Removing the blade from my body I also regained my own, and turning my back upon his ugly carcass, I moved, sick, sore, and disgusted, toward the chariots which bore my retinue5 and my belongings6. A murmur7 of Martian applause greeted me, but I cared not for it.
Bleeding and weak I reached my women, who, accustomed to such happenings, dressed my wounds, applying the wonderful healing and remedial agents which make only the most instantaneous of death blows fatal. Give a Martian woman a chance and death must take a back seat. They soon had me patched up so that, except for weakness from loss of blood and a little soreness around the wound, I suffered no great distress8 from this thrust which, under earthly treatment, undoubtedly9 would have put me flat on my back for days.
As soon as they were through with me I hastened to the chariot of Dejah Thoris, where I found my poor Sola with her chest swathed in bandages, but apparently10 little the worse for her encounter with Sarkoja, whose dagger11 it seemed had struck the edge of one of Sola's metal breast ornaments12 and, thus deflected13, had inflicted14 but a slight flesh wound.
As I approached I found Dejah Thoris lying prone15 upon her silks and furs, her lithe16 form wracked with sobs17. She did not notice my presence, nor did she hear me speaking with Sola, who was standing18 a short distance from the vehicle.
"Is she injured?" I asked of Sola, indicating Dejah Thoris by an inclination19 of my head.
"No," she answered, "she thinks that you are dead."
"I think you wrong her, John Carter," said Sola. "I do not understand either her ways or yours, but I am sure the granddaughter of ten thousand jeddaks would never grieve like this over any who held but the highest claim upon her affections. They are a proud race, but they are just, as are all Barsoomians, and you must have hurt or wronged her grievously that she will not admit your existence living, though she mourns you dead.
"Tears are a strange sight upon Barsoom," she continued, "and so it is difficult for me to interpret them. I have seen but two people weep in all my life, other than Dejah Thoris; one wept from sorrow, the other from baffled rage. The first was my mother, years ago before they killed her; the other was Sarkoja, when they dragged her from me today."
"Your mother!" I exclaimed, "but, Sola, you could not have known your mother, child."
"But I did. And my father also," she added. "If you would like to hear the strange and un-Barsoomian story come to the chariot tonight, John Carter, and I will tell you that of which I have never spoken in all my life before. And now the signal has been given to resume the march, you must go."
"I will come tonight, Sola," I promised. "Be sure to tell Dejah Thoris I am alive and well. I shall not force myself upon her, and be sure that you do not let her know I saw her tears. If she would speak with me I but await her command."
Sola mounted the chariot, which was swinging into its place in line, and I hastened to my waiting thoat and galloped22 to my station beside Tars23 Tarkas at the rear of the column.
We made a most imposing24 and awe-inspiring spectacle as we strung out across the yellow landscape; the two hundred and fifty ornate and brightly colored chariots, preceded by an advance guard of some two hundred mounted warriors25 and chieftains riding five abreast27 and one hundred yards apart, and followed by a like number in the same formation, with a score or more of flankers on either side; the fifty extra mastodons, or heavy draught28 animals, known as zitidars, and the five or six hundred extra thoats of the warriors running loose within the hollow square formed by the surrounding warriors. The gleaming metal and jewels of the gorgeous ornaments of the men and women, duplicated in the trappings of the zitidars and thoats, and interspersed29 with the flashing colors of magnificent silks and furs and feathers, lent a barbaric splendor30 to the caravan31 which would have turned an East Indian potentate32 green with envy.
The enormous broad tires of the chariots and the padded feet of the animals brought forth33 no sound from the moss-covered sea bottom; and so we moved in utter silence, like some huge phantasmagoria, except when the stillness was broken by the guttural growling34 of a goaded35 zitidar, or the squealing36 of fighting thoats. The green Martians converse37 but little, and then usually in monosyllables, low and like the faint rumbling38 of distant thunder.
We traversed a trackless waste of moss which, bending to the pressure of broad tire or padded foot, rose up again behind us, leaving no sign that we had passed. We might indeed have been the wraiths39 of the departed dead upon the dead sea of that dying planet for all the sound or sign we made in passing. It was the first march of a large body of men and animals I had ever witnessed which raised no dust and left no spoor; for there is no dust upon Mars except in the cultivated districts during the winter months, and even then the absence of high winds renders it almost unnoticeable.
We camped that night at the foot of the hills we had been approaching for two days and which marked the southern boundary of this particular sea. Our animals had been two days without drink, nor had they had water for nearly two months, not since shortly after leaving Thark; but, as Tars Tarkas explained to me, they require but little and can live almost indefinitely upon the moss which covers Barsoom, and which, he told me, holds in its tiny stems sufficient moisture to meet the limited demands of the animals.
