Марсианские хроники

           Isawthebodies.Black,intherooms,inthehouses,dead.Thousandsofthem."

           "That’sridiculous.We’realive!"

           "Mister,you’reinvaded,onlyyoudon’tknowit.Youmusthaveescaped."

           "Ihaven’tescaped;therewasnothingtoescape.Whatdoyoumean?I’monmywaytoafestivalnowatthecanal,neartheEniallMountains.Iwastherelastnight.Don’tyouseethecitythere?"TheMartianpointed.

           Tomaslookedandsawtheruins."Why,thatcity’sbeendeadthousandsofyears."

           TheMartianlaughed."Dead.Isleptthereyesterday!"

           "AndIwasinitaweekagoandtheweekbeforethat,andIjustdrovethroughitnow,andit’saheap.Seethebrokenpillars?"

           "Broken?Why,Iseethemperfectly.Themoonlighthelps.Andthepillarsareupright."

           "There’sdustinthestreets,"saidTomas.

           "Thestreetsareclean!"

           "Thecanalsareemptyrightthere."

           "Thecanalsarefulloflavenderwine!"

           "It’sdead."

           "It’salive!"protestedtheMartian,laughingmorenow."Oh,you’requitewrong.Seeallthecarnivallights?Therearebeautifulboatsasslimaswomen,beautifulwomenasslimasboats,womenthecolorofsand,womenwithfireflowersintheirhands.Icanseethem,small,runninginthestreetsthere.That’swhereI’mgoingnow,tothefestival;we’llfloatonthewatersallnightlong;we’llsing,we’lldrink,we’llmakelove,Can’tyouseeit?"

           "Mister,thatcityisdeadasadriedlizard.Askanyofourparty.