I fell almost directly in the center of the fierce combat, among warriors who had not seen my approach so busily were they engaged in life and death struggles. The men were fighting on foot with long-swords, while an occasional shot from a sharpshooter on the outskirts5 of the conflict would bring down a warrior2 who might for an instant separate himself from the entangled6 mass.
As my machine sank among them I realized that it was fight or die, with good chances of dying in any event, and so I struck the ground with drawn7 long-sword ready to defend myself as I could.
I fell beside a huge monster who was engaged with three antagonists8, and as I glanced at his fierce face, filled with the light of battle, I recognized Tars9 Tarkas the Thark. He did not see me, as I was a trifle behind him, and just then the three warriors opposing him, and whom I recognized as Warhoons, charged simultaneously10. The mighty11 fellow made quick work of one of them, but in stepping back for another thrust he fell over a dead body behind him and was down and at the mercy of his foes12 in an instant. Quick as lightning they were upon him, and Tars Tarkas would have been gathered to his fathers in short order had I not sprung before his prostrate13 form and engaged his adversaries14. I had accounted for one of them when the mighty Thark regained15 his feet and quickly settled the other.
"I would scarcely recognize you, John Carter, but there is no other mortal upon Barsoom who would have done what you have for me. I think I have learned that there is such a thing as friendship, my friend."
He said no more, nor was there opportunity, for the Warhoons were closing in about us, and together we fought, shoulder to shoulder, during all that long, hot afternoon, until the tide of battle turned and the remnant of the fierce Warhoon horde17 fell back upon their thoats, and fled into the gathering18 darkness.
Ten thousand men had been engaged in that titanic19 struggle, and upon the field of battle lay three thousand dead. Neither side asked or gave quarter, nor did they attempt to take prisoners.
On our return to the city after the battle we had gone directly to Tars Tarkas' quarters, where I was left alone while the chieftain attended the customary council which immediately follows an engagement.
As I sat awaiting the return of the green warrior I heard something move in an adjoining apartment, and as I glanced up there rushed suddenly upon me a huge and hideous20 creature which bore me backward upon the pile of silks and furs upon which I had been reclining. It was Woola—faithful, loving Woola. He had found his way back to Thark and, as Tars Tarkas later told me, had gone immediately to my former quarters where he had taken up his pathetic and seemingly hopeless watch for my return.
"Tal Hajus knows that you are here, John Carter," said Tars Tarkas, on his return from the jeddak's quarters; "Sarkoja saw and recognized you as we were returning. Tal Hajus has ordered me to bring you before him tonight. I have ten thoats, John Carter; you may take your choice from among them, and I will accompany you to the nearest waterway that leads to Helium. Tars Tarkas may be a cruel green warrior, but he can be a friend as well. Come, we must start."
"And when you return, Tars Tarkas?" I asked.
"The wild calots, possibly, or worse," he replied. "Unless I should chance to have the opportunity I have so long waited of battling with Tal Hajus."
"We will stay, Tars Tarkas, and see Tal Hajus tonight. You shall not sacrifice yourself, and it may be that tonight you can have the chance you wait."
He objected strenuously21, saying that Tal Hajus often flew into wild fits of passion at the mere22 thought of the blow I had dealt him, and that if ever he laid his hands upon me I would be subjected to the most horrible tortures.
While we were eating I repeated to Tars Tarkas the story which Sola had told me that night upon the sea bottom during the march to Thark.
He said but little, but the great muscles of his face worked in passion and in agony at recollection of the horrors which had been heaped upon the only thing he had ever loved in all his cold, cruel, terrible existence.
He no longer demurred23 when I suggested that we go before Tal Hajus, only saying that he would like to speak to Sarkoja first. At his request I accompanied him to her quarters, and the look of venomous hatred24 she cast upon me was almost adequate recompense for any future misfortunes this accidental return to Thark might bring me.
