| Skagg ignored it, and went to his right, along a corridor that curved to circle the column. | Скэг, не слушая его, прошел направо, по коридору, огибавшему колонну. |
| He found her just around the bend. | Он нашел Фа Соль Ля сразу за изгибом коридора. |
| She wore a helmet and her eyes were open, but she leaned frozen against the wall, strangely pale, strangely still. | Она стояла в оцепенении с открытыми глазами, опершись о стену - мертвенно бледная и спокойная, с застывшей улыбкой на лице. |
| He put his ear between her breasts and heard nothing. He touched her skin and it seemed already to be growing cold. She did not close her eyes when his fingertip neared them. | Скэг приложил ухо к ее груди, тронул за руку... |
| There was on her face an expression of such joy that he could hardly bear to look at it. | На лице Фа Соль Ля было выражение такой радости, что он не мог глядеть на нее. |
| The voice said, | Голос продолжал: |
| "In the early stages of therapy, a low level of stimulation is recommended. | - Будьте осторожны! На ранних стадиях лечения рекомендуется низкий уровень стимуляции. |
| Therefore we request that you do not attempt to draw a greater degree of intensification than you are able at this stage to-" | Поэтому мы требуем, чтобы вы не пытались получать большую степень усиления, чем вы способны перенести... Будьте осторожны! |
| Skagg took the helmet from her head. He lifted her in his arms and found that she weighed almost nothing. | Скэг снял с нее шлем и взял на руки. Фа Соль Ля почти ничего не весила. |
| Carefully he set her down. Then, taking another helmet from the rack, he held it with both hands for a long time, listening to the instructions and hearing once more the girl's talk of ecstasy and soaring, and comparing all that he saw here to the things that everyone always had said about the Knowing Machine. | Он осторожно уложил ее на пол и снял с полки второй шлем. Внимательно выслушал инструкцию, вспомнил, что говорила девушка об экстазе и воспарении. |
| After a while he put the helmet back in the rack without using it, and picked up the girl again, and carried her body out of the machine. | Скэг положил шлем на полку, поднял тело Фа Соль Ля и вынес из Машины. |
| As he went down the steps, he saw that the others had gathered again and were gaping at him. | Он спустился по ступеням в Зону Непочтения. Все жители Блистающего Г орода уже собрались и глазели на него. |
| "You were in the machine?" Simit asked. | - Ты побывал в Машине? - спросила Симита. |
| "I was in the machine," said Skagg. | Скэг не удостоил ее ответом. Будто это не ясно. |
| "It killed her but not you?" | - Машина убила ее, а ты остался жив. |
| Derk wanted to know. | Почему? - спросил Дерк. |
| "She used it. I didn't. First she used it a little, and then she used it too much, and the second time it killed her." Skagg kept walking as he spoke. | - Я не одевал шлем. А она одела и перестаралась. И убила себя, отвечал Скэг, не останавливаясь. |
| They followed him. | Все следовали за ним. |
| "It is death simply to go inside the machine," Prewger said. | - Кто входит в Машину, тот погибает, - заученно сказал Прюгер. |
| "This is wrong," said Skagg. "You can enter safely. | - Неправда, - ответил Скэг. - Входить можно без опаски. |
