Writ in Water, or The Gingerbread Man
Серия: Dr. Eszterhazy, книга 11
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By degrees (not learned ones, though) the curriculum vitae of Dr. Eszterbazy is becoming known. A set of Enquiries of. . . was published a decade ago; this is the fourth new tale that the author has vouchsafed us — of a world with some odd survivals, mundane and otherwise.
The spirit of the wood, the spirit of the water, and the spirit of the wheat-plant: they three be sib.
— old Slovatchko saying
The former Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Empire rode side by side with Madama D’Attila in her trim little chaise through Klejn Tinkeldorff, one of the less-fashionable suburbs of Bella. Bella was the capital of the Triune Monarchy of Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania. Who was the former Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Empire and who was Madama D’Attila? Madama D’Attila had at various times been the favorite of two European kings, one Turkish sultan, and three Latin American dictators; alas, the Sultan and one of the kings had gone ga-ga, the other king had been ignominiously deposed, and all three of the dictators had met ends too dreadful to be told in detail. Madama D’Attila presently lived very quietly under the aegis of the Triune Monarchy, now and then receiving the calling cards of the oldest (and youngest) members of the nobility. Once a day, bravely wearing a modest assortment of her best paste jewels, she bravely drove her one-horse chaise through the streets of her little suburb. His Royal and Imperial Majesty did not choose that she should come any closer.
