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07 - Thuvia, Maid of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Classic Science Fiction Books

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Chapter seven, the Phantom Bowmen. As Jav leaped toward him, Carthoris laid
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his hand upon the hilt of his long sword. The Lotharian halted. The
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great apartment was empty save for the four at the dais. Yet as Jav
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stepped back from the menace of the Heliumite's threatening attitude, the latter found himself
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surrounded by a score of bowmen. From whence had they sprung. Both Carthoris
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and Thuvia looked their astonishment. Now the former's sword leaped from its scabbard,
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and at the same instant the bowmen drew back their slim shafts. Tario had
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half raised himself upon one elbow. For the first time he saw the full
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figure of Thuvia, who had been concealed behind the person of Carthoris. Enough
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cried the jk raising a protesting hand, but at that very instant, the
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sword of the Heliumite cut viciously at its nearest antagonist. As the keen edge
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reached its goal, Carthoris let the point fall to the floor as with wide
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eyes. He stepped backward in consternation, throwing the back of his left hand
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across his brow. His steel had cut but empty air. His antagonist had
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vanished. There were no bowmen in the room. It is evident that these
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are strangers, said Tario to jav let Us. First determine that they knowingly
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affronted us, before we take measures for punishment. Then he turned to Carthoris,
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But ever his gaze wandered to the perfect lines of Thuvia's glorious figure,
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which the harness of a Barsoomian princess accentuated rather than concealed. Who are you,
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he asked, who knows not the etiquette of the court of the last
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of Jeddaks. I am Carthoris, Prince of Helium, replied the Heliumite,
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And this is Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth. In the courts of our fathers,
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men do not prostrate themselves before royalty. Not since the first born tore
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their immortal goddess Limb from limb have men crawled upon their bellies to any throne
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upon Barsoom. Now think you, the daughter of one mighty Jeddak and the
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son of another, would so humiliate themselves. Tario looked at Carthoris for a
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long time. At last he spoke, there is no other Jeddak upon Barsoom
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Vnario, he said, there is no other race than that of Lothar,
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and the hordes of Torcas may be dignified by such an appellation. Lotharians are
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white, your skins are red. There are no women left upon Barsoom.
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Your companion is a woman. He half rose from the couch, leaning far
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forward and pointing an accusing finger at Carthoris. You are a lie, he
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shrieked. You are both lies, and you dare to come before Tario,
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last and mightiest of the Jeddaks of Barsoom, and assert your reality. Someone
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shall pay well for this, Jav. And unless I mistake, it is
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yourself who has dared thus flippantly to trifle with the good nature of your Jeddak.
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Remove the man, leave the woman. We shall see if both be
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lies, and later, Jav, you shall suffer for your temerity. There
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be few of us left, but comal must be fed. Go. Carthoris
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could see that Jav trembled as he prostrated himself once more before his ruler,
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and then rising turned toward the Prince of Helium. Come, he said,
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and leave the Princess of Ptarth here alone, cried Carthoris. Jav brushed closely
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past him, whispering, follow me. He cannot harm her except to kill,
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and that he can do whether you remain or not. We had best
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go now, trust me. Carthoris did not understand, but something in the
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urgency of the other's tone assured him, and so he turned away, but
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not without a glance toward Thuvia, in which he attempted to make her understand
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that it was in her own interest that he left her. For answer.
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She turned her back full upon him, but not without first throwing him such
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a look of contempt that brought the scarlet to his cheek. Then he hesitated,
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but Jav seized him by the rest. Come, he whispered, or
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he will have the bowman upon you, and this time there will be no
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escape. Did you not see how futile is your steel against thin air?
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Carthoris turned unwillingly to follow. As the two left the room, he turned
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to his companion. If I may not kill thin Air, he asked,
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how then shall I fear that thin Air may kill me? You saw the
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Torquasians fall before the bowman, asked Jav. Carthoris nodded, so would you
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fall before them? And without one single chance for self defense or revenge.
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As they talked, Jav led Carthoris to a small room in one of the
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numerous towers of the palace. Here were couches, and Jav bid the helium
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might be seated for several minutes. The Lotharian eyed his prisoner for such.
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Carthoris now realized himself to be I am half convinced that you are real,
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he said. At last, Carthoris laughed, Of course I am real,
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he said, what caused you to doubt it? Can you not see me?
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Feel me? So? May I see and feel the bowmen, replied
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Jav. And yet we all know that they at least are not real.
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Carthoris showed by the expression of his face his puzzlement at each new reference to
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the mysterious bowmen, the vanishing soulery of Lothar. What then, may they
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be, he asked, You really do not know, asked Jav. Carthoris
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shook his head negatively. I can almost believe that you have told us the
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truth, and that you are really from another part of Barsoom, or from
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another world. But tell me, in your own country, have you no
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bowmen to strike terror to the hearts of the Green hordesmen as they slay in
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company with the fierce banths of war. We have soldiers, replied Carthoris.
