"Laurence Manning & Fletcher Pratt - City of the Living Dead" - читать интересную книгу автора (Manning Laurence)

moved in light and music.
тАЬThereupon, so hasty was my mood, I slung my quiver over my shoulder without more ado, and with staff in hand se
out for the Mountain of the South, making a wide circuit to the east to go around this very House of Power.
тАЬIn those days few in Alvrosdale and none outside could equal me as a cragsman. But I had need of all my skill, for,
I advanced, the edges of the Mountain of the South became ever more rugged, torn into heaps and pinnacles as sharp a
daggers. All morning long I clambered among the rocky screes, not seldom tearing clothes or skin, and at noon made
pause and ate, though sparingly, of the bread and cheese that I had brought for my lunch. Of water there was none, nor
did I see any sign of trees or other life. The Mountain of the South is a vast wilderness of stone, hard and desolate, not
mellowed with age like our summits of the Keel.
тАЬBut still my heart was high, and after my midday meal I took to climbing again. My road grew worse; thrice I was n
to death, as some ledge I was on ran out into sheerest precipice without room to turn back. The loneliness of the place
weighed down upon my spirit also, for all that day I saw no living thingтАФI, who had always known the kindly dale of
Alvros, where the cow-bells tinkle ever within hearing. And at night I made camp just below the edge of the line where
snows mantle the rugged pinnacles.
тАЬIn the morn, as I started on, I still saw the summit towering far above me, and now I dared not turn back, for fear of
the rocks and avalanches. All day I tramped the snow. Toward afternoon I found a glacier that eased my labor somewh
yet up it I must move with utmost caution, for there were great crevasses running down for miles into its heart, often so
hidden that it was not until I thrust my stick down through the crust of snow that they became visible. That night I built
myself a cairn of ice in the lee of a rock, and camped supperless and cold.

тАЬI AWOKE so stiff that the third day of my ascent was like to be my last. A storm had come up and veiled the head
the mountain; I was weak with the chill, the wounds in my hands were nipped by the icy blast, and my hunger had becom
a terrible gnawing pain. The glacier petered out and I had to clamber among rocks againтАФrocks that were covered with
glare of ice.
тАЬThe wind shrieked about me among the rocks; the storm blotted out all knowledge of the sun, and I knew that if
another night found me on that bleak summit, all nights and days would end for me. Yet I kept on! I came at last to a pla
where a wall of ice-covered rock rose sheer before me; to right and left there seemed no passage, and I halted, ready to
lie down in blank despair. But as I stood still, I caught sight of a black shape amid the gray of the whirling snow, and a
great golden eagle swept down on the wings of the wind past me, swung off suddenly to the left and, just at the limit of m
sight, turned again over the rocky wall.
тАЬI took it for an omen and followed down the wall to where the eagle had disappeared. Sure enough, there lay a
narrow chimney through the rock, that might not otherwise have been seen. I leapt into it, stumbling and slipping on the
loosened stones, but going upward; and a few minutes later I had reached the top of the wall, and with it the crest of the
mountain!тАЭ
The old man paused, and in the hall one might see a stir of motion, as his hearers, stiffened by listening to his recital,
changed their position. HeтАФpaused and looked around, as though loath to believe that he was not living again the brave
days of his adventure. Then he began once more.
тАЬIt is unlikely that any, however expert cragsmen they may be, will follow my path; for we now have the wings and
follow the raven, soaring over that perilous tower with never a break. But if, through courage, you should wish to attemp
it, I warn youтАФdo not venture! For I am convinced that only by the favor of the most high gods and by the omen of the
golden eagle did I come through unscathed.
тАЬWhen I had followed the eagle through the pass and stood indeed on the highest crest of the Mountain of the South
the storm cleared away as if by magic, and far beneath me I saw the Mountain spread out, and beyond the Mountain a
smiling valleyтАФlike Alvrosdale, but broader and deeper. Through the heart of it trailed our own riverтАФOster
DalalvenтАФafter it had burst foaming from the rocks beneath the mountain. Beside it was a white ribbon of a road that ra
off into the distance. Along the road I could see the habitations of men, gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, and forests th
ran down almost to the houses and at times hid the road. I shouted for joy at the prospect and began the descent of the
mountain; for in that moment I knew that the tales of a world of splendor were based in truth.
 CHAPTER II
Beyond the Mountain