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

"Five hundred GOLD," said the stranger. "Tell the carpet to descend, and
we will discuss the matter."

Abdullah told the carpet, "Down, and land on the floor," and it did so,
thus removing a slight nagging doubt in Abdullah's mind that the
stranger had said something extra when Abdullah first stepped on it
which had been drowned in the din from next door. He bounced to his
feet, and the bargaining commenced. "The utmost of my purse is one
hundred and fifty gold," he explained, "and that is when I shake it out
and feel all around the seams."

"Then you must fetch out your other purse or even feel under your
mattress," the stranger rejoined. "For the limit of my generosity is
four hundred and ninety-five gold, and I would not sell at all but for
the most pressing need."
"I might squeeze another forty-five gold from the sole of my left shoe,"
Abdullah replied. "That I keep for emergencies, and it is my pitiful all."

"Examine your right shoe," the stranger answered. "Four- fifty."

And so it went on. An hour later the stranger departed from the booth
with 210 gold pieces, leaving Abdullah the delighted owner of what
seemed to be a genuine-if threadbare-magic carpet. He was still
mistrustful. He did not believe that anyone, even a desert wanderer with
few needs, would part with a real flying carpet-albeit nearly worn
out-for less than 400 gold pieces. It was too useful-

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better than a camel, because it did not need to eat-and a good camel
cost at least 450 in gold.

There had to be a catch. And there was one trick Abdullah had heard of.
It was usually worked with horses or dogs. A man would come and sell a
trusting farmer or hunter a truly superb animal for a surprisingly small
price, saying that it was all that stood between himself and starvation.
The delighted farmer (or hunter) would put the horse in a stall (or the
dog in a kennel) for the night. In the morning it would be gone, being
trained to slip its halter (or collar) and return to its owner in the
night. It seemed to Abdullah that a suitably obedient carpet could be
trained to do the same. So, before he left his booth, he very carefully
wrapped the magic carpet around one of the poles that supported the roof
and bound it there, around and around, with a whole reel of twine, which
he then tied to one of the iron stakes at the base of the wall.

"I think you'll find it hard to escape from that," he told it, and went
out to discover what had been going on at the food stall.

The stall was quiet now, and tidy. Jamal was sitting on its counter,