"Roger Zelazny - Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

"Yes, import them," said the second.

"Import them, yes," said the third.

"From where?" asked the fourth.

"Well, uh we could get them from . . . Hmm.

"Yes, we could get them from Hmm," agreed the second.

"I was only hmming, not naming places," said the first.

"Oh, pardon me, I thought you meant the city of Hmm on the
Mm river. It is too far away, now that I think of it."

"Why don't we get a map and look?" asked the third.

"An excellent idea," said the second. "Get a map and look."

So they did. They gathered around the map and studied.

"There are dragons to the east," said the first.

". . . And dragons to the west," said the second.

". . . And dragons to the north," said the third.

". . . And dragons to the south," said the fourth. "They
seem to be all around us. In fact, there is only our kingdom
and dragons on the map. Consequently, we cannot import any
fireworks."

"It would seem to follow . . ." said the first.

"But the king wants them!" said the second.

"But where can we get them?" asked the third.

Then the first adviser had an idea. "What is a dragon,
anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, big!" said the second.

". . . And mean," said the third.

". . . And ugly and scaly and strong and fire-breathing,"
finished the fourth. "There is a picture on the map‹ many
pictures, as a matter of fact."