Kala sometimes talked with the older females about her young hopeful, but none of them could understand how a child could be so slow and backward in learning to care for itself. Why, it could not even find food alone, and more than twelve moons had passed since Kala had come upon it.
Had they known that the child had seen thirteen moons before it had come into Kala’s possession they would have considered its case as absolutely hopeless, for the little apes of their own tribe were as far advanced in two or three moons as was this little stranger after twenty-five.
Tublat, Kala’s husband, was sorely vexed2, and but for the female’s careful watching would have put the child out of the way.
“He will never be a great ape,” he argued. “Always will you have to carry him and protect him. What good will he be to the tribe? None; only a burden.
“Let us leave him quietly sleeping among the tall grasses, that you may bear other and stronger apes to guard us in our old age.”
“Never, Broken Nose,” replied Kala. “If I must carry him forever, so be it.”
And then Tublat went to Kerchak to urge him to use his authority with Kala, and force her to give up little Tarzan, which was the name they had given to the tiny Lord Greystoke, and which meant “White-Skin.”
But when Kerchak spoke3 to her about it Kala threatened to run away from the tribe if they did not leave her in peace with the child; and as this is one of the inalienable rights of the jungle folk, if they be dissatisfied among their own people, they bothered her no more, for Kala was a fine clean-limbed young female, and they did not wish to lose her.
As Tarzan grew he made more rapid strides, so that by the time he was ten years old he was an excellent climber, and on the ground could do many wonderful things which were beyond the powers of his little brothers and sisters.
In many ways did he differ from them, and they often marveled at his superior cunning, but in strength and size he was deficient4; for at ten the great anthropoids were fully5 grown, some of them towering over six feet in height, while little Tarzan was still but a half-grown boy.
Yet such a boy!
From early childhood he had used his hands to swing from branch to branch after the manner of his giant mother, and as he grew older he spent hour upon hour daily speeding through the tree tops with his brothers and sisters.
He could spring twenty feet across space at the dizzy heights of the forest top, and grasp with unerring precision, and without apparent jar, a limb waving wildly in the path of an approaching tornado6.
He could drop twenty feet at a stretch from limb to limb in rapid descent to the ground, or he could gain the utmost pinnacle7 of the loftiest tropical giant with the ease and swiftness of a squirrel.
Though but ten years old he was fully as strong as the average man of thirty, and far more agile8 than the most practiced athlete ever becomes. And day by day his strength was increasing.
His life among these fierce apes had been happy; for his recollection held no other life, nor did he know that there existed within the universe aught else than his little forest and the wild jungle animals with which he was familiar.
He was nearly ten before he commenced to realize that a great difference existed between himself and his fellows. His little body, burned brown by exposure, suddenly caused him feelings of intense shame, for he realized that it was entirely9 hairless, like some low snake, or other reptile10.
He attempted to obviate11 this by plastering himself from head to foot with mud, but this dried and fell off. Besides it felt so uncomfortable that he quickly decided12 that he preferred the shame to the discomfort13.
In the higher land which his tribe frequented was a little lake, and it was here that Tarzan first saw his face in the clear, still waters of its bosom14.
It was on a sultry day of the dry season that he and one of his cousins had gone down to the bank to drink. As they leaned over, both little faces were mirrored on the placid15 pool; the fierce and terrible features of the ape beside those of the aristocratic scion16 of an old English house.
Tarzan was appalled17. It had been bad enough to be hairless, but to own such a countenance18! He wondered that the other apes could look at him at all.
That tiny slit19 of a mouth and those puny20 white teeth! How they looked beside the mighty21 lips and powerful fangs22 of his more fortunate brothers!
And the little pinched nose of his; so thin was it that it looked half starved. He turned red as he compared it with the beautiful broad nostrils23 of his companion. Such a generous nose! Why it spread half across his face! It certainly must be fine to be so handsome, thought poor little Tarzan.
But when he saw his own eyes; ah, that was the final blow — a brown spot, a gray circle and then blank whiteness! Frightful24! not even the snakes had such hideous25 eyes as he.
