In a short time we gained the foot of the mountains, and after traversing a narrow gorge1 came to an open valley, at the far extremity2 of which was a low table land upon which I beheld3 an enormous city. Toward this we galloped4, entering it by what appeared to be a ruined roadway leading out from the city, but only to the edge of the table land, where it ended abruptly5 in a flight of broad steps.
Upon closer observation I saw as we passed them that the buildings were deserted6, and while not greatly decayed had the appearance of not having been tenanted for years, possibly for ages. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza7, and upon this and in the buildings immediately surrounding it were camped some nine or ten hundred creatures of the same breed as my captors, for such I now considered them despite the suave8 manner in which I had been trapped.
With the exception of their ornaments9 all were naked. The women varied10 in appearance but little from the men, except that their tusks11 were much larger in proportion to their height, in some instances curving nearly to their high-set ears. Their bodies were smaller and lighter12 in color, and their fingers and toes bore the rudiments13 of nails, which were entirely14 lacking among the males. The adult females ranged in height from ten to twelve feet.
The children were light in color, even lighter than the women, and all looked precisely15 alike to me, except that some were taller than others; older, I presumed.
I saw no signs of extreme age among them, nor is there any appreciable16 difference in their appearance from the age of maturity17, about forty, until, at about the age of one thousand years, they go voluntarily upon their last strange pilgrimage down the river Iss, which leads no living Martian knows whither and from whose bosom18 no Martian has ever returned, or would be allowed to live did he return after once embarking19 upon its cold, dark waters.
Only about one Martian in a thousand dies of sickness or disease, and possibly about twenty take the voluntary pilgrimage. The other nine hundred and seventy-nine die violent deaths in duels20, in hunting, in aviation and in war; but perhaps by far the greatest death loss comes during the age of childhood, when vast numbers of the little Martians fall victims to the great white apes of Mars.
The average life expectancy21 of a Martian after the age of maturity is about three hundred years, but would be nearer the one-thousand mark were it not for the various means leading to violent death. Owing to the waning22 resources of the planet it evidently became necessary to counteract23 the increasing longevity24 which their remarkable25 skill in therapeutics and surgery produced, and so human life has come to be considered but lightly on Mars, as is evidenced by their dangerous sports and the almost continual warfare26 between the various communities.
There are other and natural causes tending toward a diminution27 of population, but nothing contributes so greatly to this end as the fact that no male or female Martian is ever voluntarily without a weapon of destruction.
As we neared the plaza and my presence was discovered we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of the creatures who seemed anxious to pluck me from my seat behind my guard. A word from the leader of the party stilled their clamor, and we proceeded at a trot28 across the plaza to the entrance of as magnificent an edifice29 as mortal eye has rested upon.
The building was low, but covered an enormous area. It was constructed of gleaming white marble inlaid with gold and brilliant stones which sparkled and scintillated30 in the sunlight. The main entrance was some hundred feet in width and projected from the building proper to form a huge canopy31 above the entrance hall. There was no stairway, but a gentle incline to the first floor of the building opened into an enormous chamber32 encircled by galleries.
On the floor of this chamber, which was dotted with highly carved wooden desks and chairs, were assembled about forty or fifty male Martians around the steps of a rostrum. On the platform proper squatted33 an enormous warrior34 heavily loaded with metal ornaments, gay-colored feathers and beautifully wrought35 leather trappings ingeniously set with precious stones. From his shoulders depended a short cape36 of white fur lined with brilliant scarlet37 silk.
What struck me as most remarkable about this assemblage and the hall in which they were congregated38 was the fact that the creatures were entirely out of proportion to the desks, chairs, and other furnishings; these being of a size adapted to human beings such as I, whereas the great bulks of the Martians could scarcely have squeezed into the chairs, nor was there room beneath the desks for their long legs. Evidently, then, there were other denizens39 on Mars than the wild and grotesque40 creatures into whose hands I had fallen, but the evidences of extreme antiquity41 which showed all around me indicated that these buildings might have belonged to some long-extinct and forgotten race in the dim antiquity of Mars.
Our party had halted at the entrance to the building, and at a sign from the leader I had been lowered to the ground. Again locking his arm in mine, we had proceeded into the audience chamber. There were few formalities observed in approaching the Martian chieftain. My captor merely strode up to the rostrum, the others making way for him as he advanced. The chieftain rose to his feet and uttered the name of my escort who, in turn, halted and repeated the name of the ruler followed by his title.
At the time, this ceremony and the words they uttered meant nothing to me, but later I came to know that this was the customary greeting between green Martians. Had the men been strangers, and therefore unable to exchange names, they would have silently exchanged ornaments, had their missions been peaceful—otherwise they would have exchanged shots, or have fought out their introduction with some other of their various weapons.
My captor, whose name was Tars42 Tarkas, was virtually the vice-chieftain of the community, and a man of great ability as a statesman and warrior. He evidently explained briefly43 the incidents connected with his expedition, including my capture, and when he had concluded the chieftain addressed me at some length.
I replied in our good old English tongue merely to convince him that neither of us could understand the other; but I noticed that when I smiled slightly on concluding, he did likewise. This fact, and the similar occurrence during my first talk with Tars Tarkas, convinced me that we had at least something in common; the ability to smile, therefore to laugh; denoting a sense of humor. But I was to learn that the Martian smile is merely perfunctory, and that the Martian laugh is a thing to cause strong men to blanch44 in horror.
