Then he said, staring ahead of him as he talked, 'I know a charm that can cure pain and sickness, and lift the grief from the heart of the grieving.
'I know a charm that will heal with a touch.
'I know a charm that will turn aside the weapons of an enemy.
'I know another charm to free myself from all bonds and locks.'
'A fifth charm: I can catch a bullet in flight and take no harm from it.'
His words were quiet, urgent. Gone was the hectoring tone, gone was the grin. Wednesday spoke as if he were reciting the words of a religious ritual, as if he were speaking something dark and painful.
'A sixth: spells sent to hurt me will hurt only the sender.'
'A seventh charm I know: I can quench a fire simply by looking at it.'
'An eighth: if any man hates me, I can win his friendship.'
'A ninth: I can sing the wind to sleep and calm a storm for long enough to bring a ship to shore.'
Those were the first nine charms I learned.