Snail on the Slope

by Arkady Strugatsky

  "Run," he said again from a distance. "Run before it's too late, why're you standing there?" He already knew he was talking nonsense, but it was the inertia of obligation, and he continued his mechanical mumbling: "Deadlings here, run, I'll delay them..."

  They paid him no attention. It wasn't that they didn't hear or see him - the young woman, a girl really, perhaps a couple of years older than Nava, still slim-legged, examined him and smiled in very friendly fashion - but he meant nothing to them, no more than if he were a big stray hound, the sort that dash aimlessly about in all directions and are willing to stand about for hours near people, waiting for reasons known only to themselves.

  "Why aren't you running?" asked Kandid quietly. He expected no answer and received none.

  "My, my, my," the pregnant woman was saying, laughing and shaking her head. "And who would have thought it? Would you?" she inquired of the girl. "I certainly wouldn't. My dear," said she addressing Nava's mother, "what was it like? Did he puff and pant? Or did he just twitch about and break into a sweat?"

  "It wasn't like that," said the girl, "he was beautiful, wasn't he? He was fresh like the dawn, and fragrant..."

  "As a lily," chimed in the pregnant woman, "you were dizzy from his smell, you got all tingly from his paws... Did you have time to squeal?"

  The girl burst out laughing. Nava's mother smiled reluctantly. They were all thick-set, healthy, surprisingly cleanly, as if thoroughly washed, which indeed they were - their short hair was wet and their yellowish sacklike garments clung to their damp bodies. Nava's mother was the tallest of them and apparently the eldest. Nava was hugging her around the waist, her face buried in her bosom.

  "How should you know," said Nava's mother with feigned indifference. "What can you know about it? You've a lot to learn..."

  "All right," said the pregnant woman at once. "How can we know? That's why we're asking you... Tell us, please, what was the root of love like?"

  "Was it bitter?" said the girl, and shook with laughter again.

  "There, there, the fruit's pretty sweet if grubby..." "Never mind, we'll wash it clean," said Nava's mother. "You don't know if Spider Pond's been cleaned out yet, do you? Or do we have to take her into the valley?"

  "The root was bitter," said the pregnant woman to the girl. "She doesn't like recalling it. Strange isn't it, and they say it's unforgettable! Listen dear, you do dream about him, don't you?"

  "Not very funny," said Nava's mother. "And sick..."

  "We're not trying to be funny, are we?" The pregnant woman was amazed. "We're just interested."

  "You tell a story so well," said the girl with a flashing smile. "Tell us more..."

  Kandid was all ears, attempting to discover some hidden meaning in this conversation, but could understand nothing. He could only perceive that the two of them were making fun of Nava's mother, that Nava's mother was offended and was trying to hide this or turn the conversation in another direction, and was failing to do so. Nava, meanwhile, had raised her head and was gazing from one to another of the speakers.

  "You'd think you'd been born in the lake yourself," said Nava's mother to the pregnant woman, now displaying open irritation.

  "Oh, no," said she, "but I never managed to pick up such a broad education, and my daughter," she slapped her belly, "will be born in the lake. That makes all the difference."

  "Why don't you leave mam alone, fat old woman?" said Nava suddenly. "Take a look at yourself, what you look like, then start upsetting people! Or I'll tell my husband, and he'll warm your fat backside with a stick, teach you to bother her."

  The women, all three, roared with laughter. "Dummy!" Nava started yelling. "What're they laughing at me for?"

  Still laughing, the women looked at Kandid. Nava's mother, with surprise, the pregnant woman indifferently, the girl more enigmatically, but with apparent interest.

  "What's this Dummy, then?" asked Nava's mother. "It's my husband," said Nava. "See how nice he is. He saved me from the robbers..."

  "What d'you mean, husband?" the pregnant woman brought out in a unfriendly tone. "Don't make things up, little girl."

  "Same to you," Nava said at once. "What're you butting in for? What's it to you? Is he your husband then? If you want to know, I'm not talking to you anyway. I'm talking to mam. And you butt in, like the old man, unasked and without a by your leave..."

  "Are you really her husband then?" asked the pregnant woman of Kandid.

