Burroughs, Edgar Rice Pelluc

Odnośniki

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

cipitated into the underground world of the Buried People, his
dominant thought, of course, had been that of escape;
but the further into the bowels of the earth he was carried the
more hopeless appeared the outcome of any venture in this
direction, yet he never for once abandoned it though he realized
that he must wait until they had reached the place of his final
confinement before he could intelligently consider any plan at
all.
How far the tireless Coripi bore Tanar the Sarian could not
guess, but presently they emerged into a dimly lighted grotto,
before the narrow entrance to which squatted a dozen Coripies.
Within the chamber were a score more and one human being a
man with sandy hair, close-set eyes and a certain mean, crafty
expression of countenance that repelled the Sarian immediately.
"Here is another," said the Coripi who had carried Tanar to
the cavern, and with that he dumped the Sarian uncere-
moniously upon the stone floor at the feet of the dozen Cor-ipies
who stood guard at the entrance.
With teeth and claws they severed the bonds that secured his
wrists and ankles.
"They come slowly," grumbled one of the guards. "How much
longer must we wait?"
' 'Old Xax wishes to have the greatest number that has ever
been collected," remarked another of the Coripies.
"But we grow impatient," said the first speaker. "If he makes
us wait much longer he may be one of the number here himself."
' 'Be careful,'' cautioned one of his fellows.' 'If Xax heard that
you said such a thing as that the number of our prisoners would
be increased by one."
As Tanar arose to his feet, after his bonds were severed, he
was pushed roughly toward the other inmates of the room, who
he soon was to discover were prisoners, like himself, and quite
naturally the first to approach him was the other human captive.
' 'Another,9' said the stranger.' 'Our numbers increase but
slowly, yet each one brings us closer to our inevitable doom and
so I do not know whether I am sorry to see you here or glad
because of the human company that I shall now have. I have
eaten and slept many times since I was thrown into this
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
accursed place and always nothing but these hideous, mumbling
things for company. God, how I hate and loathe them, yet they
are in the same predicament as we for they, too, are doomed to
the same fate.'9
"And what may that be?" asked Tanar.
"You do not know?"
"I may only guess," replied the Sarian.
"These creatures seldom get flesh with warm blood in it. They
subsist mostly upon the fish in their underground rivers and
upon the toads and lizards that inhabit their caves. Their
expeditions to the surface ordinarily yield nothing more than
the carcasses of dead beasts, yet they crave flesh and warm
blood. Heretofore they had killed their condemned prisoners
one by one as they were available, but this plan gave only a
mouthful of flesh to a very few Coripies. Recently Xax hit upon
the plan of preserving his own condemned and the prisoners
from the outer world until he had accumulated a sufficient
number to feast the entire population of the cavern of which he
is chief. I do not know how many that will be, but steadily the
numbers grow and perhaps it will not be long now before there
are enough of us to fill the bellies of Xax's tribe,"
"Xax!" repeated Tanar. "Was he the creature sitting in the
niche in the great cavern to which I was first taken?"
"That was Xax. He is ruler of that cavern. In the underground
world of Ac Buried People there are many tribes, each of which
occupies a large cavern similar to that in which you saw Xax.
These tribes are not always friendly and most of the prisoners
that you see in this cavern are members of other tribes, though
there are a few from the tribe of Xax who have been condemned
to death for one reason or another."
"And there is no escape?" asked Tanar.
"None," replied the other. "Absolutely none^ but tell me who
are you and from what country? I cannot believe that you are a
native of Amiocap, for what Amiocapian is there who would
need ask questions about the Buried People?"
"I am not of Amiocap," replied Tanar, "I am from Sari, upon
the far distant mainland.'?
"Sari! I never heard of such a country," said the other. "What
is your name?"
' Tanar, and yours?''
"I am Jude of Hime," replied the man. "Hime is an island not
far from Amiocap. Perhaps you have heard of it."
"No, "said Tanar.
"I was fishing in my canoe, off the coast of Hime," continued
Jude,('when a great storm arose which blew me across the
waters and hurled me upon the coast of Amiocap. I had gone
into the forest to hunt for food when three of these creatures fell
upon me and dragged me into their underworid."
And you think that there is no escape? demanded Tanar.
"None- absolutely none," replied Jude.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
VIII
MOW
IMPRISONMENT IN THE DARK, ILLY LIGHTED, POORLY VEN-
tilated cavern weighed heavily upon Tanar of Pellucidar, and he
knew that it was long for he had eaten and slept many times and
though other Coripi prisoners were brought from time to time
there seemed not to be enough to satisfy Xax's bloody craving for
flesh.
Tanar had been glad of the companionship ofJude, though he
never thoroughly understood the man, whose sour and unhappy
disposition was so unlike his own. Jude apparently hated and
mistrusted everyone, for even in speaking of the people of his
own island he mentioned no one except in terms of bitterness
and hatred, but this attitude Tanar generously attributed to the
effect upon the mind of the Himean of his long and terrible
incarceration among the creatures Qf the underworld, an
experience which he was fully convinced might easily affect and
unbalance a weak mind.
Even in the breasts of some of the Coripi prisoners Tanar
managed to arouse sentiments somewhat analogous to
friendship.
Among the latter was a young Coripi named Mow from the
grotto of Icti, who hated all the Coripies from the grotto of Xax
and seemed suspicious of those from other grottoes.
Though the creatures seemed endowed with few human
attributes or characteristics, yet it was apparent to Tanar that
they set a certain value upon companionship, and being denied
this among the creatures of his own kind Mow gradually turned
to Tanar, whose courageous and happy spirit had not been
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
entirely dampened by his lot.
Jude would have nothing to do with Mow or any other of the
Coripies and he reproached Tanar for treating them in a friendly
manner.
"We are all prisoners together," Tanar reminded him, "and
they will suffer the same fate as we. It will neither lessen our
danger nor add to our peace of mind to quarrel with our fellow
prisoners, and I, for my part, find it interesting to talk with them
about this strange world which they inhabit."
And, indeed, Tanar had learned many interesting things
about the Coripies. Through his association with Mow he had
discovered that the creatures were color blind, seeing everything
in blacks and whites and grays through the skin that covered
their great eyeballs. He learned also that owing to the restricted
amount of food at their command it had been necessary to
restrict their number, and to this end it had become customary
to destroy women who gave birth to too many children, the third
child being equivalent to a death sentence for the mother.
He learned also that among these unhappy Coripies there
were no diversions and no aim in life other than eating. So eager
and unvaried was their diet of fish and toads and lizards that the
promise of warm flesh was the only great event in the tiresome
monotony of their deadly existence.
Although Mow had no words for love and no conception of its
significance, Tanar was able to gather from his remarks that this [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

angamoss.xlx.pl