"Why are you so quiet, Dejah Thoris?" I asked. "Possibly you would rather return to Sola and your quarters."
"No," she murmured, "I am happy here. I do not know why it is that I should always be happy and contented4 when you, John Carter, a stranger, are with me; yet at such times it seems that I am safe and that, with you, I shall soon return to my father's court and feel his strong arms about me and my mother's tears and kisses on my cheek."
"Do people kiss, then, upon Barsoom?" I asked, when she had explained the word she used, in answer to my inquiry5 as to its meaning.
"Parents, brothers, and sisters, yes; and," she added in a low, thoughtful tone, "lovers."
"And you, Dejah Thoris, have parents and brothers and sisters?"
"Yes."
"And a—lover?"
She was silent, nor could I venture to repeat the question.
"The man of Barsoom," she finally ventured, "does not ask personal questions of women, except his mother, and the woman he has fought for and won."
"But I have fought—" I started, and then I wished my tongue had been cut from my mouth; for she turned even as I caught myself and ceased, and drawing my silks from her shoulder she held them out to me, and without a word, and with head held high, she moved with the carriage of the queen she was toward the plaza6 and the doorway7 of her quarters.
I did not attempt to follow her, other than to see that she reached the building in safety, but, directing Woola to accompany her, I turned disconsolately8 and entered my own house. I sat for hours cross-legged, and cross-tempered, upon my silks meditating9 upon the queer freaks chance plays upon us poor devils of mortals.
So this was love! I had escaped it for all the years I had roamed the five continents and their encircling seas; in spite of beautiful women and urging opportunity; in spite of a half-desire for love and a constant search for my ideal, it had remained for me to fall furiously and hopelessly in love with a creature from another world, of a species similar possibly, yet not identical with mine. A woman who was hatched from an egg, and whose span of life might cover a thousand years; whose people had strange customs and ideas; a woman whose hopes, whose pleasures, whose standards of virtue10 and of right and wrong might vary as greatly from mine as did those of the green Martians.
Yes, I was a fool, but I was in love, and though I was suffering the greatest misery11 I had ever known I would not have had it otherwise for all the riches of Barsoom. Such is love, and such are lovers wherever love is known.
To me, Dejah Thoris was all that was perfect; all that was virtuous12 and beautiful and noble and good. I believed that from the bottom of my heart, from the depth of my soul on that night in Korad as I sat cross-legged upon my silks while the nearer moon of Barsoom raced through the western sky toward the horizon, and lighted up the gold and marble, and jeweled mosaics13 of my world-old chamber14, and I believe it today as I sit at my desk in the little study overlooking the Hudson. Twenty years have intervened; for ten of them I lived and fought for Dejah Thoris and her people, and for ten I have lived upon her memory.
The morning of our departure for Thark dawned clear and hot, as do all Martian mornings except for the six weeks when the snow melts at the poles.
I sought out Dejah Thoris in the throng15 of departing chariots, but she turned her shoulder to me, and I could see the red blood mount to her cheek. With the foolish inconsistency of love I held my peace when I might have pled ignorance of the nature of my offense16, or at least the gravity of it, and so have effected, at worst, a half conciliation17.
I sought out Dejah Thoris in the throng of departing chariots.
I sought out Dejah Thoris in the throng of departing chariots.
My duty dictated18 that I must see that she was comfortable, and so I glanced into her chariot and rearranged her silks and furs. In doing so I noted19 with horror that she was heavily chained by one ankle to the side of the vehicle.
"What does this mean?" I cried, turning to Sola.
Examining the manacles I saw that they fastened with a massive spring lock.
"Where is the key, Sola? Let me have it."
"Sarkoja wears it, John Carter," she answered.
I turned without further word and sought out Tars22 Tarkas, to whom I vehemently23 objected to the unnecessary humiliations and cruelties, as they seemed to my lover's eyes, that were being heaped upon Dejah Thoris.
"John Carter," he answered, "if ever you and Dejah Thoris escape the Tharks it will be upon this journey. We know that you will not go without her. You have shown yourself a mighty24 fighter, and we do not wish to manacle you, so we hold you both in the easiest way that will yet ensure security. I have spoken."
I saw the strength of his reasoning at a flash, and knew that it was futile26 to appeal from his decision, but I asked that the key be taken from Sarkoja and that she be directed to leave the prisoner alone in future.
"This much, Tars Tarkas, you may do for me in return for the friendship that, I must confess, I feel for you."
"Friendship?" he replied. "There is no such thing, John Carter; but have your will. I shall direct that Sarkoja cease to annoy the girl, and I myself will take the custody27 of the key."
"Unless you wish me to assume the responsibility," I said, smiling.
"Were you to give me your word that neither you nor Dejah Thoris would attempt to escape until after we have safely reached the court of Tal Hajus you might have the key and throw the chains into the river Iss."
