"Jack Vance - The Dying Earth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

Turjan watched her disappear through the shafts of jewel colors, then went
in the direction she had indicated. Soon he came to a long low manse of red
stone backed by dark trees. As he approached the door swung open. Turjan
halted in mid-stride.
"Enter!" came a voice. "Enter, Turjan of Miir!" So Turjan wonderingly
entered the manse of Pandelume. He found himself in a tapestried chamber, bare
of furnishing save a single settee. No one came to greet him. A closed door
stood at the opposite wall, and Turjan went to pass through, thinking perhaps
it was expected of him.
"Halt, Turjan," spoke the voice. "No one may gaze on Pandelume. It is the
law."
Turjan, standing in the middle of the room, spoke to his unseen host.
"This is my mission, Pandelume," he said. "For some time I have been
striving to create humanity in my vats. Yet always I fail, from ignorance of
the agent that binds and orders the patterns. This master-matrix must be known
to you; therefore I come to you for guidance."
"Willingly will I aid you," said Pandelume. "There is, however, another
aspect involved. The universe is methodized by symmetry and balance; in every
aspect of existence is this equipoise observed. Consequently, even in the
trivial scope of our dealings, this equivalence must be maintained, thus and
thus. I agree to assist you; in return, you perform a service of equal value
for me. When you have completed this small work, I will instruct and guide you
to your complete satisfaction."
"What may this service be?" inquired Turjan.
"A man lives in the land of Ascolais, not far from your Castle Miir. About
his neck hangs an amulet of carved blue stone. This you must take from him and
bring to me."
Turjan considered a moment.
"Very well," he said. "I will do what I can. Who is the man?"
Pandelume answered in a soft voice.
"Prince Kandive the Golden."
"Ah," exclaimed Turjan ruefully, "you have gone to no pains to make my
task a pleasant one . . . But I will fulfill your requirement as best I can."
"Good," said Pandelume. "Now I must instruct you. Kandive wears this
amulet hidden below his singlet. When an enemy appears, he takes it out to
display on his chest, such is the potency of the charm. No matter what else,
do not gaze on this amulet, either before or after you take it, on pain of
most hideous consequence."
"I understand," said Turjan. "I will obey. Now there is a question I would
askтАФproviding the answer will not involve me in an undertaking to bring the
Moon back to Earth, or recover an elixir you inadvertently spilled in the
sea."
Pandelume laughed loud. "Ask on," he responded, "and I will answer."
Turjan put his question.
"As I approached your dwelling, a woman of insane fury wished to kill me.
This I would not permit and she departed in rage. Who is this woman and why is
she thus?"
Pandelume's voice was amused. "I, too," he replied, "have vats where I
mold life into varied forms. This girl T'sais I created, but I wrought
carelessly, with a flaw in the synthesis. So she climbed from the vat with a