The Reluctant Shaman and Other Fantastic Tales
- Автор: Де Камп Лайон Спрэг
- Год: 1970
- Язык: английский
- Год: Pyramid Books
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The Reluctant Shaman and Other Fantastic Tales». Краткое содержание книги:
And plunge headlong into the always wild, constantly weird, and frequently whimsical realm of fantasy as invoked by that master magician L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP!
* A social protestor who just happens to be a ghost...
* A mail-order magic business that conjures up a universe of trouble...
* A fledgling wizard who doesn't know the strength of his own power...
And these are only a sprinkling of the outrageous and amazing creatures and things you'll encounter as you whir through a world where everything is probable--
THE RELUCTANT SHAMAN
THE HARDWOOD PILE
NOTHING IN THE RULES
THE GHOST OF MELVIN PYE
THE WISDOM OF THE EAST
MR. ARSON
KA THE APPALLING
Between the pile of rubble and the wall of the right- hand house, an opening had appeared. A face, obscured by the deep shadow, looked up. "Hasten!" said the face.
The crowd noises sounded as if they were just around the next bend.
Gezun lowered his large feet into the hole and squeezed through. His feet found a dirt floor.
"Out of the way, fool!" said the face. The owner of the face pushed Gezun aside and thrust a piece of old, rotten wood into the opening. It cut off most of the light, although since the fit was not tight, some light came into the tunnel around the wood. The tunnel itself was not utterly dark. A flickering light came around the first bend.
"Come," said the man. He was a small, brown Seteshan in a long, dirty robe. He had sharp, irregular features and crooked teeth. He was bald save for gray tufts that stood out over each ear.
The man led the way down the tunnel, muttering: "Hurry, barbarian clod! They may poke around and find my tunnel. And watch your head."
The last advice was too late; Gezun had just hit his forehead on a crossbeam. The tunnel had been built for Seteshans, not towering Pusadians. The roof had been shored up by odd bits of timber, so that to walk through the tunnel one had to duck and dodge with every step.
Gezun followed, bent over, his head ringing. He still gasped from his run; his tunic was sweat-soaked.
Around the corner, a Seteshan girl held a rushlight. She walked ahead of the two men, shielding the light with her hand. The tunnel bent this way and that but seemed to be going deeper. The soil, powder-dry near the surface, became moist as they went down. The blistering heat of the Seteshan summer gave way to delicious cool.
The tunnel branched and forked. Gezun tried to remember his turnings but soon gave up.
The tunnel became a regular structure of dressed stone, as if they had reached the crypt of some large building. They halted where the tunnel opened out into a series of rooms. The girl lit two more rushlights. Gezun saw that she was handsome in a slender, birdlike way, although she looked a little like the man. Like him, she had blue-black hair and an olive brown skin.
"Sit," said the man.
Gezun sank down on a bench and threw off his cloak. He sat holding his head and drinking in the cool air. He sneezed, wiped the drying sweat from his face with a corner of his cloak, and said:
"How came you to save me?"
"I saw the start of the chase," said the man. "I went into my tunnels and later heard the sounds of the mob near another of my entrances. You must have circled round and nearly returned to your starting place."
"I don't know Typhon well."
"So I see. Who are you?"
"Gezun of Gadaira."
"Where is that?"
"Far to the west. I was born in Poseidonis."
"Of that I have heard; a sinking land in the sea."
"Who are you, sir?"
"Ugaph the son of Shepsaa. This is my daughter Ro. What do you so far from home?"
"I like to wander. I make a living as a wizard."
"You a wizard? Ha!"
"I was a pupil of the great Sancheth Sar."
"I never heard of him, and if he was not a Seteshan he cannot have amounted to much."
Gezun shrugged. "I let my clients praise me."
"When got you here?"
"Yesterday. I was strolling about, minding my own business—"
"Slowly, or I cannot understand. You speak our tongue barbarously."
"I was minding my own business and enjoying the sights of the city when your people tried to kill me."
"What led you to do so mad a thing as to slay a cat?"
"I bought a loaf and a fish in the agora for my dinner. Then I went to a tavern by the side of the agora. I bought a mug of barley beer, and the taverner cooked my fish. I had my dinner laid out on the table outside the tavern and had just turned my head to look at a pretty girl, when this wretched cat leaped to the table and made off with my fish. I stuck it with my staff and killed it, and I was scraping the dirt off my fish when the mob began screaming and throwing things. By Lyr's barnacles, why?"
"Cats are sacred to Shekhemet. Since nobody hinders them, they take what they like."
"Why don't you kill me, then?"
Ugaph chuckled. "I have no love for the official cults. Priests magnify the powers of their gods to awe their dupes. Often I doubt if gods exist."
"Really? I knew a philosopher in Gadaira who said there were no gods or spirits, but I've known too many supernatural beings for such an extreme view."
Ugaph waved a hand. "Oh, spirits exist. In fact I, who dabble in magic, have my own familiar. But as for gods— well, there are all sorts of theories. Some say they are created by people's belief in them."
"Then let's be careful not to believe in them, lest they get power over us. But what of my fate?"
"I can use you, young man."
"For what?"
"Have you ever hunted bats?"
"No. Why should anybody hunt bats?"
"I have use for them. My daughter has been getting them for me whilst I went about my business."
"What business is that?"
"I am a collector. As I was saying, Ro has been getting my bats, but I need her help in my business. Moreover, she is likelier to catch a rich husband in the city than prowling dusty tombs."
"I see."
"And furthermore, other members of my profession sometimes try to take from me the part of these tunnels I have marked out for my own, and I need a strong arm and a keen blade to drive them out. So if you will serve as my apprentice, I will hide you, disguise you, and protect you from the superstitious mob."
"Will you also feed me and replace my garments when they wear out?"
"Surely, surely."
"Then let's begin. I was hungry when the mob drove me from my dinner, and now I'm ravenous."
Ugaph wrinkled his nose. "You are not backward. Ro, get Gezun something to eat."
The girl went into the adjoining chamber. Gezun said: "I know not how you can call collecting a business. I've heard of people who spent trade metal that way, but never of anybody who made it."
"That is simple. I am a benefactor of the people of Typhon."
"Oh?"
"You see, the temples are full of loot of which the priests have fleeced the folk by playing on their fears. I recover this stolen wealth and put it back into circulation. Like this." Ugaph showed a handful of gold, silver, and gems. The pieces of metal seemed to have been broken or cut from larger structures.
Gezun looked at the man with more respect. Of all thieves, the temple thief needed the most nerve, because of what the priests did if they caught him. The priests of Typhon, especially, were known for the ingenuity of their human sacrifices. Ro came in with a plate of food.
"Thank you, beautiful," said Gezun.
Ugaph said: "Cast no lustful eyes thither, Master
Gezun. A daughter of Setesh mates not with foreign devils. It were both immoral and unlawful. Nor think to flout me behind my back, for I have magical powers. I shall watch your every move from afar."
"So?" said Gezun, stuffing his mouth.
Next morning Gezun went to the public stables, where he had left his ass, to get his belongings. Ugaph had fitted him out to look like a Seteshan. Like other commoners of Typhon, he wore only sandals and a linen kilt. His whole head and face had been shaved, save for a short, braided scalp-lock behind and a narrow little goatee on his chin. He had left his sword and staff in the tunnels, the former because commoners were not allowed to carry them, the latter because it might help some member of yesterday's mob to recognize him.
When he had gotten back his gear and paid for fodder for his ass, Gezun rejoined Ugaph and his daughter. Ugaph said: "I will take your bags to our quarters whilst Ro shows you how to catch bats."