The ideas of humor among the green men of Mars are widely at variance45 with our conceptions of incitants to merriment. The death agonies of a fellow being are, to these strange creatures, provocative46 of the wildest hilarity47, while their chief form of commonest amusement is to inflict48 death on their prisoners of war in various ingenious and horrible ways.
The assembled warriors49 and chieftains examined me closely, feeling my muscles and the texture50 of my skin. The principal chieftain then evidently signified a desire to see me perform, and, motioning me to follow, he started with Tars Tarkas for the open plaza.
Now, I had made no attempt to walk, since my first signal failure, except while tightly grasping Tars Tarkas' arm, and so now I went skipping and flitting about among the desks and chairs like some monstrous51 grasshopper52. After bruising53 myself severely54, much to the amusement of the Martians, I again had recourse to creeping, but this did not suit them and I was roughly jerked to my feet by a towering fellow who had laughed most heartily55 at my misfortunes.
As he banged me down upon my feet his face was bent56 close to mine and I did the only thing a gentleman might do under the circumstances of brutality57, boorishness58, and lack of consideration for a stranger's rights; I swung my fist squarely to his jaw59 and he went down like a felled ox. As he sunk to the floor I wheeled around with my back toward the nearest desk, expecting to be overwhelmed by the vengeance60 of his fellows, but determined61 to give them as good a battle as the unequal odds62 would permit before I gave up my life.
My fears were groundless, however, as the other Martians, at first struck dumb with wonderment, finally broke into wild peals63 of laughter and applause. I did not recognize the applause as such, but later, when I had become acquainted with their customs, I learned that I had won what they seldom accord, a manifestation64 of approbation65.
The fellow whom I had struck lay where he had fallen, nor did any of his mates approach him. Tars Tarkas advanced toward me, holding out one of his arms, and we thus proceeded to the plaza without further mishap66. I did not, of course, know the reason for which we had come to the open, but I was not long in being enlightened. They first repeated the word "sak" a number of times, and then Tars Tarkas made several jumps, repeating the same word before each leap; then, turning to me, he said, "sak!" I saw what they were after, and gathering67 myself together I "sakked" with such marvelous success that I cleared a good hundred and fifty feet; nor did I, this time, lose my equilibrium68, but landed squarely upon my feet without falling. I then returned by easy jumps of twenty-five or thirty feet to the little group of warriors.
My exhibition had been witnessed by several hundred lesser69 Martians, and they immediately broke into demands for a repetition, which the chieftain then ordered me to make; but I was both hungry and thirsty, and determined on the spot that my only method of salvation70 was to demand the consideration from these creatures which they evidently would not voluntarily accord. I therefore ignored the repeated commands to "sak," and each time they were made I motioned to my mouth and rubbed my stomach.
Tars Tarkas and the chief exchanged a few words, and the former, calling to a young female among the throng71, gave her some instructions and motioned me to accompany her. I grasped her proffered72 arm and together we crossed the plaza toward a large building on the far side.
My fair companion was about eight feet tall, having just arrived at maturity, but not yet to her full height. She was of a light olive-green color, with a smooth, glossy73 hide. Her name, as I afterward74 learned, was Sola, and she belonged to the retinue75 of Tars Tarkas. She conducted me to a spacious76 chamber in one of the buildings fronting on the plaza, and which, from the litter of silks and furs upon the floor, I took to be the sleeping quarters of several of the natives.
The room was well lighted by a number of large windows and was beautifully decorated with mural paintings and mosaics77, but upon all there seemed to rest that indefinable touch of the finger of antiquity which convinced me that the architects and builders of these wondrous78 creations had nothing in common with the crude half-brutes which now occupied them.
Sola motioned me to be seated upon a pile of silks near the center of the room, and, turning, made a peculiar79 hissing80 sound, as though signaling to someone in an adjoining room. In response to her call I obtained my first sight of a new Martian wonder. It waddled81 in on its ten short legs, and squatted down before the girl like an obedient puppy. The thing was about the size of a Shetland pony82, but its head bore a slight resemblance to that of a frog, except that the jaws83 were equipped with three rows of long, sharp tusks.
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1
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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3
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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4
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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7
plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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8
suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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12
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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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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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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23
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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24
longevity
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| n.长命；长寿 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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28
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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29
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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scintillated
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| v.（言谈举止中）焕发才智( scintillate的过去式和过去分词 )；谈笑洒脱；闪耀；闪烁 | |
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31
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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33
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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38
congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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40
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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41
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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42
tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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43
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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44
blanch
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| v.漂白；使变白；使(植物)不见日光而变白 | |
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45
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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46
provocative
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| adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的 | |
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47
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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48
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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49
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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50
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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51
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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52
grasshopper
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| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
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53
bruising
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| adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式) | |
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54
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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56
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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57
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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58
boorishness
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59
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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62
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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66
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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67
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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68
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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70
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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71
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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72
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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74
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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75
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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mosaics
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| n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案 | |
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78
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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79
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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80
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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81
waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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83
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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