The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, is a very different jungle from that of Goro, the moon. The diurnal7 jungle has its own aspect—its own lights and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its own beasts; its noises are the noises of the day. The lights and shades of the nocturnal jungle are as different as one might imagine the lights and shades of another world to differ from those of our world; its beasts, its blooms, and its birds are not those of the jungle of Kudu, the sun.
Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate the jungle by night. Not only was the life another life; but it was richer in numbers and in romance; it was richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of the Apes danger was the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle night—the roar of the lion, the scream of the leopard8, the hideous9 laughter of Dango, the hyena10, were music to the ears of the ape-man.
The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling11 of leaves and grasses to the passage of fierce beasts, the sheen of opalesque eyes flaming through the dark, the million sounds which proclaimed the teeming12 life that one might hear and scent13, though seldom see, constituted the appeal of the nocturnal jungle to Tarzan.
Tonight he had swung a wide circle—toward the east first and then toward the south, and now he was rounding back again into the north. His eyes, his ears and his keen nostrils14 were ever on the alert. Mingled15 with the sounds he knew, there were strange sounds—weird sounds which he never heard until after Kudu had sought his lair16 below the far edge of the big water—sounds which belonged to Goro, the moon—and to the mysterious period of Goro's supremacy17. These sounds often caused Tarzan profound speculation18. They baffled him because he thought that he knew his jungle so well that there could be nothing within it unfamiliar19 to him. Sometimes he thought that as colors and forms appeared to differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, so sounds altered with the passage of Kudu and the coming of Goro, and these thoughts roused within his brain a vague conjecture20 that perhaps Goro and Kudu influenced these changes. And what more natural that eventually he came to attribute to the sun and the moon personalities21 as real as his own? The sun was a living creature and ruled the day. The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous22 powers, ruled the night.
Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the dark night of ignorance for an explanation of the things he could not touch or smell or hear and of the great, unknown powers of nature which he could not see.
As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle the scent of the Gomangani came to his nostrils, mixed with the acrid23 odor of wood smoke. The ape-man moved quickly in the direction from which the scent was borne down to him upon the gentle night wind. Presently the ruddy sheen of a great fire filtered through the foliage24 to him ahead, and when Tarzan came to a halt in the trees near it, he saw a party of half a dozen black warriors26 huddled28 close to the blaze. It was evidently a hunting party from the village of Mbonga, the chief, caught out in the jungle after dark. In a rude circle about them they had constructed a thorn boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently29 hoped would discourage the advances of the larger carnivora.
That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable terror in which they crouched30, wide-eyed and trembling, for already Numa and Sabor were moaning through the jungle toward them. There were other creatures, too, in the shadows beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see their yellow eyes flaming there. The blacks saw them and shivered. Then one arose and grasping a burning branch from the fire hurled31 it at the eyes, which immediately disappeared. The black sat down again. Tarzan watched and saw that it was several minutes before the eyes began to reappear in twos and fours.
Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other eyes scattered34 to right and left before the menacing growls36 of the great cats, and then the huge orbs37 of the man-eaters flamed alone out of the darkness. Some of the blacks threw themselves upon their faces and moaned; but he who before had hurled the burning branch now hurled another straight at the faces of the hungry lions, and they, too, disappeared as had the lesser39 lights before them. Tarzan was much interested. He saw a new reason for the nightly fires maintained by the blacks—a reason in addition to those connected with warmth and light and cooking. The beasts of the jungle feared fire, and so fire was, in a measure, a protection from them. Tarzan himself knew a certain awe40 of fire. Once he had, in investigating an abandoned fire in the village of the blacks, picked up a live coal. Since then he had maintained a respectful distance from such fires as he had seen. One experience had sufficed.
For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no eyes appeared, though Tarzan could hear the soft padding of feet all about him. Then flashed once more the twin fire spots that marked the return of the lord of the jungle and a moment later, upon a slightly lower level, there appeared those of Sabor, his mate.
For some time they remained fixed41 and unwavering—a constellation42 of fierce stars in the jungle night—then the male lion advanced slowly toward the boma, where all but a single black still crouched in trembling terror. When this lone38 guardian43 saw that Numa was again approaching, he threw another firebrand, and, as before, Numa retreated and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this time, nor for so long. Almost instantly they turned and began circling the boma, their eyes turning constantly toward the firelight, while low, throaty growls evidenced their increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the flaming eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was shot all around the black men's camp with little spots of fire.
