Of course I did not take in all these details upon the instant of my capture, for I was busy with other matters. Three of the warriors9 were sitting upon me, trying to hold me down by main strength and awkwardness, and they were having their hands full in the doing, I can tell you. I don't like to appear conceited10, but I may as well admit that I am proud of my strength and the science that I have acquired and developed in the directing of it—that and my horsemanship I always have been proud of. And now, that day, all the long hours that I had put into careful study, practice and training brought me in two or three minutes a full return upon my investment. Californians, as a rule, are familiar with ju-jutsu, and I especially had made a study of it for several years, both at school and in the gym of the Los Angeles Athletic11 Club, while recently I had had, in my employ, a Jap who was a wonder at the art.
It took me just about thirty seconds to break the elbow of one of my assailants, trip another and send him stumbling backward among his fellows, and throw the third completely over my head in such a way that when he fell his neck was broken. In the instant that the others of the party stood in mute and inactive surprise, I unslung my rifle—which, carelessly, I had been carrying across my back; and when they charged, as I felt they would, I put a bullet in the forehead of one of them. This stopped them all temporarily—not the death of their fellow, but the report of the rifle, the first they had ever heard. Before they were ready to attack me again, one of them spoke12 in a commanding tone to his fellows, and in a language similar but still more comprehensive than that of the tribe to the south, as theirs was more complete than Ahm's. He commanded them to stand back and then he advanced and addressed me.
He asked me who I was, from whence I came and what my intentions were. I replied that I was a stranger in Caspak, that I was lost and that my only desire was to find my way back to my companions. He asked where they were and I told him toward the south somewhere, using the Caspakian phrase which, literally13 translated, means "toward the beginning." His surprise showed upon his face before he voiced it in words. "There are no Galus there," he said.
"I tell you," I said angrily, "that I am from another country, far from Caspak, far beyond the high cliffs. I do not know who the Galus may be; I have never seen them. This is the farthest north I have been. Look at me—look at my clothing and my weapons. Have you ever seen a Galu or any other creature in Caspak who possessed14 such things?"
He had to admit that he had not, and also that he was much interested in me, my rifle and the way I had handled his three warriors. Finally he became half convinced that I was telling him the truth and offered to aid me if I would show him how I had thrown the man over my head and also make him a present of the "bang-spear," as he called it. I refused to give him my rifle, but promised to show him the trick he wished to learn if he would guide me in the right direction. He told me that he would do so tomorrow, that it was too late today and that I might come to their village and spend the night with them. I was loath15 to lose so much time; but the fellow was obdurate16, and so I accompanied them. The two dead men they left where they had fallen, nor gave them a second glance—thus cheap is life upon Caspak.
These people also were cave-dwellers, but their caves showed the result of a higher intelligence that brought them a step nearer to civilized17 man than the tribe next "toward the beginning." The interiors of their caverns19 were cleared of rubbish, though still far from clean, and they had pallets of dried grasses covered with the skins of leopard20, lynx, and bear, while before the entrances were barriers of stone and small, rudely circular stone ovens. The walls of the cavern18 to which I was conducted were covered with drawings scratched upon the sandstone. There were the outlines of the giant red-deer, of mammoths, of tigers and other beasts. Here, as in the last tribe, there were no children or any old people. The men of this tribe had two names, or rather names of two syllables21, and their language contained words of two syllables; whereas in the tribe of Tsa the words were all of a single syllable22, with the exception of a very few like Atis and Galus. The chief's name was To-jo, and his household consisted of seven females and himself. These women were much more comely23, or rather less hideous24 than those of Tsa's people; one of them, even, was almost pretty, being less hairy and having a rather nice skin, with high coloring.
They were all much interested in me and examined my clothing and equipment carefully, handling and feeling and smelling of each article. I learned from them that their people were known as Band-lu, or spear-men; Tsa's race was called Sto-lu—hatchet7-men. Below these in the scale of evolution came the Bo-lu, or club-men, and then the Alus, who had no weapons and no language. In that word I recognized what to me seemed the most remarkable25 discovery I had made upon Caprona, for unless it were mere26 coincidence, I had come upon a word that had been handed down from the beginning of spoken language upon earth, been handed down for millions of years, perhaps, with little change. It was the sole remaining thread of the ancient woof of a dawning culture which had been woven when Caprona was a fiery27 mount upon a great land-mass teeming28 with life. It linked the unfathomable then to the eternal now. And yet it may have been pure coincidence; my better judgment29 tells me that it is coincidence that in Caspak the term for speechless man is Alus, and in the outer world of our own day it is Alalus.
