The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate
- Автор: Де Камп Лайон Спрэг
- Год: 1968
- Язык: английский
- Год: Lancer Books
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate». Краткое содержание книги:
Dragon is probably closest in mood to de Camp's fantasy novels, while Bronze God and Arrows are closer to his science fiction, with their description of engineering problems, and personality clashes among researchers and engineers. Dragon also reflects de Camp's then-recent acquaintance with the Conan stories and other works of Robert E. Howard. Bessas, the huge Persian nobleman, is not only a close match for Conan in physique, but his mood swings, fixation on his mother, and tendency to toss of verses, seems a reflection of Howard himself. (Fortunately, his poems reflect de Camp's verbal dexterity and wit, not Howard's melancholy.)
"Women!" said the king. "As I was saying, I think not that you can hire my people for porterage. They are too proud, holding the raising of cattle to be the only manly occupation. However, five days' journey down the river live the Ptoemphani, who worship a dog. Being but dogs themselves, they care not what they do. I will send a messenger, asking for—how many will you need?"
"Fifty or sixty, King."
"I will ask for sixty bearers, then. Of course they must needs consult their god ere they embark upon any such enterprise, and unless he wag his tail they will do nought."
Bessas said: "King Gau, know you aught of a party of Kushites who fled south through this land, upwards of forty years ago? The story runs that they went on until they came to a great lake, where they built a house of stone."
Gau smiled thinly. "Oh, aye. I was a child when they passed through Boron, and I remember when four of them returned, going north on their way to Kush. I have heard of these lakes, which lie south of the Mattitaean country, at the foot of the Mountains of the Moon."
"Said you Mountains of the Moon, O King?"
"Aye. It is said that the tops of these mountains are covered with salt, so that they shine like the moon at its fullness. But no man dares to climb to the region of salt, for fear of the giants of salt that dwell there."
"What of the Kushites, sire?"
"They say the chief of these Kushites told a local hunting tribe that he and his men were gods. As gods, they commanded these hunters to build their stone house, which was a great wonder. But then the chief turned himself into a great black demon and slew his fellows. The hunters fled, and the demon still haunts the house of stone. Now no one goes nigh to the place, for fear of the demon.''
Bessas arranged to buy food. "And another thing, if you please, sire. Could I obtain some tanned hides for new tents and clothes?"
The king had some trouble, through his translators, in understanding the word "clothes." At last he said:
"I suppose I can arrange it; though I cannot understand why you foreigners cover your bodies with those dirty, ugly things. Are you maimed or deformed in some of your parts, that you seek to hide them?"
The following morning, the day after their arrival, King Gau summoned his visitors again. He greeted them with grave courtesy, inquiring whether they were well-fed and womaned.
"I have sent a messenger to the Ptoemphani," he said. "The ancestral spirits willing, he will be back in ten days. When you set out, I will also send one of my people with you as a guide and interpreter. You must avoid the land of the Mattitae, up the river, because we are at war with them and they would slay you if you entered their land from ours."
"Which way shall we take to avoid them?" asked Bessas.
"To the west. The route to the east is not good, because great swamps cover the land." King Gau brought out the sword that Bessas had given him and fingered the blade. "Strangers, I have been thinking about this thing, and also about the iron hoes and spearheads that we sometimes get in trade from the northern peoples. Long have I wondered how this stuff is made. You, coming from lands where they make many strange things, must know. What great spell is needed to create iron?"
Shimri bounded to his feet, sputtering. "Your M-Maj-esty! I—I can tell you. Iron is mmm—it is made from a kind of heavy red stone, with fire and hammering." He wiped the drool from his chin.
Bessas muttered in Greek: "Ye gods, Myron, can't you shut the fool up? If the king believes he can use him, he'll mew him up here like a caged bird forever."
"Too late," said Myron. "The king has already grasped the idea."
Gau smiled. "You interest me, man with a small chin. Is this red stone to be found in our land?"
"Aye, sir, it is. Behold!" Shimri drew from his pouch a couple of ironstone pebbles. "I found these within a furlong of Boron. I could make iron for you."
Gau fingered the pebbles. "Meseems I have seen rock of this kind in the hills to the west of the river. If I send a man with you, will you cross over there now and tell me if there be enough of this stone to enable us to make our own iron?"
"Why, Your Majesty, I—ah—"
"Good!" King Gau snapped his fingers. A stalwart spearman stepped up, to whom the king gave careful instructions. "If you go now, you will be back for dinner. May the ancestral spirits favor your search!"
As Shimri departed, Bessas muttered: "He cleverly gives us no chance to talk to Shimri in private and prompt him to report no ore. If King Xerxes asks me, I shall advise him to leave the Alabi alone, for while they are but savages their king is as shrewd as Oroxaeus."
The principal hardship of life in Boron, Myron found, was neither the creeping things nor the smells, but the insatiable curiosity of the inhabitants. A ring of them surrounded the travelers' encampment, watching every action day and night and commenting upon them with animated gestures and loud, rich laughs. Sometimes an Alab would stand on one leg, with the foot of his other leg resting against his knee, leaning on his spear, and watching the camp from sunrise to sunset.
The evening after the second audience, Shimri limped in late for his dinner, his eyes bulging. "Oh, what a fuf-fool I was!" he burst out. "Do you know what this pork-eating king says?"
"That you are commanded to tarry in Boron and teach his people smithery," said Bessas, chewing.
"How in Dagon's name knew you that?"
"We are not all quite so addlewitted as you, my lad. Tell us the bad news."
"Well, I—I went with the black man, as the king said, and I found a muchel of ore. It begins three or four leagues from the river. When I returned and told the king of this, he asked me about the making of iron. I answered, and he said: 'Friend Shimri, the gods have sent you to teach us this art. You shall remain here whilst your comrades go looking for their crocodile-pard. When they return downriver you may rejoin them—if you have carried out your part of the bargain.' I did not recall ever having made any bargain, but I thought it well not to argue with the king."
"You showed one glimmering of sense, anyway," said Myron.
"But what shall I d-d-do? I cannot—I cannot remain here amongst these uncircumcised savages, whose language I do not even speak! You must smuggle me out somehow!"
"It was not our doing," said Bessas heavily, "that you sounded off so eloquently to the king this morning. Having cooked your stew you must eat it. As for smuggling you out, we cannot. King Gau holds us in the hollow of his hand; and, even if we escaped his wrath now, we should face it on our return."
"But I lack the proper tools! I have no picks and shovels for digging the ore, no flux or charcoal for smelting, and no hammers, anvils, pincers, and tongs for working."
"You should have thought of that ere you told the king you could make iron for him. A word is like a bird: once sent forth it is never recaptured. If you now go and protest that you did but utter empty boasts, he will surely visit his wrath upon you. You will have to make your own picks of horn and shovels of wood, burn your own charcoal, and construct your own hammers of stone and tongs of green branches."
Shimri burst into sobs.
Ten days later King Gau, with his bodyguards and pages, rode past the camp astride an ox. For a time he watched Bessas' party, all of whom, under their leader's frowning gaze, were busily making or mending. Some worked on garments, some on tents, and some on weapons. Through interpreters, the king spoke to Myron:
"Could I make my own folk as diligent as that, I could conquer all the tribes along my borders. I could in-vade Kush and enslave its people! Come with me to where the man Shimri works and explain what he does."