"Kushner,.Donn.-.A.Book.DragonUC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

traced an intricate, beautiful pattern round a spiky hawthorn
bush on the bank of the pool. Had she touched any of the
thorns, it would certainly have torn her frafl wings, but this
only made her fly faster.

High above, the wind stirred the beech leaves. New sun-
beams flashed down; the butterfly seemed to be winding then-
light among the thorns. For a few seconds she hovered, quite
motionless, above the exact center of the pond. Then she
glided down towards a bright stone on the bank; but she saw,
just in time, that a gray-brown, warty toad had placed his feet
on it and was looking heavenwards with a pious, hungry
expression. The butterfly soared upwards immediately and
lighted on the highest thorn. "So that's where you've got to,"
she exclaimed. "You're so ugly, I tend to forget about you."

"That might be a mistake," the toad replied in a mild,
though gravelly, voice. He hoisted himself onto the stone and
sat for a moment, panting. "Though I have to admit," he
added,' 'that you're probably not worth the trouble of catching.
Too much air and motion in you to make a real mouthful."
Without seeming to move his head, the toad darted out his
long tongue and scooped up a fat black water bug from the
pool's surface. "Ugly but substantial," the toad remarked,

15

when he could speak.' 'Just as I am." He burped, and added in
a more kindly tone, "Of course, you (Ally lay eggs. Youimbibe
no more than a drop of nectar; you only live two days. How
could you have any flesh on you?"

These words didn't offend the butterfly. She darted over
the dragon's back, then around his head, so that a head-
shaped line gleamed in reflection on the water.' 'You are large,''
she remarked. "What do you do?"

These words amused Nonesuch, who was still hardly larger
than a human being. "You may think I'm large now," he
replied condescendingly, "but wait till I've reached my full
growth."

He realized immediately that the butterfly couldn't wait; if
this thought occurred to the butterfly, it didn't bother her.
"What will you do tfien?" she asked.

Nonesuch wasn't sure exactly what he would do. He
recalled the most impressive stories he had heard from his
grandmother; and from his uncles too, very restless dragons
who sometimes slept in the family's cavern but were always