  Nava became silent. Her mother embraced her and pressed her to herself. She looked at Kandid with loathing and horror.

  Only the girl was still smiling, and her smile was so pleasant and tender that Kandid addressed himself to her.

  "No, no, of course not," he said. "She's no wife of mine. She's, my daughter..." He wanted to say that Nava had niursed him, that he loved her very much and he was very pleased that everything had turned out so well, though he didn't understand a thing.

  But the girl suddenly dissolved in laughter, her arms waving. "I knew it," she groaned. "It's not her husband ... it's hers!" she pointed at Nava's mother. "It's ... her ... husband! Oh dear, oh dear!"

  The face of the pregnant woman expressed cheerful bewilderment and she began to examine Kandid from top to toe with exaggerated minuteness.

  "My, my, my ..." she began in her former tone, but Nava's mother said irritably, "Stop it now! That's enough of it! Go away from here," she said to Kandid. "Go on, go on, what're you waiting for? Go on into the forest! ..."

  "Who would have thought that the root of love could be so bitter ... so filthy ... so hairy... " She intercepted Nava's mother's furious glance and gestured to her. "All right, all right," said she, "don't get angry, my dear. A joke's a joke. We're just very pleased you've found your daughter. It's an incredible piece of luck..."

  "Are we going to do any work or not?" said Nava's mother. "Or are we going to stand here gossiping?"

  "I'm going, don't get angry," said the girl. "The output's just starting anyway."

  She nodded, and once more smiled at Kandid, and ran lightly up the slope. Kandid watched her running - controlled, professional, not womanly. She ran up to the summit and, without pausing, dived into the lilac mist.

  "Spider Pond hasn't been cleaned out yet," said the pregnant woman anxiously, "we've always got these muddles with the constructors... What are we going to do?"

  "It's okay," said Nava's mother, "we'll go along to the valley."

  "I understand, but it's extremely stupid all the same - take all that trouble, carry a nearly adult person all the way to the valley, when we have our own pond."

  She gave a vigorous shrug and suddenly pulled a face.

  "You ought to sit down," said Nava's mother; she looked about her, stretched out her arm in the direction of the deadlings and snapped her fingers.

  One of the deadlings at once left his place and ran up, slipping on the grass in its haste; it fell to its knees and all of a sudden flowed somehow, fashioned itself into a curve, and flattened itself out.

  Kandid blinked: the deadling had ceased to exist, what did exist was an apparently comfortable and convenient armchair. The pregnant woman, with a groan of relief, sank into her soft seat and reclined her head against its soft back.

  "Soon, now," she purred, extending her legs plea-surably, "make it soon..."

  Nava's mother squatted in front of her daughter and began to look her in the eyes.

  "She's grown," said she. "Run wild. Glad?"

  "Well of course I am," said Nava, uncertainly. "You're my mam, after all. I dreamed about you every night... And this is Dummy, mam..." And Nava started talking.

  Kandid stared about him, clenching his jaws, all this wasn't delirium, as he had at first hoped. It was something everyday, very natural, just unfamiliar to him, but there was plenty unfamiliar in the forest. He had to get used to this, as he had got used to the noise in his head, and edible earth and deadlings and all the rest of it. The masters, he thought, these are the masters. They're not afraid of
anything. They control deadlings. Therefore, they're the masters. Therefore, it's they who send deadlings after women. Therefore, it's they... He looked at the damp hair of the women. Therefore... And Nava's mother, who was abducted by deadlings...

  "Where do you bathe?" he asked. "Why? Who are you? What do you want?"

  "What?" asked the pregnant woman. "Listen, my dear, he's asking something."

  Her mother spoke to Nava: "Wait a moment, I can't hear anything because of you... What do you say?" she asked the pregnant woman.

  "This little lamb," said she. "There's something he requires."

  Nava's mother looked at Kandid. "What can he want?" she asked. "Wants to eat, I expect. They're always hungry and they eat an awful lot, it's quite baffling why they want so much food, they don't do anything after all..."

  "Little lamb," said the pregnant woman. "Poor little lamb wants grass. Be-e-e! Do you know," she said, turning to Nava's mother, "it's a man from White Rocks. They're turning up a lot more often. How do they get down there?"

