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

"Tonight, Do-na-ti becomes a man. He has slain the badger. He has done his work as a boy among our
people, and it has been well done. Now we place this symbol of manhood upon him, and from this time
forward he will be in all ways considered an adult of our people.

"The child is gone.

"Welcome the man." He extended his burdened hands, and Do-na-ti bent his neck to allow the old man
to fasten the hood once more. When he straightened again, he found E-lo-ni watching from the ring of
maidens, her eyes bright.

Her father and her uncles stood together now, their ring broken as the people mingled together to greet
this new warrior and hunter into their village. As Do-na-ti's eyes met theirs, he saw that their faces were
calm and glad, and it wanned him.

Tomorrow the people would prepare for the Great Hunt. But after that there would be time to speak
about marriage. One who had played the dog in the Great Hunt, if he were chosen for that role, would
come to his wife as a man, indeed.

CHAPTER FOUR



In some way, Do-na-ti had expected to awaken on the morning after his ritual feeling entirely different. A
man was not a child, it was obvious. There must be thoughts that a man held in his head and feelings in his
heart that no child could grasp or endure.

Strangely, he woke feeling just as usual, his mouth tasting foul, his eyes gummy with sleep. He yawned
widely and rolled away from Ka-shi, who always managed to snuggle tightly against him, no matter how
hot the night might be.

He searched his mind for new thoughts, ideas he had never known before, but the foremost thing he
discovered was his need to go outside and relieve his bladder. That was so urgent that he crept among
the sleepers toward the door, which showed no hint of daylight as yet.

Outside a steady wind blew from the west, as usual, carrying its burden of dust and grit. He stood beside
a gray-green bush, aiming his stream downwind and staring off toward the east, which was turning paler
by slow degrees. Today would bring the preparations for the Great Hunt, and suddenly he felt those adult
sensations he had longed for.

A blaze kindled in the pit of his stomach, and its warmth ran up through his body, filling him with
excitement. Before now Do-na-ti had been one of those young ones who had helped with butchering the
kill, and by the time he and his companions arrived with the women, the most exciting activity would be
over. Only dead animals lay in the trap into which the hunters had driven them.

This time he would not be covered in blood, slipping along the giant body while pulling the tough hide
down the back of one of the dead animals so the fresh meat could be hacked free and laid upon it. This
time he would be one of those hunters, the dog-player himself, who helped to herd the leaders of the
Great Ones toward the chosen spot where they would die.