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

and leisure than the gods see fit at the moment to accord
us"

By afternoon they had left the Marshes of Moru and
soared above the forests of southern Xylar By sunset the
forest was giving way to farmland

"Tell Gorax," said Jonan, "that we do not wish to arrive
at Xylar City before midnight "

"He says we shall be fortunate to arrive ere dawn," said
Karadur "He groansтАФmentally of courseтАФwith fatigue "

"Then have him speed up The last thing we wish is
to find the sun nsmg )ust as I am shmnying down that
rope "

"Just what do you intend, }onan2" Karadur's voice ex-
pressed a growing tremor of apprehension

"Simple Kenn told me they have Estnidis quartered in
the penthouse apartment on the roof They think that
putting her up there will make it harder for me to get
herтАФassuming that I shall approach the palace on the
ground " Jonan chuckled "So, when we reach the roof,
I'll belay the rope to the faucet, drop the other end over
the side, slide down, and carry off Estnidis before any
mouse knows I'm there 1 wish we had one of your en-
sorcelled ropes "

THE UNBEHEADED KING
"If we ever alight long enough for the sorcerous oper-
ation, I wilt prepare one "

"This faucet was King Ishbahar's pnde and |oy," said
Jonan "An engineer m the House of Learning invented
it The only trouble was that the king's servants had to
mix hot and cold water m a tank on the palace roof, and
they could never get the proportions right Poor Ishbahar
was ever being either chilled or boiled I proposed that he
install two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold, so
that he could ad)ust the mixture to suit himself But, what
with the siege of Iraz and the revolt of the racing factions,
he never got around to trying my idea "

Karadur shook his head "With all these new inventions
pouring out of the House of Learning, in a few centuries
our plane will be like the afterworld, where all is done by
buzzing, clattering machines and magic is of no account
I pray never to spend an incarnation in such a world "