"Rudy Rucker - Hieronymus Bosch's Apprentice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rucker Rudy)

тАЬPleased to meet you,тАЭ said Thuy in her sweetest Dutch. She even curtsied. Seeing this, Kathelijn
lowered her knife and let out a shrill, nervous giggle.

тАЬPerhaps Mijnheer Bosch would like to paint us,тАЭ said Jayjay. тАЬOr we could assist in the studio or about
the house. Being new to your beautiful town, weтАЩre open for any position of service.тАЭ

тАЬWe should welcome dwarves?тАЭ said Aleid, incredulous. тАЬCreationтАЩs cast-offs?тАЭ

тАЬWeтАЩre not dwarves,тАЭ said Jayjay firmly. тАЬWeтАЩre little people, clever and strong. If you permit...тАЭ He
stepped forward, grabbed one of the chairsтАЩ legs with both hands, and lifted it into the air. Although the
chair was three times his height, relative to his dense Lobrane body it felt like balsa wood, with a net
weight no greater than a normal chair.

But the feat of strength only frightened the women. The fact that Jayjay and Thuy could move six times as
fast as the Hibraners made them rather uncanny. Aleid found a knife of her own. Kathelijn crouched and
pointed hers at Jayjay. He clattered the chair to the floor and backed away.

тАЬAre you baptized?тАЭ asked Aleid, tapping the flat of her knife against her palm.

тАЬI am,тАЭ said Jayjay, whose mother was a knee-jerk Catholic.

тАЬMe too,тАЭ said Thuy, whoтАЩd had a brief Christian period in grade school, thanks to her born-again aunt.

тАЬHas Jeroen finished painting my harp?тАЭ asked Azaroth, trying to turn the tide of the conversation.

тАЬGo ask him yourself,тАЭ said Aleid. тАЬBe warned that heтАЩs in a bad mood. A beggar keeps playing his
bagpipe right out front. Can you hear it?тАЭ Indeed, shrill, frantic squeals were filtering in. тАЬWe give him a
copper to go away, and he always comes back for more. Show Jeroen the dogfish and the little people.
They might very well amuse him.тАЭ

тАЬWe admire your husbandтАЩs paintings,тАЭ said Jayjay.

тАЬYouтАЩre so cosmopolitan in the New World?тАЭ said Aleid, surprised. тАЬI had no idea.тАЭ She paused,
re-evaluating the situation. тАЬWere my husband to want you to stay, you should know that youтАЩd receive
no pay. You would sleep in our cellar. It doesnтАЩt actually connect to the house, thereтАЩs an entrance from
the garden. It would be like your own apartment. And you could eat the scraps from our tableтАФwe
donтАЩt happen to own a pig just now. I donтАЩt suppose you eat much.тАЭ Clearly Aleid was a tough
negotiator.

тАЬWe eat as much a regular people,тАЭ said Thuy. тАЬIn fact, weтАЩre hungry right now.тАЭ

тАЬBut we donтАЩt eat brown bread,тАЭ added Jayjay, not ready for a repeat of the fierce hallucinations heтАЩd
had from eating ergot-tainted brown bread with the limbless beggars behind the Hospice of Saint
Anthony last night.

тАЬNeither do we,тАЭ said Aleid, undermining JayjayтАЩs half-formed theory about how Bosch was getting his
visions. тАЬWe eat white bread,тАЭ she continued. тАЬBrown bread is for the lower classes. Are you nobles?тАЭ

тАЬIn a way,тАЭ said Thuy. тАЬWeтАЩre known far and wide in our home land.тАЭ