"Diana Wynne Jones - Castle In The Air" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Diana Wynne)

marriage and

prophecy

Abdullah could not think what Hakim was doing there. His father's first
wife's relatives usually only came near him once a month, and they had
paid that visit to him two days ago. "What do you want, Hakim?" he
shouted wearily.

"To speak to you, of course!" Hakim shouted back. "Urgently!"

"Then part the curtains and come in," said Abdullah.

Hakim inserted his plump body between the hangings. "I must say, if this
is your vaunted security, son of my aunt's husband," he said, "I don't
think much of it. Anyone could come in here and surprise you as you slept."

"The dog outside warned me you were there," Abdullah said.

"What use is that?" asked Hakim. "What would you propose to do if I
proved to be a thief? Strangle me with a carpet? No, I cannot approve
the safety of your arrangements."

"What do you wish to say to me?" asked Abdullah. "Or did you only come
here to find fault as usual?"

Hakim seated himself portentously on a pile of carpets. "You lack your
normal scrupulous politeness, cousin by marriage," he said. "If my
father's uncle's son were to hear you, he would not be pleased."

29

"I am not answerable to Assif for my behavior or for anything else!"
Abdullah snapped. He was thoroughly miserable. His soul cried out for
Flower-in-the-Night, and he could not get to her. He had no patience
with anything else.

"Then I shall not trouble you with my message," Hakim said, getting up
haughtily.
"Good!" said Abdullah. He went to the back of his booth to wash.

But it was clear that Hakim was not going away without delivering his
message. When Abdullah turned around from washing, Hakim was still
standing there. "You would do well to change clothes and visit a barber,
cousin by marriage," he told Abdullah. "At present you do not look a
suitable person to visit our emporium."

"And why should I visit there?" Abdullah asked, somewhat surprised. "You
all made it clear long ago that I am not welcome there."