"Brian Jacques - Redwall 01 - Redwall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jacques Brian)

Who says that I am dead

Knows nought at all.

I - am that is.

Two mice within Redwall.

The Warrior sleeps

Twixt Hall and Cavern Hole.

I тАФ am that is.

Take on my mighty role.

Look for the sword

In moonlight streaming forth,

At night, when day's first hour

Reflects the North.

From o'er the threshold

Seek and you will see;

1 - am that is,

My sword will wield for me.

(Rhymefrom beneath the Great Hall tapestry)

It was the start of the Summer of the Late Rose. Mossflower country shimmered
gently in a peaceful haze, bathing delicately at each dew-laden dawn,
blossoming through high sunny noontides, languishing in each crimson-tinted
twilight that heralded the soft darkness of June nights.

Redwall stood foursquare along the marches of the old south border, flanked on
two sides by Mossflower Wood's shaded depths. The other half of the Abbey
overlooked undulating sweeps of meadowland, its ancient gate facing the long
dusty road on the western perimeter.

From above, it resembled some fabulous dusky jewel, fallen between a green
mantle of light silk and dark velvet. The first mice had built the Abbey of
red sandstone quarried from pits many miles away in the north-east. The Abbey
building was covered across its south face by that type of ivy known as
Virginia creeper. The onset of autumn would turn the leaves into a cape of
fiery hue, thus adding further glory to the name and legend of Redwall Abbey.