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10 - At The Earth's Core - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: Chapter ten Phutra. Again, I hastened to the cliff edge
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  Speaker 1: above Jaw and helped him to a secure footing. He
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  Speaker 1: would not listen to any thanks for his attempt to
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  Speaker 1: save me, which had come so near miscarrying. I had
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  Speaker 1: given you up for lust when you tumbled into the
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  Speaker 1: Mayhor temple, he said, for not even I could save
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  Speaker 1: you from their clutches. And you may imagine my surprise when,
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  Speaker 1: on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the beach of
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  Speaker 1: the mainland, I discovered your own footprints in the sand
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  Speaker 1: beside it. I immediately set out in search of you, knowing
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  Speaker 1: as I did, that you must be entirely unarmed and
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  Speaker 1: defenseless against the many dangers which lurk upon the mainland,
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  Speaker 1: both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles and
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  Speaker 1: men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you
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  Speaker 1: to this point. It is well that I arrived when
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  Speaker 1: I did. But why did you do it? I asked,
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  Speaker 1: puzzled at this show of friendship on the part of
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  Speaker 1: a man of another world and a different race and color.
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  Speaker 1: You saved my life, he replied. From that moment it
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  Speaker 1: became my duty to protect and befriend you. I would
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  Speaker 1: have been no true mesa had I evaded my plain duty.
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  Speaker 1: But it was a pleasure in this instance, for I
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  Speaker 1: like you. I wish that you would come and live
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  Speaker 1: with me. You shall become a member of my tribe.
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  Speaker 1: Among us there is the best of hunting at fishing,
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  Speaker 1: and you shall have to choose a mate from the
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  Speaker 1: most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. Will you come? I told
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  Speaker 1: him about Perry then and Diane the beautiful, and how
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  Speaker 1: my duty was to them first. Afterward I should return
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  Speaker 1: and visit him if I could ever find his island.
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  Speaker 1: Oh that is easy, my friend, he said. You need
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  Speaker 1: merely to come to the foot of the highest peak
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  Speaker 1: of the mountains of the Clouds. There you will find
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  Speaker 1: a river which flows into the laure al As. Directly
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  Speaker 1: opposite the mouth of the river, you will see three
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  Speaker 1: large islands, far out, so far that they are barely discernible.
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  Speaker 1: The one to the extreme left, as you face them
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  Speaker 1: from the mouth of the river is Anorok, where I
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  Speaker 1: rule the tribe of Anorok. But how am I to
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  Speaker 1: find the mountains of the Clouds, I asked, Men say
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  Speaker 1: that they are visible from half Pellucidar. He replied, how
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  Speaker 1: large is Pellucidar, I asked, wondering what sort of theory
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  Speaker 1: these primitive men had concerning the form and substance of
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  Speaker 1: their world. The Mahars say it is round, like the
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  Speaker 1: inside of a tola shell, he answered, But that is ridiculous,
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  Speaker 1: since were it true, we should fall back, were we
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  Speaker 1: to travel far in any direction, and all the waters
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  Speaker 1: of Pellucidar would run to one spot and drown us. No,
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  Speaker 1: Pellucidar is quite flat and extends no man knows how
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  Speaker 1: far in all directions. At the edges. So my ancestors
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  Speaker 1: have reported and handed down to me, is a great
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  Speaker 1: wall that prevents the earth and waters from escaping over
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  Speaker 1: into the burning sea where our Pellucidar floats. But I
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  Speaker 1: never have been so far from an a rock as
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  Speaker 1: to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However,
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  Speaker 1: it is quite reasonable to believe that this is true,
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  Speaker 1: whereas there is no reason at all in the foolish
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  Speaker 1: belief of the Mahars. According to them, Pellucidarians who live
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  Speaker 1: upon the opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward.
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  Speaker 1: And Jar laughed uproariously at the very thought. It was
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  Speaker 1: plain to see that the human folk this inner world
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  Speaker 1: had not advanced far in learning, and the thought that
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  Speaker 1: the ugly Mahars had so outstripped them was a very
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  Speaker 1: pathetic one. Indeed, I wondered how many ages it would
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  Speaker 1: take to lift these people out of their ignorance, even
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  Speaker 1: were it given to Perry and me to attempt it.