So intent was he upon this personal appraisement26 of his features that he did not hear the parting of the tall grass behind him as a great body pushed itself stealthily through the jungle; nor did his companion, the ape, hear either, for he was drinking and the noise of his sucking lips and gurgles of satisfaction drowned the quiet approach of the intruder.
Not thirty paces behind the two she crouched28 — Sabor, the huge lioness — lashing29 her tail. Cautiously she moved a great padded paw forward, noiselessly placing it before she lifted the next. Thus she advanced; her belly30 low, almost touching31 the surface of the ground — a great cat preparing to spring upon its prey32.
Now she was within ten feet of the two unsuspecting little playfellows — carefully she drew her hind27 feet well up beneath her body, the great muscles rolling under the beautiful skin.
So low she was crouching33 now that she seemed flattened34 to the earth except for the upward bend of the glossy35 back as it gathered for the spring.
No longer the tail lashed36 — quiet and straight behind her it lay.
An instant she paused thus, as though turned to stone, and then, with an awful scream, she sprang.
Sabor, the lioness, was a wise hunter. To one less wise the wild alarm of her fierce cry as she sprang would have seemed a foolish thing, for could she not more surely have fallen upon her victims had she but quietly leaped without that loud shriek37?
But Sabor knew well the wondrous38 quickness of the jungle folk and their almost unbelievable powers of hearing. To them the sudden scraping of one blade of grass across another was as effectual a warning as her loudest cry, and Sabor knew that she could not make that mighty leap without a little noise.
Her wild scream was not a warning. It was voiced to freeze her poor victims in a paralysis39 of terror for the tiny fraction of an instant which would suffice for her mighty claws to sink into their soft flesh and hold them beyond hope of escape.
So far as the ape was concerned, Sabor reasoned correctly. The little fellow crouched trembling just an instant, but that instant was quite long enough to prove his undoing40.
Not so, however, with Tarzan, the man-child. His life amidst the dangers of the jungle had taught him to meet emergencies with self-confidence, and his higher intelligence resulted in a quickness of mental action far beyond the powers of the apes.
So the scream of Sabor, the lioness, galvanized the brain and muscles of little Tarzan into instant action.
Before him lay the deep waters of the little lake, behind him certain death; a cruel death beneath tearing claws and rending41 fangs.
Tarzan had always hated water except as a medium for quenching42 his thirst. He hated it because he connected it with the chill and discomfort of the torrential rains, and he feared it for the thunder and lightning and wind which accompanied them.
The deep waters of the lake he had been taught by his wild mother to avoid, and further, had he not seen little Neeta sink beneath its quiet surface only a few short weeks before never to return to the tribe?
But of the two evils his quick mind chose the lesser43 ere the first note of Sabor’s scream had scarce broken the quiet of the jungle, and before the great beast had covered half her leap Tarzan felt the chill waters close above his head.
He could not swim, and the water was very deep; but still he lost no particle of that self-confidence and resourcefulness which were the badges of his superior being.
Rapidly he moved his hands and feet in an attempt to scramble44 upward, and, possibly more by chance than design, he fell into the stroke that a dog uses when swimming, so that within a few seconds his nose was above water and he found that he could keep it there by continuing his strokes, and also make progress through the water.
He was much surprised and pleased with this new acquirement which had been so suddenly thrust upon him, but he had no time for thinking much upon it.
He was now swimming parallel to the bank and there he saw the cruel beast that would have seized him crouching upon the still form of his little playmate.
The lioness was intently watching Tarzan, evidently expecting him to return to shore, but this the boy had no intention of doing.
Instead he raised his voice in the call of distress45 common to his tribe, adding to it the warning which would prevent would-be rescuers from running into the clutches of Sabor.
Almost immediately there came an answer from the distance, and presently forty or fifty great apes swung rapidly and majestically46 through the trees toward the scene of tragedy.
In the lead was Kala, for she had recognized the tones of her best beloved, and with her was the mother of the little ape who lay dead beneath cruel Sabor.
Though more powerful and better equipped for fighting than the apes, the lioness had no desire to meet these enraged47 adults, and with a snarl48 of hatred49 she sprang quickly into the brush and disappeared.
Tarzan now swam to shore and clambered quickly upon dry land. The feeling of freshness and exhilaration which the cool waters had imparted to him, filled his little being with grateful surprise, and ever after he lost no opportunity to take a daily plunge50 in lake or stream or ocean when it was possible to do so.
