"L. Sprague De Camp - The Unbeheaded King" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Camp L Sprague)

happy, would you7"

"Of course not'"

"But suppose she really love this wight7 Then you had
broken her heart to no purpose- If by force or fraud you
compelled her to live with you thereafter, your domestic
scene were something less than heavenly "

Jonan shook his head "Curse it, old man, but you think
of some of the direst predicaments' Whatever I propose,
you are endlessly fertile in reasons why it were a folly, a
blunder, and a wicked knavery Betimes you have reason,
but if I barkened to all your cavils, I'd stand immobile
until I sprouted roots Methmks I must await the event
and guide my actions accordingly "

Karadur sighed "It is difficult for one so young to take
the long view of what is best for all concerned "
Jonan glanced up Overhead the stars were coming out
"Pray tell your demon to go slowly We would not run
into Mount Aravia in the dark "

"Mount Aravia7 I believe a colleague of mine, named
Shenderu, dwells there as a wise hermit Could we not
pay him a visit7" At Jonan's expression, Karadur sighed
again "Nay, I suppose not "

A scarlet-and-golden dawn found the flying bathtub still
over the Lograms, although the ndges became lower as

THE UNBEHEADED KING

the travelers flew northward Soon the mountains ended,
and for hours they soared above the vast Marshes of Mom
This dubious place was nominally part of Xylar In practice
it was a no-man's land, inhabited by a few desperate men,
by dwarf crocodiles, and, it was rumored, by descendants
of the dragons that the cannibal Paaluans once brought to
Novana Generations before, these sophisticated canni-
bals sent a foraging expedition to Ir on the west coast of
the broad Novanan peninsula

Curious about everything, Jonan peered over the side
of the tub He looked in vain for a Paaluan dragon among
the black pools and gray-green tussocks of this everglade,
whence the approach of winter had bleached most of the
color Karadur cautioned

"Lean not so far, my son' Gorax complains that you