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

"There is no question of madness," Abdullah said. "I have simply decided
to go into a new line of business." But he ate the meat.

At last he was able to pile his 189 pictures onto the carpet and lie
down among them.

"Now listen to this," he told the carpet. "If by some lucky

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chance I happen to say your command word in my sleep, you must instantly
fly with me to the night garden of Flower-in-the-Night." That seemed the
best he could do. It took him a long time to get to sleep.

He woke to the dreamy fragrance of night flowers and a hand gently
prodding him. Flower-in-the-Night was leaning over him. Abdullah saw she
was far lovelier than he had been remembering her.

"You really did bring the pictures!" she said. "You are very kind."

I did it! Abdullah thought triumphantly. "Yes," he said. "I have one
hundred and eighty-nine kinds of men here. I think this ought to give
you at least a general idea."

He helped her unhook a number of the golden lamps and put them in a ring
beside the bank. Then Abdullah showed her the pictures, holding them
under a lamp first and then leaning them up against the bank. He began
to feel like a pavement artist.

Flower-in-the-Night inspected each man as Abdullah showed him,
absolutely impartially and with great concentration. Then she picked up
a lamp and inspected the artist's drawings all over again. This pleased
Abdullah. The artist was a true professional. He had drawn men exactly
as Abdullah asked, from a heroic and kingly person evidently taken from
a statue, to the hunchback who cleaned shoes in the Bazaar, and had even
included a self-portrait halfway through.

"Yes, I see," Flower-in-the-Night said at last. "Men do vary a lot, just
as you said. My father is not at all typical, and neither are you, of
course."

"So you admit I am not a woman?" said Abdullah.

"I am forced to do so," she said. "I apologize for my error." Then she
carried the lamp along the bank, inspecting certain of the pictures a
third time.

Abdullah noticed, rather nervously, that the ones she had singled out
were the handsomest. He watched her leaning over them with a small frown