Again and again the black warrior25 hurled his puny44 brands at the two big cats; but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little or no attention to them after the first few retreats. The ape-man knew by Numa's voice that the lion was hungry and surmised45 that he had made up his mind to feed upon a Gomangani; but would he dare a closer approach to the dreaded46 flames?
Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan's mind, Numa stopped his restless pacing and faced the boma. For a moment he stood motionless, except for the quick, nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked deliberately47 forward, while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he had left her. The black man called to his comrades that the lion was coming, but they were too far gone in fear to do more than huddle27 closer together and moan more loudly than before.
Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight into the face of the lion. There was an angry roar, followed by a swift charge. With a single bound the savage48 beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost equal agility49, the warrior cleared it upon the opposite side and, chancing the dangers lurking50 in the darkness, bolted for the nearest tree.
Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; but as he went back over the low thorn wall, he took a screaming negro with him. Dragging his victim along the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the lioness, who joined him, and the two continued into the blackness, their savage growls mingling52 with the piercing shrieks53 of the doomed54 and terrified man.
At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, there ensued a short succession of unusually vicious growls and roars, during which the cries and moans of the black man ceased—forever.
Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made a second trip into the boma and the former grisly tragedy was reenacted with another howling victim.
Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment was beginning to bore him. He yawned and turned upon his way toward the clearing where the tribe would be sleeping in the encircling trees.
Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled himself for slumber55, he felt no desire to sleep. For a long time he lay awake thinking and dreaming. He looked up into the heavens and watched the moon and the stars. He wondered what they were and what power kept them from falling. His was an inquisitive56 mind. Always he had been full of questions concerning all that passed around him; but there never had been one to answer his questions. In childhood he had wanted to KNOW, and, denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, was filled with the great, unsatisfied curiosity of a child.
He was never quite content merely to perceive that things happened—he desired to know WHY they happened. He wanted to know what made things go. The secret of life interested him immensely. The miracle of death he could not quite fathom57. Upon innumerable occasions he had investigated the internal mechanism58 of his kills, and once or twice he had opened the chest cavity of victims in time to see the heart still pumping.
He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through this organ brought immediate32 death nine times out of ten, while he might stab an antagonist59 innumerable times in other places without even disabling him. And so he had come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, "the red thing that breathes," as the seat and origin of life.
The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. That his sense perceptions were transmitted to his brain and there translated, classified, and labeled was something quite beyond him. He thought that his fingers knew when they touched something, that his eyes knew when they saw, his ears when they heard, his nose when it scented60.
He considered his throat, epidermis61, and the hairs of his head as the three principal seats of emotion. When Kala had been slain62 a peculiar63 choking sensation had possessed64 his throat; contact with Histah, the snake, imparted an unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; while the approach of an enemy made the hairs on his scalp stand erect65.
Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders of nature, bursting with queries66 and surrounded only by beasts of the jungle to whom his questionings were as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If he asked Gunto what made it rain, the big old ape would but gaze at him in dumb astonishment67 for an instant and then return to his interesting and edifying68 search for fleas69; and when he questioned Mumga, who was very old and should have been very wise, but wasn't, as to the reason for the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted70 the sky, and the opening of others during the night, he was surprised to discover that Mumga had never noticed these interesting facts, though she could tell to an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding.
To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his intellect and to his imagination. He saw the flowers close and open; he saw certain blooms which turned their faces always toward the sun; he saw leaves which moved when there was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like living things up the boles and over the branches of great trees; and to Tarzan of the Apes the flowers and the vines and the trees were living creatures. He often talked to them, as he talked to Goro, the moon, and Kudu, the sun, and always was he disappointed that they did not reply. He asked them questions; but they could not answer, though he knew that the whispering of the leaves was the language of the leaves—they talked with one another.
The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought that they swayed themselves to and fro, creating the wind. In no other way could he account for this phenomenon. The rain he finally attributed to the stars, the moon, and the sun; but his hypothesis was entirely72 unlovely and unpoetical.
Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile imagination an explanation of the stars and the moon. He became quite excited about it. Taug was sleeping in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over beside him.
"Taug!" he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake and bristling73, sensing danger from the nocturnal summons. "Look, Taug!" exclaimed Tarzan, pointing toward the stars. "See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of Sheeta and Dango. They wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their kill. See the eyes and the nose and the mouth of Goro. And the light that shines upon his face is the light of the great fire he has built to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango and Sheeta.
