"T. H. White - The Once and Future King" - читать интересную книгу автора (White T.H)

"Put it like this. There was a king once, called King Arthur. That is me. When he came to the throne of
England, he found that all the kings and barons were fighting against each other like madmen, and, as
they could afford to fight in expensive suits of armour, there was practically nothing which could stop
them from doing what they pleased. They did a lot of bad things, because they lived by force. Now this
king had an idea, and the idea was that force ought to be used, if it were used at all, on behalf of justice,
not on its own account. Follow this, young boy. He thought that if he could get his barons fighting for
truth, and to help weak people, and to redress wrongs, then their fighting might not be such a bad thing
as once it used to be. So he gathered together all the true and kindly people that he knew, and he dressed
them in armour, and he made them knights, and taught them his idea, and set them down, at a Round
Table. There were a hundred and fifty of them in the happy days, and King Arthur loved his Table with
all his heart. He was prouder of it than he was of his own dear wife, and for many years his new knights
went about killing ogres, and rescuing damsels and saving poor prisoners, and trying to set the world to
rights. That was the King's idea."
"I think it was a good idea, my lord."
"It was, and it was not. God knows."
"What happened to the King in the end?" asked the child, when the story seemed to have dried up.
"For some reason, things went wrong. The Table split into factions, a bitter war began, and all were
killed."
The boy interrupted confidently. "No," he said, "not all. The King won. We shall win."
Arthur smiled vaguely and shook bis head. He would have nothing but the truth.
"Everybody was killed," he repeated, "except a certain page. I know what I am talking about."
"My lord?"
"This page was called young Tom of Newbold Revell near Warwick, and the old King sent him off
before the battle, upon pain of dire disgrace. You see, the King wanted there to be somebody left, who
would remember their famous idea. He wanted badly that Tom should go back to Newbold Revell,

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where he could grow into a man and live his life in Warwickshire peaceтАФand he wanted him to tell
everybody who would listen about this ancient idea, which both of them had once thought good. Do you
think you could do that, Thomas, to please the King?"
The child said, with the pure eyes of absolute truth: "I would do anything for King Arthur."
"That's a brave fellow. Now listen, man. Don't get these legendary people muddled up. It is 1 who tell
you about my idea. It is I who am going to command you to take horse to Warwickshire at once, and not
to fight with your bow tomorrow at all. Do you understand all this?"
"Yes, King Arthur."
"Will you promise to be careful of yourself afterward? Will you try to remember that you are a kind of
vessel to carry on the idea, when things go wrong, and that the whole hope depends on you alive?"
"I will."
"It seems selfish of me to use you for it."
"It is an honour for your poor page, good my lord."
"Thomas, my idea of those knights was a sort of candle, like these ones here. I have carried it for many
years with a hand to shield it from the wind. It has flickered often. I am giving you the candle nowтАФyou
won't let it out?"
"It will burn."
"Good Tom. The light-bringer. How old did you say you were?"
"Nearly thirteen."
"Sixty more years then, perhaps. Half a century."