[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
like
the popular image of royalty to account for the sailors' optimism in the
matter
of being able to collect a great ransom.
Now some of them had picked up scraps of rope and cord with which to fetter
him,
but to their amazement their efforts along that line met with no success. The
ropes would not hold together; the fibers separated, the knots came undone as
soon as they touched Alex's hands or feet. And he sat looking at them with a
smile in his dark eyes.
"Stop!" This was the helmsman crying out.
"What's wrong with you?" Aegeus demanded, what little patience he possessed
now
badly frayed.
Page 282
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Acetes said, "You are trying to abuse a god." But his voice had suddenly
fallen
so low that the others in their impatience, and with their own ongoing
clamor,
failed to hear him.
"What's that? Speak up?"
Once more the steersman screamed in anguish at his shipmates.
The captain shouted abuse and mockery at him, and with a volley of oaths
ordered
the crew to get the sail up.
The wind at once filled the sheet of cotton canvas, and the mast creaked and
strained, but the ship did not move.
"Are we aground? We can't be!"
"What's going on?"
If they had thought about that question instead of merely shouting it, they
might still have saved their lives. The power of a god was taking their ship
away from them. Men were splashing in wine up to their ankles, wading in
sparkling red that poured from nowhere to run across the deck and into the
sea.
But for once they found no joy in wine. The lines on which they tugged and
heaved turned into green vines in their hands.
Jarred at last into his senses, the captain gave up trying to begin a voyage,
and ordered the helmsman to put in to land.
He was too late. Ghostly images of two leopards appeared, and at that sight
some
of the men began leaping overboard.
Dionysus said to them, "If you will behave like wild beasts, then you ought
not
to wear the shapes of men." And in midair the bodies of those who jumped took
on
the smooth and limbless shape of dolphins.
Turning to face the one he had tried to kidnap, Aegeus drew one of his
weapons
from his belt, brandished it for a moment, and then saw it fall clattering to
Page 283
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the deck when his own hands and arms betrayed him, flailing the air in
madness.
Now Aegeus was no longer able to grip a weapon, or anything else. The King of
Pirates, the father of Theseus, could see and feel his own arms contracting,
the
bones in them changing, his hands losing their fingers, warping into the
digitless shape of fins.
Driven into a frenzy by their fear, the remainder of the sailors, all but the
captain himself, leapt for the rail and over it, and even as they jumped,
their
arcing bodies were transformed in midair, grimaces of fear transformed to
mindless dolphin smiles, taking on in midleap sleek streamlined shapes.
All of them losing, among the million other things they lost, any chance of
ever
becoming gods.
One cried out, just before his mouth took on the mindless dolphin smile,
"Lord,
mercy!"
The Twice-Born was calm, regretful. "Another god might have done much worse
to
you than I have done. Be glad that it was not the Far-Worker whom you brought
on
board. Now leave my ship!"
Now, of all those the god had condemned, only Aegeus himself remained
standing
on the deck. The pirate captain's hands had disappeared, his feet were now
barely large enough to let him stand on them. His clothes were gone, his skin
no
longer that of a man, but his head and the sound of his voice were human
still.
It was as if he still maintained them in that form, by a supreme effort of
his
own will.
"A prophecy once said that I would never hang by all the gods, it was right!"
Dionysus had nothing to say at the moment. Neither did Alex.
Page 284
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But the King of the Pirates was not quite finished. On the edge of doom he
bragged and blustered to the new avatar of Dionysus that his son, Theseus,
was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
like
the popular image of royalty to account for the sailors' optimism in the
matter
of being able to collect a great ransom.
Now some of them had picked up scraps of rope and cord with which to fetter
him,
but to their amazement their efforts along that line met with no success. The
ropes would not hold together; the fibers separated, the knots came undone as
soon as they touched Alex's hands or feet. And he sat looking at them with a
smile in his dark eyes.
"Stop!" This was the helmsman crying out.
"What's wrong with you?" Aegeus demanded, what little patience he possessed
now
badly frayed.
Page 282
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Acetes said, "You are trying to abuse a god." But his voice had suddenly
fallen
so low that the others in their impatience, and with their own ongoing
clamor,
failed to hear him.
"What's that? Speak up?"
Once more the steersman screamed in anguish at his shipmates.
The captain shouted abuse and mockery at him, and with a volley of oaths
ordered
the crew to get the sail up.
The wind at once filled the sheet of cotton canvas, and the mast creaked and
strained, but the ship did not move.
"Are we aground? We can't be!"
"What's going on?"
If they had thought about that question instead of merely shouting it, they
might still have saved their lives. The power of a god was taking their ship
away from them. Men were splashing in wine up to their ankles, wading in
sparkling red that poured from nowhere to run across the deck and into the
sea.
But for once they found no joy in wine. The lines on which they tugged and
heaved turned into green vines in their hands.
Jarred at last into his senses, the captain gave up trying to begin a voyage,
and ordered the helmsman to put in to land.
He was too late. Ghostly images of two leopards appeared, and at that sight
some
of the men began leaping overboard.
Dionysus said to them, "If you will behave like wild beasts, then you ought
not
to wear the shapes of men." And in midair the bodies of those who jumped took
on
the smooth and limbless shape of dolphins.
Turning to face the one he had tried to kidnap, Aegeus drew one of his
weapons
from his belt, brandished it for a moment, and then saw it fall clattering to
Page 283
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the deck when his own hands and arms betrayed him, flailing the air in
madness.
Now Aegeus was no longer able to grip a weapon, or anything else. The King of
Pirates, the father of Theseus, could see and feel his own arms contracting,
the
bones in them changing, his hands losing their fingers, warping into the
digitless shape of fins.
Driven into a frenzy by their fear, the remainder of the sailors, all but the
captain himself, leapt for the rail and over it, and even as they jumped,
their
arcing bodies were transformed in midair, grimaces of fear transformed to
mindless dolphin smiles, taking on in midleap sleek streamlined shapes.
All of them losing, among the million other things they lost, any chance of
ever
becoming gods.
One cried out, just before his mouth took on the mindless dolphin smile,
"Lord,
mercy!"
The Twice-Born was calm, regretful. "Another god might have done much worse
to
you than I have done. Be glad that it was not the Far-Worker whom you brought
on
board. Now leave my ship!"
Now, of all those the god had condemned, only Aegeus himself remained
standing
on the deck. The pirate captain's hands had disappeared, his feet were now
barely large enough to let him stand on them. His clothes were gone, his skin
no
longer that of a man, but his head and the sound of his voice were human
still.
It was as if he still maintained them in that form, by a supreme effort of
his
own will.
"A prophecy once said that I would never hang by all the gods, it was right!"
Dionysus had nothing to say at the moment. Neither did Alex.
Page 284
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But the King of the Pirates was not quite finished. On the edge of doom he
bragged and blustered to the new avatar of Dionysus that his son, Theseus,
was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]