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We of the Red race are all soldiers, but we have no bowmen to
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defend us, such as yours. We defend ourselves. You go out and
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get killed by your enemies, cried Jav incredulously certainly, replied Carthoris. How
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do the oarians you have seen, replied the other. We send out our
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deathless archers, deathless because they are lifeless, existing only in the imaginations of
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our enemies. It is really our giant minds that defend us, sending out
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legions of imaginary warriors to materialize before the mind's eye of the foe. They
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see them, They see their bows drawn back, They see their slender arrows
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speed with unerring precision toward their hearts, and they die, killed by the
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power of suggestion. But the archers that are slain, exclaimed Carthoris. You
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call them deathless, and yet I saw their dead bodies piled high upon the
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battlefield. How may that be? It is but to lend reality to the
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scene, replied Jav. We picture many of our own defenders killed, that
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the Torquasians may not guess that there are really no flesh and blood creatures opposing
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them. Once that truth became implanted in their minds, it is the theory
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of many of us. No longer would they fall prey to the suggestion of
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the deadly arrows, For greater would be the suggestion of the truth, and
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the more powerful suggestion would prevail. It is law and the banths, questioned
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Carthoris, They too were but creatures of suggestion. Some of them were real,
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replied jav Those that accompanied the archers in pursuit of the Torquasians were unreal.
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Like the archers. They never returned, but, having served their purpose,
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vanished with the bowmen when the rout of the enemy was assured. Those
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that remain about the field, those we loosed as scavengers to devour the bodies
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of the dead of Torcas. This thing is demanded by the realists among us.
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I am a realist. Tario is an etherealist. The etherealists maintain that
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there is no such thing as matter, that all is mind. They say
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that none of us exists except in the imagination of his fellows, other than
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as an intangible, invisible mentality. According to Tario, it is but necessary
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that we all unite in imagining that there are no dead Torquasians beneath our walls,
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and there will be none nor any need of scavenging banths. You then,
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do not hold Tario's beliefs, asked Carthoris in part only replied the Lotharian.
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I believe. In fact, I know that there are some truly ethereal
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creatures. Taria is one. I am convinced he has no existence except in
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the imaginations of his people. Of course, it is the contention of all
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us realists that all etherialists are but figments of the imagination. They contend that
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no food is necessary, nor do they eat. But any one of the
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most rudimentary intelligence must realize that food is a necessity to creatures having actual existence.
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Yes, agreed Carthoris. Not having eaten to day, I can readily
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agree with you. Ah pardon me, exclaimed the jab pray be seated and
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satisfy your hunger. And with a wave of his hand he indicated a bountifully
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laden table that had not been there an instant before he spoke of that.
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Carthoris was positive, for he had searched the room diligently with his eyes several
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times. It is well, continued Jav, that you did not fall into
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the hands of an etherealist. Then, indeed, would you have gone hungry?
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But exclaimed Carthoris, this is not real food. It was not here
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an instant since, and real food does not materialize out of thin air.
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Jav looked hurt. There is no real food or water in Lothar, he
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said, nor has there been for countless ages upon such as you now see
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before you. Have we existed since the dawn of history? Upon such then
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may you exist? But I thought you were a realist, exclaimed Carthoris.
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Indeed, cried Jav, what more realistic than this bounteous feast. It is
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just here that we differ most from the etherealists. They claim that it is
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unnecessary to imagine food. But we have found that for the maintenance of life
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we must thrice daily sit down to hearty meals. The food that one eats
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is supposed to undergo certain chemical changes during the process of digestion and assimilation,
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the result of course being their rebuilding of wasted tissue. Now we all know
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that mind is all, though we may differ in the interpretation of its various
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manifestations. Tario maintains that there is no such thing as substance, all being
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created from the substanceless matter of the brain. We realists, however, know
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better. We know that as the power to maintain substance, even though it
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may not be able to create substance. The latter is still an open question,
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and so we know that in order to maintain our physical bodies, we
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must cause all our organs properly to function. This we accomplish by materializing food
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thoughts, and by partaking of the food thus created. We chew, we
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swallow, we digest. All our organs function precisely as if we had partaken
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of material food. And what is the result? What must be the result?
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The chemical changes take place through the both direct and indirect suggestion, and
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we live and thrive. Carthoris eyed the food before him. It seemed real
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enough. He lifted a morsel to his lips. There was substance, indeed,
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and flavor as well. Yes, even his palate was deceived. Jav
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watched him, smiling as he ate. Is it not entirely satisfying, he
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asked, I must admit that it is, replied Carthoris. But tell me
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how does Tario live and the other etherealists who maintain that food is unnecessary.
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Jav scratched his head. That is a question we often discuss, he replied.
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It is the strongest evidence we have of the non existence of the etherealists.