After partaking of my evening meal of cheese-like food and vegetable milk I sought out Sola, whom I found working by the light of a torch upon some of Tars Tarkas' trappings. She looked up at my approach, her face lighting40 with pleasure and with welcome.
"I am glad you came," she said; "Dejah Thoris sleeps and I am lonely. Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter; I am too unlike them. It is a sad fate, since I must live my life amongst them, and I often wish that I were a true green Martian woman, without love and without hope; but I have known love and so I am lost.
"I promised to tell you my story, or rather the story of my parents. From what I have learned of you and the ways of your people I am sure that the tale will not seem strange to you, but among green Martians it has no parallel within the memory of the oldest living Thark, nor do our legends hold many similar tales.
"My mother was rather small, in fact too small to be allowed the responsibilities of maternity41, as our chieftains breed principally for size. She was also less cold and cruel than most green Martian women, and caring little for their society, she often roamed the deserted42 avenues of Thark alone, or went and sat among the wild flowers that deck the nearby hills, thinking thoughts and wishing wishes which I believe I alone among Tharkian women today may understand, for am I not the child of my mother?
"And there among the hills she met a young warrior26, whose duty it was to guard the feeding zitidars and thoats and see that they roamed not beyond the hills. They spoke21 at first only of such things as interest a community of Tharks, but gradually, as they came to meet more often, and, as was now quite evident to both, no longer by chance, they talked about themselves, their likes, their ambitions and their hopes. She trusted him and told him of the awful repugnance43 she felt for the cruelties of their kind, for the hideous44, loveless lives they must ever lead, and then she waited for the storm of denunciation to break from his cold, hard lips; but instead he took her in his arms and kissed her.
"They kept their love a secret for six long years. She, my mother, was of the retinue of the great Tal Hajus, while her lover was a simple warrior, wearing only his own metal. Had their defection from the traditions of the Tharks been discovered both would have paid the penalty in the great arena45 before Tal Hajus and the assembled hordes46.
"The egg from which I came was hidden beneath a great glass vessel47 upon the highest and most inaccessible48 of the partially49 ruined towers of ancient Thark. Once each year my mother visited it for the five long years it lay there in the process of incubation. She dared not come oftener, for in the mighty50 guilt51 of her conscience she feared that her every move was watched. During this period my father gained great distinction as a warrior and had taken the metal from several chieftains. His love for my mother had never diminished, and his own ambition in life was to reach a point where he might wrest52 the metal from Tal Hajus himself, and thus, as ruler of the Tharks, be free to claim her as his own, as well as, by the might of his power, protect the child which otherwise would be quickly dispatched should the truth become known.
"It was a wild dream, that of wresting53 the metal from Tal Hajus in five short years, but his advance was rapid, and he soon stood high in the councils of Thark. But one day the chance was lost forever, in so far as it could come in time to save his loved ones, for he was ordered away upon a long expedition to the ice-clad south, to make war upon the natives there and despoil54 them of their furs, for such is the manner of the green Barsoomian; he does not labor55 for what he can wrest in battle from others.
"He was gone for four years, and when he returned all had been over for three; for about a year after his departure, and shortly before the time for the return of an expedition which had gone forth to fetch the fruits of a community incubator, the egg had hatched. Thereafter my mother continued to keep me in the old tower, visiting me nightly and lavishing56 upon me the love the community life would have robbed us both of. She hoped, upon the return of the expedition from the incubator, to mix me with the other young assigned to the quarters of Tal Hajus, and thus escape the fate which would surely follow discovery of her sin against the ancient traditions of the green men.
"She taught me rapidly the language and customs of my kind, and one night she told me the story I have told to you up to this point, impressing upon me the necessity for absolute secrecy57 and the great caution I must exercise after she had placed me with the other young Tharks to permit no one to guess that I was further advanced in education than they, nor by any sign to divulge58 in the presence of others my affection for her, or my knowledge of my parentage; and then drawing me close to her she whispered in my ear the name of my father.
"And then a light flashed out upon the darkness of the tower chamber59, and there stood Sarkoja, her gleaming, baleful eyes fixed60 in a frenzy61 of loathing62 and contempt upon my mother. The torrent63 of hatred64 and abuse she poured out upon her turned my young heart cold in terror. That she had heard the entire story was apparent, and that she had suspected something wrong from my mother's long nightly absences from her quarters accounted for her presence there on that fateful night.
"One thing she had not heard, nor did she know, the whispered name of my father. This was apparent from her repeated demands upon my mother to disclose the name of her partner in sin, but no amount of abuse or threats could wring65 this from her, and to save me from needless torture she lied, for she told Sarkoja that she alone knew nor would she ever tell her child.
"With final imprecations, Sarkoja hastened away to Tal Hajus to report her discovery, and while she was gone my mother, wrapping me in the silks and furs of her night coverings, so that I was scarcely noticeable, descended66 to the streets and ran wildly away toward the outskirts67 of the city, in the direction which led to the far south, out toward the man whose protection she might not claim, but on whose face she wished to look once more before she died.
"As we neared the city's southern extremity68 a sound came to us from across the mossy flat, from the direction of the only pass through the hills which led to the gates, the pass by which caravans69 from either north or south or east or west would enter the city. The sounds we heard were the squealing of thoats and the grumbling70 of zitidars, with the occasional clank of arms which announced the approach of a body of warriors. The thought uppermost in her mind was that it was my father returned from his expedition, but the cunning of the Thark held her from headlong and precipitate71 flight to greet him.
"Retreating into the shadows of a doorway72 she awaited the coming of the cavalcade73 which shortly entered the avenue, breaking its formation and thronging74 the thoroughfare from wall to wall. As the head of the procession passed us the lesser75 moon swung clear of the overhanging roofs and lit up the scene with all the brilliancy of her wondrous76 light. My mother shrank further back into the friendly shadows, and from her hiding place saw that the expedition was not that of my father, but the returning caravan bearing the young Tharks. Instantly her plan was formed, and as a great chariot swung close to our hiding place she slipped stealthily in upon the trailing tailboard, crouching77 low in the shadow of the high side, straining me to her bosom78 in a frenzy of love.
"She knew, what I did not, that never again after that night would she hold me to her breast, nor was it likely we would ever look upon each other's face again. In the confusion of the plaza79 she mixed me with the other children, whose guardians80 during the journey were now free to relinquish81 their responsibility. We were herded82 together into a great room, fed by women who had not accompanied the expedition, and the next day we were parceled out among the retinues83 of the chieftains.
"I never saw my mother after that night. She was imprisoned84 by Tal Hajus, and every effort, including the most horrible and shameful85 torture, was brought to bear upon her to wring from her lips the name of my father; but she remained steadfast86 and loyal, dying at last amidst the laughter of Tal Hajus and his chieftains during some awful torture she was undergoing.
"I learned afterwards that she told them that she had killed me to save me from a like fate at their hands, and that she had thrown my body to the white apes. Sarkoja alone disbelieved her, and I feel to this day that she suspects my true origin, but does not dare expose me, at the present, at all events, because she also guesses, I am sure, the identity of my father.
"When he returned from his expedition and learned the story of my mother's fate I was present as Tal Hajus told him; but never by the quiver of a muscle did he betray the slightest emotion; only he did not laugh as Tal Hajus gleefully described her death struggles. From that moment on he was the cruelest of the cruel, and I am awaiting the day when he shall win the goal of his ambition, and feel the carcass of Tal Hajus beneath his foot, for I am as sure that he but waits the opportunity to wreak87 a terrible vengeance88, and that his great love is as strong in his breast as when it first transfigured him nearly forty years ago, as I am that we sit here upon the edge of a world-old ocean while sensible people sleep, John Carter."
"And your father, Sola, is he with us now?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied, "but he does not know me for what I am, nor does he know who betrayed my mother to Tal Hajus. I alone know my father's name, and only I and Tal Hajus and Sarkoja know that it was she who carried the tale that brought death and torture upon her he loved."
We sat silent for a few moments, she wrapped in the gloomy thoughts of her terrible past, and I in pity for the poor creatures whom the heartless, senseless customs of their race had doomed89 to loveless lives of cruelty and of hate. Presently she spoke.
"John Carter, if ever a real man walked the cold, dead bosom of Barsoom you are one. I know that I can trust you, and because the knowledge may someday help you or him or Dejah Thoris or myself, I am going to tell you the name of my father, nor place any restrictions90 or conditions upon your tongue. When the time comes, speak the truth if it seems best to you. I trust you because I know that you are not cursed with the terrible trait of absolute and unswerving truthfulness91, that you could lie like one of your own Virginia gentlemen if a lie would save others from sorrow or suffering. My father's name is Tars Tarkas."
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1
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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2
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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7
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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9
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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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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13
deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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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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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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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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22
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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tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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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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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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potentate
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| n.统治者；君主 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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39
wraiths
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| n.幽灵( wraith的名词复数 )；（传说中人在将死或死后不久的）显形阴魂 | |
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40
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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maternity
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| n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的 | |
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42
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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43
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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44
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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45
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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48
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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49
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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50
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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51
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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52
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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53
wresting
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| 动词wrest的现在进行式 | |
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54
despoil
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| v.夺取，抢夺 | |
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55
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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56
lavishing
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的现在分词 ) | |
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57
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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58
divulge
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| v.泄漏(秘密等)；宣布，公布 | |
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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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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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61
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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62
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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63
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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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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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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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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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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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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herded
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| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
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retinues
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| n.一批随员( retinue的名词复数 ) | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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truthfulness
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| n. 符合实际 | |
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