x
"Well, come on, wake up, how long are you going to sleep, get up, there is so much work to be done," someone's extremely familiar voice rumbled over Goody's ear.
But the one who had not recently had a name only turned on his side and reached for that enchanting dream that was already slipping irretrievably from his memory, no matter how hard he clung to it. To top it all off, someone jumped on him and started pounding on his shell so loudly that a thousand springs rang in his head. Goody opened his eyes. There was a little wooden monkey with a painted face and a sailor's cap sitting on him.
"Stupid doll..." he said the only familiar words that came to mind.
"Stupid doll yourself," the monkey scowled and jumped away, disappearing from his sight.
Goody turned his head and saw that she had run up and hugged the leg of an old man in work overalls.
"Don't be sad, my dear, he didn't mean it, did he?" the old man turned to Goody and winked.
"Pyah," exclaimed the animated one unhappily, and raised himself from the thin mattress on the desk.
"Sleep is good," said the old man, turning to the other table and continuing to whittle a wooden block, "But too much sleep is bad. Everything is good in moderation, otherwise it is bad."
He smiled into his big, oil-stained white beard, picked up the chiseled piece of wood, twirled it in his hands, and carried it into the next room.
The room where Goody woke up was an enormous workshop. All the walls were covered with machinery: engines, pistons, clocks, pendulums, shafts, turbines, wheels, engines again. It seemed impossible to imagine anything that wasn't there. It all seemed very familiar to the animated one. He vaguely recalled that he had once lived in such a room. There were desks all around the room, with lights ranging from oil to electric, and in the center was a large construction where the carcass of a metal horse and a knight in black armor were suspended. He noticed the monkey again, sitting on a small stool under the table, staring intently at him. And then he saw others crawling out of various corners and pipes and looking at him with all their painted eyes, studying the intruder.
The old man returned from the small room, looked at the awakened doll, and smiling, rubbed his big lumpy nose, on which the little glasses were completely lost – they were only now noticed by Goody.
"I think you should read something while I'm working here. I like hearing things read aloud to me."
The man reached for a shelf above one of the tables, from where he pulled out a thick book in a beautiful binding decorated with gold thread and jewels. He flipped through it, found the right page, walked over to Goody, and put the book in his hands.
"Come on, come on," the old man nodded, "Let's see how fast the words settle in your head."
The animated one looked at the old man with surprise, but there was so much confidence in his sly squint that Goody began to read.
"Stupid doll about two-o b-brothe-ers," he began, stammering.
"Read away, and I'll finish my business," the old man encouraged him, returned to his desk, and continued chipping.
The monkeys circled him, peering at the animated one. Goody sighed and continued:
— There lived Evilgood, a Stupid Doll man, whose speech was crude, his temper hardly ran. Yet burning love lit up his Pya breast. While gentle Goodevil knocked against unrest. In kind Goodevil's deeds, so Monkey and pure, some darkness crept to make the shores impure. Those tender acts, innocent and sweet, were oft' misshapen by an unseen hand's beat. These brother Doll (two Stupid acrobats) set out to snag a roach on Fortune's strings.
The monkeys laughed, but the old man went on whittling as if nothing had happened. Goody stretched himself and, feeling confident, continued:
— Sweet Goodevil's words did lure the whiskered thing from out the hearth, yet it delayed, life clinging. Evilgood thundered boots in vain to strike but like a feather, safe the roach took flight. By day and night, it scampered safely free. The brothers then re-thought their strategy. And from their aunt, a lady roach they brought to aid their hunt, this prize to clearly court. They tied her gaily by the burning grate and waited, hoping passion's fires would lure their foe, by lover's flame and promise bold might come. The lady saw the plot unfold "Fool not!" she signaled to her roachly brother "For glue bedecks the floor you're nearing, lover!" The roach, with wisdom, dropped from up above straight onto Goodevil's cap with weighty shove. Then down his spine in haste the roach did flee while ruckus roared around, loud as could be one brother hollered to the other: "Friend, Lay blows on me, up high and down low end!" So brawny Evilgood with mighty palms did pound his brother's back amid war's qualms. He saw not what occurred, for up his arm the roach ascended, amidst the shouts and thumps. Goodevil took the charge, his brother taught a lesson hard, rights newly forged and bought the reckoning repaid with interest meet restoring to fair Goodevil his just seat. They tumbled then upon the gluey ground with whiskers caught - to floors they stuck, hunt-bound. Their beards adhered where glue had puddled free. No struggle might their predicament re-key. Triumphant from Goodevil's brow at last the roach did scamper to its lady fast. It scooped her up, a gallant roach indeed and arrogantly fled from mortal need. As for Goodevil and Evilgood, like snakes entwined in cask, all squirming as each takes the breath to hiss, around enmeshed they lie no unwinding their fates, however sly.
162Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9CftpnO8X
When Goody finished reading, the monkeys rolled on the floor and laughed. One of them even wiped away the painted tears that streamed from her eyes.
"Excellent!" the smiling old man turned around. "You've done a wonderful job. Poems, by the way, are not simple, forbidden, not without reason."
Goody looked at him in surprise, rubbing his visor.
"Yes, yes, I made some adjustments in your head. Can you feel it?" the old man measured the carved figure by eye and went over it with a file.
"Ad-djustments?" Goody said, amazed at the ringing in his voice.
The monkeys ran up and jumped onto his table in a flock, clinging to him on all sides.
"Who are you? What is your name? Why are you here?" they began to jabber, interrupting each other.
"Stupid doll," he answered embarrassedly.
"Stupid doll, mmm!"
"And I'm Luna."
"And I'm Thema."
"And I'm Danu."
"And I'm Satie."
"And I'm Shina."
"And I'm..."
"Give me a break," Goody interrupted them and moved away.
"Now, now, don't be rude. I know it's all a bit unusual, but still," the old man grunted, not taking his hands off the file.
"Unusual..." the one who finally wondered about things other than his name rang out thoughtfully with his metallic tongue.
"You'd better go for a walk and look around," the old man grunted and looked at his work again.
"And what are you doing?" the doll asked.
"Ha..." the old man smiled, "That's a good question. Something new comes out every time," he grinned, and carried the figure into the room. The monkeys jumped off the table and hurried after him, whispering and shrieking anxiously.
They didn't come back for a long time. Goody, tired of sitting, put the book down on the table, and jumped to the floor, clinking his visor against his armor. He looked back at the sparkling oil lamp, hanging from a hook in the table at his face level, which cast a warm glow over the toolboxes, coiled wires, and cases, open and closed, both empty and full of junk he didn't know, with bits of dust flying between them. He looked back at the wall behind him, illuminated by a cold electric lamp, and saw a multitude of clocks with all kinds of dials. Only three of them seemed to be moving. Some showed the location of the moons, others the location of the sun, and others something incomprehensible in serifs and words. In the darkness beneath the ceiling, the solar sails could be seen. They appeared to have been repaired, replacing dislocated sections. And beneath the table where he had jumped off was an aircraft engine.
All these words and concepts popped into his head completely unexpectedly, as if there were a magic bag behind his eyes, from which he took them as he saw them. The overflow of this knowledge gave him a headache. From behind the screen in the far corner of the workshop, a breeze blew, shaking the gray cloth. Goody headed toward it. When he pushed it aside, he found himself in a narrow stone doorway. The desert glittered in it. Goody came up for air, finding himself on a small ledge enclosed by a small wooden fence. The wind was strong, and Goody grabbed at the rickety railing, but peered out and looked down. The heights were breathtaking, but not in the way he was used to. The memories of the lines of buildings going down flicked in his head, but immediately disappeared with a new gust of wind. What they were about, and where they came from, he could not remember. The suns were setting, illuminating the erosion-ridden plateau that cut the desert from edge to edge and dominated it with its grandeur, but still yielded to the pressure of the winds and sand, giving itself unnoticed by the eye to the desert.
There was movement in the workshop, and Goody looked back, saw a monkey run by, and then stared at someone looking at him from a hole in the wall. That someone moved toward him as the animated one took a step back into the room. The word "mirror" sprang to mind on its own and reflected many times from all the details in his wooden skull. Goody, extending his arm, walked toward the reflective surface and stopped only when he touched "himself."
