"K. D. Wentworth - As You Sow" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wentworth K D)

"One copper will not even cover my expenses on songbirds!" The peddler leaned
over the plank table. "I suppose you think just anyone can harvest birdseed.
Well, if you don't find the eggs before the new life quickens, they hatch all
by
themselves in the ordinary way. Have you ever tried climbing a towering tree
to
find a nest, not to mention a cliff, or fought your way into a bramble
thicket?
Why else do you think harvesting birdseed is a dying craft? It needs a young
man's strength."

Ungern lowered his gaze. "Thank you anyway." He turned to go.

"Wait!" The peddler's hand flashed out and gripped his shirt. "I may have just
the thing!" With his other hand, he reached below the table and brought up a
small grimy bag tied shut with a bit of string.

"What kind of seed is that?" Ungern squinted at the bedraggled paper label,
but
the written characters were little more than faded squiggles.

"Something very special left over from several years ago." The old man's
wrinkled face beamed. "A little exotic for some folk, but you have the look of
a
man who can appreciate life's finest. I can't guarantee that all of it will
sprout, so I'll let you have a full one half of this bag for one copper."

"Half?" Ungem picked up the tiny bag, feeling the seeds shift inside. There
must
be dozens. He had never been able to afford more than four birdseeds at a time
in his whole life.

"All right, the whole thing then." Poeg folded his arms across his bony chest.
"I must say though, sir, you drive a hard bargain. It's not often a man gets
the
best of me."

A smile stole over Ungern's face as he replaced the single copper on the
table.
"Thank you!"

"Well, I need to clear out my stock." The peddler leaned closer and lowered
his
voice. "Frankly, my bones are getting too old to harvest seed anymore. I love
it, but it's really a young man's craft. I need someone to take over the
collecting end of the business. Why don't you spend a few weeks in the forest
with me and learn the trade?"

"Leave the fields?" Ungem's forehead wrinkled at the thought. "That would be