"Books - David Eddings - Belgarath the Sorcerer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

The old man shrugged.

"Why bother?"

"I don't care for people who treat me like dirt."

"Do you really care what they think?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Why waste your energy then? You've got to learn to laugh these things
off, boy. Those self-important villagers are silly, aren't they?"

"Of course they are."

"Wouldn't hitting one of them in the face make you just as silly--or
even sillier? As long as you know who you are, does it really matter
what other people think about you?"

"Well, no, but--" I groped for some kind of explanation, but I didn't
find one. I finally laughed a bit sheepishly.

He patted my shoulder affectionately.

"I thought you might see it that way--eventually."

That may have been one of the more important lessons I've learned over
the years. Privately laughing at silly people is much more satisfying
in the long run than rolling around in the middle of a dusty street
with them, trying to knock out all of their teeth. If nothing else,
it's easier on your clothes.

The old man didn't really seem to have a destination. He had a cart,
but he wasn't carrying anything important in it--just a few half full
sacks of grain for his stumpy horse, a keg of water, a bit of food, and
several shabby old blankets that he seemed happy to share with me. The
better we grew acquainted, the more I grew to like him. He seemed to
see his way straight to the core of things, and he usually found
something to laugh about in what he saw. In time, I began to laugh
too, and I realized that he was the closest thing to a friend I'd ever
had.

He passed the time by telling me about the people who lived on that
broad plain. I got the impression that he spent a great deal of his
time traveling. Despite his humorous way of talking--or maybe because
of it-- I found his perceptions about the various races to be quite
acute. I've spent thousands of years with those people, and I've never
once found those first impressions he gave me to be wrong. He told me
that the Alorns were rowdies, the Tolnedrans materialistic, and the