"03 - Time Streams" - читать интересную книгу автора (McGough Scott)

Teferi laughed, though the sound was rueful. "Oh, yes.

He nurtures our minds like a farmer nurtures grain. He heaps

manure on our heads, knowing we will rise up through it,

despite it, to bear richly, and then he comes along with a

scythe and cuts our heads off to nourish his own appetites.

It is a fine arrangement, depending on who you are." He had

said this last bit while leading the probe and his

companions down the passageway to another chamber, similar

to the first, except that the vault overhead was dark, and

the students at the long tables were crouched over sheets of

paper, quill pens scraping fitfully across them. "Here is

part of that diet of manure I spoke of. These students are

copying plans and treatises of Master Malzra, Mage Barrin,

and other scholars. It is in sedulously copying the

scribbles of our betters that we become consummate

scribblers ourselves."

The probe was appreciative. "What do these plans and

treatises describe?"

"Machines, such as yourself. Gadgets, mainly. He's got a

whole mausoleum-um, that is, museum-filled with artifact

creatures. You'll be there too, soon enough. Master Malzra

has a very active imagination and puts it to great use

devising elaborate means to save himself a little bit of

labor. He has created numerous devices to more quickly and

efficiently cook the gruel and crackers, to more effectively