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

6

was not large. Unrolled, it was even dingier than he had thought-
although the pattern was unusual, or it would have been if most of it
had not been worn away. What was left was dirty, and its edges were frayed.

"Alas, this poor salesman can only stretch to three copper coins for
this most ornamental of rugs," he observed. "It is the limit of my
slender purse. Times are hard, O captain of many camels. Is the price
acceptable in any way?"

"I'll take FIVE HUNDRED," said the stranger.

"What?" said Abdullah.

"GOLD coins," added the stranger.

"The king of all desert bandits is surely pleased to jest?" said
Abdullah. "Or maybe, having found my small booth lacking in anything but
the smell of frying squid, he wishes to leave and try a richer merchant?"

"Not particularly," said the stranger. "Although I will leave if you are
not interested, O neighbor of kippers. It is, of course, a magic carpet."

Abdullah had heard that one before. He bowed over his tucked- up hands.
"Many and various are the virtues said to reside in carpets," he agreed.
"Which one does the poet of the sands claim for this? Does it welcome a
man home to his tent? Does it bring peace to the hearth? Or maybe," he
said, poking the frayed edge suggestively with one toe, "it is said
never to wear out?"

"It flies," said the stranger. "It flies wherever the owner commands, O
smallest of small minds."

Abdullah looked up into the man's somber face, where the desert had
entrenched deep lines down each cheek. A sneer made those lines deeper
still. Abdullah found he disliked this person almost as much as he
disliked his father's first wife's uncle's son. "You must convince this
unbeliever," he said. "If the carpet can be put through its paces, O
monarch of mendacity, then some bargain might be struck."

"Willingly," said the tall man, and stepped upon the carpet.

At this moment one of the regular upsets happened at the fried food
stall next door. Probably some street boys had tried to steal

7

some squid. At any rate, Jamal's dog burst out barking; various people,