"Raymond Feist - Saga 2 - Magician - Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

Pug spoke the Tsurani language better than any
Midkemian in the camp, for he had been there longer than
all but a few old Tsurani slaves. He shouted down, "It
smells of rot. We should re-rig another and leave this one
alone. Slave Master."

The overseer shook his fist. "You are all lazy. There is
nothing wrong with this tree. It is fine. You only want to
keep from working. Now cut it!"

Pug sighed. There was no arguing with the Bear, as all
the Midkemian slaves called Nogamu. He was obviously
upset about something, and the slaves would pay the
price. Pug started hacking through the upper section, and
it soon fell to the ground. The smell of rot was thick, and
Pug removed the ropes quickly. Just as the last length was
coiled around his waist, a splitting sound came from
directly in front of him. "It falls!" he shouted down to the
slaves standing in the water below. Without hesitation they
all ran. The cry of "falls" was never ignored.

The bole of the tree was splitting down the middle
now that the top had been cut away. While this was not
common, if a tree was far enough gone for the pulp to have
lost its strength, any flaw in the bark could cause it to split
under its own weight. The tree's branches would pull the
halves away from each other. Had Pug been tied to the
bole, the ropes would have cut him in half before they
snapped.

Pug gauged the direction of the fall, then as the half he
stood upon started to move, he launched himself away
from it. He hit the water flat, back first, trying to let the two
feet of water break his fall as much as possible. The blow
from the water was immediately followed by the harder
impact with the ground. The bottom was mostly mud, so
there was little damage done. The air in his lungs exploded
from his mouth when he struck, and his senses reeled for a
moment. He retained enough presence of mind to sit up
and gasped a deep lungful of air.

Suddenly a heavy weight hit him across the stomach,
knocking the wind from him and pushing his head back
underwater. He struggled to move and found a large
branch across his stomach. He could barely get his face out

Master 7

of the water to get air. His lungs burned and he breathed
without control. Water came pouring down his windpipe,