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  Speaker 1: Possibly we would be killed for our pains, as were
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  Speaker 1: those men of the outer world who dared challenge the
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  Speaker 1: dense ignorance and superstitions of the Earth's younger days. But
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  Speaker 1: it was worth the effort if the opportunity ever presented itself.
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  Speaker 1: And then it occurred to me that here was an
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  Speaker 1: opportunity that I might make a small beginning upon Jaw
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  Speaker 1: who was my friend, and thus note the effect of
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  Speaker 1: my teaching upon a Pellucidarian. Jaw I said, what would
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  Speaker 1: you say were I to tell you that, in so
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  Speaker 1: far as the Mahar's theory of the shape of Pellucidar
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  Speaker 1: is concerned, it is correct, I would say. He replied
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  Speaker 1: that either you are a fool or you took me
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  Speaker 1: for one. But ja I insisted, if their theory is incorrect,
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  Speaker 1: how do you account for the fact that I was
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  Speaker 1: able to pass through the earth from the outer crust
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  Speaker 1: to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct, all is a
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  Speaker 1: sea of flame beneath us, wherein no peoples could exist.
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  Speaker 1: And yet I come from a great world that is
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  Speaker 1: covered with human beings and beasts, and birds and fishes
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  Speaker 1: and mighty oceans. You live upon the under side of Pellucidar,
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  Speaker 1: and walk always with your head pointed downward. He scoffed,
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  Speaker 1: And were I to believe that, my friend, I should
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  Speaker 1: indeed be mad. I attempted to explain the force of
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  Speaker 1: gravity to him, and by the means of the dropped fruit,
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  Speaker 1: to illustrate how impossible it would be for a body
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  Speaker 1: to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened
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  Speaker 1: so intently that I thought I had made an impression
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  Speaker 1: and started the train of thought that would lead him
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  Speaker 1: to a partial understanding of the truth. But I was mistaken.
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  Speaker 1: Your own illustration, he said, finally proves the falsity of
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  Speaker 1: your theory. He dropped a fruit from his hand to
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  Speaker 1: the ground. See, he said, without support, even this tiny
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  Speaker 1: fruit falls until it strikes something that stops it. If
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  Speaker 1: Pellucidar were not supported upon the flaming sea, it too
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  Speaker 1: would fall. As the true ufulse you have proven it yourself,
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  Speaker 1: he had me that time. You could see it in
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  Speaker 1: his eye. It seemed a hopeless job, and I gave
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  Speaker 1: it up temporarily, at least, for when I contemplated the
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  Speaker 1: necessity explanation of our solar system and the universe, I
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  Speaker 1: realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture
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  Speaker 1: to Jaw or any other pellucidarian the Sun, the Moon,
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  Speaker 1: the planets, and the countless stars. Those born within the
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  Speaker 1: inner world could no more conceive of such things than
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  Speaker 1: can we of the outer crust reduce to factors appreciable
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  Speaker 1: to our finite minds, such terms as space and eternity. Well, Jaw,
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  Speaker 1: I laughed, whether we be walking with our feet up
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  Speaker 1: or down, Here we are, and the question of greatest
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  Speaker 1: importance is not so much where we came from as
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  Speaker 1: where we are going. Now. For my part, I wish
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  Speaker 1: that you could guide me to Phutra, where I may
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  Speaker 1: give myself up to the Mahars once more, that my
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  Speaker 1: friends and I may work out the plan of escape
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  Speaker 1: which the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us together and
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  Speaker 1: drove us to the arena to witness the punishment of
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  Speaker 1: the slaves who killed the guardsmen. I wish now that
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  Speaker 1: I had not left the arena, for by this time
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  Speaker 1: my friends and I might have made Gudar escape, Whereas
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  Speaker 1: this delay may mean the wrecking of all our plans,
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  Speaker 1: which depended for their consummation upon the continued sleep of
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  Speaker 1: the three Mahars, who lay in the pit beneath the
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  Speaker 1: building in which we were confined. He would return to captivity,
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  Speaker 1: cried Ja. My friends are there, I replied, the only
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  Speaker 1: friends I have in Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may
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  Speaker 1: I do under the circumstances, He thought for a moment
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  Speaker 1: in silence. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. It is
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  Speaker 1: what a brave man and a good friend should do,
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  Speaker 1: he said. Yet it seems most foolish, for the Mahars
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  Speaker 1: will certainly condemn you to death for running away, and
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  Speaker 1: so you will be accomplishing nothing for your friends by returning.
