Latest / Classic Science Fiction Books / 12 - Thuvia, Maid of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter twelve to save Dusar. Thuvia of Ptarth, battling for
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: more than life against the lust of Jav, cast a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: quick glance over her shoulder toward the forest from which
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: had rumbled the fierce growl. Jav looked too. What they
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: saw filled each with apprehension. It was Komal, the Banth god,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: rushing wide jawed upon them. Which had he chosen for
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: his prey or was it to be both? They had
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: not long to wait for. Though the Lotharian attempted to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: hold the girl between himself and the terrible fangs, the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: great beast found him at last. Then shrieking, he attempted
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to fly toward Lothar, after pushing Thuvia bodily into the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: face of the man eater, but his fight was of
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: short duration. In a moment, Komale was upon him, rending
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: his throat and chest with demoniah fury. The girl reached
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: their side a moment later, but it was with difficulty
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: that she tore the mad beast from its prey. Still
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: growling and casting hungry glances back upon Jav, the Banth
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: at last permitted itself to be led away into the
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: wood with her giant protector by her side, Thuvius set
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: forth to find the passage through the cliffs that she
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: might attempt the seemingly impossible feat of reaching far distant
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Ptarth across the more than seventeen thousand haads of savage Barsoom.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: She could not believe that Carthoris had deliberately deserted her,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and so she kept a constant watch for him. But
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: as she bore too far to the north in her
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: search for the tunnel, she passed the heliumte as he
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: was returning to Lothar in search of her. Thuvia of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Ptarth was having difficulty in determining the exact status of
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the Prince of Helium in her heart. She could not
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: admit even to herself that she loved him, and yet
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: she had permitted him to apply to her that term
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: of endearment and possession to which a Barsoomian maid should
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: turn deaf ears when voiced by other lips than those
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: of her husband or fiancee. My Princess Culan tiff Jeddak
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: of Cowl, to whom she was affianced, commanded her respect
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and admiration. Had it been that she had surrendered to
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: her father's wishes because of pique that the handsome Heliumite
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: had not taken advantage of his visits to her father's
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: court to push the suit for her hand, that she
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: had been quite sure he had contemplated since that distant
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: day the two had sat together upon the carved seat
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: within the gorgeous garden of the Jeddaks that graced the
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: inner courtyard of the Palace of salensus Oll at Cadabra.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Did she love Culan tiff bravely? She tried to believe
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: that she did, But all the while her eyes wandered
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: through the coming darkness for the figure of a clean
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: limbed fighting man, black haired and gray eyed. Black was
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the hair of Kulan Tith, but his eyes were brown.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: It was almost dark when she found the entrance to
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the tunnel Safely, she passed through to the hills beyond,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: and here, under the bright light of Mars's two moons,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: she halted to play in her future action. Should she
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: wait here in the hope that Carthoris would return in
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: search of her, or should she continue her way northeast
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: toward Ptarth, where first would Carthoris have gone after leaving
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: the valley of Lothar. Her parched throat and dry tongue
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: gave her the answer toward Anthor and water well, She
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: too would go first to Anthor, where she might find
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: more than the water she needed. With Comal by her side,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: she felt little fear, for he would protect her from
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: all other savage beasts. Even the great white apes would
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: flee the mighty banth in terror. Men only need she fear.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: But she must take this and many other chances before
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: she could hope to reach her father's court again. When
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: at last Carthoris found her only to be struck down
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: by the long sword of a green man, Thuvia prayed
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: that the same fate might overtake her. The sight of
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: the Red warriors leaping from their fliers had, for a
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: moment filled her with renewed hope, hope that Carthoris of
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Helium might be only stunned, and that they would rescue him.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: But when she saw the Dusarian metal upon their harness,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: and that they sought only to escape with her alone
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: from the charging Torquasians, she gave up. Comal too was dead,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: dead across the body of the Heliumite. She was indeed alone.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Now there was none to pret the Dusarian warriors dragged
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: her to the deck of the nearest flier. All about
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: them the Green warriors surged in an attempt to arrest
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: her from the red. At last, those who had not
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: died in the conflict gained the decks of the two craft.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: The engines throbbed and purred, the propeller's whirred Quickly the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: swift boats shot heavenward. Thuvia of Ptarth glanced about her.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: A man stood near, smiling down into her face. With
