Американские боги
Chapter 5
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Theymadetheirwaypastadisplayofsuitsofarmor("Victorianfake,"pronouncedWednesdayastheypassedtheglassed-indisplay,"modernfake,twelfth-centuryhelmonaseventeenth-centuryreproduction,fifteenth-centuryleftgauntlet…")andthenWednesdaypushedthroughanexitdoor,circledthemaroundtheoutsideofthebuilding("Ican’tbedoin’withalltheseinsandouts,"saidNancy,"I’mnotasyoungasIusedtobe,andIcomefromwarmerclimes,")alongacoveredwalk-way,inthroughanotherexitdoor,andtheywereintheCarouselroom.
Calliopemusicplayed:aStrausswaltz,stirringandoccasionallydiscordant.Thewallastheyenteredwashungwithantiquecarouselhorses,hundredsofthem,someinneedofalickofpaint,othersinneedofagooddusting;abovethemhungdozensofwingedangelsconstructedratherobviouslyfromfemalestorewindowmannequins;someofthembaredtheirsexlessbreasts;somehadlosttheirwigsandstaredbaldlyandblindlydownfromthedarkness.
AndthentherewastheCarousel.
Asignproclaimeditwasthelargestintheworld,saidhowmuchitweighed,howmanythousandlightbulbsweretobefoundinthechandeliersthathungfromitingothicprofusion,andforbadeanyonefromclimbingonitorfromridingontheanimals.
Andsuchanimals!Shadowstared,impressedinspiteofhimself,atthehundredsoffull-sizedcreatureswhocircledontheplatformofthecarousel.