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  Speaker 1: Never in all my life have I heard of a
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  Speaker 1: prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free will.
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  Speaker 1: There are but few who have escaped them, though some do,
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  Speaker 1: and these would rather die than be recaptured. I see
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  Speaker 1: no other way, Ja, I said, though I can assure
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  Speaker 1: you that I would rather go to Shiel after to
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  Speaker 1: Perry than to go to Phutra. However, Perry is much
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  Speaker 1: too pious to make the probability at all great that
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  Speaker 1: I should ever be called upon to rescue him from
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  Speaker 1: the former locality. JA asked me what sheol was, and
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  Speaker 1: when I explained as best I could, he said, you
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  Speaker 1: are speaking of molop As, the flaming sea upon which
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  Speaker 1: pellucid Our floats. All the dead who are buried in
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  Speaker 1: the ground go there. Piece by piece. They are carried
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  Speaker 1: down to molop Az by the little demons who dwell there.
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  Speaker 1: We know this because when graves are opened, we find
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  Speaker 1: that the bodies have been partially or entirely born off.
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  Speaker 1: That is why we of Anorok place our dead and
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  Speaker 1: high trees, where the birds may find them, and bear
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  Speaker 1: them bit by bit to the dead world above the
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  Speaker 1: land of awful shadow. If we kill an enemy, we
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  Speaker 1: place his body in the ground that it may go
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  Speaker 1: to molop As. As we talked, we had been locking
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  Speaker 1: up the canyon down which I had come to the
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  Speaker 1: great Ocean, and the scythic Ja did his best to
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  Speaker 1: dissuade me from returning to Phutra. But when he saw
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  Speaker 1: that I was determined to do so, he consents to
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  Speaker 1: guide me to a point from which I could see
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  Speaker 1: the plain where lay the city. To my surprise, the
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  Speaker 1: distance was but short from the beach where I had
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  Speaker 1: again met Jaw. It was evident that I had spent
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  Speaker 1: much time following the windings of a tortuous canyon, while
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  Speaker 1: just beyond the ridge lay the city of Phutra, near
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  Speaker 1: to which I must have come several times. As we
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  Speaker 1: topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting
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  Speaker 1: the flowered plain at our feet, Jaw made a final
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  Speaker 1: effort to persuade me to abandon my mad purpose and
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  Speaker 1: return with him to Anorok. But I was firm in
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  Speaker 1: my resolve, and at last he bid me good bye,
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  Speaker 1: assured in his own mind that he was looking upon
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  Speaker 1: me for the last time. I was sorry to part
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  Speaker 1: with Ja, for I had come to like him very much. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: with his hidden city upon the island of Anorok as
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  Speaker 1: a base and his savage warriors as escort, Perry and
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  Speaker 1: I could have accomplished much in the line of exploration,
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  Speaker 1: and I hoped that were we successful in our effort
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  Speaker 1: to escape, we might return to Anarok later. There was, however,
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  Speaker 1: one great thing to be accomplish. First, at least it
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  Speaker 1: was the great thing to me, the finding of Dian
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  Speaker 1: the Beautiful. I wanted to make amends for the affront
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  Speaker 1: I had put upon her in my ignorance, and I
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  Speaker 1: wanted to well. I wanted to see her again and
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  Speaker 1: to be with her. Down the hillside, I made my
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  Speaker 1: way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and then across
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  Speaker 1: the rolling land toward the shadowless columns that guard the
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  Speaker 1: ways to Buried Phutra. At a quarter mile from the
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  Speaker 1: nearest entrance, I was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and
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  Speaker 1: in an instant four of the guerrilla men were dashing
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  Speaker 1: toward me. Though they brandished their long spears and yelled
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  Speaker 1: like wild comanches, I paid not the slightest attention to them,
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  Speaker 1: walking quietly toward them, as though unaware of their existence.
