"Terry Pratchett. A Hat Full Of Sky " - читать интересную книгу автора

No, I meant why do they call it a horse? It doesnt look like a horse.
Its just . . . flowing lines . . .
. . . that look as if theyre moving, Tiffany thought.
It had been cut out of the turf right back in the old days, people
said, by the folk whod built the stone circles and buried their kind in big
earth mounds. And theyd cut out the Horse at one end of this little green
valley, ten times bigger than a real horse and, if you didnt look at it with
your mind right, the wrong shape, too. Yet they must have known horses,
owned horses, seen them every day, and they werent stupid people just
because they lived a long time ago.
Tiffany had once asked her father about the look of the Horse, when
theyd come all the way over here for a sheep fair, and he told her what
Granny Aching had told him, too, when he was a little boy. He passed on what
she said word for word, and Tiffany did the same now.
Taint what a horse looks like, said Tiffany. Its what a horse be.
Oh, said Miss Tick. But because she was a teacher as well as a witch,
and probably couldnt help herself, she added, The funny thing is, of course,
that officially there is no such thing as a white horse. Theyre called
grey.*

* She had to say that, because she was a witch and a teacher and thats
a terrible combination. They want things to be right. They like things to be
correct. If you want to upset a witch you dont have to mess around with
charms and spells, you just have to put her in a room with a picture thats
hung slightly crooked and watch her squirm.

Yes, I know, said Tiffany. This ones white, she added, flatly.
That quietened Miss Tick down, for a while, but she seemed to have
something on her mind.
I expect youre upset about leaving the Chalk, arent you? she said as
the cart rattled on.
No, said Tiffany.
Its OK to be, said Miss Tick.
Thank you, but Im not really, said Tiffany.
If you want to have a bit of a cry, you dont have to pretend youve got
some grit in your eye or anything-
Im all right, actually, said Tiffany. Honestly.
You see, if you bottle that sort of thing up it can cause terrible
damage later on.
Im not bottling, Miss Tick.
In fact, Tiffany was a bit surprised at not crying, but she wasnt going
to tell Miss Tick that. She left a sort of space in her head to burst into
tears in, but it wasnt filling up. Perhaps it was because shed wrapped up
all those feelings and doubts and left them up on the hill by the
pot-bellied stove.
And if of course you were feeling a bit downcast at the moment, Im sure
you could open the present he- Miss Tick tried.
Tell me about Miss Level, Tiffany said quickly. The name and address
was all she knew about the lady she was going to stay with, but an address
like Miss Level, Cottage in the Woods near the dead oak tree in Lost Mans