[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
210
until the tentacle had been tied to the stump
With poor grace Iolo hacked the head off the pelgrane, then brought over the
rope and secured the tentacle to the stump, thus easing the strain upon
Cugel's leg.
"The ear-bangle, if you please!" said Iolo, and he poised his knife
significantly near the rope.
Cugel tossed over the jewel. "There you have it: all my wealth. Now, please
free me from this tentacle."
"I am a cautious man," said Iolo. "I must consider the matter from several
perspectives." He set about making camp for the night.
Cugel called out a plaintive appeal: "Do you remember how I rescued you from
the pelgrane?"
"Indeed I do! An important philosophical question has thereby been raised.
Page 156
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
You disturbed a stasis and now a tentacle grips your leg, which is, in a
sense, the new stasis. I will reflect carefully upon the matter."
Cugel argued to no avail. Iolo built up a campfire over which he cooked a stew
of herbs and grasses, which he ate with half a cold fowl and draughts of wine
from a leather bottle.
Leaning back against a tree he gave his attention to Cugel. "No doubt you are
on your way to Duke Orbal's Grand Exposition of Marvels?"
"I am a traveler, no more," said Cugel. "What is this 'Grand Exposition'?"
Iolo gave Cugel a pitying glance for his stupidity. Each year Duke Orbal
presides over a competition of wonder-workers. This year the prize is one
thousand terces, which I intend to win with my 'Bagful of Dreams'."
"Your 'Bagful of Dreams' I assume to be a jocularity, or something on the
order of a romantic metaphor?"
"Nothing of the sort!" declared Iolo in scorn.
"A kaleidoscopic projection? A program of impersonations? A hallucinatory
gas?"
"None of these. I carry with me a number of pure unadulterated dreams,
coalesced and crystallized."
From his satchel Iolo brought a sack of soft brown leather, from which he took
an object resembling a pale blue snowflake an inch in diameter. He held it up
into the firelight where Cugel could admire its fleeting lusters. "I will ply
Duke Orbal with my dreams, and how can I fail to win over all other
contestants?"
"Your chances would seem to be good. How do you gather these dreams?"
"The process is secret; still I can describe the general procedure. I live
beside
211
Lake Lelt in the Land of Dai-Passant. On calm nights the surface of the water
thickens to a film which reflects the stars as small globules of shine. By
using a suitable cantrap, I am able to lift up impalpable threads composed of
pure starlight and water-skein. I weave this thread into nets and then I go
forth in search of dreams. I hide under valances and in the leaves of outdoor
bowers; I
crouch on roofs; I wander through sleeping houses. Always I am ready to net
the dreams as they drift past. Each morning I carry these wonderful wisps to
my laboratory and there I sort them out and work my processes. In due course
I achieve a crystal of a hundred dreams, and with these confections I hope to
enthrall Duke Orbal."
"I would offer congratulations were it not for this tentacle gripping my leg,"
said Cugel.
"That is a generous emotion," said Iolo. He fed several logs into the fire,
chanted a spell of protection against creatures of the night, and composed
himself for sleep.
An hour passed. Cugel tried by various means to ease the grip of the tentacle,
without success, nor could he draw his sword or bring 'Spatterlight'
from his pouch.
At last he sat back and considered new approaches to the solution of his
problem.
By dint of stretching and straining he obtained a twig, with which he dragged
close a long dead branch, which allowed him to reach another of equal length.
Tying the two together with a string from his pouch, he contrived a pole
exactly long enough to reach Iolo's recumbent form.
Working with care Cugel drew Iolo's satchel across the ground, finally to
within reach of his fingers. First he brought out Iolo's wallet, to find two
hundred terces, which he transfered to his own purse; next the opal ear-
bangle, which he dropped into the pocket of his shirt; then the bagful of
dreams.
Page 157 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
210
until the tentacle had been tied to the stump
With poor grace Iolo hacked the head off the pelgrane, then brought over the
rope and secured the tentacle to the stump, thus easing the strain upon
Cugel's leg.
"The ear-bangle, if you please!" said Iolo, and he poised his knife
significantly near the rope.
Cugel tossed over the jewel. "There you have it: all my wealth. Now, please
free me from this tentacle."
"I am a cautious man," said Iolo. "I must consider the matter from several
perspectives." He set about making camp for the night.
Cugel called out a plaintive appeal: "Do you remember how I rescued you from
the pelgrane?"
"Indeed I do! An important philosophical question has thereby been raised.
Page 156
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
You disturbed a stasis and now a tentacle grips your leg, which is, in a
sense, the new stasis. I will reflect carefully upon the matter."
Cugel argued to no avail. Iolo built up a campfire over which he cooked a stew
of herbs and grasses, which he ate with half a cold fowl and draughts of wine
from a leather bottle.
Leaning back against a tree he gave his attention to Cugel. "No doubt you are
on your way to Duke Orbal's Grand Exposition of Marvels?"
"I am a traveler, no more," said Cugel. "What is this 'Grand Exposition'?"
Iolo gave Cugel a pitying glance for his stupidity. Each year Duke Orbal
presides over a competition of wonder-workers. This year the prize is one
thousand terces, which I intend to win with my 'Bagful of Dreams'."
"Your 'Bagful of Dreams' I assume to be a jocularity, or something on the
order of a romantic metaphor?"
"Nothing of the sort!" declared Iolo in scorn.
"A kaleidoscopic projection? A program of impersonations? A hallucinatory
gas?"
"None of these. I carry with me a number of pure unadulterated dreams,
coalesced and crystallized."
From his satchel Iolo brought a sack of soft brown leather, from which he took
an object resembling a pale blue snowflake an inch in diameter. He held it up
into the firelight where Cugel could admire its fleeting lusters. "I will ply
Duke Orbal with my dreams, and how can I fail to win over all other
contestants?"
"Your chances would seem to be good. How do you gather these dreams?"
"The process is secret; still I can describe the general procedure. I live
beside
211
Lake Lelt in the Land of Dai-Passant. On calm nights the surface of the water
thickens to a film which reflects the stars as small globules of shine. By
using a suitable cantrap, I am able to lift up impalpable threads composed of
pure starlight and water-skein. I weave this thread into nets and then I go
forth in search of dreams. I hide under valances and in the leaves of outdoor
bowers; I
crouch on roofs; I wander through sleeping houses. Always I am ready to net
the dreams as they drift past. Each morning I carry these wonderful wisps to
my laboratory and there I sort them out and work my processes. In due course
I achieve a crystal of a hundred dreams, and with these confections I hope to
enthrall Duke Orbal."
"I would offer congratulations were it not for this tentacle gripping my leg,"
said Cugel.
"That is a generous emotion," said Iolo. He fed several logs into the fire,
chanted a spell of protection against creatures of the night, and composed
himself for sleep.
An hour passed. Cugel tried by various means to ease the grip of the tentacle,
without success, nor could he draw his sword or bring 'Spatterlight'
from his pouch.
At last he sat back and considered new approaches to the solution of his
problem.
By dint of stretching and straining he obtained a twig, with which he dragged
close a long dead branch, which allowed him to reach another of equal length.
Tying the two together with a string from his pouch, he contrived a pole
exactly long enough to reach Iolo's recumbent form.
Working with care Cugel drew Iolo's satchel across the ground, finally to
within reach of his fingers. First he brought out Iolo's wallet, to find two
hundred terces, which he transfered to his own purse; next the opal ear-
bangle, which he dropped into the pocket of his shirt; then the bagful of
dreams.
Page 157 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]