Царь сидел голый. Как нищий дурак на базаре, он сидел, втянув синие пупырчатые ноги, прислонясь спиной к холодной стене. Он дрожал, не открывая глаз, и все время прислушивался, но было тихо. В полночь он проснулся от кошмара и сразу же понял, что ему конец. Кто-то хрипел и бился под дверью спальни, слышались шаги, позвякивание железа и пьяное бормотание дядюшки Бата, его высочества: ""А ну, пусти... А ну, дай я... Да ломай ее, стерву, чего там..."" Мокрый от ледяного пота, он бесшумно скатился с постели, нырнул в потайной шкаф и, не помня себя, побежал по подземному коридору. Под босыми ногами хлюпало, шарахались крысы, но тогда он ничего не замечал и только сейчас, сидя у стены, вспомнил все: и темноту, и осклизлые стены, и боль от удара головой об окованные двери храма, и свой невыносимо высокий визг.
Author
The brothers Arkady Strugatsky [Russian: Аркадий Стругацкий] and Boris Strugatsky [Russian: Борис Стругацкий] were Soviet-Russian science fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Arkady Strugatsky was born 25 August 1925 in Batumi; the family later moved to Leningrad. In January 1942, Arkady and his father were evacuated from the Siege of Leningrad, but Arkady was the only survivor in his train car; his father died upon reaching Vologda. Arkady was drafted into the Soviet army in 1943. He trained first at the artillery school in Aktyubinsk and later at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1949 as an interpreter of English and Japanese. He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the military until 1955. In 1955, he began working as an editor and writer. In 1958, he began collaborating with his brother Boris, a collaboration that lasted until Arkady's death on 12 October 1991. Arkady Strugatsky became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1964. In addition to his own writing, he translated Japanese language short stories and novels, as well as some English works with his brother. Source: Wikipedia
