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

fingers were each painted a different color. тАЬDo you like it?тАЭ she said.

The storyteller said, тАЬIt is all very beautiful.тАЭ

тАЬOur lord Immortal Snake ordered that we prepare these rooms for
you.тАЭ

тАЬMy gratitude is beyond words.тАЭ

They giggled again, nearly overcome at the idea of anything beyond
the words of this blessed being. The minister said, тАЬI chose the clothing
myself.тАЭ She inclined her head sweetly toward the inner chamber. тАЬFor you
and for the place of rest. And pleasure.тАЭ

Tribute of Angels bowed his head. тАЬYour taste is exquisite. I hope you
will not consider me ungrateful if I ask for a small change.тАЭ
 тАЬOf course. Our lord said to give you whatever you desire.тАЭ She
smiled, and the others stared at the floor.

тАЬI have only one need. A smaller bed.тАЭ As the women stared he said,
тАЬI am a slave. My only joy is the service of my lord. I will live here, and wear
the clothes Immortal Snake wishes for me, but I would sleep in a slaveтАЩs
bed, narrow and hard.тАЭ

She tried another smile. тАЬAh, but what if you desire company?тАЭ

тАЬIn that case, my lord, I am sure the proper setting will reveal itself.тАЭ

The imitation ministers left without further comment. In a short time
workers came to remove the bed that would have housed the storyteller
and all four of the women. Tribute of Angels was not there, and gone were
the bed linens and most of the clothing. He had taken them to the outer
rings, to distribute among the slaves and the poor.

That night his story was a sad one, about a woman who gives birth to
a phantom. Those who heard it found themselves under a gray sky, with
only streaks of rose and violet colored lightning to guide them. Though the
listeners blinked open their eyes at dawn with the belief that they had wept
for a hundred years they still sent rings and paintings and marvelous toys to
the storytellerтАЩs bare and lavish rooms. He gave away everything but one
painting, a miniature of a black and yellow bird perched at the top of a
golden tree.

****

During all this time, the three years that were officially the same
moment in the never ending life of Immortal Snake, his sister and
companion, Broken by Heaven, remained in the small empty room she had
chosen for herself. Her servants lived more lavishly than she, for they were
ladies of the court, and she had given them her gray-washed rooms and