"Stephen Lawhead - Pendragon Cycle 05 - Grail" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lawhead Stephen)

ordered differently.
See, now, it is the Grail I tell: that strange stirrer of marvels, that most
uncanny vessel of desire. Dangerous, yes, and more beautiful than words
alone can tell, it is the holiest treasure in all this worlds-realm. But for
Arthur, that precious cup would surely have been forgotten, and its healing
virtues lost through ignorance and neglect. Yet, truth be told, but for
Arthur, none of the terrors and tribulations I describe would have befallen
us. But for Arthur, the Grail was almost lost, and a flame of Heaven's pure
fire extinguished on the earth.
That is a tale few have heard, and it is worth more than all the others. Ah,
but I race before myself. Know you, the Battlehost of the Ancient Enemy
is large, and falters before nothing save the True Word. And the sound of
the clash when those two combatants met will echo through the ages, I do
believe it. Blessed among men, I was favoured to ride at my king's right
hand in the foreranks of the fight. Tremble and turn pale; sain yourself
with runes and strong prayers, call upon the company of angels, and
barken well to my warning: where great good endures, great evil gathers
close about. This I know.
Hear me! Speak of the Grail and you speak a mystery with a secret at its
heart, and I, Gwalchavad, Prince of Orcady, know the secret as none other.
If the telling gives you pleasure, well and good but I should not like cold
eyes to read it in this book.
Therefore, look to your heart; look long and hard. If you are friend to all
that is true and right, then welcome and read on. But if you would savour
the sauce of slander and shadow tricks, feast on lies, betrayals, and
seductions, you will find little to your liking here. Blessed Jesu, I mean to
tell the truth of what I know.
Thus, I begin:
For seven long years we warred against the ravaging Saecsens
- seven years of hardship and privation, misery, torment, and death. Under
Arthur's command, and with the aid of the Swift Sure Hand, we prevailed
in the end. This is well known -indeed, even small children know how the
warhost of Britain raised the wall on Baedun Hill and destroyed the bold
invader
- so I will not say more, except to point out that we had scarcely drawn
breath from our hard-fought victory at Baedun when we were beset by the
wandering Vandal horde. Fighting first in lerna, then in Britain, we chased
Amilcar, that greedy boar of battle, over most of Lloegres before he was
subdued.
A strange war, that; it lasted little more than a season, yet brought more
waste and destruction to our land than all the Saecsen battles put together.
Why is it that trouble always seems to come in threes? For with the havoc
of the Vandali came plague and drought as well. Those who grumble and
complain would do well to remember that the Pendragon had three
enemies to fight, not just one. If there is another king who could have done
better against such odds, then show me that man, I say, or shut your
mouth. There is no pleasing some people. Though many raise their voices
in accusation and make loud lament over lost lands and such, I still think
Arthur chose the better course.
The thing is over now, in any event, so it does no good to piss and moan.