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: a gasp of recognition, she looked full into his eyes,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: and then, with a little moan of terror and understanding,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: she buried her face in her hands and sank to
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: the polished skeel wood deck. It was Astok, Prince of Dusar,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: who bent above her. Swift were the fliers of Astok
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: of Dusar, and great the need for reaching his father's
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: court as quickly as possible. For the fleets of war
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: of Helium and Ptarth and Cowol were scattered far and
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: wide above Barsoom. Nor would it go well with Astok
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: or Dusar should any of them discover Thuvia of Ptarth,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: a prisoner upon his own vessel. Anthor lies in fifty
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: south latitude and forty east of Whores, the deserted seat
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: of ancient Barsoomian culture and learning, while Dusar lies fifteen
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: degrees north of the equator and twenty degrees east of Whores.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Great though the distance is, the fliers covered it without
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: a stop. Long before they had reached their destination, Thuvia
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth had learned several things that cleared up the
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: doubts that had assailed her mind for many days. Scarce
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: had they risen above Anthor than she recognized one of
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: the crew as a member of the crew of that
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: other flier that had borne her from her father's gardens
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: to Anthor. The presence of asten Stock upon the craft
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: settled the whole question. She had been stolen by emissaries
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: of the Dustarian Prince Carthoris of Helium had had nothing
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: to do with it, nor did Astok deny the charge.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: When she accused him, he only smiled and pleaded his
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: love for her. I would sooner mate with a white ape,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: she cried, when he would have urged his suit, Astok
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: glowered sullenly upon her. You shall mate with me, Thuvia
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth, he growled. Or by your first ancestor, you
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: shall have your preference and mate with a white ape.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: The girl made no reply, nor could he draw her
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: into conversation during the balance of the journey. As a
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, Astok was a trifle awed by the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: proportions of the conflict which his abduction of the Parthian
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: princess had induced, nor was he over comfortable with the
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: weight of responsibility which the possession of such a prisoner
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: in entailed. His one thought was to get her to Dusar,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: and there let his father assume the responsibility. In the meantime,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: he would be as careful as possible to do nothing
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to affront her, lest they all might be captured and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: have to account for his treatment of the girl to
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: one of the great Jeddaks whose interests centered on her.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: And so at last they came to Dusar, where Astok
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: hid his prisoner in a secret room high in the
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: east tower of his own palace. He had sworn his
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: men to silence in the matter of the true identity
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: of the girl, for until he had seen his father, Nudas,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Jeddak of Dusar, he dared not let any one know
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: whom he had brought with him from the south. But
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: when he appeared in the Great audience chamber before the
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: cruel lipped man who was his sire, he found his
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: courage oozing, and he dared not speak of the princess
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: hid within his palace. It occurred to him to test
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: his father's sentiments upon the subject, and so he told
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: a tale of capturing one who claimed to know the
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: whereabouts of Thuvia of Ptarth. And if you command it, sire,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: he said, I will go and capture her. Fetching her
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: here to Dusar. Nudus frowned and shook his head. You
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: have done enough already to set Ptarth in Cowl and
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Helium all three upon us at once should they learn
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: your part in the theft of the Ptarth princess. That
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: you succeeded in shifting the guilt upon the Prince of
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Helium was fortunate and a masterly move of strategy. But
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: were the girl to know the truth and ever return
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: to her father's court, all Dusar would have to pay
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the penalty, and to have her here a prisoner amongst
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: us would be an admission of guilt for the consequences
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: of which naught could save us. It would cost me
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: my throne, asked Oc, and that I have no mind
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: to lose. If we had her here, the elder man
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: suddenly commenced to muse, repeating the phrase again and again.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: If we had her here, Askedoc. He exclaimed fiercely, Ah,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: if but we had her here, and none knew that
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: she was here, Can you not guess, man, the guilt
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: of Dusar might be forever buried with her bones? He
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: concluded in a low, savage whisper. Astoc, Prince of Dusar,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: shuddered weak. He was, yes, and wicked too, but the
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: suggestion that his father's words implied turned him cold with horror.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Cruel to their enemies are the men of Mars. But
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the word enemies is commonly interpreted to mean men only
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Assassination runs riot in the great Barsoomian city. Yet to
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: murder a woman is a crime so unthinkable that even
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: the most hardened of the paid assassins would shrink from
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: you in horror. Should you suggest such a thing to him?
