"Lian Hearn - Tales of the Otori 03 - Brilliance of the Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hearn Lian)

legend that appears in times of justice and peace. And it is written with the same character as the name of
my clan, Otori.тАЭ

тАЬCorrect,тАЭ Matsuda said, smiling. тАЬIt does not often appear, justice and peace being something of a rarity in
these times. But Shigeru saw it and I believe the vision inspired him in his pursuit of these virtues. I told him
then that the feathers were tinged with blood, and indeed his blood, his death, still drive both you and me.тАЭ

I looked more closely at the feather. It lay across the scar on my right palm where I had burned my hand a
long time ago, in Mino, my birthplace, the day Shigeru had saved my life. My hand was also marked with
the straight line of the Kikuta, the Tribe family to which I belonged, from which I had run away the previous
winter. My in-

heritance, my past, and my future, all seemed to be there, held in the palm of my hand.

тАЬWhy do you show it to me now?тАЭ
тАЬYou will be leaving here soon. You have been with us all winter, studying and training to prepare yourself
to fulfill ShigeruтАЩs last commands to you. I wanted you to share in his vision, to remember that his goal was
justice, and yours must be too.тАЭ

тАЬI will never forget it,тАЭ I promised. I bowed reverently over the feather, holding it gently in both hands, and
offered it back to the abbot. He took it, bowed over it, and replaced it in the small lacquered box from
which he had taken it. I said nothing, remembering all that Shigeru had done for me, and how much I still
needed to accomplish for him.

тАЬIchiro told me about the houou when he was teaching me to write my name,тАЭ I said finally. тАЬWhen I saw
him in Hagi last year he advised me to wait for him here, but I cannot wait much longer. We must leave for
Maruyama within the week.тАЭ I had been worrying about my old teacher since the snows had melted, for I
knew that the Otori lords, ShigeruтАЩs uncles, were trying to take possession of my house and lands in Hagi
and that Ichiro continued stubbornly to resist them.

I did not know it, but Ichiro was already dead. I had the news of it the next day. I was talking with Amano
in the courtyard when I heard something from far below: shouts of anger, running feet, the trampling of
hooves. The sound of horses plunging up the slope was unexpected and shocking. Usually no one came to
the temple at Terayama on horseback. They either walked up the steep mountain path or, if unfit or very
old, were carried by sturdy porters.

A few seconds later Amano heard it too. By then I was already running to the temple gates, calling to the
guards.

Swiftly they set about closing the gates and barring them. Matsuda came hurrying across the courtyard. He
was not wearing armor,

but his sword was in his belt. Before we could speak to each other, a challenge came from the guardhouse.

тАЬWho dares to ride to the temple gate? Dismount and approach this place of peace with respect!тАЭ

It was Kubo MakotoтАЩs voice. One of TerayamaтАЩs young warrior monks, he had become, over the last few
months, my closest friend. I ran to the wooden stockade and climbed the ladder to the guardhouse. Makoto
gestured toward the spy hole. Through the chinks in the wood I could see four horsemen. They had been
galloping up the hill; now they pulled their heaving, snorting mounts to a halt. They were fully armed, but the