Finally, taking the dark lacquered wood wrist away, he stared at it as if seeing it for the first time. The picture of the floating waves of the city's rooftops flashed before his gaze, and this hand, his hand, which he now viewed with the same interest. Then he looked up at his face, grabbed his visor, and groped for it. As he came closer, he examined the color of his painted eyes. As he ran his finger along the edge of the pupil, he noticed that the paint was brand new. Looking over his shoulders and chest armor, he struck it a few times and listened to the ringing sound it made. Down to his feet, he jumped up, feeling the springs in his hips work. He made one complete revolution around his axis and stopped, looking around himself completely.
"Ah, there you are hiding," the old man grumbled, placing a new, freshly painted monkey on the floor in the center of the workshop.
Goody took his eyes off himself and looked around. Slowly, as if waking from a dream, he walked over to the monkey and ran his finger across its forehead, crossed by a thin line of glue. The old piece of wood was glued to the new one just carved. The other monkeys circled their friend and screamed in unison:
"Lila?"
"Lila!"
"Lila…"
The monkey opened her eyes and looked at the old man.
"Father," Danu whispered to her.
"Father?" Lila asked uncertainly.
The old man smiled and slowly crouched down beside her. She staggered and hugged his leg to keep her balance, while he gently put his arm around her and scratched his dark, wrinkled fingers through her curly hair.
"Have you met our new guest?" he asked with a smile.
Lila turned and looked up at Goody, who was several heads taller than she was. Then she squinted, but shook her head:
"I remember him, but I don't remember why," the monkey said with difficulty.
"The memory may not come back completely, but don't worry, we'll remind you of what you've forgotten," the old man said sadly, "Now run along! Play and show our guest where we live!"
With these words he returned to his room. The monkeys picked up Goody and Lila and hurried to the wooden door. They climbed one on top of the other, pulled the handle, and scattered to the floor as it gave way and opened.
The canyon was already clothed in multicolored constellations of lights. The monkeys, without much thought, began to descend the stairs carved in the stone, and Lila and Goody stopped at the hanging bridge dangling before them. Goody looked at the monkey and took a step along the wooden slabs. Under his right hand, a butterfly flashed iridescently between the rope railings, illuminating the ropeway. The other sat on the wooden finger of astonished Goody, frozen over the handrail.
"What is it made of?" he asked, looking at the amazing insect.
"What do you mean?" Lila said.
"Well, it's not made of wood or stone or even pyah. Oops. I was going to say metal. Is it some kind of alloy?"
"No, it's alive, it's real," said the monkey thoughtfully, crawling between the legs of the animated one.
"Is there such a thing?" he asked as he watched the butterfly go.
"There's more than that," Lila said with a frown, and walked forward over the bridge.
Goody caught up with her halfway across the canyon.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked.
"I'm upset," the monkey muttered and sat down with her feet off the bridge.
"Oh, I know the feeling, I think I've had it recently," Goody said.
He sat down next to her and tried to remember where and how he first got upset. Lila, swinging her legs, looked out over the shining square below them. A crowd was just beginning to gather there, to gawk at the musicians who were coming out and starting the show. In the center of the great circle, a woman with a gleaming, metallic body dashing off into a dance with two flaming hoops.
"I remember," Goody said cheerfully, "I couldn't think of a name for myself."
The monkey looked at him and sighed:
"And have you?"
"Yes," he answered cheerfully and smiled with his eyes, "I am Goody!"
"Strange name," muttered the monkey and turned away to the kite drifting by.
"I just woke up knowing that was my name."
"I'm Lila," said the monkey.
"And you have a beautiful name, like jelly and song."
"Like jelly and song?" Lila wondered.
"I just picked two words that felt similar. You're kind of soft, but slippery, reflective and fun."
Lila smiled:
"Slippery and fun, I like it."
"Except that it turns out I'm not alive?" Goody asked in a shaky voice.
"Well, sort of," replied the monkey thoughtfully. "I don't quite remember. And that only makes me more upset."
"What do you mean?"
"How far back in time can you look?" Lila rephrased the question.
"Look?" Goody asked.
"Well, what do you remember about yourself?"