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  Speaker 1: My manner had the effect upon them that I had hoped,
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  Speaker 1: and as we came quite near together, they ceased their
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  Speaker 1: savage shouting. It was evident that they had expected me
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  Speaker 1: to turn and flee at sight of them, thus presenting
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  Speaker 1: that which they most enjoyed, a moving human target at
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  Speaker 1: which to cast their spears. What do you do here? One?
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  Speaker 1: And then as he recognized me, Oh, it is the
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  Speaker 1: slave who claims to be from another world, he who
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  Speaker 1: escaped when the thag ran amok within the amphitheater. But
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  Speaker 1: why do you return? Having once made goodyear escape? I
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  Speaker 1: did not escape, I replied, but I ran away to
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  Speaker 1: avoid the Thag as did others, and coming into a
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  Speaker 1: long passage, I became confused and lost my way in
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  Speaker 1: the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my
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  Speaker 1: way back, and you come of your free will back
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  Speaker 1: to Phutra, exclaimed one of the guardsmen. Where else might
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  Speaker 1: I go? I asked? I am a stranger within Pellucidar
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  Speaker 1: and know no other where than Phutra. Why should I
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  Speaker 1: not desire to be in Phutra? Am I not well
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  Speaker 1: fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What better
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  Speaker 1: lot could man desire? The Sagoths scratched their heads. This
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  Speaker 1: was a new one on them, and so, being stupid brutes,
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  Speaker 1: they took me to their masters, whom they felt would
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  Speaker 1: be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: For riddle they still considered it. I had spoken to
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  Speaker 1: the Sagoths as I had, for the purpose of throwing
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  Speaker 1: them off the scent of my purpose to attack empted escape.
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  Speaker 1: If they thought that I was so satisfied with my
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  Speaker 1: lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily return when I
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  Speaker 1: had once had so excellent an opportunity to escape, they
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  Speaker 1: would never for an instant imagine that I could be
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  Speaker 1: occupied in arranging another escape immediately upon my return to
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  Speaker 1: the city. So they led me before a slimy mahar
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  Speaker 1: who clung to a slimy rock within a large room
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  Speaker 1: that was the thing's office. With cold reptilian eyes, the
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  Speaker 1: creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my
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  Speaker 1: deceit and read my inmost thoughts. It heeded the story
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  Speaker 1: which the Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, watching
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  Speaker 1: the guerrilla men's lips and fingers during the recital. Then
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  Speaker 1: it questioned me, through one of the sagoths, you say
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  Speaker 1: that you returned to Futra of your own free will
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  Speaker 1: because you think yourself better off here than elsewhere. Do
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  Speaker 1: you not know that you may be the next chosen
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  Speaker 1: to give up your life in the interests of the
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  Speaker 1: wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones are continually occupied with.
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  Speaker 1: I hadn't heard any thing of that nature, but I
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  Speaker 1: thought best not to admit it. I could be in
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  Speaker 1: no more danger here, I said, than naked and unarmed
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  Speaker 1: in the savage jungles or upon the lonely plains of Pellucidar.
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  Speaker 1: I was fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all.
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  Speaker 1: As it was, I barely escaped death within the jaws
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  Speaker 1: of a huge scythic. No, I am sure that I
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  Speaker 1: am safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such as
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  Speaker 1: rule Phutra. At least such would be the case in
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  Speaker 1: my own world, where human beings like myself rule supreme. There,
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  Speaker 1: the higher races of man extend protection and hospitality to
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  Speaker 1: the stranger within their gates, and being a stranger here
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: I naturally assumed that a like courtesy would be accorded me.
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  Speaker 1: The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: after I ceased speaking, and the sagoth had translated my
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  Speaker 1: words to his master. The creature seemed deep in thought.
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  Speaker 1: Presently he communicated some message to the Sagoth. The latter turned, and,
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  Speaker 1: motioning me to follow him, left, The presence of the
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: reptile behind, and on either side of me marched balance
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: of the guard. What are they going to do with me?
