Earth and Air

Начало книги

[1. Supernatural--Fiction. 2. Trolls--Fiction. 3. Mythology, Greek--Fiction. 4. Animals, Mythical--Fiction. 5. Goddesses--Fiction.]  I. Title.

PZ7.D562Ear 2012

[Fic]--dc23

                                                           2012023764

“The Fifth Element” was originally published in slightly different form as “Who Killed the Cat?” in Verdict of 13 (Julian Symons, ed., Harper & Row, 1979).

Text set in Minion Pro.

Printed on 50# Natures Natural 30% PCR Recycled Paper by C-M Books in Ann Arbor, MI.

For ROBIN

Preface

Twenty-odd years ago, not long after Robin McKinley and I decided that we should get married and she should come to live with me in England, she was asked to write a short story about a mermaid. She didn’t have any ideas, so one fine evening we walked down to the village pub to try and think something up over supper. By the time we came home in the twilight we not only had several possible mermaid plots but also a grandiose scheme to collaborate on four collections of short stories about the mythical beings who inhabit the four natural elements: earth, air, fire and water.

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