"It were better that you held the key, Tars Tarkas," I replied
He smiled, and said no more, but that night as we were making camp I saw him unfasten Dejah Thoris' fetters28 himself.
With all his cruel ferocity and coldness there was an undercurrent of something in Tars Tarkas which he seemed ever battling to subdue29. Could it be a vestige30 of some human instinct come back from an ancient forbear to haunt him with the horror of his people's ways!
As I was approaching Dejah Thoris' chariot I passed Sarkoja, and the black, venomous look she accorded me was the sweetest balm I had felt for many hours. Lord, how she hated me! It bristled31 from her so palpably that one might almost have cut it with a sword.
A few moments later I saw her deep in conversation with a warrior32 named Zad; a big, hulking, powerful brute33, but one who had never made a kill among his own chieftains, and so was still an o mad, or man with one name; he could win a second name only with the metal of some chieftain. It was this custom which entitled me to the names of either of the chieftains I had killed; in fact, some of the warriors34 addressed me as Dotar Sojat, a combination of the surnames of the two warrior chieftains whose metal I had taken, or, in other words, whom I had slain35 in fair fight.
As Sarkoja talked with Zad he cast occasional glances in my direction, while she seemed to be urging him very strongly to some action. I paid little attention to it at the time, but the next day I had good reason to recall the circumstances, and at the same time gain a slight insight into the depths of Sarkoja's hatred36 and the lengths to which she was capable of going to wreak37 her horrid38 vengeance39 on me.
Dejah Thoris would have none of me again on this evening, and though I spoke her name she neither replied, nor conceded by so much as the flutter of an eyelid40 that she realized my existence. In my extremity41 I did what most other lovers would have done; I sought word from her through an intimate. In this instance it was Sola whom I intercepted42 in another part of camp.
Sola seemed puzzled herself, as though such strange actions on the part of two humans were quite beyond her, as indeed they were, poor child.
"She says you have angered her, and that is all she will say, except that she is the daughter of a jed and the granddaughter of a jeddak and she has been humiliated44 by a creature who could not polish the teeth of her grandmother's sorak."
I pondered over this report for some time, finally asking, "What might a sorak be, Sola?"
"A little animal about as big as my hand, which the red Martian women keep to play with," explained Sola.
Not fit to polish the teeth of her grandmother's cat! I must rank pretty low in the consideration of Dejah Thoris, I thought; but I could not help laughing at the strange figure of speech, so homely45 and in this respect so earthly. It made me homesick, for it sounded very much like "not fit to polish her shoes." And then commenced a train of thought quite new to me. I began to wonder what my people at home were doing. I had not seen them for years. There was a family of Carters in Virginia who claimed close relationship with me; I was supposed to be a great uncle, or something of the kind equally foolish. I could pass anywhere for twenty-five to thirty years of age, and to be a great uncle always seemed the height of incongruity46, for my thoughts and feelings were those of a boy. There were two little kiddies in the Carter family whom I had loved and who had thought there was no one on Earth like Uncle Jack47; I could see them just as plainly, as I stood there under the moonlit skies of Barsoom, and I longed for them as I had never longed for any mortals before. By nature a wanderer, I had never known the true meaning of the word home, but the great hall of the Carters had always stood for all that the word did mean to me, and now my heart turned toward it from the cold and unfriendly peoples I had been thrown amongst. For did not even Dejah Thoris despise me! I was a low creature, so low in fact that I was not even fit to polish the teeth of her grandmother's cat; and then my saving sense of humor came to my rescue, and laughing I turned into my silks and furs and slept upon the moon-haunted ground the sleep of a tired and healthy fighting man.
We broke camp the next day at an early hour and marched with only a single halt until just before dark. Two incidents broke the tediousness of the march. About noon we espied48 far to our right what was evidently an incubator, and Lorquas Ptomel directed Tars Tarkas to investigate it. The latter took a dozen warriors, including myself, and we raced across the velvety49 carpeting of moss50 to the little enclosure.
It was indeed an incubator, but the eggs were very small in comparison with those I had seen hatching in ours at the time of my arrival on Mars.
Tars Tarkas dismounted and examined the enclosure minutely, finally announcing that it belonged to the green men of Warhoon and that the cement was scarcely dry where it had been walled up.
"They cannot be a day's march ahead of us," he exclaimed, the light of battle leaping to his fierce face.
The work at the incubator was short indeed. The warriors tore open the entrance and a couple of them, crawling in, soon demolished51 all the eggs with their short-swords. Then remounting we dashed back to join the cavalcade52. During the ride I took occasion to ask Tars Tarkas if these Warhoons whose eggs we had destroyed were a smaller people than his Tharks.
"I noticed that their eggs were so much smaller than those I saw hatching in your incubator," I added.