"Hmm... Not much, to be honest," he reflected, "I remember walking through the desert with an octopus and a chunk of meat. How they didn't want to walk, and I had to drag them, then we lived next to the water, a sparkling shower, then walked across the big rocks here. How the water was falling into the stone sky. I remember before all that there were a lot of very fast things. And beyond that it was completely dark. Some only very distant images."
"Mmm..." the monkey said, "And what does it feel like?"
"What?"
"Well, not remembering yourself."
Goody stared at Lila questioningly.
"When there is nothing to rely on in yourself. To remember who you are."
"I don't really care about that," Goody shook his head and looked at Lila. "I'd rather figure out why the butterfly is alive, and I'm not."
"Good luck," the monkey hummed, and looked down at the dancer as she soared through the whirlwind of fire. Her whole body seemed to be on fire.
At that moment, a flying raft stopped next to them. On the edge, leaning on a pole, stood a man with a red beard, wearing a leather cloak, flapping in several layers, a vest, and military pants.
"Hey there, on the shore! Hello!" he shouted to the animated ones sitting on the bridge.
"Hello!" replied Goody.
"Do you want me to take you down?" the man asked, blinking his smiling eyes.
Goody and the monkey looked at each other and agreed.
"Careful!" the man warned them and docked at the bridge.
Lila and Goody stood up and carefully climbed over the rope fence onto the raft.
"I'm Joe the Flying Platform! You can just call me Joe the Platform," the man introduced himself to Goody, and then bowed to his companion, "Hi, Lila!"
"Hi!" replied the monkey, embarrassed.
"I heard what happened to you. You're my hero," Joe said, covering his eyes with his palm.
Lila was silent.
"You're new here, I take it," Joe the Platform turned to Goody, "But you'll soon get used to it, I'm the one who drives people back and forth."
"I'm Goody!" he said, and the bearded man sighed deeply and nodded, smiling.
Joe was lowering into the square, and the crowd parted, letting him into the circle with the dancer to give the platform a place to land. He hovered a few inches off the ground, and his passengers jumped off. Joe waved to all those greeting him and began to climb slowly, holding on to the pole. Meanwhile, the dancer arched, her belly open, and a jet of flame shot upward, taking the form of a dragon and sweeping over the aghast crowd. Many of those gathered were of wood, so they fell to the ground in fear. The girl, on the other hand, peeled off the metal like skin and threw it on the ground in front of her, turning out to be an illusion created by a cat standing to the side on mechanical stilts. And those who a few moments ago were ready to burst into disgruntled murmurs began to rise and join in the applause.
"Lila!" there was a shout from somewhere above them.
From another bridge, a lion jumped directly toward them, into the newly dispersed crowd. He stood on his hind legs in the rising cloud of dust and lifted Lila into the air, spreading his mane, braided in many plaits, in all directions.
"Lila, I'm so glad!" he spun the monkey around. "I was beginning to think you'd never come back!"
Seeing the consternation in the painted eyes of the wooden monkey, he came to his senses and, setting her on the ground, began to shake off the sand from his white shirt.
"How are you? Tell me, how was it?" he wouldn't let up. "You can't get anything out of your 'howdy' friends."
He directed the gaze of his sparkling green eyes to Goody.
"I'm Leo the Thunder Fonn!" the lion growled and, smiling, held out a paw to Goody the size of his pectoral armor, "Pleased to meet you!"
Goody answered the lion with a frightened handshake and embarrassedly introduced himself.
"That's an interesting name you have!" Leo grinned.
"So have you," the animated one confused.
"Let's go to Sid's, it's not crowded yet, we'll have time to have a few words!" the lion suggested, smiling at Lila.
The monkey looked at the sand beneath her feet, but then lifted her head and nodded.
"All right, follow me!" Leo exclaimed and stood up on all four paws.
Goody and Lila hesitated.
"Come on, jump on my back!"
Both dolls clumsily climbed onto the lion's back, and as soon as they grabbed the fabric of his shirt, Leo jumped, landing on the hanging bridge in an instant, and then jumped again, finding himself on another.
"Like a scooter!" Goody wailed, and the monkey remembered something that made her eyes even more thoughtful.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
