Межзвёздный скиталец
Chapter 15
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Strangewhirlingdayswerethosethatfollowed,whatofmyaudienceswiththeEmperor,mydrinkingboutswithTaiwun,myconferenceswithYunsan,andmyhourswiththeLadyOm.Besides,Isatuphalfthenights,byHamel’scommand,learningfromKimalltheminutiæofcourtetiquetteandmanners,thehistoryofKoreaandofgodsoldandnew,andtheformsofpolitespeech,noblespeech,andcooliespeech.Neverwassea-cunyworkedsohard.Iwasapuppet—puppettoYunsan,whohadneedofme;puppettoHamel,whoschemedthewitoftheaffairthatwassodeepthataloneIshouldhavedrowned.OnlywiththeLadyOmwasIman,notpuppet...andyet,andyet,asIlookbackandponderacrosstime,Ihavemydoubts.IthinktheLadyOm,too,hadherwillwithme,wantingmeforherheart’sdesire.Yetinthisshewaswellmet,foritwasnotlongereshewasmyheart’sdesire,andsuchwastheimmediacyofmywillthatnotherwill,norHendrikHamel’s,norYunsan’s,couldholdbackmyarmsfromabouther.
Inthemeantime,however,IwascaughtupinapalaceintrigueIcouldnotfathom.Icouldcatchthedriftofit,nomore,againstChongMong-ju,theprincelycousinoftheLadyOm.BeyondmyguessingtherewerecliquesandcliqueswithincliquesthatmadealabyrinthofthepalaceandextendedtoalltheSevenCoasts.ButIdidnotworry.IleftthattoHendrikHamel.