"All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But they do not come very close to the fire—there are few eyes close to Goro. They fear the fire! It is the fire that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see them, Taug? Some night Numa will be very hungry and very angry—then he will leap over the thorn bushes which encircle Goro and we will have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair—the night will be black with the blackness that comes when Goro is lazy and sleeps late into the night, or when he wanders through the skies by day, forgetting the jungle and its people."
Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. A meteor fell, blazing a flaming way through the sky.
"Look!" cried Tarzan. "Goro has thrown a burning branch at Numa."
Taug grumbled74. "Numa is down below," he said. "Numa does not hunt above the trees." But he looked curiously76 and a little fearfully at the bright stars above him, as though he saw them for the first time, and doubtless it was the first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, though they had been in the sky above him every night of his life. To Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle blooms—he could not eat them and so he ignored them.
Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he lay sleepless77, watching the stars—the flaming eyes of the beasts of prey78 surrounding Goro, the moon—Goro, by whose light the apes danced to the beating of their earthen drums. If Goro should be eaten by Numa there could be no more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed by the thought. He glanced at Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend so different from the others of the tribe? No one else whom Taug ever had known had had such queer thoughts as Tarzan. The ape scratched his head and wondered, dimly, if Tarzan was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, and by a laborious79 mental process, that Tarzan had served him better than any other of the apes, even the strong and wise bulls of the tribe.
Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the very time that Taug had thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. It was Tarzan who had saved Taug's little balu from death. It was Tarzan who had conceived and carried out the plan to pursue Teeka's abductor and rescue the stolen one. Tarzan had fought and bled in Taug's service so many times that Taug, although only a brutal80 ape, had had impressed upon his mind a fierce loyalty81 which nothing now could swerve—his friendship for Tarzan had become a habit, a tradition almost, which would endure while Taug endured. He never showed any outward demonstration82 of affection—he growled83 at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls who came too close while he was feeding—but he would have died for Tarzan. He knew it and Tarzan knew it; but of such things apes do not speak—their vocabulary, for the finer instincts, consisting more of actions than words. But now Taug was worried, and he fell asleep again still thinking of the strange words of his fellow.
The following day he thought of them again, and without any intention of disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what Tarzan had suggested about the eyes surrounding Goro, and the possibility that sooner or later Numa would charge the moon and devour84 him. To the apes all large things in nature are male, and so Goro, being the largest creature in the heavens by night, was, to them, a bull.
Gunto bit a sliver85 from a horny finger and recalled the fact that Tarzan had once said that the trees talked to one another, and Gozan recounted having seen the ape-man dancing alone in the moonlight with Sheeta, the panther. They did not know that Tarzan had roped the savage beast and tied him to a tree before he came to earth and leaped about before the rearing cat, to tantalize86 him.
Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, the elephant; of his bringing the black boy, Tibo, to the tribe, and of mysterious things with which he communed in the strange lair by the sea. They had never understood his books, and after he had shown them to one or two of the tribe and discovered that even the pictures carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted.
"Tarzan is not an ape," said Gunto. "He will bring Numa to eat us, as he is bringing him to eat Goro. We should kill him."
Immediately Taug bristled87. Kill Tarzan! "First you will kill Taug," he said, and lumbered88 away to search for food.
But others joined the plotters. They thought of many things which Tarzan had done—things which apes did not do and could not understand. Again Gunto voiced the opinion that the Tarmangani, the white ape, should be slain, and the others, filled with terror about the stories they had heard, and thinking Tarzan was planning to slay89 Goro, greeted the proposal with growls of accord.
Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; but her voice was not raised in furtherance of the plan. Instead she bristled, showing her fangs90, and afterward92 she went away in search of Tarzan; but she could not find him, as he was roaming far afield in search of meat. She found Taug, though, and told him what the others were planning, and the great bull stamped upon the ground and roared. His bloodshot eyes blazed with wrath93, his upper lip curled up to expose his fighting fangs, and the hair upon his spine94 stood erect, and then a rodent95 scurried96 across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. In an instant he seemed to have forgotten his rage against the enemies of his friend; but such is the mind of an ape.
Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the broad head of Tantor, the elephant. He scratched beneath the great ears with the point of a sharp stick, and he talked to the huge pachyderm of everything which filled his black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, of what he said did Tantor understand; but Tantor is a good listener. Swaying from side to side he stood there enjoying the companionship of his friend, the friend he loved, and absorbing the delicious sensations of the scratching.
Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily97 stalked it until he came within sight of his prey upon the head of the mighty tusker; then he turned, growling98 and muttering, away in search of more propitious99 hunting grounds.
The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by an eddying100 breeze, and lifting his trunk trumpeted101 loudly. Tarzan stretched back luxuriously102, lying supine at full length along the rough hide. Flies swarmed103 about his face; but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he lazily brushed them away.
"Tantor," he said, "it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the cool shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright colors of the flowers—upon everything which Bulamutumumo has put here for us. He is very good to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves and bark, and rich grasses to eat; to me He has given Bara and Horta and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and the roots. He provides for each the food that each likes best. All that He asks is that we be strong enough or cunning enough to go forth104 and take it. Yes, Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die."
Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his trunk upward that he might caress105 the ape-man's cheek with the finger at its tip.
"Tantor," said Tarzan presently, "turn and feed in the direction of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, that Tarzan may ride home upon your head without walking."
The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, tree-arched trail, pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the edible106 bark from an adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled107 face downward upon the beast's head and back, his legs hanging on either side, his head supported by his open palms, his elbows resting on the broad cranium. And thus they made their leisurely108 way toward the gathering109 place of the tribe.
Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached it from the south another figure—that of a well-knit black warrior, who stepped cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert against the many dangers which might lurk51 anywhere along the way. Yet he passed beneath the southernmost sentry110 that was posted in a great tree commanding the trail from the south. The ape permitted the Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that he was alone; but the moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud "Kreeg-ah!" rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of replies from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees in answer to the summons of their fellow.
The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could see nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and his kind feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the savage beings, but as well through a superstitious111 terror engendered112 by the manlike appearance of the apes.
But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew that escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear ready in his hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell his life dearly, would Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, the chief.
Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of the sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man leaped from the elephant's back to a near-by tree and was swinging rapidly in the direction of the clearing before the echoes of the first "Kreeg-ah" had died away. When he arrived he saw a dozen bulls circling a single Gomangani. With a blood-curdling scream Tarzan sprang to the attack. He hated the blacks even more than did the apes, and here was an opportunity for a kill in the open. What had the Gomangani done? Had he slain one of the tribe?
Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none. Gozan, being on watch, had seen him coming through the forest and had warned the tribe—that was all. The ape-man pushed through the circle of bulls, none of which as yet had worked himself into sufficient frenzy113 for a charge, and came where he had a full and close view of the black. He recognized the man instantly. Only the night before he had seen him facing the eyes in the dark, while his fellows groveled in the dirt at his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. Here was a brave man, and Tarzan had deep admiration114 for bravery. Even his hatred115 of the blacks was not so strong a passion as his love of courage. He would have joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; but this one he did not wish to kill—he felt, vaguely116, that the man had earned his life by his brave defense117 of it on the preceding night, nor did he fancy the odds118 that were pitted against the lone warrior.
He turned to the apes. "Go back to your feeding," he said, "and let this Gomangani go his way in peace. He has not harmed us, and last night I saw him fighting Numa and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. He is brave. Why should we kill one who is brave and who has not attacked us? Let him go."
The apes growled. They were displeased119. "Kill the Gomangani!" cried one.
"Yes," roared another, "kill the Gomangani and the Tarmangani as well."
"Kill the white ape!" screamed Gozan, "he is no ape at all; but a Gomangani with his skin off."
The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy of slaughter121; but against Tarzan rather than the black man. A shaggy form charged through them, hurling122 those it came in contact with to one side as a strong man might scatter33 children. It was Taug—great, savage Taug.
"Who says 'kill Tarzan'?" he demanded. "Who kills Tarzan must kill Taug, too. Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear your insides from you and feed them to Dango."
"We can kill you all," replied Gunto. "There are many of us and few of you," and he was right. Tarzan knew that he was right. Taug knew it; but neither would admit such a possibility. It is not the way of bull apes.
"I am Tarzan," cried the ape-man. "I am Tarzan. Mighty hunter; mighty fighter. In all the jungle none so great as Tarzan."
Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues123 and their prowess. And all the time the combatants came closer and closer to one another. Thus do the bulls work themselves to the proper pitch before engaging in battle.
Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed124 at him, with bared fangs. Tarzan rumbled75 forth a low, menacing growl35. They might repeat these tactics a dozen times; but sooner or later one bull would close with another and then the whole hideous pack would be tearing and rending125 at their prey.
Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from the moment he had seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. He had heard much of this devil-god who ran with the hairy tree people; but never before had he seen him in full daylight. He knew him well enough from the description of those who had seen him and from the glimpses he had had of the marauder upon several occasions when the ape-man had entered the village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, in the perpetration of one of his numerous ghastly jokes.
Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything which passed between Tarzan and the apes; but he saw that the ape-man and one of the larger bulls were in argument with the others. He saw that these two were standing126 with their back toward him and between him and the balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though it seemed improbable, that they might be defending him. He knew that Tarzan had once spared the life of Mbonga, the chief, and that he had succored127 Tibo, and Tibo's mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would help Bulabantu; but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu could not guess; nor as a matter of fact could Tarzan, for the odds against him were too great.
Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug back toward Bulabantu. The ape-man thought of his words with Tantor just a short time before: "Yes, Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die." And now he knew that he was about to die, for the temper of the great bulls was mounting rapidly against him. Always had many of them hated him, and all were suspicious of him. They knew he was different. Tarzan knew it too; but he was glad that he was—he was a MAN; that he had learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of the distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man.
Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. He knew that the balance of the bulls would charge with Gunto. Then it would soon be over. Something moved among the verdure at the opposite side of the clearing. Tarzan saw it just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry of a challenging ape, sprang forward. Tarzan voiced a peculiar call and then crouched to meet the assault. Taug crouched, too, and Bulabantu, assured now that these two were fighting upon his side, couched his spear and sprang between them to receive the first charge of the enemy.
Simultaneously128 a huge bulk broke into the clearing from the jungle behind the charging bulls. The trumpeting129 of a mad tusker rose shrill130 above the cries of the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, dashed swiftly across the clearing to the aid of his friend.
Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang91 enter flesh upon either side. The terrific reverberation131 of Tantor's challenge sent the bulls scurrying132 to the trees, jabbering133 and scolding. Taug raced off with them. Only Tarzan and Bulabantu remained. The latter stood his ground because he saw that the devil-god did not run, and because the black had the courage to face a certain and horrible death beside one who had quite evidently dared death for him.
But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty elephant come to a sudden halt in front of the ape-man and caress him with his long, sinuous134 trunk.
Tarzan turned toward the black man. "Go!" he said in the language of the apes, and pointed71 in the direction of the village of Mbonga. Bulabantu understood the gesture, if not the word, nor did he lose time in obeying. Tarzan stood watching him until he had disappeared. He knew that the apes would not follow. Then he said to the elephant: "Pick me up!" and the tusker swung him lightly to his head.
"Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water," shouted the ape-man to the apes in the trees. "All of you are more foolish than Manu, except Taug and Teeka. Taug and Teeka may come to see Tarzan; but the others must keep away. Tarzan is done with the tribe of Kerchak."
He prodded135 Tantor with a calloused136 toe and the big beast swung off across the clearing, the apes watching them until they were swallowed up by the jungle.
Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel with him over his attack upon Tarzan.
For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. Many of them probably never gave him a thought; but there were those who missed him more than Tarzan imagined. Taug and Teeka often wished that he was back, and Taug determined137 a dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his seaside lair; but first one thing and then another interfered138.
One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry139 heavens he recalled the strange things that Tarzan once had suggested to him—that the bright spots were the eyes of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark of the jungle sky to leap upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. The more he thought about this matter the more perturbed140 he became.
And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked at Goro, he saw a portion of one edge disappear, precisely141 as though something was gnawing142 upon it. Larger and larger became the hole in the side of Goro. With a scream, Taug leaped to his feet. His frenzied143 "Kreeg-ahs!" brought the terrified tribe screaming and chattering144 toward him.
"Look!" cried Taug, pointing at the moon. "Look! It is as Tarzan said. Numa has sprung through the fires and is devouring145 Goro. You called Tarzan names and drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. Let one of you who hated Tarzan go to Goro's aid. See the eyes in the dark jungle all about Goro. He is in danger and none can help him—none except Tarzan. Soon Goro will be devoured146 by Numa and we shall have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we dance the Dum-Dum without the light of Goro?"
The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation147 of the powers of nature always filled them with terror, for they could not understand.
"Go and bring Tarzan," cried one, and then they all took up the cry of "Tarzan!" "Bring Tarzan!" "He will save Goro." But who was to travel the dark jungle by night to fetch him?