  "It's harder to understand how they get up there. I've seen how they come down. They fall. Some get killed, some stay alive..."

  "Mam," said Nava, "why are you looking at him like that? It's Dummy! Say something nice to him or he'll get annoyed. Strange that he isn't annoyed already, in his place I'd have got annoyed long ago..."

  The hill once again began to roar, black clouds of insects covered the sky. Kandid could hear nothing, all he could see was Nava's mother's lips moving; she appeared to be impressing something on Nava. The lips of the pregnant woman, who was addressing him, were also moving and her facial expression indicated that she was in fact talking to him as if to a domestic goat, strayed into the garden. Then the roaring ceased.

  "...only a mite grubby," the pregnant woman was saying. "Aren't you sorry, now?" She turned from him and began to watch the hill.

  Deadlings were creeping out of the lilac cloud on hands and knees. Their movements were uncertain and clumsy, and they kept falling forward, head-first into the ground. The girl was walking among them; she bent down, touching and nudging them till, one after another, they hoisted themselves to their feet, straightened up and, after initial stumbles, strode on more and more confidently and set off into the forest. The masters, Kandid assured himself. The masters. I don't believe it. And what to do? He looked at Nava. Nava was asleep. Her mother was sitting on the grass, and she herself was curled up in a ball next to her and slept, holding her hand.

  "They're all weak, somehow," said the pregnant woman. "Time to clean it all out again. Look at them stumbling about... the Accession will never get finished with workers like that."

  Nava's mother made some reply, and they commenced a conversation which Kandid couldn't make head or tail of. He could make out only isolated words, like Ears did when the fit was on him. He consequently just stood and watched the girl coming down the hill, dragging a clumsy armchewer by the paw. Why am I standing here, he thought, there was something I needed from them, they being the masters... He couldn't remember. "I'm just standing, that's all," he said aloud bitterly. "They've stopped chasing me away so I'm just standing. Like a deadling."

  The pregnant woman glanced fleetingly at him and turned away.

  The girl came up and said something, indicating the armchewer; both women began examining the monster intently, the pregnant one had even risen from her chair. The huge armchewer, the terror of the village children, squeaked plaintively, and made feeble efforts to break loose, helplessly opening and closing its fearful horned jaws. Nava's mother took hold of its lower jaw and with a powerful, assured movement, detached it. The armchewer gave a sob and froze into stillness, closing its eyes with an oily film. The pregnant woman was speaking: "... obviously, insufficient ... remember my girl, ... weak jaws, eyes not fully open ... surely won't stand the pace, therefore useless, perhaps even harmful, like every mistake ... it'll have to be cleaned up, moved elsewhere, and clean everything up here..."

  "The hill, ... dry and dusty..." the girl was saying, "... the forest has slowed right down ... that I don't know yet ... but you said something totally different..."

  "... you try it yourself," Nava's mother was saying, "you'll see, go on, try!"

  The girl dragged the armchewer off to one side, took a pace backward and began looking at it. It was as if she were taking aim. Her face became grave, tense even. The armchewer tottered on its awkward feet, despondently working its remaining jaw; it whined feebly. "You see," said the pregnant woman. The girl went right up to the armchewer and squatted lightly before it, resting her hands on her knees. The armchewer fell convulsively, paws outspread, as if a heavy weight had dropped on it. The woman laughed.

  Nava's mother said: "Stop it now, why don't you believe us?"

  The girl made no reply. She was standing over the armchewer, and watching as it slowly and carefully tucked in its paws and attempted to rise. Her features sharpened. She snatched the armchewer upright, set it on its feet, and made a movement as if to embrace it.

  A stream of lilac mist flowed between her palms and through the armchewer's body. The armchewer began to squeal, writhing and arcing its body and thrashing its paws. It tried to escape, wriggle away to safety; it tossed about, while the girl followed behind it, looming above it. It fell with its paws unnaturally entwined, and began curling up into a knot. The women were silent. The armchewer was transformed into a multi-colored ball, oozing slime. The girl then walked away and said, glancing aside, "Rubbish, really..."