He explained that the eggs had just been placed there; but, like all green Martian eggs, they would grow during the five-year period of incubation until they obtained the size of those I had seen hatching on the day of my arrival on Barsoom. This was indeed an interesting piece of information, for it had always seemed remarkable53 to me that the green Martian women, large as they were, could bring forth54 such enormous eggs as I had seen the four-foot infants emerging from. As a matter of fact, the new-laid egg is but little larger than an ordinary goose egg, and as it does not commence to grow until subjected to the light of the sun the chieftains have little difficulty in transporting several hundreds of them at one time from the storage vaults55 to the incubators.
Shortly after the incident of the Warhoon eggs we halted to rest the animals, and it was during this halt that the second of the day's interesting episodes occurred. I was engaged in changing my riding cloths from one of my thoats to the other, for I divided the day's work between them, when Zad approached me, and without a word struck my animal a terrific blow with his long-sword.
I did not need a manual of green Martian etiquette56 to know what reply to make, for, in fact, I was so wild with anger that I could scarcely refrain from drawing my pistol and shooting him down for the brute he was; but he stood waiting with drawn57 long-sword, and my only choice was to draw my own and meet him in fair fight with his choice of weapons or a lesser58 one.
This latter alternative is always permissible59, therefore I could have used my short-sword, my dagger60, my hatchet61, or my fists had I wished, and been entirely62 within my rights, but I could not use firearms or a spear while he held only his long-sword.
I chose the same weapon he had drawn because I knew he prided himself upon his ability with it, and I wished, if I worsted him at all, to do it with his own weapon. The fight that followed was a long one and delayed the resumption of the march for an hour. The entire community surrounded us, leaving a clear space about one hundred feet in diameter for our battle.
Zad first attempted to rush me down as a bull might a wolf, but I was much too quick for him, and each time I side-stepped his rushes he would go lunging past me, only to receive a nick from my sword upon his arm or back. He was soon streaming blood from a half dozen minor63 wounds, but I could not obtain an opening to deliver an effective thrust. Then he changed his tactics, and fighting warily64 and with extreme dexterity65, he tried to do by science what he was unable to do by brute strength. I must admit that he was a magnificent swordsman, and had it not been for my greater endurance and the remarkable agility66 the lesser gravitation of Mars lent me I might not have been able to put up the creditable fight I did against him.
We circled for some time without doing much damage on either side; the long, straight, needle-like swords flashing in the sunlight, and ringing out upon the stillness as they crashed together with each effective parry. Finally Zad, realizing that he was tiring more than I, evidently decided67 to close in and end the battle in a final blaze of glory for himself; just as he rushed me a blinding flash of light struck full in my eyes, so that I could not see his approach and could only leap blindly to one side in an effort to escape the mighty blade that it seemed I could already feel in my vitals. I was only partially68 successful, as a sharp pain in my left shoulder attested69, but in the sweep of my glance as I sought to again locate my adversary70, a sight met my astonished gaze which paid me well for the wound the temporary blindness had caused me. There, upon Dejah Thoris' chariot stood three figures, for the purpose evidently of witnessing the encounter above the heads of the intervening Tharks. There were Dejah Thoris, Sola, and Sarkoja, and as my fleeting71 glance swept over them a little tableau72 was presented which will stand graven in my memory to the day of my death.
As I looked, Dejah Thoris turned upon Sarkoja with the fury of a young tigress and struck something from her upraised hand; something which flashed in the sunlight as it spun73 to the ground. Then I knew what had blinded me at that crucial moment of the fight, and how Sarkoja had found a way to kill me without herself delivering the final thrust. Another thing I saw, too, which almost lost my life for me then and there, for it took my mind for the fraction of an instant entirely from my antagonist74; for, as Dejah Thoris struck the tiny mirror from her hand, Sarkoja, her face livid with hatred and baffled rage, whipped out her dagger and aimed a terrific blow at Dejah Thoris; and then Sola, our dear and faithful Sola, sprang between them; the last I saw was the great knife descending75 upon her shielding breast.
My enemy had recovered from his thrust and was making it extremely interesting for me, so I reluctantly gave my attention to the work in hand, but my mind was not upon the battle.
We rushed each other furiously time after time, 'til suddenly, feeling the sharp point of his sword at my breast in a thrust I could neither parry nor escape, I threw myself upon him with outstretched sword and with all the weight of my body, determined76 that I would not die alone if I could prevent it. I felt the steel tear into my chest, all went black before me, my head whirled in dizziness, and I felt my knees giving beneath me.
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1
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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disconsolately
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| adv.悲伤地，愁闷地；哭丧着脸 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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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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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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conciliation
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| n.调解，调停 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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betokening
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的现在分词 ) | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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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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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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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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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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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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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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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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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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incongruity
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| n.不协调，不一致 | |
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47
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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51
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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52
cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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53
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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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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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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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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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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permissible
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| adj.可允许的，许可的 | |
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dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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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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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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68
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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69
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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70
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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71
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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72
tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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73
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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74
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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75
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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76
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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