"Craig Shaw Gardner - Arabian 1 - The Other Sindbad" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner Craig Shaw)

courtyard full of those high above my humble station. And this time I
was not interrupted once by the child, who now stood to one side of
the master's seat and glowered in welcome silence.

Let me tell you now, if naught else happened to me in this eventful life,
the day I sang that song would be one of those crystalline moments that
I should cherish for as long as I might remember. That instant alone
when I heard all those respected gentlemen join in on the
oody-shebang-shebang chorus was enough to chill even my coarse and
overheated blood. And this time, without the child's interference, I
managed to complete even the final verse and chorus.

My host clapped his hands together when I was done. "Truly, that is a
marvelous song, and the last verse wonderfully inspirational." He
glanced distractedly for an instant at the snickering child before he
continued. "For your song speaks of Destiny, and I have a tale of
Destiny as well."

At the mention of the word Destiny, the crowd shifted before us, and
made a collective noise that I might have perceived as a polite murmur
had not the group's conversation been spiced by so many groans.
The portly fellow with the same name as my own seemed not to notice.
"For know, O porter, that my situation has not always been as
comfortable as it now appears, and there was a time when as I was as
poor-" He hesitated as he took a moment to examine my ragged garb.
"Well, perhaps nowhere near as poor as you, but poor enough not to
be comfortable."

The crowd of respected gentlemen seemed to understand what he was
talking about, if I did not. They called lustily for the servants to bring
them food and wine as my host settled into his chair to tell his tale.

"Now I shall tell you of the first of my voyages, and how Destiny
showed me the way."

I noticed that the groans were back again, although this time they were
muffled by the sounds of heavy eating and even heavier drinking.

Sinbad the Sailor cleared his throat.

Had I known what was to happen next, I would have leapt from my
place of honor and run screaming back into the streets.

But I did not, and perhaps it was all for the best.

You will have to be the judge.
 Chapter the Second,
in which the true nature of the difficulty is manifested,
and there is a further problem.