Everything Under the Heavens (Silk and Song) by Stabenow Dana

Author:Stabenow, Dana [Stabenow, Dana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical fiction, Chinese., Travel. Medieval., Voyages and travels., Silk Road--Fiction.
ISBN: 9781936666980
Publisher: Gere Donovan Press
Published: 2014-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Their course took them not directly west; rather, they moved from city to city as trading opportunities and market values offered opportunity. The topography was initially mostly flat, dry plain, sandy dunes interspersed with expanses of loose black pebbles and hard-packed dirt. The Tian Shan Mountains, snow-capped peaks keeping august distance from the riffraff, were succeeded by the Flaming Mountains, which formed a bare rock wall against the northwestern horizon. “They aren’t flaming,” Johanna said, disappointed that they didn’t live up to their name.

“They aren’t really of a height to deserve the term ‘mountains,’ either,” Jaufre said critically.

The barely undulating plain was interrupted just often enough for comfortable travel by oasis towns, built on rivers that snaked back and forth for a few leagues before vanishing into the ground, only to reappear again leagues away. The ruins of ancient villages perched on yellow sandstone wedges, marooned high in the air by the erosion of the water’s flow. Tiny farms were tucked in along the riverbanks, fields of cotton beginning to bud between straight rows of slender poplars radiant in silvery green. Grape vines sent investigatory tendrils across wooden frames and fruit trees were small white clouds of blooms. Everywhere the bees were happily drunk on nectar, buzzing dizzyingly from blossom to blossom.

In Lanchow they traded not at all, the city being too near Chang’an and Cambaluc for profit such as Wu Li had taught them to expect. If they did not trade, however, they could look to see what luxuries were going for the highest prices that year, and store that information away for future profit. Midway between the spice market and a row of apothecaries shops Johanna, Jaufre and Félicien were offered a full saddlebag of grayish grainy matter that the seller, hand on his heart, earnestly swore upon the bones of his ancestors was dried ground testicle of Jacob’s sheep, a proven aphrodisiac—“Guaranteed to warm the coldest woman on the darkest winter night, sahib!” The seller, a wizened little man in a filthy jellaba and an even filthier turban fastened with a chipped red brooch that couldn’t even pretend to be a ruby, clutched at Jaufre’s sleeve. “Yes, yes, and a known curative for shingles, croup, headache, stomach ache and toothache besides!” When Jaufre smiled and shook his head the old man said, “Where else will you find such rare and wonderful goods, young sir? Where?”

“Where, indeed,” Johanna said, but Jaufre was made of kinder stuff and pressed a small coin into the old man’s hand. It disappeared, but they left the old man pulling his wispy beard and calling out after them, “Is it Wuwei that you journey to next? No, no, not Wuwei, young sir, young miss, as your life depends upon it! Those fellows on the other side of the river are robbers and murderers, they are deviants and pederasts, they rape their mothers, they slay their fathers! Stay safe here where you deal always with honest men! I spit, I spit—” suiting his word

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.