"Jonathan Stroud - Bartimaeus 1 - The Amulet of Samarkand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stroud Jonathan)

if they were seeking a way to get out and nab him. All hokum, of course. I'd already checked and the
seal was drawn well enough. No spelling mistakes anywhere, unfortunately.

At last it looked as if the urchin was plucking up the courage to speak. I guessed this by a
stammering about his lips that didn't seem to be induced by pure fear alone. I let the blue fire die
away, to be replaced by a foul smell.

The kid spoke. Very squeakily.

"I charge you... to... to..." Get on with it! "T-t-tell me your n-name."

That's usually how they start, the young ones. Meaningless waffle. He knew, and I knew that he
knew, my name already; otherwise how could he have summoned me in the first place? You need the
right words, the right actions, and most of all the right name. I mean, it's not like hailing a cabтАФyou
don't get just anybody when you call.

I chose a rich, deep, dark chocolaty sort of voice, the kind that resounds from everywhere and
nowhere and makes the hairs stand up on the back of inexperienced necks.

"Bartimaeus."

I saw the kid give a strangled kind of gulp when he heard the word. GoodтАФthen he wasn't
entirely stupid; he knew who and what I was. He knew my reputation.

After taking a moment to swallow some accumulated phlegm, he spoke again. "I-I charge you
again to answer. Are you that B-Bartimaeus who in olden times was summoned by the magicians to
repair the walls of Prague?"

What a time waster this kid was. Who else would it be? I upped the volume a bit on this one.
The ice on the light bulbs cracked like caramelized sugar. Behind the dirty curtains the window glass
shimmered and hummed. The kid rocked back on his heels.

"I am Bartimaeus! I am Sakhr al-Jinni, N'gorso the Mighty, and the Serpent of Silver Plumes! I
have rebuilt the walls of Uruk, Karnak, and Prague. I have spoken with Solomon. I have run with the
buffalo fathers of the plains. I have watched over Old Zimbabwe till the stones fell and the jackals fed
on its people. I am Bartimaeus! I recognize no master. So I charge you in your turn, boy. Who are
you to summon me?"

Impressive stuff, eh? All true as well, which gives it more power. And I wasn't just doing it to
sound big. I rather hoped the kid would be blustered by it into telling me his name in return, which
would give me something to go on when his back was turned. [2] But no luck there.

[2] I couldn't do anything while I was in the circle, of course. But later I'd be able to find out who he was, look
for weaknesses of character, things in his past I could exploit. They've all got them. You've all got them, I should
say.

"By the constraints of the circle, the points on the pentacle, and the chain of runes, I am your
master! You will obey my will!"

There was something particularly obnoxious about hearing this old shtick coming from a weedy