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

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