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

тАЬCan I feed them some carrots?тАЭ Kathelijn asked Aleid, sweetening her voice. тАЬTheyтАЩre so cute. Like
dolls.тАЭ

Aleid nodded, and the maid gave each of them a raw June carrot, crunchy and sweet.

тАЬHow about a couple of chicken legs, too,тАЭ said Jayjay. тАЬWeтАЩre famished from the trip.тАЭ
Aleid raised her eyebrows, but gave Kathelijn the go-ahead. Jayjay and Thuy made short work of the big
drumsticks. Relative to their dense Lobrane jaws, the meat was spongy and easy to wolf down. It tasted
wonderful. The women laughed to see the little people eat so heartily and so fast. Then Kathelijn gave
Thuy a white bakery roll the size of ThuyтАЩs head, and she gobbled it down, provoking further expressions
of wonder.

тАЬGo see Jeroen,тАЭ reiterated Aleid when the eating was done.

Jayjay and Thuy followed Azaroth up a staircase to a sunny studio in the front of the house. As it
happened, the windows gave directly onto the great triangular marketplace and its articulated hubbub.
The room sounded with a hundred conversations, with vendorтАЩs cries, the scuff of shoes and the clack of
hoovesтАФall this overlaid by the vile drone of an incompetently played bagpipe.



A cluttered work table sat in the middle of the studio, and beyond that was Jeroen Bosch, standing
before the window, brush in hand, the light falling over his shoulder onto a large, square oak panel.

тАЬAha!тАЭ he exclaimed. тАЬAzaroth brings fresh wonders.тАЭ His face was lined and quizzical; his eyes were
brown with flecks of yellow and green. His mouth and eyebrows flickered with the shadows of his
fleeting moods. He looked to be in his mid forties.

тАЬThese are my cousins, Jayjay and Thuy,тАЭ said Azaroth. тАЬTheyтАЩre from the Garden of Eden.тАЭ

Bosch tightened his lips, clearly doubting this.

тАЬYour wife says they might stay here and work for you,тАЭ added Azaroth.

тАЬWhat!тАЭ

Azaroth held up his hand. тАЬWeтАЩll talk about that in a minute. How goes the progress on my harp?тАЭ The
instrument was nowhere to be seen.

Jayjay was looking around the studio, fascinated. The work table held seashells and eggshells, drawings
of cripples, a bowl of gooseberries, a peacock feather in a cloudy glass jar, and a variety of dried
gourds. Upon the wall were a cow skull and a lute. A stuffed heron and owl perched upon shelves. Two
nearly completed paintings leaned against the wall, panels half the width of the big square that Bosch was
working on, and easily four times JayjayтАЩs height. Each panel was a mottled microcosm, brimming with
incident and life.

тАЬIтАЩm nearly done decorating the harp,тАЭ said Jeroen. тАЬBut sheтАЩs locked up in the attic. SheтАЩs too valuable
to uncover with so many people about.тАЭ He made a gesture towards the bustling marketplace.
тАЬConjurors, charlatans, jugglers.тАЭ