"Stephen Lawhead - Byzantium" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lawhead Stephen)

oratory, or the scriptorium, I was there, earnest and eager, doing all


in my power to lighten others' burdens and prove myself worthy. My


zeal would not be quenched. My devotion was second to none.




When I could not think of any chore to do, I took a penance upon


myself--as severe as I could devise--to chastise myself and drive out


the demons of idleness and sloth, pride, envy, spite, and any others


that might stand in my way. With a true and contrite heart, I did


humble my willful spirit.
Then, one night'...




I stood in the swift-running stream of the Blackwater, clutching a


wooden bowl tight between shivering hands. Mist curled in slow eddies


over the surface of the river, softly spectral in the pale light of a


new moon.




When my flesh began to grow numb, I dipped the bowl into the icy water


and poured it over my shoulders and back. My inward organs shuddered