Читать книгу Fly Hunter: The Story of an Inquisitor онлайн

"Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…"

From the tambour, through the slightly ajar door, a small, chubby man watched with interest as Aman-Jalil occupied the empty reception area. With the second door closed, the tambour created a semi-darkness from which one could easily observe all those waiting for their appointment while remaining invisible themselves… Waiting and catching up, waiting and catching up! This was the hardest part of life, where everyone was tested, and few mastered the art… Aman-Jalil mastered it.

He calmly watched a fly buzz annoyingly over his head, but his hands, lying undisturbed on his knees, tightly gripped the half-stretched rubber band with his fingers. Similarly, from the tambour, the provincial governor Ahmed calmly observed: "how old is he? Twenty-five? Or older? Or younger? I must see for myself… why is he so carefully examining the reception area?"

The fly darted several times towards Aman-Jalil's prominent nose, but the young man remained unperturbed, not flinching. However, a slight exhale caught the fly off guard, causing it to hesitate and ultimately land on the sweaty, faintly fragrant nose, which smelled slightly of pleasant rot, choosing it as a suitable spot for reflection on the nearby wall.

Aman-Jalil turned just a few degrees so carefully and flexibly that the fly did not notice his movement, and by the time it did, it was too late to escape; a precise strike flattened its head against the wall. The fly twitched a few times and fell to the floor, behind the bench.

– "Did you hit it?" asked the provincial governor with interest through the crack in the door.

– "In the head!" replied Aman-Jalil through the crack. "And who are you: a genie or a gnome?"

– "I am the one whom everyone listens to in semi-dark silence… Do you know such a person?"

– "No, we didn't cover that…"

– "We did, you just didn't learn the verses well…"

Aman-Jalil remembered reading in class:

– "I remember a wonderful moment, Before me you appeared, Like a genius of pure beauty, Like a fleeting vision…"