Остров доктора Моро
The Reversion of the Beast Folk.
Hehadanidea,Ibelieve,thattogabbleaboutnamesthatmeantnothingwastheproperuseofspeech.Hecalledit"BigThinks"todistinguishitfrom"LittleThinks,"thesaneevery-dayinterestsoflife.IfeverImadearemarkhedidnotunderstand,hewouldpraiseitverymuch,askmetosayitagain,learnitbyheart,andgooffrepeatingit,withawordwronghereorthere,toallthemilderoftheBeastPeople.Hethoughtnothingofwhatwasplainandcomprehensible.Iinventedsomeverycurious"BigThinks"forhisespecialuse.IthinknowthathewasthesilliestcreatureIevermet;hehaddevelopedinthemostwonderfulwaythedistinctivesillinessofmanwithoutlosingonejotofthenaturalfollyofamonkey.
This,Isay,wasintheearlierweeksofmysolitudeamongthesebrutes.DuringthattimetheyrespectedtheusageestablishedbytheLaw,andbehavedwithgeneraldecorum.OnceIfoundanotherrabbittorntopieces,—bytheHyena-swine,Iamassured,—butthatwasall.ItwasaboutMaywhenIfirstdistinctlyperceivedagrowingdifferenceintheirspeechandcarriage,agrowingcoarsenessofarticulation,agrowingdisinclinationtotalk.MyMonkey-man’sjabbermultipliedinvolumebutgrewlessandlesscomprehensible,moreandmoresimian.Someoftheothersseemedaltogetherslippingtheirholduponspeech,thoughtheystillunderstoodwhatIsaidtothematthattime.
