"David Eddings - Belgariad 3 Magicians Gambit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

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The Belgariad: Magicians GambitMAGICIAN'S GAMBIT


For Dorothy,
who has the enduring grace to put up with Eddings men,
and for Wayne,
for reasons we both understand but could never be put into words.


PROLOGUE
Being an Account of how Gorim sought a God for his People and of how he found UL
upon the sacred Mountain of Prolgu.
-based upon The Book of Ulgo and other fragments
AT THE BEGINNING Of Days, the world was spun out of darkness by the seven Gods,
and they also created beasts and fowls, serpents and fishes, and lastly Man.
Now there dwelt in the heavens a spirit known as UL who did not join in this
creation. And because he withheld his power and wisdom, much that was made was
marred and imperfect. Many creatures were unseemly and strange. These the
younger Gods sought to unmake, so that all upon the world might be fair.
But UL stretched forth his hand and prevented them, saying: "What you have
wrought you may not unmake. You have torn asunder the fabric and peace of the
heavens to bring forth this world as a plaything and an entertainment. Know,
however, that whatsoever you make, be it ever so monstrous, shall abide as a
rebuke for your folly. In the day that one thing which you have made is unmade,
all shall be unmade."
The younger Gods were angered. To each monstrous or unseemly thing they had made
they said: "Go thou unto UL and let him be thy God." Then from the races of men,
each God chose that people which pleased him. And when there were yet peoples
who had no God, the younger Gods drove them forth and said: "Go unto UL, and he
shall be your God." And UL did not speak.
For long and bitter generations, the Godless Ones wandered and cried out unheard
in the wastelands and wilderness of the West.
Then there appeared among their numbers a just and righteous man named Gorim. He
gathered the multitudes before him and spoke to them: "We wither and fall as the
leaves from the rigors of our wanderings. Our children and our old men die.
Better it is that only one shall die. Therefore, stay here and rest upon this
plain. I will search for the God named UL so that we may worship him and have a
place in this world."
For twenty years, Gorim sought UL, but in vain. Yet the years passed, his hair
turned gray, and he wearied of his search. In despair, he went up onto a high
mountain and cried in a great voice to the sky: "No more! I will search no
longer. The Gods are a mockery and deception, and the world is a barren void.
There is no UL, and I am sick of the curse and afliiction of my life."
The Spirit of UL heard and replied: "Why art thou wroth with me, Gorim? Thy
making and thy casting out were none of my doing."
Gorim was afraid and fell upon his face. And UL spoke again, saying:
"Rise, Gorim, for I am not thy God."
Gorim did not rise. "O my God," he cried, "hide not thy face from thy people who