"Eisenstein,.Phyllis.-.Elementals.2.-.1988.-.Crystal.Palace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eisenstein Phyllis)

Cray said, УYourself at home, doing what you usuнally do, is your heartТs
desire?Ф
УYes, exactly.Ф
УAnd ... what do you want these special spiders to do for you?Ф
УTo spin another such web in my cave.Ф
Cray frowned, puzzled. УBut since you know your heartТs desire, what future
purpose could such a mirнror serve?Ф
УIt would show anyone his heartТs desire, CrayЧanyone who stood in the proper
place and looked when the dew was fresh. I thought that here in the cave I could
spray a fine mist of water on it whenever I wanted to use it. IТve made a form
for the web, with the anchor points marked, as you can see ... Ф He lifted a
kind of openwork basket into view. It was as wide as his outstretched arms and
made of thin wooden hoops joined by struts into a shape that was not conical,
not hemispherical, but somewhere in between. White pigment marked nearly a
hundred places upon the wood. As Cray looked at the thing more closely, he
realized that the hoops were actually one continuнous spiral, deformed by the
struts.
УI see,Ф he said. УBut I donТt understand why anyone would be interested in
looking into this mirror. Or at any rate, in traveling any great distance to do
so. I mean ... donТt most people already know their heartsТ desires?Ф
Sepwin smiled slightly. УI didnТt know. When you met me, I thought all I wanted
from life was a full belly and a warm bed. But I really wanted this, and I
didnТt even know it existed.Ф
Cray shook his head. УHow could you have wanted it if you didnТt know it
existed?Ф
УThe heart knows, Cray. Fifteen years ago, if I could have looked into the
mirror, I would have seen what I saw in the forest. I have no doubt about that.Ф
УBut would you have understood what you saw?Ф
УAh.Ф His smile broadened. УOnly a Seer could have told me what it meant. And
that is why a Seer should own such a mirror.Ф He lowered the wooden form. УThey
come to me to find out who they are, where they should go, whom they should
love, whom they should kill. They come as you came to the lady Helaine, to be
told what to do with their lives. HeartТs desire is part of that, isnТt it?
TheyТll come to see the mirror.Ф
УBut what of the pool?Ф said Cray. УCanТt you see enough in that to satisfy your
visitors?Ф
Sepwin shrugged. УThe image in the mirror will be visible to their own eyes; it
wonТt be just a pool of black water.Ф He glanced down at the wooden form. УMore
than that, I feel I must make the mirror. It lies within my power to produce
something marvelous. Why should I not do so?Ф He looked up. УIf you were in my
place, would you shy away from it?Ф
Cray thought of the gold-nourished tree and had to say no. УHow many spiders do
you need, Feldar?Ф
УHalf a dozen, perhaps, to make the work go quickly. It may take some time to
create just the proper web, but IТll know when itТs right. YouТll have to be
here, of course, to guide them until they have it. For the rest, IТve already
rigged a small bellows to spray the fine mist of water.Ф
Cray rolled to his side to consider the problem. Spiders he had in plenty,
trainable to any kind of spinning. But the artisan in him rebelled at the need
to remake the web every time it was damaged and to spray water on it for every