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

tiring, but the antelope is a silly creature, and too many other
animals on this vast plain looked upon him as a food source. I didn't
really have the time to stop to persuade every passing predator to go
find something else to eat. I needed a form with speed and stamina and
a sufficiently intimidating reputation to keep other creatures at a
distance.

After a while it occurred to me that all the traits I was looking for
were to be found in the wolf. Of all the creatures of the plain and
forest, the wolf is the most intelligent, the swiftest, and the most
tireless. Not only that, no sane animal crosses a wolf if he can
possibly avoid it.

It took me a while to get it right. Beldin had taught us all to assume
the form of a bird, but I was on my own when it came to putting on fur
and paws.

I'll admit that I botched it the first few times. Have you ever seen a
wolf with feathers and a beak? You really wouldn't want to. I finally
managed to put all thoughts of birds out of my mind and came much
closer to my idealized conception of what a wolf ought to look like.

It's a strange sort of process, this changing of form. First you fill
your mind with the image of the creature you want to become, and then
you direct your will inward and sort of melt yourself into the image. I
wish Beldin were around. He could explain it far better than I can.
The important thing is just to keep trying--and to change back quickly
if you get it wrong. If you've left out the heart, you're in
trouble.

After I'd made the change, I checked myself over rather carefully to
make sure I hadn't left anything out. I'd imagine that I looked just a
bit ridiculous groping at my head and ears and muzzle with my paws, but
I wanted to be certain that other wolves wouldn't laugh at me when they
saw me.

Then I started across the grassland. I soon realized that my choice
had been a good one. As soon as I got used to the idea of running on
all fours, I found the shape of the wolf quite satisfactory and the
mind of the wolf most compatible with my own. After an hour or so, I
was pleased to note that I was covering the ground at least as fast as
I had when floundering through the air as an eagle. I quickly
discovered that it's a fine thing to have a tail. A tail helps you to
keep your balance, and it acts almost like a rudder when you're making
quick turns. Not only that, when you have a fine, bushy tail, you can
wrap it around yourself at night to ward off the chill. You really
ought to try it sometime.

I ran north for a week or so, but I still hadn't come across any
Alorns.