A. Belyaev - Classics fantasy – 3

– I ask to sit down! – kindly Wagner told, without stopping working the left hand.

Gorev, worldly-wise as any skilled correspondent, was so struck that forgot all usual approaches of the journalist and is silent, with full bewilderment looked at the left eye of professor running according to the book and the manuscript, at tubes in his nose.

Professor noticed this puzzled type of the visitor and smiled.

– You are surprised by these tubes? – kindly it began. – But it is so simple: I too value the time to walk. Meanwhile clean air is necessary for health of a body and lucidity of mind. And here I made small adaptation: I removed outside, over a roof, two tubes which ends with special adaptation are inserted into a nose. At inhalation of air one valve opens, at exhalation this valve is closed by pressure of air, and another which lets out the air fulfilled by lungs opens. This small adaptation gives me the chance all the time to breathe fresh air, and see what rosy cheeks at me! The trifling invention, but it can bring big benefit. Present patients who cannot be taken out from the room. And modern ventilation leaves to wish a lot of the best. By means of this device all patients can breathe clean air. I expect bigger: if still ancient Romans were able to carry out water for hundreds of kilometers, having created the monumental aqueducts, then why don’t we create «aeroduka»? It would be possible to deliver on pipes, for example, mountain or sea air. Eventually, it would be cheaper, than to send patients for the sake of air for hundreds and thousands of kilometers. The central pipes with the special supercharger will give air to our cities, and there it will be distributed. The mountain, sea, steppe or given to drink by needles air will be available to all…

Professor Wagner spoke quickly, without ceasing to write with the left hand. The right eye he continued to look at the visitor.

Gorev, at last, found gift for speaking.

– Tell how you can do it?. – And he looked at sloping eyes of professor and his left hand.

– To write with the left hand, to operate each eye separately, to work and to talk at the same time to you? The matter is that at me both brain hemispheres work absolutely independently and almost independently from each other.

But I have to explain you, so to speak, my starting point. As you know, officially I am professor of biology. Not less to you, I hope, also the fact that modern scientific disciplines extremely quickly break up to independent parts is known. Before our eyes the biological chemistry grows. Each new scientific branch, like the atomic theory, quickly grows in independent scientific discipline. Years are necessary to comprehend each of these certain scientific areas.

And meanwhile, to go forward, it is necessary to know also interdisciplinary sciences: the biology and physiology, chemistry and electricity, even geology and astronomy – all of them intertwine, mutually influence at each other. Some comprehensive mind is necessary to capture all this mass of knowledge. And life human is so short! To me for fifty. Ten more – another years, and the end. Before me enormous tasks which I want to resolve. Means, the first that I had to make for the purpose, it anyway to extend life. At first I thought of experiences of rejuvenation. What is already reached helped me: I look much younger. Perhaps, I will also return to these experiences. But so far I stopped that to me he was more familiar on the works on a brain.

The first that to me came to a thought, it to develop ability to work separately with each brain hemisphere. Unfortunately, I cannot stop in detail at these works: it would take too much time. I will tell only that here the major role is played by a training. You, maybe, had to see rhythmic gymnastics of Dalkroz? Kids quickly seize ability to operate the asymmetric movements: the right hand they can beat three time, left – two, besides at various rates, at the same time making various movements and legs. Something similar was made also by me, by the way, to full bewilderment of my housekeeper.

More difficult it appeared to seize the device of eyes. At us each eye has an independent control system, but owing to what we better see, fixing both eyes on one point, we developed a habit to coordinate the movements of eyes. Heredity of these skills complicated fight for «autonomy» in the movement of eyes. However such independence of the movement of each eye is quite possible. The chameleon can be an example of it. I was engaged in exercises. You see results. To learn to write and work the left hand did not represent work. It was necessary to pass to the last: to learn to perform at the same time two mental work, for example, to write with both hands two scientific research on different subjects at once. On it several years left at me. I achieved the. Thus I doubled the brain production.

But and it it seemed to me a little. Eight hours of a dream! We lose a third of human life on that helpless, half-dead state. Here what revolted me. To exempt mankind from a sleepy duty. What extraordinary prospects, what opportunities!. How many great works still great thinkers would give us if to present to them all nights for creativity! How many unfinished great works would be finished! As progress would move! The worker, having fulfilled the put hours at the machine, would spend night behind the book or public work. At us would not be illiterate. It is more than that, all would have an opportunity to become quite educated people. What with great strides progress would move! Here of what I thought…

Professor Wagner was animated. His right eye burned with enthusiasm. Apparently, nervousness was transferred also to other half of a brain: the left eye also flashed and the left hand began to write falteringly.

But Wagner noticed it, and the left eye as though went out, having gone deep into work, the left hand methodically zastrochit while the right eye continued to burn with enthusiasm and the right hand led round wide circles.

– And now it is possible! – professor told. – A dream – not the so normal phenomenon, but the disease which is result of gipnotoksinama poisoning: these are special poisons which are excreted by a brain during the work. Poisoned with these poisons, the person falls asleep, that is gets sick.

When the person sleeps, the brain does not produce new toxins; for the same time the organism destroys the toxins which collected for the working day.

Thus, having had a sleep, the person recovers, but – alas! – again to ache by the evening, and it is forced to go to bed again. Unless it is not awful?!

If you want, the dream is infectious. I did such experience: forced a dog not to sleep.

When its organism was poisoned with gipnotoksina, I took them and injected to well slept and just woken up dog. She immediately fell asleep.

All task was in finding «antidote» – antigipnotoksina. And I managed to resolve a task more widely, than I assumed: found me антигипнотоксин kills not only toxins of a dream, but also others. Therefore, it improves all organism. There were many obstacles, but they are won. I overcame a dream. I threw out a bed – this symbol of hospital. I do not sleep any more and I work almost day and night. Antigipnotoksin I accept together with food. On meal leaves at me one or two hours a day.

All this was so extraordinary that Gorev continued to sit silently, listening carefully to professor.

– But how you felt at first? – at last he asked.

– Yes, I had to tinker with a habit to sleep a little. There was no wish to sleep to me at all. But this continuous, infinite working day – with the sun behind a window, with a dark veil of night – worked somehow strange. I, however, got used to it soon. But as it is well worked in calm of night! I will not cut out one selfish thought: I am afraid that when all people begin to lead a sleepless life, it will not be so silent at night.