"Diana Wynne Jones - Castle In The Air (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Diana Wynne)

walls, of course."

Abdullah had heard that some of the very rich people in Zanzib kept
their daughters-and even their wives, too-almost like prisoners inside
their grand houses. He had many times wished someone would keep his
father's first wife's sister, Fatima, that way. But now, in this dream,
it seemed to him that this custom was entirely unreasonable and not fair
to this lovely girl at all. Fancy not knowing what a normal young man
looked like!

"Pardon my asking, but is the Prince from Ochinstan perhaps old and a
little ugly?" he said.

14

"Well," she said, evidently not quite sure, "my father says he's in his
prime, just as my father is himself. But I believe the problem lies in
the brutal nature of men. If another man saw me before the Prince did,
my father says he would instantly fall in love with me and carry me off,
which would ruin all my father's plans, naturally. He says most men are
great beasts. Are you a beast?"

"Not in the least," said Abdullah.

"I thought not," she said, and looked up at him with great concern. "You
do not seem to me to be a beast. This makes me quite sure that you can't
really be a man." Evidently she was one of those people who like to
cling to a theory once they have made it. After considering a moment,
she asked, "Could your family, perhaps, for reasons of their own, have
brought you up to believe a falsehood?"

Abdullah would have liked to say that the boot was on the other foot,
but since that struck him as impolite, he simply shook his head and
thought how generous of her it was to be so worried about him and how
the worry on her face only made it more beautiful-not to speak of the
way her eyes shone compassionately in the gold and silver light
reflecting from the fountain.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you are from a
distant country," she said, and patted the edge of the fountain beside
her. "Sit down and tell me all about it."

"Tell me your name first," said Abdullah.

"It's rather a silly name," she said nervously. "I'm called
Flower-in-the-Night."

It was the perfect name for the girl of his dreams, Abdullah thought. He
gazed down at her admiringly. "My name is Abdullah," he said.