"Philip Jose Farmer - The Green Odyssey" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farmer Phillip Jose)

"You'd better be careful, saying that before the children. You know that if they innocently repeated that to
someone and it got back to the Duchess you'd be burned in the next witchhunt."

"Not my children!" she scoffed. "They're too clever. They take after their mother. They know when to keep
their mouths shut."

Green gulped his wine and stood up. "I must go."

"You'll come home tonight? Surely the Duchess will let you out one night a week?"

"Not one single night. And I can't come here this evening because I'm to meet Miran the Merchant at the
House of Equality. Business, you know."

"Oh, I know! You'll dillydally about the whole matter, and put off acting for one reason or another, and the
first thing you know, years will go by, andтИТтИТтИТтИТ"

"If this keeps up I'll be dead in six months," he said. "I'm tired! I have to get some sleep."

She changed instantly from anger to sympathy. "Poor dear, why don't you forget that appointment and sleep
here until time to go back to the castle? I'll send a messenger to Miran telling him you're sick."

"No, this is something I just can't pass by."

"What is it?"

"It's of such a nature that telling you, or anybody, would spoil it."

"And just what could that be?" she demanded, angry again. "It concerns some woman, I'll bet!"

"My problem is keeping away from you women, not getting into more trouble. No, it's just that Miran has
sworn me by all his gods to keep silent and of course I couldn't think of breaking a vow."

"I know your opinion of our gods," she said. "Well, go along with you! But I warn you, I'm an impatient
woman; I'll give you a week to work on the Duchess, then I'm launching an attack myself."

"That won't be necessary," he said. He kissed her and the children and left. He congratulated himself on
having delayed Amra that long. If he couldn't carry out his scheme in a week he was lost, anyway. He'd have
to walk away from the city and out onto the Xurdimur, even if packs of wild dogs and manтИТeating grass cats

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 The Green Odyssey


and cannibalistic men and God knew what else did roam the grassy plains.

4
EVERY CITY AND VILLAGE of the Empire had its House of Equality, within whose walls distinctions of
every type were abandoned. Green did not know the origin of the institution, but he recognized its value as a
safety valve to blow off the extreme social pressure put on every class. Here the slave who did not dare open