"Maureen McHugh - Nekropolis" - читать интересную книгу автора (McHugh Maureen F)

I murmur my thanks. He makes a show of paging through the report, and the sheets of paper whisper
against each other.

? And what do you think of Akhmim, the harni ? Is he working out??

? I don't spend much time with it, Mbarek-salah. Its work is with the men's household.?

? You're an old-fashioned girl, Hariba, that's good.? Mbarek-salah holds the report a little farther away,
striking a very dignified pose in his reading. ? Harni have social training, but no practice. The merchant
recommended to me that I send it out to talk and meet with people as much as possible. I would like you
to help me with this, daughter.?

I wriggle my toes. He has stopped referring to it as if it were a person, which is good, but now he's going
to try to send it with me. ? I must meet my friend Ayesha at her home in the Nekropolis, Mbarek-salah.
My mother lives across the street. Perhaps it's not a good place to take a harni .? The Nekropolis is a
conservative place. A lot of the people who live there are poor people who have left farms and small
towns to come to the city.

Mbarek-salah waves his hand airily. ? Everything is in order, Hariba,? he says, referring to the reports in
front of him. ? My wife has asked that you use a little more scent with the linens.?

His wife thinks I am too cheap. Mbarek-salah likes to think that he runs a frugal household. He does not;
money hemorrhages from this house, silver pours from the walls and runs down the street into the
pockets of everyone in this city.

I hope Mbarek will forget about the harni, but he doesn't. There's no respite. I must take it with me.

It's waiting for me after lunch. I'm wearing lavender and pale yellow, with long yellow ribbons tied around
my wrists, and I cover my hair with a lavender veil.

? Jessed, Hariba,? it says. ? You wouldn't have me along if you weren't.?

Of course I'm jessed. I always wear ribbons when I go out. ? The Second Koran says ribbons are a
symbol of devotion to the Most Holy, as well as an earthly master.?

It runs its long fingers through its curly hair, shakes its head, and its golden earring dances. Artifice, the
pretense of humanity, although I guess even a harni 's hair gets in its eyes. ? Why would you choose to
be jessed?? it asks.

? You wouldn't understand,? I say. ? Come along.?

It never takes offense, never worries about offending. ? Can you tell the difference between the
compulsion and your own feelings?? it asks. Jessing changes the unruly brain, makes us feel the loyalty
that we should. If I've chosen to have myself changed to feel loyalty, then it isn't really compulsion. And it
makes service easier, if it's something my brain wants me to do.

? Jessing only heightens my natural tendencies, and makes a servant as trustworthy as kin, praise God,?
I say.