"Zelazny, Roger - Lord Demon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

"I studied the Art in my youth. I did not know such a stroke could be returned."
"Was it a human or a demon sorcerer?" I asked him.
"Human," he said. "I'm sorry you have such an enemy."
I shrugged.
"It will make life interesting," I said.
"You are not afraid?"
I laughed.
"May I ask," he said after a moment, "whether you are related to the potter and bottlemaker?"
"Yes," I said softly.
"Years ago, in Canton, I saw such a bottle," he said. "I have never forgotten its hue and its beauty. Do you think it possible I might see another one day, before I die?"
"Yes," I said. "You may."
He lowered himself to the ground before me. Fortunately, most of our students were at such a distance that they could not see this humble displayЧand those who did surely dismissed it as the old man stretching his crippled limbs.
"Kai Wren is also known as Lord Demon," he said.
"How do you know this?"
"As I told you, in my youth I studied the Art."
"Rise up," I said, oddly miffed that my quiet venture into the world of humans should now be colored by demon things. "I have asked nothing of you but the friendship of kites. I will treat you now, and then we will go to eat,"
After a few words on the wisdom of watching the weather, I dismissed the class. Then I completed Li Piao's cure and took him home with me. It was times like this when I really missed O'Keefe. My first new friend in years, and he had to settle for less than the best hospitality. . . .
Entering my bottle did not upset Li Piao; neither did an encounter with Shiriki and Chamballa. He patted them both, stroking the curls of their manes.
"This one," he said of Shiriki, "is the color of Imperial jade. The other might be made out of dark amber or perhaps carnelian. I had always thought the carvings of fu dogs fanciful rather than representative."
"Live and learn," I answered, but I was pleased. The dogs wagged their tails.
After we left the dogs, we walked to my palace. Unlike a Western edifice, the structure did not dominate the landscape, but rather complemented it. I had lavished a great deal of care on its construction, curling each pagoda roof by hand in wet clay before setting my magic to work.
Seeing it sprawled in the rise and fall of the land, catching rainbows and waterfalls in its curves, Li Piao said nothing, but his eyes shone among their wrinkled folds. I escorted him up broad stairs shaped from polished water agate and through an intricately carved door leafed in gold.
Once we were situated in a comfortable parlor, I let some of the bottle's better servitors prepare a meal.
Afterward, we sipped tea and listened to music.
"Li Piao," I said, "you seem a happy man."
"I am, Lord Demon," he stated. "My family is grown, and they have turned out well enough. I was a sufficiently successful food merchant to support them so that they did not want. I had a little time for studies, some good friends in their day, and I had the kites. It has not been a bad life. This is why I did not fear visiting with a demon."
"Yet you feel that your life was somewhat incomplete?"
"All men do," he said, "that is part of being . . . human. Sorry."
"Do not apologize for being human. No. I could not help noticing that while your family loves you, they do not have enough time even for their own families. I wondered whether you were sometimes lonely."
"Oh, of course. But that is all right. It makes our times together that much sweeter."
"I see. I was going to offer you a home here with me. I would even complete your training as a sorcerer."
He laughed.
"I am too old," he stated.
"I will make you young."
Li Piao shook his head.
"I do not think you understand, Lord Demon. I appreciate your kind offer more than any I have ever received. But the later years are good, too, and I would spend them with those I have known and loved."
I reached out and squeezed his arm.
"Perhaps the offer was not a kindness on my part," I said, "so much as a matter of selfishness. But I like you, humanЧeven moreЧfor your honesty. I will always be your friend. I will not even touch your memories of this discussion, for I would like you to come and go as you would, for a visit."
"This humble one is honored."
"Come. Rise and join me," I said. "There is a thing I would show you."
He joined me. I took him on a long, timeless route through realms of wonderЧand as we went, I ran my chi through him. One day he would learn that though I had never trained him, I had enormously enhanced what his old teacher must have seen in him, making him perhaps the greatest natural magician in the world.
Coming to my showroom, I gestured. Plates, pots, and bottles were displayed everywhere. I took down my favorite bowl. It was green, and dragons guarded whatever it might bear. Like all of the items, it was enhanced and virtually indestructible.
"A present, then," I said, handing it to him. "Eat from it regularly. It will improve your health. And think of me thenЧhuman who can plain-talk with a demon. Come! I will show you more now before I take you home."
Timidly, he took the arm I offered, the bowl in his other hand, and we walked and flew through places of light and twilight.

Autumn came on, and I packed a small bag and slid it into sidewise space. I had let Tuvoon and Viss talk me into attending the Great Conventicle in both the human and ghost mountains of northern China. The journey was easy, save for the mazelike tunnels of the entryway and these were almost fun, we knew them so well. As we went, I felt something small slide into my jacket pocket. As Viss was on that side of me, I said, "What are you doing?'' as I put my hand in after it.
"Don't remove it on pain of rotten luck, unless your straits are quite dire. It is my small blessing. Promise?"
"Very well. I bear a lady's favor."
"Exactly."
We entered the palace beneath the mountains. I passed several congregations of my peers in gardens and on walkways. Three times I heard a whispered "Godslayer!" from the crowds.