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Nudus was apparently oblivious to his son's all too patent
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: terror at his suggestion. Presently, he continued, you say that
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: you know where the girl lies hid? Since she was
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: stolen from your people at anthor should she be found
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: by any one of the three powers, her unsupported story
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: would be sufficient to turn them all against us. There
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: is but one way, Astoc cried the older man. You
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: must return at once to her hiding place and fetch
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: her hither in all secrecy, and look you here, return
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: not to Dusar without her upon pain of death, asked Oc,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusar. Well knew his royal father's temper. He
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: knew that in the tyrant's heart there pulsed no single
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: throb of love for any creature. Astok's mother had been
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: a slave woman. Nudus had never loved her. He had
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: never loved another. In youth, he had tried to find
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: a bride at the courts of several of his powerful neighbors,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: but their women would have none of him. After a
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: dozen daughters of his own nobility had sought self destruction
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: rather than wed him, he had given up. And then
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: it had been that he had legally wed one of
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: his slaves, that he might have a son to stand
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: among the Jeds. When Nudus died and a new Jeddak
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: was chosen slowly, Astok withdrew from the presence of his father.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: With white face and shaking limbs, he made his way
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: to his own palace. As he crossed the courtyard, his
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: glance chanced to wander to the great East Tower, looming
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: high against the azure of the sky. At sight of it,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: beades of so wet broke out upon his brow. Isis
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: no other hand than his could be trusted to do
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: the horrid thing with his own fingers. He must crush
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: the life from that perfect throat, or plunge the silent
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: blade into the red, red heart, her heart, the heart
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that he had hoped would brim with love for him.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: But had it done so, he recalled the haughty contempt
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: with which his protestations of love had been received. He
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: went cold, and then hot to the memory of it.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: His compunctions cooled as the self satisfaction of a near
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: revenge crowded out the finer instincts that had for a
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: moment asserted themselves. The good that he had inherited from
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the slave woman was once again submerged in the bad
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: blood that had come down to him from his royal sire.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: As in the end, it always was a cold smile
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: supplanted the terror that had dilated his eyes. He turned
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: his steps toward the tower. He would see her before
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: he set out upon the journey that was to blind
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: his father to the fact that the girl was already
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: in Dusar. Quietly he passed in through the secret way,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: ascending a spiral runway to the apartment in which the
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Princess of Ptarth was immured. As he entered the room,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: he saw the girl leaning upon the sill of the
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: east casement, gazing out across the roofs of Dusar toward
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: distant Ptarth. He hated Ptarth. The thought of it filled
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: him with rage. Why not finish her now and have
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: done with it? At the sound of his steps, she
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: turned quickly toward him. Ah, how beautiful she was. His
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: sudden determination faded beneath the glorious light of her wondrous beauty.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: He would wait until he had returned from his little
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: journey of deception. Maybe there might be some other way, then,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: some other hand, to strike the blow with that face,
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: with those eyes before him. He could never do it.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Of that, he was positive he had always gloried in
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: the cruelty of his nature. But isis he was not
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: that cruel. No, another must be found, one whom he
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: could trust. He was still looking at her as she
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: stood there before him, meeting his gaze steadily and unafraid.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: He felt the hot passion of his love mounting higher
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: and higher. Why not sue once more? If she would relent,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: all might yet be well. Even if his father could
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: not be persuaded, They could fly to Ptarth, laying all
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: the blame of the knavery and intrigue that had thrown
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: four great nations into war upon the shoulders of Nudus.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: And who was there that would doubt the justice of
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: the charge Thuvia, He said, I come once again for
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: the last time, to lay my heart at your feet. Ptarth,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: and Cowul and Dusar are battling with helium because of you,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: wed me Thuvia, and all may yet be as it
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: should be. The girl shook her head. Wait, he commanded,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: before she could speak, Know the truth. Before you speak
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: words that may seal not only your own fate, but
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: that of thousands of warriors who battle because of you.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Refuse to wed me willingly, and Dusar would be laid
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: waste should ever the truth be known to Ptarth and
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: cowl and helium. They would raise our cities, leaving not
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: one stone upon another. They would scatter our peoples across
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: the face of Barsoom, from the frozen north to the
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: frozen south, hunting them down and slaying them, until this
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: great nation remained only as a hated memory in the
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: minds of men. But while they are exterminating the Dusarians,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: countless thousands of their own warriors must perish, and all
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: because of the stubbornness of a single woman who would
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: not wed the prince who loves her. Refuse Thuvia of Ptarth,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: and there remains but a single alternative. No man must
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: ever know your fate. Only a handful of loyal servitors
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: beside my royal father and myself know that you were
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: stolen from the gardens of thuvan Din by Astok, Prince
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: of Dusar, or that to day you be imprisoned in
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: my palace. Refuse Thuvia of Ptarth, and you must die
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: to save Dusar. There is no other way, nudas the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Jeddak has so decreed, I have spoken for a long moment.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: The girl at her level gaze rest full upon the
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: face of Astok of Dussar. Then she spoke, and though
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: the words were few, the unimpassioned tone carried unfathomable depths
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: of cold contempt. Better all that you have threatened, she said,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: then you. Then she turned her back upon him and
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: went to stand once more before the east window, gazing
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: with sad eyes toward distant Ptarth. Astok wheeled and left
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: the room, returning after a short interval of time with
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: food and drink. Here, he said, is sustenance until I
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: return again. The next to enter this apartment will be
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: your executioner. Commend yourself to your ancestors Thuvia of Ptarth,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: for within a few days you shall be with them.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Then he was gone. Half an hour later he was
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: interviewing an officer high in the navy of Dusar. Whither
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: went Vaskor? He asked, He is not at his palace
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: south to the great waterway that skirts Torcass replied the other,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: His son hal Vas is dwar of the road there,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: and thither has Vaskor gone to enlist recruits among the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: workers on the farms, Good, said Astok, and a half
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: hour more found him rising above Dusar in his swiftest flier.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twelve,