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

in white, the color of emptiness.

And Tribute of Angels? The storyteller who was simultaneously slave
and companion to the Ruler of the World spent his days alone, in a small
chamber at the edge of the slave quarters. No work was assigned to him,
hardly anyone spoke to him. Sometimes at evening, the slaves who
collected rainwater from the cisterns on the roof would see him standing on
the edge of the world, his face as empty as the sky.

Three years passed, and then one night the Living World placed two
thoughts in the head of Immortal Snake.

The first was this: IтАЩm going to die. The trumpets would blare in the
night, the people would lock themselves in their windowless rooms, the
bulls would run through the streets, and then the Readers would feed him
that stew of death that no Immortal Snake had ever resisted.

He looked around at all his splendor, the ornamental swords he had
never learned to use, the jeweled mechanical lions and butterflies, the two
beautiful nameless women asleep in his perfumed bed. Useless. All his
ministers, useless. The terrible Army of Heaven, useless. They too would
hide their faces, they would shut away their black engines of war, for when
the Readers declared that GodтАЩs writing in the Sky demanded the skin of
the Snake, nobody challenged them.

That was the first thought. The second one was this: That storyteller.
My companion. Maybe he can distract me.

Though the Snake could not remember the storytellerтАЩs name, he
knew it would be listed as the final gift from the Emperor of Mud and Glory,
and of course, as his official companion into death.

Should he summon the slave now? He could wake up his steward,
who would wake up the Chief Minister, Breath of Judgment, who would do
something or other. No. He decided he wanted to enjoy the story in the
proper setting. He went back to bed where he pushed aside the two women
so he could stretch out and fall asleep. When he awoke he ordered Breath
of Judgment to prepare the storyteller, for that night the gift of Mud and
Glory would entertain the Snake and all his court.

It took some time to locate the gift and companion, but at last Tribute
of Angels was brought to the inner rings, where the Wardrobe Minister for
the SnakeтАЩs Amusement bathed, oiled, and dressed him. It was a
challenge; the minister was not used to dressing men, at least for this
version of Immortal Snake. Happily, the slave simply did whatever was
asked of him, with a look on his face that was not exactly empty, yet
impossible to read. He would say only тАЬThe Living World wills it.тАЭ The
minister did his best, and by evening Tribute of Angels was ready to
perform his task.
 The storyteller arrived in the great Hall of Precious Happiness at the