"Sarkoja," said Tars Tarkas, "forty years ago you were instrumental in bringing about the torture and death of a woman named Gozava. I have just discovered that the warrior who loved that woman has learned of your part in the transaction. He may not kill you, Sarkoja, it is not our custom, but there is nothing to prevent him tying one end of a strap25 about your neck and the other end to a wild thoat, merely to test your fitness to survive and help perpetuate26 our race. Having heard that he would do this on the morrow, I thought it only right to warn you, for I am a just man. The river Iss is but a short pilgrimage, Sarkoja. Come, John Carter."
The next morning Sarkoja was gone, nor was she ever seen after.
In silence we hastened to the jeddak's palace, where we were immediately admitted to his presence; in fact, he could scarcely wait to see me and was standing27 erect28 upon his platform glowering29 at the entrance as I came in.
"Strap him to that pillar," he shrieked30. "We shall see who it is dares strike the mighty Tal Hajus. Heat the irons; with my own hands I shall burn the eyes from his head that he may not pollute my person with his vile31 gaze."
"Chieftains of Thark," I cried, turning to the assembled council and ignoring Tal Hajus, "I have been a chief among you, and today I have fought for Thark shoulder to shoulder with her greatest warrior. You owe me, at least, a hearing. I have won that much today. You claim to be a just people—"
"Justice, Tal Hajus," exclaimed Lorquas Ptomel. "Who are you to set aside the customs of ages among the Tharks."
"You are a brave people and you love bravery, but where was your mighty jeddak during the fighting today? I did not see him in the thick of battle; he was not there. He rends34 defenseless women and little children in his lair35, but how recently has one of you seen him fight with men? Why, even I, a midget beside him, felled him with a single blow of my fist. Is it of such that the Tharks fashion their jeddaks? There stands beside me now a great Thark, a mighty warrior and a noble man. Chieftains, how sounds, Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark?"
A roar of deep-toned applause greeted this suggestion.
"It but remains36 for this council to command, and Tal Hajus must prove his fitness to rule. Were he a brave man he would invite Tars Tarkas to combat, for he does not love him, but Tal Hajus is afraid; Tal Hajus, your jeddak, is a coward. With my bare hands I could kill him, and he knows it."
After I ceased there was tense silence, as all eyes were riveted37 upon Tal Hajus. He did not speak or move, but the blotchy38 green of his countenance39 turned livid, and the froth froze upon his lips.
"Tal Hajus," said Lorquas Ptomel in a cold, hard voice, "never in my long life have I seen a jeddak of the Tharks so humiliated40. There could be but one answer to this arraignment41. We wait it." And still Tal Hajus stood as though petrified42.
"Chieftains," continued Lorquas Ptomel, "shall the jeddak, Tal Hajus, prove his fitness to rule over Tars Tarkas?"
There was no alternative. That decree was final, and so Tal Hajus drew his long-sword and advanced to meet Tars Tarkas.
The combat was soon over, and, with his foot upon the neck of the dead monster, Tars Tarkas became jeddak among the Tharks.
His first act was to make me a full-fledged chieftain with the rank I had won by my combats the first few weeks of my captivity44 among them.
Seeing the favorable disposition45 of the warriors toward Tars Tarkas, as well as toward me, I grasped the opportunity to enlist46 them in my cause against Zodanga. I told Tars Tarkas the story of my adventures, and in a few words had explained to him the thought I had in mind.
"John Carter has made a proposal," he said, addressing the council, "which meets with my sanction. I shall put it to you briefly47. Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium, who was our prisoner, is now held by the jeddak of Zodanga, whose son she must wed48 to save her country from devastation49 at the hands of the Zodangan forces.
"John Carter suggests that we rescue her and return her to Helium. The loot of Zodanga would be magnificent, and I have often thought that had we an alliance with the people of Helium we could obtain sufficient assurance of sustenance50 to permit us to increase the size and frequency of our hatchings, and thus become unquestionably supreme51 among the green men of all Barsoom. What say you?"
It was a chance to fight, an opportunity to loot, and they rose to the bait as a speckled trout52 to a fly.
For Tharks they were wildly enthusiastic, and before another half hour had passed twenty mounted messengers were speeding across dead sea bottoms to call the hordes53 together for the expedition.