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But who may know other than Comal? Who is comal? Asked Carthoris,
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I heard your Jeddak speak of him. Jav bent low toward the ear
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of the heliumite, looking fearfully about before he spoke. Comal is the essence,
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he whispered. Even the etherealists admit that mind itself must have substance in
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order to transmit to imaginings the appearance of substance. For if there really was
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no such thing as substance, it could not be suggested. What never has
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been cannot be imagined. Do you follow me? I am groping, replied
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Carthoris, drily, So the essence must be substance, continued Jav. Comal
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is the essence of the all, as it were. He is maintained by
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substance. He eats. He eats the real to be explicit. He eats
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the realists. That is Tario's work. He says that inasmuch as we maintain
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that we alone are real. We should to be consistent admit that we alone
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are proper food for Comal. Sometimes, as to day, we find other
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food for him. He is very fond of Torquasians, and Comal is a
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man, asked Carthoris. He is all I told you, replied Jav,
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I know not how to explain him in words that you will understand. He
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is the beginning and the end. All life emanates from Comal, since the
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substance which feeds the brain with imaginings radiates from the body of Comal. Should
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Comal cease to eat, all life upon barsoom would cease to be. He
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cannot die, but he might cease to eat, and thus to radiate,
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and he feeds upon the man and women of your belief, cried Carthoris.
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Women exclaimed Jav. There are no women in Lothar, The last of the
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Lotharian females perished ages since upon that cruel and terrible journey across the muddy plains
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that fringed the half dried seas, when the green Hordes scourged us across the
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world to this, our last hiding place, our impregnable fortress of Lothar.
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Scarce twenty thousand men of all the countless millions of our race lived to reach
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Lothar. Among us were no women and no children. All these had perished
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by the way. As time went on, we too were dying, and
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the race fast approaching extinction when the great truth was revealed to us, that
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mind is all. Many more died before we perfected our powers, but at
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least we were able to defy death when we fully understood that death was merely
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a state of mind. Then came the creation of mind people, or rather
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the materialization of imaginings. We first put these to practical use when the Torquasians
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discovered our retreat, and fortunate for us, it was that they required ages
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of search upon their part before they found the single, tiny entrance to the
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valley of Lothar. That day we threw our first bowmen against them. The
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intention was purely to frighten them away by the vast numbers of bowmen which we
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could muster upon our walls. All Lothar bristled with the bows and arrows of
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our ethereal host. But the Torkasians did not frighten. They are lower than
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the beasts. They know no fear. They rushed upon our walls, and
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standing upon the shoulders of others, they built human approaches to the wall tops,
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and were on the very point of surging in upon us and overwhelming us.
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Not an arrow had been discharged by our bowmen. We did but cause
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them to run to and fro along the wall top, screaming taunts and threats
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at the enemy. Presently I thought to attempt the thing, the great thing.
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I centered all my mighty intellect upon the bowmen of my creation. Each
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of us produces and directs as many bowmen as his mentality and imagination is capable
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of. I caused them to fit arrows to their bows. For the first
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time, I made them take aim at the hearts of the green men.
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I made the green men see all this, and then I made them see
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the arrows fly, and I made them think that the points pierced their hearts.
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It was all that was necessary. By hundreds they toppled from our walls.
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And when my fellows saw what I had done, they were quick to
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follow my example, so that presently the hordes of Torquas had retreated beyond the
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range of our arrows. We might have killed them at any distance, But
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one rule of war. We have maintained from the first the rule of realism.
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We do nothing, or rather, we cause our bowmen to do nothing
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within sight of the enemy, that is, beyond the understanding of the foe.
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Otherwise they might guess the truth, and that would be the end of
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us. But after the Torcasians had retreated beyond bowshot, they turned upon us
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with their terrible rifles, and by constant popping at us, made life miserable
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within our walls. So then I bethought the scheme to hurl our bowmen through
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the gates upon them. And you have seen this day how well it works.
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For ages. They have come down upon us at intervals, but always
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with the same results. And all this is due to your intellect, Jav
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asked Carthoris. I should think that you would be high in the councils of
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your people. I am, replied Jav proudly. I am next to Tario.
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But why then, your cringing manner of approaching the throne? Tario demands
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it. He is jealous of me. He only awaits the slightest excuse to
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feed me to comal. He fears that I may someday usurp his power Carthoris
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suddenly sprang from the table. Jav. He exclaimed, I am a beast.
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Here I have been eating my fill, while the Princess of Ptarth may
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perchance be still without food. Let us return and find some means of furnishing
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her with nourishment. The Lotharian shook his head. Tario would not permit it,
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he said, he will doubtless make an etherealist of her. But I
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must go to her, insisted Carthoris. You say that there are no women
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in Lothar, then she must be among men, and if this be so,
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I intend to be near where I may defend her. If the need
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arises, Tario will have his way, insisted Jav. He sent you away,
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and you may not return until he sends for you. Then I shall
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go without waiting to be sent for. Do not forget the bowmen, cautioned
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Jav. I do not forget them, replied Carthoris. But he did not
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tell Jav that he remembered something else that the Lotharian had let drop, Something
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that was but a conjecture, possibly and yet one well worth pinning a forlorn
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hope to should necessity arise. Carthoris started to leave the room, jav stepped
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before him, barring his way. I have learned to like you, red
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man, he said, But do not forget that Tario is still my Jeddak,
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and that Tario has commanded that you remain here. Carthoris was about to
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reply when there came, faintly to the ears of both a woman's cry for
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help. With a sweep of his arm, the Prince of Helium brushed the
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Lotharian aside, and withdrawn sword, sprang into the corridor without end of chapter seven