"Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Diana Wynne)

where Calcifer seemed to be eating them with a lot of snarling and gobbling. "Who says you are?"
"I do," said Sophie, and she added piously, "I can clean the dirt from this place even if I can't clean you
from your wickedness, young man."
"Howl's not wicked," Michael said.
"Yes I am," Howl contradicted him. "You forget just how wicked I'm being at the moment, Michael."
He jerked his chin at Sophie. "It you're so anxious to be of use, my good woman, find some knives and
forks and clear the bench."
There were tall stools under the workbench. Michael was pulling them out to sit on and pushing aside
all the things on top of it to make room for some knives and forks he had taken from the drawer in the
side of it. Sophie went to help him. She had not expected Howl to welcome her, of course, but he had
not even so far agreed to let her stay beyond breakfast. Since Michael did not seem to need help, Sophie
shuffled over to her stick and put it slowly and showily in the broom cupboard. When that did not seem
to attract Howl's attention, she said, "You can take me on for a month's trial, if you like."
Wizard Howl said nothing but "Plates, please, Michael," and stood up holding the smoking pan.
Calcifer sprang up with a roar of relief and blazed high in the chimney.
Sophie made another attempt to pin the Wizard down. "If I'm going to be cleaning here for the next
month," she said, "I'd like to know where the rest of the castle is. I can only find this one room and the
bathroom."
To her surprise, both Michael and the Wizard roared with laughter.
It was not until they had almost finished breakfast that Sophie discovered what made them laugh. Howl
was not only hard to pin down. He seemed to dislike answering any questions at all. Sophie gave up
asking him and asked Michael instead.
"Tell her," said Howl. 'It will stop her pestering."
"There isn't any more of the castle," Michael said, "except what you've seen and two bedrooms
upstairs."
"What?" Sophie exclaimed.
Howl and Michael laughed again. "Howl and Calcifer invented the castle," Michael explained, "and
Calcifer keeps it going. The inside of it is really just Howl's old house in Porthaven, which is the only
real part."
"But Porthaven's miles down near the sea!" Sophie said. "I call that too bad! What do you mean by
having this great, ugly castle rushing about the hills and frightening everyone in Market Chipping to
death?"
Howl shrugged. "What an outspoken old woman you are! I've reached that stage in my career when I
need to impress everyone with my power and wickedness. I can't have the King thinking well of me.
And last year I offended someone very powerful and I need to keep out of their way."
It seemed a funny way to avoid someone, but Sophie supposed wizards had different standards from
ordinary people. And she shortly discovered that the castle had other peculiarities. They had finished
eating and Michael was piling the plates on the slimy sink beside the bench when there came a loud,
hollow knocking at the door.
Page 20
Jones, Diana Wynne - Howl's Moving Castle.txt
Calcifer blazed up. "Kingsbury door!"
Howl, who was on his way to the bathroom, went to the door instead. There was a square wooden knob
above the door, set into the lintel, with a dab of paint on each of its four sides. At that moment, there
was a green blob on the side that was the bottom, but Howl turned the knob around so that it had a red
blob downward before he opened the door.
Outside stood a personage wearing a stiff white wig and a wide hat on top of that. He was clothed in
scarlet and purple and gold, and he held up a little staff decorated with ribbons like an infant maypole.
He bowed. Scents of cloves and orange blossom blew into the room.
"His Majesty the King presents his compliments and sends payment for two thousand pair of