"Dan Parkinson - Dragonlance Tales 3 - Love and War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Parkinson Dan)

and his young daughter, Petal, who was considered, if not
THE most beautiful, then certainly among the most
beautiful human girls for miles in any direction. Petal was
slender and delicate, with a long, elegant neck, large brown
eyes, and long fair hair that reached her narrow waist.
It came as no surprise, then, that when Petal reached
marriageable age, she found at her doorstep every young
bachelor who was looking for a wife. These fellows would
wander by the front fence, sometimes pretending to be
going on a stroll, when they'd "by chance" notice the young
girl gardening in her front yard, and they'd begin chatting
with her.
"Why, hello," they'd say, for instance, "what lovely
roses you have."
Naturally, Petal was very flattered to receive so much
attention, and she'd leave her gardening and go flirt with the
young men, which only encouraged them.
Now, Aron, though he had always been the kindest and
happiest of fathers when Petal was growing up, turned stem
and dark of expression. He stopped smiling. He grumbled a
lot. He became, in a word, jealous.
True, he tried, at first, to view the situation with
pleasure. After all, the attention she was receiving was that
due a young, beautiful, marriageable girl, and he tried to
pretend that he was prepared for it.
But he couldn't help himself. Whenever one of Petal's
would-be suitors came calling at the front fence, offering
Aron a wave and a "hello," Aron Dewweb could only grunt
back, or more likely, ignore the young man and stalk into
his cottage.
Several neighbors told him, "Look, Aron, you can't
keep nature from taking its course."
Aron listened politely, but that was because his
neighbors were also customers for his weaving. Really, he
didn't give a damn about nature or its course or their
opinions. He just couldn't bear the thought of some swain
taking away his only, precious daughter. As far as he was
concerned, no matter how old she got, Petal would always
be that little girl who laughed and squealed when he
bounced her lightly on his knee.
So he said, "Dash it all, I don't care what anyone thinks!
I don't like what's happening!" And he took to chasing off
the young men with a knobby walking stick he kept handy
near his loom. "Stay away!" he would cry as he came
running out of his cottage toward the fence. The young man
of the moment, startled by the attack, would leave Petal
standing by the gate and flee. "And tell your boorish friends
to stay clear, too!"
Petal was always very embarrassed by this display.
"Daddy, why can't they visit me?" she'd ask, near tears. "I'm