John Norman - Gor 18 - Blood Brothers of Gor.pdf

(714 KB) Pobierz
303264656 UNPDF
Book 18 BLOOD BROTHERS OF GOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----- by John Norman -----
Volume eighteen of the Chronicles of Counter-Earth
----------------------------------------
Chapter One
THE PTE
"There it is," said Grunt, pointing ahead and to our right. "Do you see
it?"
"Yes," I said. "Too, I feel it." I could feel the tremor in the earth, even
through the paws and legs of the lofty, silken kaiila.
"I have seen it only once before," he said.
I rose in the stirrups. The vibration, clearly, was registered in the
narrow, flat-based rings. Earlier, dimounted, we had placed the palms of our
hands to the earth. It was then that we had first felt it, earlier this
morning, from as faraway as perhaps twenty pasangs.
"They are coming," had said Cuwignaka, happily.
"I am puzzled," said Grunt. "It is early, is it not?"
I sat back on the saddle.
"Yes," said Cuwingaka, astride his kaiila, to my left.
The current moon was Takiyuhawi, the moon in whcih the tabuk rut. It is
sometimes known also as Canpasapawi, or the moon when the chokechrries are
ripe.
"I do not understand," said Grunt. "It is not due until Kantasawi." This
was the moon in which the plums become red. It is generally the hottest time
of the year in the Barrens. It occurs in the latter portion of the summer.
"Why is it early?" asked Grunt.
"I do not know," said Cuwignaka.
Our kaiila shifted beneath us, on the grassy rise. The grass here came to
the knees of the kaiila. It would have come to the thighs of a girl.
"Perhaps there is some mistake," I suggested. "Perhaps it is not what you
think."
"There is no mistaking it," said Grunt.
"No," said Cuwignaka, happily.
"could it not be another?" I asked.
"No," said Cuwignaka.
"These things are like the summer and the winter," said Grunt, "like the
phases of the moons, like day and night,"
"Why then is it early?" I asked.
"Has it been early before?" asked Grunt of Cuwignaka.
page 5
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Not in my lifetime," said Cuwignaka. "In the old stories it has sometimes
been late, but never, as far as I know, has it been early."
"Think," I said. "Can you recall nothing of such a sort?"
Cuwignaka shrugged. "I can think of nothing of that sort," he said.
"Can there be no mistake?" I asked Grunt.
"No," said Grunt. "It is here,"
"It looks like it is raining there," I said.
"That is dust, in the wind," said Cuwignaka. "It is raised by the hoofs."
"It is here," said Grunt. "There is no doubt about it."
I looked into the distance. It was like a Vosk of horn and hide.
"How long is it?" I asked. I could not even see the end of it.
"It is probably about fifteen pasangs in length," said Grunt, "it is some
four or five pasangs in width."
"It can take the better part of a day to ride around it," said Cuwignaka.
"How many beasts are numbered in such a group?" I asked.
"Who has counted the stars, who has numbered the blades of grass," said
Cuwignaka.
"It is estimated," said Grunt, "that there are between some two and three
million beasts there."
"Surely it is the largest such group in the Barrens," I said.
"No," said Grunt, "there are larger, Boswell claims to have seen one such
group which took five days to swim a river."
"How long would it take a group like this to swim a river?" I asked.
"Two or three days," said Grunt.
"I see," I said. The Boswell he had referred to, incidentally, was the same
fellow for whom the Boswell Pass through the Thentis Mountains had been named.
He was an early explorer in the Barrens. Others were such men, as Diaz,
Hogarthe and Bento.
"It is an awsome and splendid sight," I said. "Let us ride closer."
"But let us be careful," said Cuwignaka. Then, with a cry of pleasure,
kicking his heels back into the flanks of his kaiila, he urged his beast down
the slope.
Grunt and I looked at one another, and grinned. "He is still a boy," said
Grunt.
page 6
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We then followed Cuwignaka. It was toward neen when we reined up beside him
on another rise. The animals were now some three to four pasangs away, below
us.
"It is the Pte!" called out Cuwignaka happily to us, turning to look at us.
"Yes," said Grunt.
We could now smell the animals clearly. My mount, a lofty black kaiila,
silken and swift, shifted nervously beneath me. Its nostrils were flared. Its
strom lids were drawn, giving its large round eyes a distinctive yellowish
cast. I did not think that it, a kaiila purchased some months ago in the town
of Kailiauk, near the perimeter, had ever smelled such beasts before, and
certainly not in such numbers. Too, I supposed that there were many among such
beasts, perhaps most, in fact, who had ever smelled a man, or a kaiila,
before. Grit and dust settled about us. I blinked my eyes against it. It was
very impressive to be so close to such beasts. I scarcely dared to conjeture
what it might be like to be even closer, say, within a few hudred yards of
them. Individual kills on such animals, incidentally, are commonly made from
distances whre one can almost reach out and touch the beast. One must be that
close for the lance thrust to be made or for the arrow, from the small bow, to
strke with suffcient depth, to the feathers, either into the intestinal cavity
behind the last rib, resulting in large-scale internal hemorrhaging, or behind
the left shoulder blade, into the heart.