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  Speaker 1: I asked the fellow at my right. You are to
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: appear before the learned ones, who will question you regarding
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  Speaker 1: this strange world from which you say you come. After
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: a moment's silence, he turned to me again. Do you
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  Speaker 1: happen to know? He asked, what the Mahars do to
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  Speaker 1: slaves who lie to them? No, I replied, nor does
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  Speaker 1: it interest me, as I have no intention of lying
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  Speaker 1: to the Mahars. Then be careful that you don't repeat
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  Speaker 1: the impossible tale you told solto to Just now another world, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: where human beings rule, he concluded, in fine scorn, But
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  Speaker 1: it is the truth, I insisted. From where else then
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  Speaker 1: did I come? I am not of Pellucidar. Any one
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  Speaker 1: with half an eye could see that it is your misfortune.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Then he remarked dryly, that you may not be judged
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: by one with but half an eye. What will they
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  Speaker 1: do to me? I asked? If they do not have
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: a mind to believe me, you may be sentenced to
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the arena, or go to the pits to be used
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: in research work by the learned ones. He replied, And
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: what will they do to me there? I persisted? No
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: one knows except the Mahars and those who go to
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: the pits with them. But as the latter never return,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: their knowledge does them but little good. It is said
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: that the learned ones cut up their subjects while they
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: are yet alive, thus learning many useful things. However, I
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  Speaker 1: should not imagine that it would prove very useful to
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: him who was being cut up. But of course this
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: is all but conjecture. The chances are that ere long
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: you will know much more about it than I. And
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a well
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: developed sense of humor, and suppose it is the arena.
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  Speaker 1: I continued, what then, you saw the two who met
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: the Tarag and the Thag the time that you escaped.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: He said, Yes, your end in the arena would be
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: similar to what was intended for them, he explained, though
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: of course the same kinds of animals might not be employed.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: It is sure death in either event. I asked what
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: becomes of those who go below with the learned Ones.
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  Speaker 1: I do not know, nor does any other, he replied.
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  Speaker 1: But those who go to the arena may come out
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  Speaker 1: alive and thus regain their lips, as did the two
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  Speaker 1: whom you saw they gained their liberty, and how it
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: remain alive within the arena after the beasts depart or
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  Speaker 1: are killed. Thus it has happened that several mighty warriors
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  Speaker 1: from far distant lands, whom we have captured on our
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  Speaker 1: slave raids, have battled the brutes, turned in upon them,
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  Speaker 1: and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. In the instance
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: which you witnessed, the beasts killed each other, but the
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: result was the same. The man and women were liberated,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: the left shoulder of each a mark was burned, the
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: mark of the Mahars, which will forever protect these two
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: from slaving parties. There is a slender chance for me, then,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: if I be sent to the arena, and none at all,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: if the learned ones drag me to the pits. You
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: are quite right, he replied, But do not felicitate yourself
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: too quickly should you be sent to the arena, for
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: there is scarce one in a thousand who comes out alive.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: To my surprise, they returned me to the same building
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  Speaker 1: in which I had been confined with Perry and Ghak
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  Speaker 1: before my escape. At the doorway, I was turned over
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: to the guards. There he will doubtless be called before
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: the investigator, shortly said he who had brought me back,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: So have him in readiness. The guards in whose hands
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: I now found myself. Upon hearing that I had returned
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: of my own volition to Phutra, evidently felt that it
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: would be safe to give me liberty within the building,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: as had been the custom before I had escaped, And
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: so I was told to return to whatever duty had
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: been mine formerly. My first act was to hunt up Perry,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: whom I found pouring, as usual over the great tomes
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: that he was supposed to be merely dusting and rearranging
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: upon new shelves. As I entered the room, he glanced
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: up and nodded pleasantly to me, only to resume his
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: work as though I had never been away at all.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I was both astonished and hurt at his indifference, and
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: to think that I was risking death to return to
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: him purely from a sense of duty and affection. Why, Perry,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: I exclaimed, haven't you a word for me? After my
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: long absence? Long absence, he repeated, in evidence astonishment, what
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: do you mean, are you crazy? Perry? Do you mean
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: to say that you have not missed me since that
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: time we were separated by the charging thag within the