In three days we were on the march toward Zodanga, one hundred thousand strong, as Tars Tarkas had been able to enlist the services of three smaller hordes on the promise of the great loot of Zodanga.
At the head of the column I rode beside the great Thark while at the heels of my mount trotted54 my beloved Woola.
We traveled entirely55 by night, timing56 our marches so that we camped during the day at deserted57 cities where, even to the beasts, we were all kept indoors during the daylight hours. On the march Tars Tarkas, through his remarkable58 ability and statesmanship, enlisted59 fifty thousand more warriors from various hordes, so that, ten days after we set out we halted at midnight outside the great walled city of Zodanga, one hundred and fifty thousand strong.
The fighting strength and efficiency of this horde of ferocious60 green monsters was equivalent to ten times their number of red men. Never in the history of Barsoom, Tars Tarkas told me, had such a force of green warriors marched to battle together. It was a monstrous61 task to keep even a semblance62 of harmony among them, and it was a marvel63 to me that he got them to the city without a mighty battle among themselves.
But as we neared Zodanga their personal quarrels were submerged by their greater hatred for the red men, and especially for the Zodangans, who had for years waged a ruthless campaign of extermination64 against the green men, directing special attention toward despoiling65 their incubators.
Now that we were before Zodanga the task of obtaining entry to the city devolved upon me, and directing Tars Tarkas to hold his forces in two divisions out of earshot of the city, with each division opposite a large gateway66, I took twenty dismounted warriors and approached one of the small gates that pierced the walls at short intervals67. These gates have no regular guard, but are covered by sentries68, who patrol the avenue that encircles the city just within the walls as our metropolitan69 police patrol their beats.
The walls of Zodanga are seventy-five feet in height and fifty feet thick. They are built of enormous blocks of carborundum, and the task of entering the city seemed, to my escort of green warriors, an impossibility. The fellows who had been detailed70 to accompany me were of one of the smaller hordes, and therefore did not know me.
Placing three of them with their faces to the wall and arms locked, I commanded two more to mount to their shoulders, and a sixth I ordered to climb upon the shoulders of the upper two. The head of the topmost warrior towered over forty feet from the ground.
In this way, with ten warriors, I built a series of three steps from the ground to the shoulders of the topmost man. Then starting from a short distance behind them I ran swiftly up from one tier to the next, and with a final bound from the broad shoulders of the highest I clutched the top of the great wall and quietly drew myself to its broad expanse. After me I dragged six lengths of leather from an equal number of my warriors. These lengths we had previously71 fastened together, and passing one end to the topmost warrior I lowered the other end cautiously over the opposite side of the wall toward the avenue below. No one was in sight, so, lowering myself to the end of my leather strap, I dropped the remaining thirty feet to the pavement below.
I had learned from Kantos Kan the secret of opening these gates, and in another moment my twenty great fighting men stood within the doomed72 city of Zodanga.
I found to my delight that I had entered at the lower boundary of the enormous palace grounds. The building itself showed in the distance a blaze of glorious light, and on the instant I determined73 to lead a detachment of warriors directly within the palace itself, while the balance of the great horde was attacking the barracks of the soldiery.
Dispatching one of my men to Tars Tarkas for a detail of fifty Tharks, with word of my intentions, I ordered ten warriors to capture and open one of the great gates while with the nine remaining I took the other. We were to do our work quietly, no shots were to be fired and no general advance made until I had reached the palace with my fifty Tharks. Our plans worked to perfection. The two sentries we met were dispatched to their fathers upon the banks of the lost sea of Korus, and the guards at both gates followed them in silence.
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1
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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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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erratically
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| adv.不规律地，不定地 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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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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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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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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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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titanic
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| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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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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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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glowering
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| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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fumed
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| 愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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rends
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| v.撕碎( rend的第三人称单数 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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blotchy
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| adj.有斑点的，有污渍的；斑污 | |
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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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humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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arraignment
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| n.提问，传讯，责难 | |
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42
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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43
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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46
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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47
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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48
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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50
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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51
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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52
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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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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54
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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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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56
timing
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| n.时间安排，时间选择 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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despoiling
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的现在分词 ) | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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