"Is there always this much dust?" I asked. I raised my voice somewhat,
against the sounds of the beasts, their bellowing and the thud of the hoofs.
"No," said Cuwignaka, raising his voice. "It is moving now, not drifting
and grazing."
"Sometimes, for no clear reason," said Grunt, "it will move, and more or
less swiftly. Then, at other times, for similarly no apparent reson, it will
halt and graze, or move slowly, gently grazing along the way."
"It is early," I said.
"Yes," said Grunt. "That is interesting. It must have been moving more than
is usual."
"I will inspect the animals," said Cuwignaka.
"Be careful," said Grunt.
We watched Cuwignaka move his kaiila down the slope and toward the animals.
He would not approach them too closely. There were tribal reasons for this.
page 7
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"It is like a flood," I said, "or a movement of the earth' it is like wind,
or thunder; it is like a natrual phenomenon."
"Yes," said Grunt.
"In its way," I said, "I suppose it is a natural phenomenon."
"Yes, in its way, it is," said Grunt.
The movement of this group of animals had been reported in the camp of the
Isbu Kaiila, or the Little-Stones band of the Kaiila, for more than ten days
now, in a rough map drawn to the east of the camp, with notched sticks, the
notching indicating the first and second day, and so on, of the animals'
progress, and the placement of the sticks indicating the position of the
animals on the day in question. Scouts of the Sleen Soldiers, a warrior
society of the Isbu, had been keeping track of the animlas since they had
entered he country of the Kaiila more than two weeks ago. This was a moon in
which the Sleen Soldiers held police powers in the camp, and so it was to
their lot that numerous details, such as scouting and guarding, supervising
the camp and settling minor disputs, now fell. Among their other duties, of
course, would come the planning, organization and policing of the great
Wanasapi, the hunt or chase.
In a few Ehn Cuwignaka, sweating, elated, his braided hair behind him,
returned his lathering kaiila to our side.
"It is glorious!" he said.
"Good," said Grunt, pleased at the young man's pleasure.
It is difficult to make clear to those who are not intimately acquainted
with such things the meaning of the Pte, or Kailiiauk, to the red savages. It
is a central phenomenon in their life, and much of their life revolves around
it. The mere thought of the kailiauk can inspire awe in them, and pleasure and
excitement. More to them than meat for the stomach and clothes for the back is
the kailiauk to them; too, it is mystery and meaning for them; it is heavy
with medicine; it is a danger; it is a sport; it is a challenge; and, at dawn,
with a lance or bow in one's hand, and a swift, eager kaiila between one's
knees, it is a joy to the heart.
"Look," said Grunt, pointing to the right.
A rider, a red savage, was approaching rapidly. He wore a breechclout and
moccasins. About his neck was a string of sleen claws. There were no feathers
in his hair and neither he nor his animal wore paint. Too, he did not carry
lance and shild. He was not on the business of war. He did have a bow
page 8
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
case and quiver, and at the thong of his waist was a beaded sheath, from
which protruded the hilt of a trade knife.
"It is Hci," said Cuwingaka. There is no exact translation of the
expression 'Hci' from Kaiila, into either Gorean or English. This is ot all
that unusual, incidentally. One cannot expect identical regularities in
meaning and usage to obtain in diverse linguistic communities. The expression,
for most practical regularities in meaning and usage to obtain in diverse
linguistic communites. The expresion, for most practical purposes, signifies a
certain type of gap, such as, for example, might occur in the edge of a trade
ax, or hatchet, for use in drawing nails, an occupation for which red savages,
of course, have little use. It is also used more broadly for a gash, such as
an ax might cut in a tree, or for a cut or scar. It seems to be clearly in the
latter range of meanings that the name belonged. At the left side of Hci's
face, at the chin, there was an irregular, jagged scar, som two inches in
length. This dated from several years ago, when he had been seventeen, from
the second time he had set the paws of his kaiila on the warpath. It had been
given to him by a Yellow Knife in mounted combat, the result of a stroke by a
long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk, or canhpi. Before that time, as a
stalwart, handsome lad, he had been affectionately known as Ihdazicaka, or
One-Who-Counts-Himself-Rich. Afterwards he had become, by his own wish, only
Hci. He had become morose and cruel. Immersing himself in the comraderie, and
the rituals and ceremonies of the Sleen Soldiers, it seemed he lived then for
little other than the concerns of raiding and war. There were members of his
own society who feared to ride with him, so swift, so fierce, so careless of
danger he was. Once, in a fight with Fleer, he had leaped to the ground and
thrust his lance through the long, trailing end of the society's war sash,
which, on that occasion, he had been wearing. He thus fastened himself in
place, on foot, among the charging Fleer. "I will not yield this ground!" he
had cried. The fleeing members of his society, seeing this, and knowing that
he wore the war sash, had then rallied and, though outnumbered, had charged
the Fleer. The Fleer, eventually, had left the scene of battle, feeling the
cost of obtaining a victory over such men would be too high. As they left they
had raised their lances in salute to the young warrior. Such courage is
acknowledged in the Barrens, even though it be in an enemy.
