The chariots themselves were large, commodious7, and gorgeously decorated. In each was seated a female Martian loaded with ornaments8 of metal, with jewels and silks and furs, and upon the back of each of the beasts which drew the chariots was perched a young Martian driver. Like the animals upon which the warriors9 were mounted, the heavier draft animals wore neither bit nor bridle10, but were guided entirely11 by telepathic means.
This power is wonderfully developed in all Martians, and accounts largely for the simplicity12 of their language and the relatively13 few spoken words exchanged even in long conversations. It is the universal language of Mars, through the medium of which the higher and lower animals of this world of paradoxes14 are able to communicate to a greater or less extent, depending upon the intellectual sphere of the species and the development of the individual.
As the cavalcade15 took up the line of march in single file, Sola dragged me into an empty chariot and we proceeded with the procession toward the point by which I had entered the city the day before. At the head of the caravan16 rode some two hundred warriors, five abreast17, and a like number brought up the rear, while twenty-five or thirty outriders flanked us on either side.
Every one but myself—men, women, and children—were heavily armed, and at the tail of each chariot trotted18 a Martian hound, my own beast following closely behind ours; in fact, the faithful creature never left me voluntarily during the entire ten years I spent on Mars. Our way led out across the little valley before the city, through the hills, and down into the dead sea bottom which I had traversed on my journey from the incubator to the plaza. The incubator, as it proved, was the terminal point of our journey this day, and, as the entire cavalcade broke into a mad gallop19 as soon as we reached the level expanse of sea bottom, we were soon within sight of our goal.
On reaching it the chariots were parked with military precision on the four sides of the enclosure, and half a score of warriors, headed by the enormous chieftain, and including Tars20 Tarkas and several other lesser21 chiefs, dismounted and advanced toward it. I could see Tars Tarkas explaining something to the principal chieftain, whose name, by the way, was, as nearly as I can translate it into English, Lorquas Ptomel, Jed; jed being his title.
I was soon appraised22 of the subject of their conversation, as, calling to Sola, Tars Tarkas signed for her to send me to him. I had by this time mastered the intricacies of walking under Martian conditions, and quickly responding to his command I advanced to the side of the incubator where the warriors stood.
As I reached their side a glance showed me that all but a very few eggs had hatched, the incubator being fairly alive with the hideous23 little devils. They ranged in height from three to four feet, and were moving restlessly about the enclosure as though searching for food.
As I came to a halt before him, Tars Tarkas pointed24 over the incubator and said, "Sak." I saw that he wanted me to repeat my performance of yesterday for the edification of Lorquas Ptomel, and, as I must confess that my prowess gave me no little satisfaction, I responded quickly, leaping entirely over the parked chariots on the far side of the incubator. As I returned, Lorquas Ptomel grunted25 something at me, and turning to his warriors gave a few words of command relative to the incubator. They paid no further attention to me and I was thus permitted to remain close and watch their operations, which consisted in breaking an opening in the wall of the incubator large enough to permit of the exit of the young Martians.
On either side of this opening the women and the younger Martians, both male and female, formed two solid walls leading out through the chariots and quite away into the plain beyond. Between these walls the little Martians scampered26, wild as deer; being permitted to run the full length of the aisle27, where they were captured one at a time by the women and older children; the last in the line capturing the first little one to reach the end of the gauntlet, her opposite in the line capturing the second, and so on until all the little fellows had left the enclosure and been appropriated by some youth or female. As the women caught the young they fell out of line and returned to their respective chariots, while those who fell into the hands of the young men were later turned over to some of the women.
I saw that the ceremony, if it could be dignified28 by such a name, was over, and seeking out Sola I found her in our chariot with a hideous little creature held tightly in her arms.
The work of rearing young, green Martians consists solely29 in teaching them to talk, and to use the weapons of warfare30 with which they are loaded down from the very first year of their lives. Coming from eggs in which they have lain for five years, the period of incubation, they step forth31 into the world perfectly32 developed except in size. Entirely unknown to their mothers, who, in turn, would have difficulty in pointing out the fathers with any degree of accuracy, they are the common children of the community, and their education devolves upon the females who chance to capture them as they leave the incubator.
Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not commenced to lay, until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman's offspring. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental33 and filial love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings and higher humanitarian34 instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only suffered to live until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to live. Should they prove deformed35 or defective36 in any way they are promptly37 shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy38.
I do not mean that the adult Martians are unnecessarily or intentionally39 cruel to the young, but theirs is a hard and pitiless struggle for existence upon a dying planet, the natural resources of which have dwindled40 to a point where the support of each additional life means an added tax upon the community into which it is thrown.
By careful selection they rear only the hardiest41 specimens42 of each species, and with almost supernatural foresight43 they regulate the birth rate to merely offset44 the loss by death.
Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs each year, and those which meet the size, weight, and specific gravity tests are hidden in the recesses45 of some subterranean46 vault47 where the temperature is too low for incubation. Every year these eggs are carefully examined by a council of twenty chieftains, and all but about one hundred of the most perfect are destroyed out of each yearly supply. At the end of five years about five hundred almost perfect eggs have been chosen from the thousands brought forth. These are then placed in the almost air-tight incubators to be hatched by the sun's rays after a period of another five years. The hatching which we had witnessed today was a fairly representative event of its kind, all but about one per cent of the eggs hatching in two days. If the remaining eggs ever hatched we knew nothing of the fate of the little Martians. They were not wanted, as their offspring might inherit and transmit the tendency to prolonged incubation, and thus upset the system which has maintained for ages and which permits the adult Martians to figure the proper time for return to the incubators, almost to an hour.
The incubators are built in remote fastnesses, where there is little or no likelihood of their being discovered by other tribes. The result of such a catastrophe48 would mean no children in the community for another five years. I was later to witness the results of the discovery of an alien incubator.
The community of which the green Martians with whom my lot was cast formed a part was composed of some thirty thousand souls. They roamed an enormous tract49 of arid50 and semi-arid land between forty and eighty degrees south latitude51, and bounded on the east and west by two large fertile tracts52. Their headquarters lay in the southwest corner of this district, near the crossing of two of the so-called Martian canals.
As the incubator had been placed far north of their own territory in a supposedly uninhabited and unfrequented area, we had before us a tremendous journey, concerning which I, of course, knew nothing.
After our return to the dead city I passed several days in comparative idleness. On the day following our return all the warriors had ridden forth early in the morning and had not returned until just before darkness fell. As I later learned, they had been to the subterranean vaults53 in which the eggs were kept and had transported them to the incubator, which they had then walled up for another five years, and which, in all probability, would not be visited again during that period.
The vaults which hid the eggs until they were ready for the incubator were located many miles south of the incubator, and would be visited yearly by the council of twenty chieftains. Why they did not arrange to build their vaults and incubators nearer home has always been a mystery to me, and, like many other Martian mysteries, unsolved and unsolvable by earthly reasoning and customs.
Sola's duties were now doubled, as she was compelled to care for the young Martian as well as for me, but neither one of us required much attention, and as we were both about equally advanced in Martian education, Sola took it upon herself to train us together.
Her prize consisted in a male about four feet tall, very strong and physically54 perfect; also, he learned quickly, and we had considerable amusement, at least I did, over the keen rivalry55 we displayed. The Martian language, as I have said, is extremely simple, and in a week I could make all my wants known and understand nearly everything that was said to me. Likewise, under Sola's tutelage, I developed my telepathic powers so that I shortly could sense practically everything that went on around me.
What surprised Sola most in me was that while I could catch telepathic messages easily from others, and often when they were not intended for me, no one could read a jot56 from my mind under any circumstances. At first this vexed57 me, but later I was very glad of it, as it gave me an undoubted advantage over the Martians.
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1
replica
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| n.复制品 | |
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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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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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commodious
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| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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8
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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9
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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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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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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paradoxes
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| n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况] | |
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15
cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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18
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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20
tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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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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appraised
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| v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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23
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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33
parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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humanitarian
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| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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39
intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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40
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
hardiest
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| 能吃苦耐劳的，坚强的( hardy的最高级 )； （植物等）耐寒的 | |
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42
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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43
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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44
offset
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| n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿 | |
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45
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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46
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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47
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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48
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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49
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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50
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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51
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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52
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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53
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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54
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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55
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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56
jot
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| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
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57
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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