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

three months.

He could, of course, just walk away and hope to get to Estorya on foot. Thousands of miles through countless
perils, and he had only a general idea of where the city was... no, Miran was his only hope.

But how...? He didn't think that stowing away would work. There was always a careful search for slaves who
might try just that very plan. He looked at Miran, the short, fat, bigтИТstomached, hookтИТnosed, oneтИТeyed

The Green Odyssey 4
 The Green Odyssey

fellow with many chins and a large gold ring in his nose. The fellow was shrewd, shrewd, and he would not
want to offend the Duchess by helping her official gigolo escape. Not, that is, unless Green could offer him
something that was so valuable that he couldn't afford not to take the risk. Miran boasted that he was a
hardтИТheaded businessman, but it was Green's observation that there was always a large soft spot in that
supposedly impenetrable cranium: the Fissure of Cupiditas.

2
THE DUKE ROSE, and everybody followed his example. Jugkaxtr chanted the formula of dismissal, then sat
down to finish gnawing on the bone. The others filed out. Green walked in front of Zuni in order to warn her
of any obstacles in her path and to take the brunt of any attempted assassination. As he did so he was seized
by the ankle and tripped headlong. He did not fall hard because he was a quick man, in spite of his
sixтИТfootтИТtwo and hundred ninety pounds. But he rose redтИТfaced because of the loud laughter and from
repressed anger at Alzo, who had again repeated his trick of grabbing Green's leg and upsetting him. He
wanted to grab a spear from a nearby guard and spit Alzo. But that would be the end of Green. And whereas
up to now there had been many times when he would not particularly have cared if he left this planet via the
death route, he could not now make a false move. Not when escape was so near!

So he grinned sheepishly and again preceded the Duchess, while the others followed her out. When they
reached the bottom of the broad stone staircase that led to the upper floors of the castle, Zuni told Green that
he was to go to the marketplace and buy tomorrow's food. As for her, she was going back to bed and sleep
until noon.

Inwardly Green groaned. How long could he keep up this pace? He was expected to stay up half the night
with her, then attend to his official duties during the day. She slept enough to be refreshed by the time he
visited her, but he never had a chance for any real rest. Even when he had his free hours in the afternoon he
had to go to his house in the pens, and there he had to stay awake and attend to all his familial duties. And
Amra, his slaveтИТwife, and her six children demanded much from him. They were even more tyrannical than
the Duchess, if that were possible.

How long, O Lord, how long? The situation was intolerable; even if he'd not heard of the spaceship he would
have plotted to escape. Better a quick death while trying to get away than a slow, torturous one by
exhaustion.

He bowed goodтИТby to the Duke and Duchess, then followed the violet turban and yellow robes of Miran
through the courtyard, through the thick stone walls, over the bridge of the broad moat, and into the narrow
winding streets of the city of Quotz. Here the merchantтИТcaptain got into his silverтИТandтИТjewelтИТdecorated
rickshaw. The two longтИТlegged men between its shafts, sailors and clansmen from Miran's vessel, the Bird of
Fortune, began running through the crowd. The people made way for them, as two other sailors preceded
them calling out Miran's name and cracking whips in the air.