Онлайн книга All Flesh is Grass

Although the outer surface of the bone had chalked off when I picked it up, it seemed sound in structure. Not too long ago, I knew, it had been a part of a living thing. Its age probably would depend to a large extent upon the composition and the moistness of the soil and probably many other factors. It was a problem for an expert and I was no expert.

Хотя верхний слой кости под пальцами обращался в меловую пыль, сама кость, видимо, была очень крепкая. Не так уж давно это была часть живого существа.

Now I saw something else, a little spot of whiteness just to the right of me. It could have been a white stone lying on the ground, but even as I looked at it I didn't think it was. It had that same chalky whiteness of the rib I had picked up.

I moved over to it and as I bent above it I could see it was no stone. I let the rib drop from my fingers and began to dig.

The soil was loose and sandy and although I had no tools, my fingers served the purpose.

Потом я заметил справа еще одно белое пятнышко. Конечно, это мог быть и просто белый камень, но я с первого взгляда решил иначе. В глаза бросалась та же меловая белизна, что и у ребра  — моей первой находки.

Я осторожно передвинулся вправо и, уже наклоняясь, увидел, что это не камень. Я отложил ребро и стал копать. Почва рыхлая, песчаная, можно обойтись и без лопаты, собственными руками.

As I dug, the bone began to reveal its shape and in a moment I knew it was a skull—and only a little later that it was a human skull.

I dug it loose and lifted it and while I might have failed to identify the rib, there was no mistaking this.

I hunkered on the slope and felt pity well inside of me, pity for this creature that once had lived and died—and a growing fear, as well.

Кость оказалась округлой, через минуту я понял: это череп, а еще через минуту  — что череп человеческий.

Я откопал его, поднял  — и если с ребром я еще мог ошибиться, то теперь сомнений не было.

Я был подавлен, меня захлестнула жалость: вот он когда-то жил, и его больше нет... и еще мне стало страшно.

For by the evidence of the skull I held within my hands, I knew for a certainty that this was not the home world of the Flowers. This was—this must be a world that they had conquered, or at least had taken over.