The comely woman of whom I spoke was called So-ta, and she took such a lively interest in me that To-jo finally objected to her attentions, emphasizing his displeasure by knocking her down and kicking her into a corner of the cavern. I leaped between them while he was still kicking her, and obtaining a quick hold upon him, dragged him screaming with pain from the cave. Then I made him promise not to hurt the she again, upon pain of worse punishment. So-ta gave me a grateful look; but To-jo and the balance of his women were sullen30 and ominous31.
"So-ta soon to be Kro-lu," she confided in a low whisper. I asked her what a Kro-lu might be, and she tried to explain, but I do not yet know if I understood her. From her gestures I deduced that the Kro-lus were a people who were armed with bows and arrows, had vessels33 in which to cook their food and huts of some sort in which they lived, and were accompanied by animals. It was all very fragmentary and vague, but the idea seemed to be that the Kro-lus were a more advanced people than the Band-lus. I pondered a long time upon all that I had heard, before sleep came to me. I tried to find some connection between these various races that would explain the universal hope which each of them harbored that some day they would become Galus. So-ta had given me a suggestion; but the resulting idea was so weird34 that I could scarce even entertain it; yet it coincided with Ahm's expressed hope, with the various steps in evolution I had noted35 in the several tribes I had encountered and with the range of type represented in each tribe. For example, among the Band-lu were such types as So-ta, who seemed to me to be the highest in the scale of evolution, and To-jo, who was just a shade nearer the ape, while there were others who had flatter noses, more prognathous faces and hairier bodies. The question puzzled me. Possibly in the outer world the answer to it is locked in the bosom36 of the Sphinx. Who knows? I do not.
Thinking the thoughts of a lunatic or a dope-fiend, I fell asleep; and when I awoke, my hands and feet were securely tied and my weapons had been taken from me. How they did it without awakening37 me I cannot tell you. It was humiliating, but it was true. To-jo stood above me. The early light of morning was dimly filtering into the cave.
"Tell me," he demanded, "how to throw a man over my head and break his neck, for I am going to kill you, and I wish to know this thing before you die."
Of all the ingenuous38 declarations I have ever heard, this one copped the proverbial bun. It struck me as so funny that, even in the face of death, I laughed. Death, I may remark here, had, however, lost much of his terror for me. I had become a disciple39 of Lys' fleeting40 philosophy of the valuelessness of human life. I realized that she was quite right—that we were but comic figures hopping41 from the cradle to the grave, of interest to practically no other created thing than ourselves and our few intimates.
Behind To-jo stood So-ta. She raised one hand with the palm toward me—the Caspakian equivalent of a negative shake of the head.
"Let me think about it," I parried, and To-jo said that he would wait until night. He would give me a day to think it over; then he left, and the women left—the men for the hunt, and the women, as I later learned from So-ta, for the warm pool where they immersed their bodies as did the shes of the Sto-lu. "Ata," explained So-ta, when I questioned her as to the purpose of this matutinal rite42; but that was later.
I must have lain there bound and uncomfortable for two or three hours when at last So-ta entered the cave. She carried a sharp knife—mine, in fact, and with it she cut my bonds.
"Come!" she said. "So-ta will go with you back to the Galus. It is time that So-ta left the Band-lu. Together we will go to the Kro-lu, and after that the Galus. To-jo will kill you tonight. He will kill So-ta if he knows that So-ta aided you. We will go together."
"I will go with you to the Kro-lu," I replied, "but then I must return to my own people `toward the beginning.'"
"You cannot go back," she said. "It is forbidden. They would kill you. Thus far have you come—there is no returning."
"But I must return," I insisted. "My people are there. I must return and lead them in this direction."
She insisted, and I insisted; but at last we compromised. I was to escort her as far as the country of the Kro-lu and then I was to go back after my own people and lead them north into a land where the dangers were fewer and the people less murderous. She brought me all my belongings43 that had been filched44 from me—rifle, ammunition45, knife, and thermos46 bottle, and then hand in hand we descended47 the cliff and set off toward the north.
