"Xanth 18 - Geis Of The Gargoyle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Xanth)

PIERS ANTHONY

"And she would say Whatever, crossly."

"That's what volant means?"

"Uh-uh, Garfield. I answered three. What's this about

honor?"

Gary sighed. It was a good effort, because his stone
body was mostly hollow. "From time vaguely memorial
on, my family of gargoyles has been in charge of this
river, the Swan Knee, which flows from drear Mundania
into Xanth, as you can see." He gestured with a wing. Sure
enough, to the north the dry channel wound unhappily
through truly dreary terrain. The line where the magic of
Xanth took effect was marked by increasingly magical
vegetation, such as shoe trees, lady slippers, and acom
trees. The Mundane equivalents were sadly deficient.
"Normally the water flows south, and it has been our geis
to guarantee its purity, so that Xanth is not stained by
Mundanian contaminants. Normally the water was mostly
clean, so this was no problem, but in recent decades it has
become sullied, until it was virtually sludge. It was awful,
cleaning it up! But now there's a drought, and there's no
water at all, which is worse yet. I hope that when the rains
return, and the flow resumes, that it will be cleaner, so that
it doesn't leave such a foul taste in my mouth. But regard-
less, I will do it, because my line is honor bound to guar-
antee the quality of this water. No wading swans will get
their knees dirty in this river."

"Now that's interesting," Mentia said, looking about as
bored as he had been when she had lost her clothing. "But
why are you wasting your time here, when you could get
the job done without all that fuss?"

Now the gargoyle began to show some feeling. "What
do you mean, wasting my time? This is my job, demon-

ess.

"So it's your job. But why not do it the easy way?"
"Because it's the only way I know." He paused, count-
ing. "That's three questions I've answered. My turn.

What's this easy way?"

GEIS OF THE GARGOYLE_______5