"J.R.R. Tolkien - Farmer Giles of Ham" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolkien J.R.R)

would not be Sheathed, Death or Victory, The Glory of
the Yeomanry, Backbone of the Country, and the Good
of one's Fellow Men, until the farmer's head was hope-
lessly confused

`Now then! One at a time!' he said, when he got a chance.
`What's all this, what's all this? It's my busy morning, you
know.'
So they let the parson explain the situation. Then the
miller had the pleasure of seeing the farmer in as tight a
fiat as he could wish. But things did not turn out quite as
the miller expected. For one thing Giles had drunk a deal
of strong ale. For another he had a queer feeling of pride
and encouragement when he learned that his sword was
actually Tailbiter. He had been very fond of tales about
Bellomarius when he was a boy, and before he had
learned sense he had sometimes wished that he could
have a marvellous and heroic sword of his own. So it
came over him all of a sudden that he would take Tail-
biter and go dragon-hunting. But he had been used to
bargaining all his life, and he made one more effort to
postpone the event.
'What!' said he. `Me go dragon-hunting? In my old
leggings and waistcoat? Dragon-fights need some kind of
armour, from all I've heard tell. There isn't any armour in
this house, and that's a fact,' said he.
That was a bit awkward, they all allowed; but they sent
for the blacksmith. The blacksmith shook his head. He was
a slow, gloomy man, vulgarly known as Sunny Sam, though
his proper name was Fabricius Cunctator. He never
whistled at his work, unless some disaster (such as frost in
May) had duly occurred after he had foretold it. Since he
was daily foretelling disasters of every kind, few happened
that he had not foretold, and he was able to take the credit
of them. It was his chief pleasure; so naturally he was
reluctant to do anything to avert them. Ire shook his head
again.
`I can't make armour out of naught,' he said `And it's not in
my line. You'd best get the carpenter to make you a
wooden shield. Not that it will help you much. He's a hot
dragon.'

Their faces fell; but the miller was not so easily to be
turned from his plan of sending Giles to the dragon, if he
would go; or of blowing the bubble of his local reputation,
if he refused in the end `What about ring-mail?' he said.
`That would be a help; and it need not be very fine. It
would be for business and not for showing off' at court.
What about your old leather jerkin, friend Aegidius? And
there is a great pile of links and rings in the smithy. I don't