  "Still have to be cleaned up, cleaned up," said the pregnant woman rising. "Get on with it, no sense in delaying matters. Is everything clear?" The girl nodded. "We'll go then and you make a start." The girl turned and went up the hill toward the lilac cloud. She paused by the multi-colored ball, seized a feebly twitching paw and proceeded on her way, trailing the ball behind her.

  "Splendid Maiden," said the pregnant woman. "Excellent."

  "She'll be a controller one day," said Nava's mother, also getting up. "She's got a bit of character to her. Well then, we must be going..."

  Kandid barely heard them. He still couldn't take his eyes from the dark puddle, on the spot where the armchewer had been screwed up. She hadn't even touched it, not laid a finger on it, she'd just stood over it and done what she wished ... such a sweet girl ... so gentle and loving... Not even laid a finger on it ... had he to get used to that as well? Yes, he thought. Has to be done. He began to watch as Nava's mother and the pregnant woman carefully set Nava on her feet, before taking her hand and leading her into the forest, down toward the lake. This without noticing him, this without a word to him. He took another look at the puddle. He felt himself to be small, pitiable, helpless, nevertheless he nerved himself and began the descent after them; he caught up with them and, sweating with terror, followed two steps behind. Something hot approached his back. He glanced back and leaped to one side. At his heels strode a gigantic deadling - heavy, hot, silent, dumb. Well, now, well, thought Kandid, it's only a robot, a servant. I really am doing well, he thought suddenly, I thought that out myself, didn't I? I've forgotten how I got there, but that's not important, what is important is that I understood, I grasped it. I weighed it all up and grasped it - on my own... I've a brain, got it? he said to himself, gazing at the women's backs. You're not so special... I'm not completely incapable.

  The women were talking of somebody who hadn't minded their own business and had made themselves a laughing-stock. They were amused at something, they laughed. They were walking through the forest and laughing. As if going down a village street for a gossip. And all around was the forest; they were not walking on a path even, but on light-colored dense grass, which always concealed tiny flowers that hurled spores to penetrate the skin and germinate in the body. And they were giggling and chattering and scandal-mongering, while Nava walked between them and slept, but they did it so that she walked fairly steadily and stumbled hardly at all... The pregnant woman shot a glance back at Kandid and said absently, "You
still here? Go into the forest, go on... Why are you following us?"

  Yes, thought Kandid, why? What business have I with them? But there is some business, something I have to find out... No, that's not it... Nava! he suddenly recalled. He realized that he had lost Nava. Nothing to be done about that. Nava was going away with her mother, all as it should be, she was going to the masters. And me? I'm staying. Still, why am I following them? Seeing Nava off? She's asleep anyway, they put her to sleep. A pang shot through him. Goodbye Nava, he thought.

  They came to where the paths forked, the women turned off to the left, toward the lake. The lake of drowned women. They were drowned women all right... Again lies from everybody, everybody mixed up... They passed the place where Kandid had waited for Nava and eaten earth. That was long, long ago, thought Kandid, almost as long ago as the biostation... Biostation... He could scarcely plod along; had it not been for the deadling walking at his heels, he would probably have fallen behind by now. Then the women halted and looked at him. All around were Reed-beds, the ground underfoot was warm and squelchy. Nava was standing with eyes closed, imperceptibly swaying, while the women regarded him thoughtfully. Then he remembered.

  "How do I get to the biostation?" he asked. Their faces expressed astonishment, and he realized that he had spoken in his native language. He was himself astonished: he couldn't now remember when he had last spoken that tongue. "How do I get to White Rocks?" he asked.

  The pregnant woman said, grinning:

  "So that's what our little lamb wants..." She wasn't talking to him, but to Nava's mother. "It's amusing how little they understand. Not one of them realizes. Imagine them wandering to White Rocks and suddenly finding themselves in the battle zone!"

  "They rot alive there," said Nava's mother pensively, "they go about and rot as they walk and don't even notice that they're not going anywhere, just marking time... Well anyway, let him go, it can only help the Harrowing. If he rots, that's useful. Dissolves - useful again... But perhaps he's protected? Are you protected?" she asked Kandid.