During our period of inactivity, Tars2 Tarkas had instructed me in many of the customs and arts of war familiar to the Tharks, including lessons in riding and guiding the great beasts which bore the warriors4. These creatures, which are known as thoats, are as dangerous and vicious as their masters, but when once subdued6 are sufficiently7 tractable8 for the purposes of the green Martians.
Two of these animals had fallen to me from the warriors whose metal I wore, and in a short time I could handle them quite as well as the native warriors. The method was not at all complicated. If the thoats did not respond with sufficient celerity to the telepathic instructions of their riders they were dealt a terrific blow between the ears with the butt9 of a pistol, and if they showed fight this treatment was continued until the brutes11 either were subdued, or had unseated their riders.
In the latter case it became a life and death struggle between the man and the beast. If the former were quick enough with his pistol he might live to ride again, though upon some other beast; if not, his torn and mangled12 body was gathered up by his women and burned in accordance with Tharkian custom.
My experience with Woola determined13 me to attempt the experiment of kindness in my treatment of my thoats. First I taught them that they could not unseat me, and even rapped them sharply between the ears to impress upon them my authority and mastery. Then, by degrees, I won their confidence in much the same manner as I had adopted countless14 times with my many mundane15 mounts. I was ever a good hand with animals, and by inclination16, as well as because it brought more lasting17 and satisfactory results, I was always kind and humane18 in my dealings with the lower orders. I could take a human life, if necessary, with far less compunction than that of a poor, unreasoning, irresponsible brute10.
In the course of a few days my thoats were the wonder of the entire community. They would follow me like dogs, rubbing their great snouts against my body in awkward evidence of affection, and respond to my every command with an alacrity19 and docility20 which caused the Martian warriors to ascribe to me the possession of some earthly power unknown on Mars.
"How have you bewitched them?" asked Tars Tarkas one afternoon, when he had seen me run my arm far between the great jaws21 of one of my thoats which had wedged a piece of stone between two of his teeth while feeding upon the moss-like vegetation within our court yard.
"By kindness," I replied. "You see, Tars Tarkas, the softer sentiments have their value, even to a warrior5. In the height of battle as well as upon the march I know that my thoats will obey my every command, and therefore my fighting efficiency is enhanced, and I am a better warrior for the reason that I am a kind master. Your other warriors would find it to the advantage of themselves as well as of the community to adopt my methods in this respect. Only a few days since you, yourself, told me that these great brutes, by the uncertainty22 of their tempers, often were the means of turning victory into defeat, since, at a crucial moment, they might elect to unseat and rend23 their riders."
"Show me how you accomplish these results," was Tars Tarkas' only rejoinder.
And so I explained as carefully as I could the entire method of training I had adopted with my beasts, and later he had me repeat it before Lorquas Ptomel and the assembled warriors. That moment marked the beginning of a new existence for the poor thoats, and before I left the community of Lorquas Ptomel I had the satisfaction of observing a regiment24 of as tractable and docile25 mounts as one might care to see. The effect on the precision and celerity of the military movements was so remarkable26 that Lorquas Ptomel presented me with a massive anklet of gold from his own leg, as a sign of his appreciation27 of my service to the horde28.
On the seventh day following the battle with the air craft we again took up the march toward Thark, all probability of another attack being deemed remote by Lorquas Ptomel.
During the days just preceding our departure I had seen but little of Dejah Thoris, as I had been kept very busy by Tars Tarkas with my lessons in the art of Martian warfare29, as well as in the training of my thoats. The few times I had visited her quarters she had been absent, walking upon the streets with Sola, or investigating the buildings in the near vicinity of the plaza30. I had warned them against venturing far from the plaza for fear of the great white apes, whose ferocity I was only too well acquainted with. However, since Woola accompanied them on all their excursions, and as Sola was well armed, there was comparatively little cause for fear.
On the evening before our departure I saw them approaching along one of the great avenues which lead into the plaza from the east. I advanced to meet them, and telling Sola that I would take the responsibility for Dejah Thoris' safekeeping, I directed her to return to her quarters on some trivial errand. I liked and trusted Sola, but for some reason I desired to be alone with Dejah Thoris, who represented to me all that I had left behind upon Earth in agreeable and congenial companionship. There seemed bonds of mutual31 interest between us as powerful as though we had been born under the same roof rather than upon different planets, hurtling through space some forty-eight million miles apart.
That she shared my sentiments in this respect I was positive, for on my approach the look of pitiful hopelessness left her sweet countenance32 to be replaced by a smile of joyful33 welcome, as she placed her little right hand upon my left shoulder in true red Martian salute34.
"Sarkoja told Sola that you had become a true Thark," she said, "and that I would now see no more of you than of any of the other warriors."
"Sarkoja is a liar3 of the first magnitude," I replied, "notwithstanding the proud claim of the Tharks to absolute verity35."
Dejah Thoris laughed.
"I knew that even though you became a member of the community you would not cease to be my friend; 'A warrior may change his metal, but not his heart,' as the saying is upon Barsoom."