"I will go," volunteered Taug, and an instant later he was off through the Stygian gloom toward the little land-locked harbor by the sea.
And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring of the moon. Already Numa had eaten out a great semicircular piece. At that rate Goro would be entirely gone before Kudu came again. The apes trembled at the thought of perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. Restlessly they moved here and there among the branches of trees, watching Numa of the skies at his deadly feast, and listening for the coming of Taug with Tarzan.
Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of the approach through the trees of the two they awaited, and presently Tarzan, followed by Taug, swung into a nearby tree.
The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was his long bow and at his back hung a quiver full of arrows, poisoned arrows that he had stolen from the village of the blacks; just as he had stolen the bow. Up into a great tree he clambered, higher and higher until he stood swaying upon a small limb which bent148 low beneath his weight. Here he had a clear and unobstructed view of the heavens. He saw Goro and the inroads which the hungry Numa had made into his shining surface.
Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled149 forth his hideous challenge. Faintly and from afar came the roar of an answering lion. The apes shivered. Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan.
Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing the shaft150 far back, aimed its point at the heart of Numa where he lay in the heavens devouring Goro. There was a loud twang as the released bolt shot into the dark heavens. Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his arrows at Numa, and all the while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak huddled together in terror.
At last came a cry from Taug. "Look! Look!" he screamed. "Numa is killed. Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is emerging from the belly151 of Numa," and, sure enough, the moon was gradually emerging from whatever had devoured her, whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow of the earth; but were you to try to convince an ape of the tribe of Kerchak that it was aught but Numa who so nearly devoured Goro that night, or that another than Tarzan preserved the brilliant god of their savage and mysterious rites152 from a frightful153 death, you would have difficulty—and a fight on your hands.
And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, and in his coming he took a long stride toward the kingship, which he ultimately won, for now the apes looked up to him as a superior being.
In all the tribe there was but one who was at all skeptical154 about the plausibility155 of Tarzan's remarkable156 rescue of Goro, and that one, strange as it may seem, was Tarzan of the Apes.
The End
The End
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1
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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2
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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3
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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4
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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5
arboreal
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| adj.树栖的；树的 | |
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6
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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7
diurnal
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| adj.白天的，每日的 | |
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8
leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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9
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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10
hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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11
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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12
teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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13
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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14
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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15
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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16
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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17
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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18
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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19
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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20
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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21
personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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22
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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23
acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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24
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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25
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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26
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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27
huddle
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| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 | |
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28
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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29
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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30
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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32
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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33
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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34
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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35
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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36
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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37
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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38
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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39
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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40
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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41
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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42
constellation
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| n.星座n.灿烂的一群 | |
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43
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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44
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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45
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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46
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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47
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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48
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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49
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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50
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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51
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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52
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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53
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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54
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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55
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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56
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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57
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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58
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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59
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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60
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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61
epidermis
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| n.表皮 | |
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62
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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63
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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64
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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65
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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66
queries
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| n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问 | |
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67
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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68
edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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69
fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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70
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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71
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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72
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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73
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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74
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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75
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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76
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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77
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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78
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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79
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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80
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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81
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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82
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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83
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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84
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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85
sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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86
tantalize
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| vt.使干着急，逗弄 | |
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87
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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88
lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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89
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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90
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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91
fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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92
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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93
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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94
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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95
rodent
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| n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的 | |
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96
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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98
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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99
propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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100
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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101
trumpeted
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| 大声说出或宣告（trumpet的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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102
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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103
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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104
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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105
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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106
edible
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| n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的 | |
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107
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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108
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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109
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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110
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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111
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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112
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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114
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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115
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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116
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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117
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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118
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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119
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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120
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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121
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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122
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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123
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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124
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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125
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；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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126
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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127
succored
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| v.给予帮助( succor的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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129
trumpeting
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| 大声说出或宣告（trumpet的现在分词形式） | |
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130
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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131
reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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132
scurrying
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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133
jabbering
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| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 )；急促兴奋地说话；结结巴巴 | |
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134
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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135
prodded
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| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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136
calloused
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| adj.粗糙的，粗硬的，起老茧的v.（使）硬结，（使）起茧( callous的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）冷酷无情 | |
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137
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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138
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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139
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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140
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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142
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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143
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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144
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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145
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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146
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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147
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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148
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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149
shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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150
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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151
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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152
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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153
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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154
skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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155
plausibility
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| n. 似有道理, 能言善辩 | |
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156
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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