"Ardath Mayhar - Hunters of the Plains" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mayhar Ardath)

The Great Horned Ones fell before us,

and we used their flesh for our food.

Their hides wrapped our bodies from the cold

and formed door flaps for our lodges.

We of the Plains Clans

mastered the giant Tusked Ones,

slew the great bear,

as we do now and will continue to do

until the sun no longer walks the sky."



Her withered fingers moved, striking together thin bones to make a musical clack.

Ku-lap raised his head, the woolly hood dropping away from his broad face.



"The hunters of the People
 walk the grasslands,

catch small game in their strong hands,

pursue the very winds,

if there is need.

We shall eat the wind, my brothers!

We shall eat the wind!"



His raised fist came down on the big bison-hide drum that sat before him, adding its deep note to the
music.

Do-na-ti, joining the line of hooded warriors, taking his place for the first time with the adult men of his
village, felt the booming of the drum inside his stomach. His heart kept time with the clacking of the
bones; the throb of the finger drum seemed to pulse inside his body, in his own bones. As he picked up
the rhythm, joining his steps to those of his elders, he knew that this night would change him forever.