"King Krool" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lem Stanislaw)

highly intelligent beast, and know all there is to know of covering
tracks, doubling back, hiding in shadows and lying in wait, for such
is my will!"
"Forgive me, Your Highness," said Klapaucius with a careful bow,
"but if we do Your Highness' bidding too well, might not this put
the royal life and limb in some peril?"
The King roared with such laughter that a couple of crystal pendants
fell off a chandelier and shattered at the feet of the trembling
constructors.
"Have no fear of that, noble constructors!" he said with a grim
smile. "You are not the first, and you will not be the last, I
expect. Know that I am a just but most exacting ruler. Too often
have assorted knaves, flatterers and fakes attempted to deceive me,
too often, I say, have they posed as distinguished hunting
engineers, solely to empty my coffers and fill their sacks with gems
and precious stones, leaving me, in return, with a few paltry
scarecrows that fall apart at the first touch. Too often has this
happened for me not to take appropriate measures. For twelve years
now any constructor who fails to meet my demands, who promises more
than he is able to deliver, indeed receives his reward, but is
hurled, reward and all, into yon deep well--unless he be game enough
(excuse the pun) to serve as the quarry himself. In which case,
gentlemen, I use no weapon but these two bare hands..."
"And...and have there been, ah, many such impostors?" asked Trurl in
a weak voice.
"Many? That's difficult to say. I only know that no one yet has
satisfied me, and the scream of terror they invariably give as they
plummet to the bottom doesn't last quite so long as it used to--the
remains, no doubt, have begun to mount. But rest assured, gentlemen,
there is room enough still for you!"
A deathly silence followed these dire words, and the two friends
couldn't help but look in the direction of that dark and ominous
hole. The King resumed his relentless pacing, his boots striking the
floor like sledge hammers in an echo chamber.
"But, with Your Highness' permission...that is, we--we haven't yet
drawn up the contract," stammered Trurl. "Couldn't we have an hour
or two to think it over, weigh carefully what Your Highness has been
so gracious as to tell us, and then of course we can decide whether
to accept your generous offer or, on the other hand--"
"Ha!!" laughed the King like a thunderclap. "Or, on the other hand,
to go home? I'm afraid not, gentlemen! The moment you set foot on
board the Infernanda, you accepted my offer! If every constructor
who came here could leave whenever he pleased, why, I'd have to wait
forever for my fondest hopes to be realized! No, you must stay and
build me a beast to hunt. I give you twelve days, and now you may
go. Whatever pleasure you desire, in the meantime, is yours. You
have but to ask the servants I have given you; nothing will be
denied you. In twelve days, then!"
"With Your Highness' permission, you can keep the pleasures,
but--well, would it be at all possible for us to have a look at the,