"Simon Hawke - Wizard 7 - The Wizard of Camelot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

made
no difference. Then, he had each of us arrange the items we had brought upon
the
table top, in a certain order. He had us specifically arrange these things so
that, as he sat facing them, he sat facing to the north. Farthest from him,
he
had Jenny place one candle in a brass holder to his left, and another he had
me
place to his right. Christine was directed to place the saucepan in the
cento;
slightly ahead of the candles. In front of the candle to his left, Merlin had
Christine place the "goblet," the drinking glass which she had filled with
water
Across from it, to his right, and in front of the second candle, he placed a
cup, into which he poured some salt.

The center of the table was to remain bare, but before him, where his plate
would be if he were sitting down to dine, he placed the two knives, points
facing away from him and angled inward, so that they formed a triangle with
no
base. That done, he nodded, apparently satisfied with the arrangement, and
bid
us all to take our seats around the table.

"Now," he said, "so that no one will feel apprehensive, I will explain what
we
have done, and what we are about to do. And I do mean we, for we are going to
do
it all together First of all, there is no need to feel frightened or
apprehensive. I know that many tales have been told over the years about how
magic is derived from unholy rites, and pacts with demons, and all that sort
of
nonsense. However, nonsense is exactly what it is."

He turned to the girls and smiled. "Have you girls ever wished for something
very hard, and then had it come true?''

They both nodded.

"Well, think of magic the same way. Now, perhaps the thing you wished for
came
true merely because it just happened to turn out that way But perhaps it came
true because you wished for it so very hard. Who can say for certain? Making
magic work is just like wishing for something very hard. You may think of a
wizard as someone who is very good at wishing. But, of course, it is not
really
quite that simple. You have to know just how to wish, and you have to do it in
a
special way, depending on what you are wishing foe That is what we are going
to