"De Camp, L Sprague - RK 3 - The Unbeheaded King UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Camp L Sprague)

king until he shrank enough no longer to fit so snugly,
like a cork in a bottle.

"Haziran looked the situation over and said, 'You are
all a pack of fools! This is a ceramic tub, is it not? Well,
you lackeys, take the water out. Doctor AkrabaЧ' That
was the chief engineer. 'Чfetch me a heavy hammer,
forthwith!'

"'Do as she says,' quoth Ishbahar. 'This damned tub is
cutting off our circulation.'

"By the time the sledge hammer was brought, the serv-
ants, with dippers and pails and sponges, had removed
nearly all the water. So Haziran smote the tub on the side
where it gripped Ishbahar's hips, and with a loud crash the
tub broke into several pieces. The king gave a yelp of pain
from the impact, but he recked that a bruised hip were a
small price for his freedom. He dried himself, embraced
Haziran, and led her off to the bedchamber. She was a
level-headed woman, and had she not died of a pox a few
years later, she might have saved the kingdom much gnef
by giving Ishbahar good advice.

"Anyway, the king ordered another bathtub. This time
he made sure it was large enough so that, no matter how
fat he got, he would be in no danger of being entrapped.
And in later years, when officials of the House of Learning
complained of the king's cutting their appropriations, Ish-

THE UNBEHEADED KING

bahar would say 'Ha' For all your pretended wisdom, you
geniuses could not even get us out of a bathtub'"'

"An edifying tale," said Karadur "But why did he have
it fabricated of copper2 It must have been much more
costly that way "

"That was a decision political His officials were em-
broiled in a quarrel with the potters' guild over taxes, and
ordering the tub from the coppersmiths' guild was ish-
bahar's way of reminding the potters who was boss "

"Now back to our own plans," said Karadur "How shall
you get your queen up the rope and into the tub again2
Mighty though you be, I misdoubt you could scale the
rope with one hand whilst grasping your sweetlmg with
the other "