For a long time Kala could not accustom51 herself to the sight; for though her people could swim when forced to it, they did not like to enter water, and never did so voluntarily.
The adventure with the lioness gave Tarzan food for pleasurable memories, for it was such affairs which broke the monotony of his daily life — otherwise but a dull round of searching for food, eating, and sleeping.
The tribe to which he belonged roamed a tract52 extending, roughly, twenty-five miles along the seacoast and some fifty miles inland. This they traversed almost continually, occasionally remaining for months in one locality; but as they moved through the trees with great speed they often covered the territory in a very few days.
Much depended upon food supply, climatic conditions, and the prevalence of animals of the more dangerous species; though Kerchak often led them on long marches for no other reason than that he had tired of remaining in the same place.
At night they slept where darkness overtook them, lying upon the ground, and sometimes covering their heads, and more seldom their bodies, with the great leaves of the elephant’s ear. Two or three might lie cuddled in each other’s arms for additional warmth if the night were chill, and thus Tarzan had slept in Kala’s arms nightly for all these years.
That the huge, fierce brute53 loved this child of another race is beyond question, and he, too, gave to the great, hairy beast all the affection that would have belonged to his fair young mother had she lived.
When he was disobedient she cuffed54 him, it is true, but she was never cruel to him, and was more often caressing55 him than chastising56 him.
Tublat, her mate, always hated Tarzan, and on several occasions had come near ending his youthful career.
Tarzan on his part never lost an opportunity to show that he fully reciprocated57 his foster father’s sentiments, and whenever he could safely annoy him or make faces at him or hurl58 insults upon him from the safety of his mother’s arms, or the slender branches of the higher trees, he did so.
His superior intelligence and cunning permitted him to invent a thousand diabolical59 tricks to add to the burdens of Tublat’s life.
Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.
By constant playing and experimenting with these he learned to tie rude knots, and make sliding nooses60; and with these he and the younger apes amused themselves. What Tarzan did they tried to do also, but he alone originated and became proficient62.
One day while playing thus Tarzan had thrown his rope at one of his fleeing companions, retaining the other end in his grasp. By accident the noose61 fell squarely about the running ape’s neck, bringing him to a sudden and surprising halt.
Ah, here was a new game, a fine game, thought Tarzan, and immediately he attempted to repeat the trick. And thus, by painstaking63 and continued practice, he learned the art of roping.
Now, indeed, was the life of Tublat a living nightmare. In sleep, upon the march, night or day, he never knew when that quiet noose would slip about his neck and nearly choke the life out of him.
Kala punished, Tublat swore dire64 vengeance65, and old Kerchak took notice and warned and threatened; but all to no avail.
Tarzan defied them all, and the thin, strong noose continued to settle about Tublat’s neck whenever he least expected it.
The other apes derived66 unlimited67 amusement from Tublat’s discomfiture68, for Broken Nose was a disagreeable old fellow, whom no one liked, anyway.
In Tarzan’s clever little mind many thoughts revolved69, and back of these was his divine power of reason.
If he could catch his fellow apes with his long arm of many grasses, why not Sabor, the lioness?
It was the germ of a thought, which, however, was destined70 to mull around in his conscious and subconscious71 mind until it resulted in magnificent achievement.
But that came in later years.
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1
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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8
agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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10
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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obviate
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| v.除去，排除，避免，预防 | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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14
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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scion
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| n.嫩芽，子孙 | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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18
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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23
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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24
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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appraisement
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| n.评价，估价；估值 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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30
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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33
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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34
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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35
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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37
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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38
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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39
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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40
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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41
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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42
quenching
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| 淬火，熄 | |
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43
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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44
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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45
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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46
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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47
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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48
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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49
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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50
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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51
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
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52
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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53
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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54
cuffed
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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56
chastising
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的现在分词 ) | |
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57
reciprocated
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| v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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58
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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59
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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60
nooses
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| n.绞索，套索( noose的名词复数 ) | |
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61
noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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62
proficient
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| adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家 | |
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63
painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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64
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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65
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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66
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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67
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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68
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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69
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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70
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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