."
Andsoitwasfixed. Thespace-bat-angel-dragonwastosendhisstarbackintotheconstellationofOrion,andhewastoliveinsidethemoon. Andeverynighthewastoflyaroundtheearth,throughtheheavens,singing.
Sohisfearfulshape,slowlyswimmingthroughthenightsky,didn’tfrightenpeople,becauseitwasdarkandhecouldn’tbeseen. Butthewholeworldcouldhearhim,astrangesoftmusicthatseemedtofillthewholeofspace, adeepweirdsinging,likemillionsofvoicessingingtogether
