"James E. Gunn - The Magicians" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gunn James E)

earth, and deeper than did ever plummet sound I'll drown my book.' But he was out of his head then and
had confused himself with his namesake. He and Uriel had agreed long before that this was no solution.
Real knowledge is indestructible. Someone else would have discovered it. Somebody less scrupulous.
Like some of the people who wormed their way into the society."
My mood had changed from that of a half-hour before when I had imagined all the possible
benefits of a world in which magic worked. It wouldn't be that way at all. Instead, every man and woman
would suspect his neighbor of working secret evil against him or of succeeding beyond his own abilities.
There would be no public laundries or barber shops or manicure salons unless they were carefully
guarded and every item and clipping protected. Nobody would allow pictures to be taken or records to
be made. Birth certificates would all have to be destroyed, and files of all kinds containing names. Devils
would lurk everywhere; no one's property or person would be safe; wars would be fought with regiments
of demons, battalions of zombies, and batteries of spells and curses. Nothing would be real but hate and
fear...
"My father and Uriel used to discuss what kind of world it would be where magic was as
common as electricity," Ariel said. "They agreed it wouldn't make that much difference. People would
learn to live with it in the same way they learned to live with the airplane and the automobile and
television, and soon it would provide a new source of power to improve the conditions and the potential
of humanity."
"Like making people waste away?" I suggested.
"Father always was so careful," she said. "He burned his nail clippings and hair combings. Of
course we didn't know much about this sort of thing. We weren't interested in experimenting in that area,
Gabriel, but someтАФ"
"My name isn't Gabriel," I said. "You know that. It'sтАФ"
"Sh-h-h," she hushed me, holding up her hand for emphasis and looking around at the people
seated nearby. None of them seemed interested in our conversation. "You mustn't speak your real name.
Anyone who knows it has power over you. That must have been what happened to Father, Several
people knew his name. Many of them knew where he had taught; most of his career was a public record.
Someone must have mentioned it."
"To whom?"
She looked cautiously around the coffee shop again. She lowered her voice. "To Solomon. He's
always been Father's rival, and he was the leader of the group that opposed making the Art public. And
now that Father is dead, Solomon has made himself Magus. No one will ever again suggest releasing the
Art."
"But couldn't anybody talk? Couldn't you and Uriel publish an article or tell the newspapers or
stage a demonstration orтАФ"
That frightened her. "Oh, we couldn't! You don't know what Solomon could do if he had an
excuse! He could mobilize the entire society against us if he could convince the members that we we're a
threat to all of them. Only Father had a chance of defying Solomon, and he's dead. Did you notice how
feeble Uriel looked today? I'm scared, Gabriel. If something happens to Uriel, I'll be all alone."
"But if you knew his name," I said slowly, "you'd have a weapon you could use against him. You
could protect yourself."
"That's right," she said eagerly. "Could you do that? Could you find out his name for me, Gabriel?
I'd pay you. I'dтАФ"
"What do you think I am?"
She paused as if she were considering the question for the first time. "I don't know," she said
quietly. "What are you?"
"I'm a private detective," I said. "I follow people and discover things they'd rather hide. But I
have a client."
"It isn't Solomon, is it?" she asked quickly.
I thought about it for a moment. "No, it isn't Solomon." And then I reconsidered. "At least I don't