"I think they have been trying to keep us apart," she continued, "for whenever you have been off duty one of the older women of Tars Tarkas' retinue36 has always arranged to trump37 up some excuse to get Sola and me out of sight. They have had me down in the pits below the buildings helping38 them mix their awful radium powder, and make their terrible projectiles39. You know that these have to be manufactured by artificial light, as exposure to sunlight always results in an explosion. You have noticed that their bullets explode when they strike an object? Well, the opaque40, outer coating is broken by the impact, exposing a glass cylinder41, almost solid, in the forward end of which is a minute particle of radium powder. The moment the sunlight, even though diffused42, strikes this powder it explodes with a violence which nothing can withstand. If you ever witness a night battle you will note the absence of these explosions, while the morning following the battle will be filled at sunrise with the sharp detonations43 of exploding missiles fired the preceding night. As a rule, however, non-exploding projectiles are used at night." [I have used the word radium in describing this powder because in the light of recent discoveries on Earth I believe it to be a mixture of which radium is the base. In Captain Carter's manuscript it is mentioned always by the name used in the written language of Helium and is spelled in hieroglyphics44 which it would be difficult and useless to reproduce.]
While I was much interested in Dejah Thoris' explanation of this wonderful adjunct to Martian warfare, I was more concerned by the immediate45 problem of their treatment of her. That they were keeping her away from me was not a matter for surprise, but that they should subject her to dangerous and arduous46 labor47 filled me with rage.
"Have they ever subjected you to cruelty and ignominy, Dejah Thoris?" I asked, feeling the hot blood of my fighting ancestors leap in my veins48 as I awaited her reply.
"Only in little ways, John Carter," she answered. "Nothing that can harm me outside my pride. They know that I am the daughter of ten thousand jeddaks, that I trace my ancestry49 straight back without a break to the builder of the first great waterway, and they, who do not even know their own mothers, are jealous of me. At heart they hate their horrid50 fates, and so wreak51 their poor spite on me who stand for everything they have not, and for all they most crave52 and never can attain53. Let us pity them, my chieftain, for even though we die at their hands we can afford them pity, since we are greater than they and they know it."
Had I known the significance of those words "my chieftain," as applied54 by a red Martian woman to a man, I should have had the surprise of my life, but I did not know at that time, nor for many months thereafter. Yes, I still had much to learn upon Barsoom.
"I presume it is the better part of wisdom that we bow to our fate with as good grace as possible, Dejah Thoris; but I hope, nevertheless, that I may be present the next time that any Martian, green, red, pink, or violet, has the temerity55 to even so much as frown on you, my princess."
Dejah Thoris caught her breath at my last words, and gazed upon me with dilated56 eyes and quickening breath, and then, with an odd little laugh, which brought roguish dimples to the corners of her mouth, she shook her head and cried:
"What a child! A great warrior and yet a stumbling little child."
"What have I done now?" I asked, in sore perplexity.
"Some day you shall know, John Carter, if we live; but I may not tell you. And I, the daughter of Mors Kajak, son of Tardos Mors, have listened without anger," she soliloquized in conclusion.
Then she broke out again into one of her gay, happy, laughing moods; joking with me on my prowess as a Thark warrior as contrasted with my soft heart and natural kindliness57.
"I presume that should you accidentally wound an enemy you would take him home and nurse him back to health," she laughed.
This made her laugh again. She could not understand it, for, with all her tenderness and womanly sweetness, she was still a Martian, and to a Martian the only good enemy is a dead enemy; for every dead foeman means so much more to divide between those who live.
I was very curious to know what I had said or done to cause her so much perturbation a moment before and so I continued to importune60 her to enlighten me.
"No," she exclaimed, "it is enough that you have said it and that I have listened. And when you learn, John Carter, and if I be dead, as likely I shall be ere the further moon has circled Barsoom another twelve times, remember that I listened and that I—smiled."
It was all Greek to me, but the more I begged her to explain the more positive became her denials of my request, and, so, in very hopelessness, I desisted.
Day had now given away to night and as we wandered along the great avenue lighted by the two moons of Barsoom, and with Earth looking down upon us out of her luminous61 green eye, it seemed that we were alone in the universe, and I, at least, was content that it should be so.
The chill of the Martian night was upon us, and removing my silks I threw them across the shoulders of Dejah Thoris. As my arm rested for an instant upon her I felt a thrill pass through every fiber62 of my being such as contact with no other mortal had even produced; and it seemed to me that she had leaned slightly toward me, but of that I was not sure. Only I knew that as my arm rested there across her shoulders longer than the act of adjusting the silk required she did not draw away, nor did she speak. And so, in silence, we walked the surface of a dying world, but in the breast of one of us at least had been born that which is ever oldest, yet ever new.
I loved Dejah Thoris. The touch of my arm upon her naked shoulder had spoken to me in words I would not mistake, and I knew that I had loved her since the first moment that my eyes had met hers that first time in the plaza of the dead city of Korad.
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1
cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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8
tractable
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| adj.易驾驭的；温顺的 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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10
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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12
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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13
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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14
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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15
mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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17
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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docility
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| n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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23
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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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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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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verity
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| n.真实性 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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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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projectiles
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| n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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41
cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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42
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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43
detonations
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| n.爆炸 （声）( detonation的名词复数 ) | |
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44
hieroglyphics
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| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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45
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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47
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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48
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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49
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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50
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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51
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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52
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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53
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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54
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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55
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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56
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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58
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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59
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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importune
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| v.强求；不断请求 | |
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61
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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fiber
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| n.纤维，纤维质 | |
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