For three days we continued upon our way, until we arrived outside a village of thatched huts just at dusk. So-ta said that she would enter alone; I must not be seen if I did not intend to remain, as it was forbidden that one should return and live after having advanced this far. So she left me. She was a dear girl and a stanch48 and true comrade—more like a man than a woman. In her simple barbaric way she was both refined and chaste49. She had been the wife of To-jo. Among the Kro-lu she would find another mate after the manner of the strange Caspakian world; but she told me very frankly50 that whenever I returned, she would leave her mate and come to me, as she preferred me above all others. I was becoming a ladies' man after a lifetime of bashfulness!
At the outskirts51 of the village I left her without even seeing the sort of people who inhabited it, and set off through the growing darkness toward the south. On the third day I made a detour52 westward53 to avoid the country of the Band-lu, as I did not care to be detained by a meeting with To-jo. On the sixth day I came to the cliffs of the Sto-lu, and my heart beat fast as I approached them, for here was Lys. Soon I would hold her tight in my arms again; soon her warm lips would merge54 with mine. I felt sure that she was still safe among the hatchet people, and I was already picturing the joy and the love-light in her eyes when she should see me once more as I emerged from the last clump55 of trees and almost ran toward the cliffs.
It was late in the morning. The women must have returned from the pool; yet as I drew near, I saw no sign of life whatever. "They have remained longer," I thought; but when I was quite close to the base of the cliffs, I saw that which dashed my hopes and my happiness to earth. Strewn along the ground were a score of mute and horrible suggestions of what had taken place during my absence—bones picked clean of flesh, the bones of manlike creatures, the bones of many of the tribe of Sto-lu; nor in any cave was there sign of life.
Closely I examined the ghastly remains56 fearful each instant that I should find the dainty skull6 that would shatter my happiness for life; but though I searched diligently57, picking up every one of the twenty-odd skulls, I found none that was the skull of a creature but slightly removed from the ape. Hope, then, still lived. For another three days I searched north and south, east and west for the hatchetmen of Caspak; but never a trace of them did I find. It was raining most of the time now, and the weather was as near cold as it ever seems to get on Caprona.
At last I gave up the search and set off toward Fort Dinosaur58. For a week—a week filled with the terrors and dangers of a primeval world—I pushed on in the direction I thought was south. The sun never shone; the rain scarcely ever ceased falling. The beasts I met with were fewer in number but infinitely59 more terrible in temper; yet I lived on until there came to me the realization60 that I was hopelessly lost, that a year of sunshine would not again give me my bearings; and while I was cast down by this terrifying knowledge, the knowledge that I never again could find Lys, I stumbled upon another grave—the grave of William James, with its little crude headstone and its scrawled61 characters recording62 that he had died upon the 13th of September—killed by a saber-tooth tiger.
I think that I almost gave up then. Never in my life have I felt more hopeless or helpless or alone. I was lost. I could not find my friends. I did not even know that they still lived; in fact, I could not bring myself to believe that they did. I was sure that Lys was dead. I wanted myself to die, and yet I clung to life—useless and hopeless and harrowing a thing as it had become. I clung to life because some ancient, reptilian63 forbear had clung to life and transmitted to me through the ages the most powerful motive64 that guided his minute brain—the motive of self-preservation.
At last I came to the great barrier-cliffs; and after three days of mad effort—of maniacal65 effort—I scaled them. I built crude ladders; I wedged sticks in narrow fissures66; I chopped toe-holds and finger-holds with my long knife; but at last I scaled them. Near the summit I came upon a huge cavern. It is the abode67 of some mighty68 winged creature of the Triassic—or rather it was. Now it is mine. I slew69 the thing and took its abode. I reached the summit and looked out upon the broad gray terrible Pacific of the far-southern winter. It was cold up there. It is cold here today; yet here I sit watching, watching, watching for the thing I know will never come—for a sail.
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1
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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3
pinioning
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的现在分词 ) | |
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4
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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7
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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8
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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9
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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10
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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12
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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13
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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14
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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15
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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22
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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23
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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24
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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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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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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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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29
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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33
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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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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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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38
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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40
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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41
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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42
rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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44
filched
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| v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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46
thermos
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| n.保湿瓶，热水瓶 | |
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47
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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48
stanch
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| v.止住（血等）；adj.坚固的；坚定的 | |
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49
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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50
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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51
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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52
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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53
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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54
merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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55
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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56
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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57
diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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58
dinosaur
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| n.恐龙 | |
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59
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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60
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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61
scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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63
reptilian
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| adj.（像）爬行动物的；（像）爬虫的；卑躬屈节的；卑鄙的n.两栖动物；卑劣的人 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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65
maniacal
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| adj.发疯的 | |
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66
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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67
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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68
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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69
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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