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: arena that time? He repeated, Why, Man, I have just
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: but returned from the arena. You reached here almost as
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: soon as I had. You been much later, I should
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: indeed have been worried. And as it is, I had
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: intended asking you about how you escaped the beast as
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: soon as I had completed the translation of this most
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: interesting passage. Perry, you are mad, I exclaimed, why. The
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Lord only knows how long I've been away. I've been
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: to other lands, discovered a new race of humans within Pellucidar,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: seen the Mahars at their worship in their hidden temple,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: and barely escaped with my life from them and from
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: great Labrinthodon that I met afterward, following my long and
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: tedious wanderings across an unknown world. I must have been
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: away for months, Parry, and now you barely look up
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: from your work when I return and insist that we
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: have been separated. But a moment, is that any way
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: to treat a friend. I'm surprised at you, Perry. And
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: if I had thought for a moment that you cared
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: no more for me than this. I should not have
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: returned to chance death at the hands of the Mahars
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: for your sake. The old man looked at me for
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: a long time before he spoke. There was a puzzled
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: expression upon his wrinkled face and a look of hurt
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: sorrow in his eyes. David, my boy, he said, how
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: could you for a moment doubt my love for you?
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: There is something strange here that I cannot understand. I
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: know that I am not mad, and I am equally
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: sure that you are not. But how in the world
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: are we to account for the strange hallucinations that each
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: of us seems to harbor Relative to the passage of
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: time since we last saw each other. You were positive
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: that months have gone by, while to me it seems
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: equally certain that not more than an hour ago I
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: sat beside you in the amphitheater. Can it be that
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: both of us are right and at the same time
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: both are wrong? First, tell me what time it is,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: and then maybe I can solve our problem. Do you
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: catch my meaning? I didn't, and said so, yes, continued
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: the old man, we are both right to me, bent
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: over my book. Here there has been no lapse of time.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: I have done little or nothing to waste my energies,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: and so have required neither food nor sleep. But you,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: on the contrary, have walked and fought and wasted strength
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by nutriment and food.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: And so, having eaten and slept many times since last
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: you saw me, you naturally measure the lapse of time
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: largely by these acts. As a matter of fact, David,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I am rapidly coming to the conviction that there is
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: no such thing as time. Surely there can be no
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: time here within Pellucidar, where there are no means for
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: measuring or recording time. Why the Mahars themselves take no
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: account of such a thing as time. I find here
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: in all their literary works but a single tense, the present.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: There seems to be neither past nor future with them.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Of course, it is impossible for our outer earthly minds
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: to grasp such a condition, but our recent experiences seem
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: to demonstrate its existence. It was too big a subject
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: for me, and I said so, But Perry seemed to
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: enjoy nothing better than speculating upon it. And after listening
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: with interest to my account of the adventures through which
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: I had passed. He returned once more to the subject,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: which he was enlarging upon with considerable fluency, when he
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: was interrupted by the entrance of a sagoth come commanded
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: the intruder, beckoning to me, the investigators would speak with you. Goodbye, Perry,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: I said, clasping the old man's hand. There may be
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: nothing but the present, and no such thing as time,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: But I feel that I am about to take a
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: trip into the hereafter, from which I shall never return.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: If you and Ghak should manage to escape, I want
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: you to promise me that you will find Diane the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Beautiful and tell her that with my last words, I
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: asked her forgiveness for the unintentional affront I put upon her,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: and that my one wish was to be spared long
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: enough to right the wrong that I had done. Her
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: tears came to Perry's eyes. I cannot believe but that
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: you will return, David, he said. It would be awful
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: to think of living out the balance of my life
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: without you among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: are taken away, I shall never escape, for I feel
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: that I am as well off here as I should
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: be anywhere within this buried world. Goodbye, my boy, goodbye.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: And then his old voice faltered and broke as he
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: hid his face in his hands. The Sagoth guardsman grasped
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: me roughly by the shoulder and hustled me from the chamber.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter ten.