Hci reined in his kaiila, squealing, kicking dust, before us.
The disfigurement was indeed prominent. The blow of the canhpi had slashed
through to the jawbone.
page 9
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are you doing here?" demanded Hci, speaking in Kaiila. I could not,
given my time with Grunt and Cuwignaka, and my time in the Isbu camp, follow
much of what was said. I could now, too, to some extent, communicate in that
expressive, sibilant language.
"We have come to see the Pte," said Cuwignaka. The expression 'Pte',
literally stands for the kailiauk cow, as 'Ta-tanka' stands for the kailiauk
bull, but it is commonly used colloquially, more generally, to stand for the
kailiauk in general. In a sense, the "Pte" may be considered the mother of the
tribes, as it is through her that their nomadic life, in its tichness and
variety, becomes possible. More formally, of course, one speaks of the
kailiauk. The expression 'kailiauk' is a Gorean word and, as far as I know,
does not have an Earth origin.
I looked beyond Hci to the beasts, some two to three pasangs away. The
kailiauk is a large, lumbering, shaggy trident-horned ruminant. I has four
stomachs and an eight-valved heart. It is dangerous, gregarious, small-eyed
and short-tempered. Adult males can stand as high as twenty or twenty-five
hands at the shoulder and weigh as much as four thousand pounds.
"You have no right here," said Hci, angrily.
"We are causing no harm," said Cuwignaka.
"No one will hunt until the great hunt," said Hci. "Then we will hunt. The
Isbu will hunt. The Casmu will hunt! The Isanna will hunt! The Napoktan will
hunt! TheWismahi will hunt! The Kaiila will hunt!"
The Isbu, or Little-Stones band; the Casmu, or Sand, band; the Isanna, the
Little-Knife band; the Napoktan, or Bracelets, band; and the Wismahi, or
Arrowhead band, are the five bands which constitute the Kaiila tribe. The
origins of these names are not always clear. It seems probable that the Litte-
Stones and the Sand bands may have had their names from geographical features,
perhaps those adjacent to riverside encampments. The Wismahi, or Arrowhead,
band is said by some to have once made their winter camp at the confluence of
two rivers, the joining of the rivers resembling the point of an arrowhead.
Others claim that they once lived in a flintrich area, and prior to the
general availability of trade points, conducted a lively trade in flint with
surrounding tribes. The Bracelets band, or the Napoktan, wear copper bracelets
on the left wrist. This band, outside of the Kaiila, is often known as the
Mazahubu band, which is the Dust-Leg word for
page 10
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
braceltes. I do not know the origin of the name for the Isanna, or the
Little-Knife, band. Sometimes, as I suspect was the case with the Napoktan,
these names may owe their origin to the idiosyncrasies of given leaders, to
unique historiacal events of perhaps, even, to dreams. Dreams, and dreaming on
matters of importance, are taken very seriously by the red savages. Indeed, is
it not that in dreams one may even enter the medicine world itself? In dreams
is it not the case that one might sit about the fires of the dead, conversing
with them? is it not the case that in dreams one may understand the speech of
animals? And is it not the case that in dreams one may find oneself in distant
lands and countries, moons away, and yet, in a single night, find oneself,
awakening, returned to one's lodge, to the embers of one's fire and the
familiar poles and skins about one?
"We are here to see the Pte," said Cuwignaka, "not to hunt."
"It is well for you," said Hci, angrily. "You well know the penalties for
illcit hunting."
Cuwignaka did not even deign to respond. To be sure, the penalties were not
light. One might be publicly denounced and abuse, even beaten, in the village.
One's weapons could be broken. One's lodge, and robes, and possessions could
be taken away or cut to pieces with knives and scattered to the winds. In the
beliefs of the red savages the welfare of the whole, that of the tribe, takes
precedence over the welfare of the individual. In the thinking of the red
savages the right to diminish and jeopordize the community does not lie within
the prerogatives of the individual.
"Go away!" said Hci, with an angry wave of his arm.
Cuwignaka stiffened on the back of his kaiila.
Hci was angrily gestured to the string of sleen claws about his neck, the
sign of the Sleen Soldiers.
"It is an order," said Grunt to Cuwignaka, in Gorean. "He is well within
his authority, as you know. He is a Sleen Soldier, and it is among his duties
to track and protect the kailiauk. Do not think of it as a personal thing. He
is a Sleen Soldier, doing his work. In his place you would doubtless do much
the same."
Cuwignaka nodded, recognizing the justice of this view. It was not Hci, so
to speak, who was being obeyed, but rather a duly constituted authority, an
officer, a constable or warden in such matters.
page 11
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We turned our kaiila about, to take our way from the place.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin