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08 - Moon Maid by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Moon Maid

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Oakland, chapter six, A Fight and a Chance. After occupying
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the new village, Orthus and I were separated, he being
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: assigned a hut close to Govago, while I was placed
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: in another section of the village. If I could have
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: been said to have been on good terms with any
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: of the terrible creatures of the tribe, it was with
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the woman who had taught me the language of the Vagas,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: and it was from her that I learned why Orthus
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: was treated with such marked distinction a Gavago, whom it
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: seemed he had promised to lead to the land of
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: our origin, where he had assured the savage chieftain he
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: would find flesh in abundance. Na Illah was confined in
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: still another part of the village, and I only saw
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: her occasionally, for it was evident that Gavago wished to
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: keep the prisoners separated. Upon one occasion, when I met
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: her at the shore of the lake, I asked her
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: why it was that they had not slain and eaten her,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: and she told me that when Gavago had discovered an
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: identity and that her father was a Jemadar, a ruler
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: of a great city, he had sent messengers with an
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: offer to return Nah'illah for a ransom of one hundred
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: young women of the city of Laithe. Do you think
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: your father will send the ransom, I asked, I do
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: not know, she replied, I do not see how they
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: are going to get a message to him, For or
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: narrowly my race kills the vagas on sight. They may succeed, however,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: but even so it is possible that my father will
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: not send the ransom. I would not wish him to
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: the daughters of my father's people, are as dear to
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: them as am I to him. It would be wrong
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: to give a hundred of the daughters of Lathe in
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: return for one, even though she be the daughter of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the Jemadar. We had drunk and were returning toward our huts,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: when wishing to prolong our conversation and to be with
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: this pleasant companion while I might, I suggested that we
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: walk farther into the woods and gather fruit. Naillah signified
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: her willingness, and together we strolled out of the village
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: into the denser woods at its rear, where we found
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: a particularly delicious fruit growing in abundance. I gathered some
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: and offered it to her but she refused, thanking me,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: saying that she had but just eaten. Do they bring
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the fruit to you, I asked, or do you have
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: to come and gather it yourself? What fruit I get?
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: I gather, she replied, But they bring me flesh. It
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: is of that which I have just eaten, and so
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: I do not care for fruit. Now flesh, I exclaimed,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: What kind of flesh? The flesh of the vagas. Of course,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: she replied, what other flesh might Ayuga eat? I fear
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: that I ill concealed my surprise and disgusted at the
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: thought that the beautiful Nailah ate of the flesh of
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the vagas. You too, eat of the flesh of these creatures,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: I demanded, Why not, she asked, You eat flesh? Do
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: you not? In your own country? You told me that
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: you raise beasts solely for their flesh. Yes, I replied,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: that is true, But we eat only the flesh of
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: lower orders, who do not eat the flesh of humans.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: You mean that you do not eat the flesh of
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: your own species, she said, yes, I replied, that is
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: what I mean. Neither do I, she said, The Vagas
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: are not of the same species as the Yuga. They
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: are a lower order, just as are the creatures whose
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: flesh you eat in your own country. You have told
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: me of beef, and of mutton, and of pork, which
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: you have described as creatures that run about on fore
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: legs like the bagas. What is the difference then, between
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: the eating of the flesh of pork and beef or mutton,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: and the eating of babas, who are low creatures also,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: But they have human faces, I cried, and a spoken language.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: You had better learned to eat them, she said, otherwise
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: you will eat no flesh in vana. The more I
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: thought about it, the more reason I saw in her
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: point of view. She was right. She was no more
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: transgressing any natural law in eating the flesh of the
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: vagas than did we eating the flesh of cattle. To her,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: the vagas were less than cattle. They were dangerous and
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: hated enemies. The more I analyzed the thing, the more
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: it seemed to me that we humans of the earth
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: were more surely transgressing a natural labat devouring our domestic animals,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: many of which we learned to love, than were the
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: yuga Avana in devouring the flesh of their four footed foes.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: The vogas upon our earthly farms, we raised calves and
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: sheep and little pigs, And oftentimes we become greatly attached
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: to individuals, and they to us. We gain their confidence,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: and they have implicit trust in us. And yet when
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: they are of the right age, we slay and devour them.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Present it did not seem either wrong or unnatural that
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Nailla should eat the flesh of the Vagas, But as
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: for myself, I could never do it, nor ever did
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: We had left the forest and were returning to the
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: village to our huts, when near the large hut occupied
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: by Gavago, we came suddenly upon Orthos. At the sight
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: of us together, he scowled. If I were you, he
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: said to me, I would not associate with her too much.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: It may arouse the displeasure of Gavago. It was the
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: first time that Orthus had spoken to me since we
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: had occupied this village. I did not like his tone
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: or his manner. You will please to mind your own business, Orthus,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I said to him, and continued on with Nailah. I
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: saw the man's eyes narrow malignantly, and then he turned
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and entered the hut of Gabago. The chief of the Novans.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Every time I went to the river, I had to
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: pass in the vicinity of Nahila's hut. It was a
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: little out of my way, but I always made the
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: slight detour in the hope of meeting her. Though I
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: had never entered her hut nor called for her, since
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: she had never invited me, and realizing her position, I
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: did not wish to intrude. I was, of course ignorant
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: of the social customs of her people, and feared offending her. Accidentally,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: it chanced that the next time that I walked down
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: to the lake shore following our stroll in the woods,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: I made my usual detour that I might pass by
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: the hut of Na'ila. As I came near, I heard voices,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: one of which I recognized as that of Na'ilah, and
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the other a man's voice. The girl's tones were angry
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: and imperious. Leave my presence creature with the first words
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: that I could distinguish, and then the man's voice calm,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: He said, ingratiatingly, let us be friends, Come to my heart,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: and you will be safe. For Govgo is my friend.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: The voice was that of Orthus Go. She ordered him again,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: I would as soon lie with Gavago as with you. No,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: then cried Orthos angrily, that you will go whether you
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: wish it or not, for Gavago has given you to me. Come.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: And then he must have seized her, for I heard
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: her cry out, how dare you lay hands upon me?
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Na Yillah, Princess of Lathe. I was close beside the
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: entrance to the hut now, and I did not wait
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: to hear any more, but, thrusting the hanging aside, entered there.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: They were in the center of the single room, Orthus
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: struggling to drag the girl toward the opening, while she
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: resisted and struck at him. Orthos's back was toward me,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: and he did not know that there was another in
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: the hut until I had stepped up behind him, and,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: grasping him roughly by the shoulder, had jerked him from
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the girl and swung him about facing me. You, cad,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: I said, get out of here before I kick you out,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: and don't ever let me hear of you molesting this
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: girl Again. His eyes narrowed, and he looked at me
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: with an ugly light in them. Since boyhood, you have
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: cheated me out of all that I wished you ruined
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: my life on earth. But now conditions are reversed, the
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: tables are turned. Believe me, then when I tell you
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: that if you interfere with me, you sign your own
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: death warrant. It is only by my favor that you
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: live at all. If I gave the word, Gabago would
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: destroy you at once. Go then to your hut and
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: stop your meddling in the affairs of others, a habit
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: that you developed in a most flagrant degree on earth,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: but which will avail you nothing here within the moon.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: The woman is mine. Gabago has given her to me.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Even if her father should fail to send the ransom,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: her life shall be spared as long as I desire.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Your interference, then can only result in your death and
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: do her no good, for provided you are successful in
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: keeping me from her, you would be but condemning her
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: to death in the event that her father does not
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: send the ransom, and Gavago has told me that there
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: is little likelihood of that, since it is scarcely possible
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: that his messengers will be able to deliver Gavago's demands
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: to Sagroth. You have heard him, I said, turning to
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the girl, what are your wishes in the matter. Perhaps
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: he speaks the truth. I have no doubt but that
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: he speaks the truth, she replied, But no strangers that
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the honor of a princess of Lathe is dearer than
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: her life. Very well, Orthus, I said to the man
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: you'll heard her, Now get out. He was almost white
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: with anger, and for a moment I thought that he
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: was going to attack me, But he was ever a coward,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: and contenting himself with giving me a venomous look, he
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: walked from the hut without another word. I turned to
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Naylah after the hanging had dropped behind Orthos. It is
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: too bad, I said, that with all your suffering at
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the hands of the Vagas, you should also be annoyed
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: by one who is practically of your own species. Your
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: kindness more than compensates, she replied, graciously. You are a
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: brave man, and I am afraid that you are going
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: to suffer for your protection of me. This man is powerful.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: He has made wonderful promises to Govigo. He is going
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: to teach him how to use the strange weapons that
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: you brought from your own world. The woman who brings
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: me my meat told me all of this, and that
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: the tribe is much excited by the promises that your
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: friend has made to Govigo. He will teach them to
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: make the weapons such as you slew their warriors with,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: so that they will be invincible, and may go abroad
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: in Vana, slaying all who opposed them, and even raiding
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: the cities of the Yoga. He has told them that
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: he will lead them to the strange thing which brought
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: you from your world to Vana, and that there they
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: will find other weapons like those that you carried, and
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: having the noise which they make, and the things with
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: which they kill. All these, he says, they may have,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: and that later he will build other things such as
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: brought you from your world to Vana, and he will
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: take Gavago and all the Navans to what you call Earth.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: If there is any man in the universe who might
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: do it, it is he, i replied, But there is
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: little likelihood that he can do it. He is merely
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: deceiving Gavago in the hope of prolonging his own life
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: against the possibility that an opportunity to escape will develop,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: in which event he will return to our ship and
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: our friends. He is a bad man, though, Nailah, and
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: you must be careful of him. There is a vacant
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: hut near yours, and have a come and live in it.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: There is no use in asking Gavago, for he is
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: friendly with Orfice, and he will not permit me to
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: make the change. If you ever need me, call Julian
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: as loud as you can, and I will come. You
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: are very good, she said, You are like the better
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: men of Lathe, the high nobles of the court of
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the Jemadas. I drewth my father. They too are honorable
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: men to whom a woman may look for protection. But
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: there are no others in all Vana. Since the Kalkars
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: arose thousands of kels Ago and destroyed the power of
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: the nobles and the Jemadars, and all the civilization was Vana's.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Only in Lathe have we preserved as semblance of the
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: old order. I wish I might take you to Lathe,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: for there you would be safe and happy. You are
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: a brave man. It is strange that you are not married.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: I was on the point of making some reply when
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: the hangings at the doorway parted and an Ivan warrior entered.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Behind him were three others. They were walking erect with
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: drawn spears. Here he is, said the leader, and then
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: addressing me, Come why, I asked, What you want of me?
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Is it for you to question? He demanded. When Gavago
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: commands he has sent for me, I asked, come, repeated
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: the leader, And an instant later they had hooked their
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: spears about my arms and neck, and none too gently,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: they dragged me from the hut. I had something of
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: a presentiment that this was to be the end. At
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: the doorway, I half turned to glance back at the girl.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: She was standing, white eyed and tents washing, and dragged
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: me away. Good Bye, Julian, she said, we shall never
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: meet again, for there is none to carry our souls
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: to a new incarnation. We are not dead yet, I
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: called back, and remember, if you need me, call me.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: And then the hanging dropped behind us, and she was
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: shut off from my vision. They did not take me
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: to my own hut, but to another, not far distant
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: from Nauilas, and there they bound my hands and feet
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: with strips of leather and threw me upon the ground. Afterwards,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: they left me, dropping the hanging before the entrance. I
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: did not think that they would eat me, for Orthos
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: had joined with me in explaining to Gavigo and the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: others that our flesh was poisonous. And though they may
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: have questioned the veracity of our statements, nevertheless I was
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: quite sure that they would not risk the chance of
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: our having told the truth. The Vagas obtain their leather
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: by curing the heights of their dead. The better portions
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: they used with their trappings and harness. The other portions
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: they cut into thin strips, which they use in ee
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: of rope. Most of this is very strong, but some
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: of it is not, especially that which is improperly cured.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: The warriors who had been sent to seize me had
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: scarcely left the hut before I commenced working with my
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: bonds in an attempt to loosen or break them. I
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: exerted all my strength in the effort until I became
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: sure that those which held my hands were stretching. The effort, however,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: was very tiring, and I had to stop often at rest.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I do not know how long I worked at them,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: but it must have been a very long time before
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: I became convinced that however much they gave, they were
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: not going to break. Just what I intended to do
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: with my freedom, I do not know. Since there was
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: little or no chance that I might escape from the village.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Perpetual daylight has its disadvantages, and this was one of them.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: That there was no concealing nocturnal darkness during which I
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: might sneak away from the village unseen. As I lay
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: resting after my exertions, I suddenly became aware of a
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: strange moaning sound from without. And then the hut shook,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: and I realized that another storm had come. Soon after,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: I heard the beat of rain drops on the roof,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and then a staggering, deafening peal of lunar thunder. As
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the storm waxed in violence, I could imagine the terror
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: of the Novans, nor even in my plight could I
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: resist the desire to smile at their discomfiture. I knew
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: that they must all be hiding in their huts. And
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: again I renewed my efforts to break the bonds at
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: my wrists, but all to no avail. And then suddenly,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: above the moaning of the wind and the beating of
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: the rain, there came distinctly to my ears, in a clear,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: full voice, a single word, Julian Nailah. I thought, she
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: needs me? What are they doing to her? There flashed
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: quickly before my mental vision a dozen scenes, in each
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: of which I saw the divine figure of the Moon
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: made the victim of some fiendish brutality. Now she was
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: being devoured by Cavago. Now some of the females were
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: tearing her to pieces, and again the warriors were piercing
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: that beautiful skin with their cruel spears. Or it was
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Orphus come to claim Gavago's gift. It was this last thought,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I think, which turned me almost mad, giving to my
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: muscles the strength of a dozen men. I have always
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: been accounted a powerful man. But in the instant that
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: sweet voice came across the storm to find me, and
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: my imagination pictured her in the clutches of Orthis. Something
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: within moved me to herculean efforts, far transcending aught that
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: I had previously achieved, as though they had been cotton twine.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Now the leather bonds at my wrists snapped asunder, and
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: an instant later those at my ankles were torn away,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: and I was upon my feet. I sprang to the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: door and into the open, where I found myself in
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: a maelstrom of wind and rain. In two bounds, I
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: had cleared the space between the hut in which I
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: had been confined, and that occupied by Na'illah had torn
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: the hanging aside and had sprung into the interior, And
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: there I beheld the materialization of my last vision. There
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: was Orthus, one arm about the slender body of the girl,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: pinning her arms close to her side, while his other
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: hand was at her throat, choking her and pressing her
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: slowly backward across his knees toward the ground. He was
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: facing the door this time and saw me enter, and
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: as he realized who I was, he hurled the girl
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: roughly from him and rose to meet me. For once
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: in his life, he seemed to know no fear, and
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I think that, what with his passion for the girl
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: and the hatred he felt for me, and the rage
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: that my interference must have engendered, he was momentarily insane.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: For he suddenly leaped upon me like a madman, and
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: for an instant I came near going down beneath his blows,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: but only for an instant, and then I caught him
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: heavily upon the chin with my left fist, and again
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: full in the face with my right, And though he
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: was a splendid boxer, he was helpless in my hands.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Neither of us had a weapon, or one of us
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: certainly would have been killed in short order. As it was,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: I tried to kill him with my bare fists. And
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: at last, when he had fallen for a dozen time,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: and I had picked him up and held him upon
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: his feet and struck him repeatedly, again and again, he
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: no longer moved. I was sure that he was dead.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: And it was with a feeling of relief and of
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: satisfaction in a duty well performed, that I looked down
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: upon his lifeless body. Then I turned to Nailah, Come,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I said, there has been given to us this chance
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: for escape. Never again may such a fortuitous combination of
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: circumstances arise. The Bagas will be hiding in their huts,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: crouching in terror of the storm. I do not know
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: whither we may fly, but wherever it be, we can
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: be in no greater danger than we are here. She
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: shuddered a little at the thought of going out into
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the terrors of the storm, Though not so fearful of
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: it as the ignorant Vagas, she still feared the wrap
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: of the elements, as to all the inhabitants of Vana.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: But she did not hesitate, and As I stretched out
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: a hand, she placed one of hers within it, and
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: together we stepped out into the swirling rain and wind.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter seven, recording by Thomas Copeland,