"Rachel Pollack - Immortal Snake" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pollack Rachel)

she knew, she would love her husband deeply, but she would love the dead
as well.

In the world above Shining in Darkness, her mother, Lover of Wheat,
wailed and waved her hands. At first the Gods tried to soothe her, but then
they grew angry. тАЬWhy should you complain?тАЭ they told her. What better
husband could there be than Death, for he was always constant, and his
subjects endless?

Lover of Wheat would not be consoled, only cried louder until the
King of the Gods, whose name was Voice in the Sky, ordered her to stop
that terrible noise. She fell silent then, but only for a while. She found the
empty shell of a dead turtle and attached to it the neck of a swan who, like
the turtle, had gone down to dwell with her daughterтАЩs husband. Next she
attached long sinews of the muscles of dead cats. Now she strummed her
lyre, an instrument born out of death, and she began to sing.

Down below, Shining in Darkness lay next to her great and terrible
lord, when suddenly she felt a shock in her heart. A song was riding over
her, verse after verse, a song of her return and the worldтАЩs joy at greeting
her. тАЬAll the lions will stand roaring ... all the owls will fly in moonlight ... all
the trees will wave their branches ... six black horses will come running ... all
the dead will rise up singing....тАЭ

тАЬNo!тАЭ she cried, and Death woke up to stare at his beloved. тАЬHelp
me,тАЭ she begged, for the song was pulling her. Already she could feel
herself fading from darkness. Her husband tried to hold her, all the dead
crowded round to protect her. They shouted to drown out the song but it
was no use, the melody filled her and lifted her, she pulsed between
shadow and light. тАЬSix white horses....тАЭ

At the last moment, Death reached into his own body and took out his
heart. The dead rushed up to it and it opened like a pomegranate of
darkness, with a thousand seeds. Just before she vanished, while her
fingertips still touched her husband and their endless tribe, Shining took
three seeds and swallowed them.

An instant later she stood again in the breezes and smells of life, in a
field of flowers, so bright with such an excess of color, she could not bear
to look at them. Her mother stood there, tall and strong. Lover of Wheat
dropped the lyre and held out her arms, but when she saw her daughterтАЩs
face filled with grief she whispered, тАЬWhat have I done?тАЭ

Shining in Darkness said to her mother, тАЬAs you are to the Living, so I
was to the Dead.тАЭ

тАЬOh my blessed child,тАЭ Lover of Wheat cried. тАЬI have done a terrible
thing.тАЭ They wept together, and at last the Daughter embraced the Mother,
for sorrow had overcome her anger. When they stepped back, Lover of
Wheat said, тАЬNow tell me. Did you eat anything in the Deep Below?тАЭ