Guards! Guards! (Terry David John Pratchett) читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги

34

Well, for one thing kings can cure dandruff by permanently removing people’s heads from their shoulders, but I think that what Terry is probably referring to here is the folk-superstition that says that a King’s touch can cure scrofula (also known as the King’s Evil), which is a tubercular infection of the lymphatic glands.

A similar type of legend occurs in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but Shakespeare also has a lot to say on the subject in Macbeth, act 4, scene 3.