September 24, 2025 • 19 mins
In Jewels of Aptor, Samuel R. Delanys debut novel from 1962, we are transported to a world centuries after a devastating nuclear holocaust known as the Great Fire. Here, a young woman embarks on a quest for her destiny, aided by a mysterious four-armed youth. This captivating tale serves as a prologue to Delanys subsequent work, Captives of the Flame. (Summary by BellonaTimes)
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter six of the Jewels of Aptur by Samuel R. Delany.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Reading by Maperard.
Chapter six. Geo rolled over and out of sleep stones
and moss beneath his shoulder. He grabbed his hord and
(00:24):
was on his feet instantly. Yenni was also standing with
raised blade. The river sloshed coldly behind them. The thin
screaming came again, like a hot wire drawn down the
jellied morning. Snake and Urson were also up. Now The
sounds came from the direction of the ruined barracks. Gea
(00:46):
started forward cautiously, curiosity drawing him toward the sound, fear
sending him from the relatively unprotected bank and into the woods.
The others followed him abruptly. They reached the edge of
the forest wall, beyond which was the clear space before
the broken building. They crouched now behind the trees, watching
(01:10):
fascinated between Ape and man. It hovered at the edge
of the forest in the shadow. It was Snake's height,
but more of Urson's build. An animal pelt wrapped its
metal and went over its shoulder, clothing it more fully
than either of the four humans were clothed, thick footed,
right handed, it loped four steps into the clearing, uttered
(01:34):
its piercing shriek, and fell on a hunk of flesh
that last night's beasts had dropped from the sky. Its
head rocked back and forth as it tore at its food.
Once it raised its head, and a sliver of flesh
shook from its teeth, before the face dropped again to devour.
They watched the huge fingers upon broad flat palms, tipped
(01:59):
with bronze colored claws, convulse again and again reflexibly into
the gray, fibrous meat, while the fanged mouth ripped. Whether
it was a shift of breeze or a final reflex,
GEO couldn't tell. But one of the membranus sails raised
darkly and beat about the oblivious animal that fed on
(02:21):
its corpse. Come ersuon said let's go. A thin scream
sounded behind them, and they whirled. It crouched aepishly. The
bronze clawed fingers opened and closed like breathing, and the
shaggy head was knotted with dirt and twigs. The breath
hissed from the faintly moving full lips. Erson reached for
(02:45):
his sword, but Yemmy saw him and whispered, now dount
The Negro extended his hand and moved slowly forward. The
hulking form took a step back and mewed. Geo suddenly
caught the idea coming up beside Yemmi. He made a
quick series of snaps with his fingers and said, in
(03:06):
a coaxing baby voice. Come, Come, Come, he laughed softly
to Urson back over his shoulder. It won't hurt us,
he said, if we don't at it, added Yimmy. It's
some sort of necrofagh a. What, asked Urson. It only
(03:27):
eats dead things, Geo explained. They're mentioned in some of
the old legends. Apparently after the Great Fire, so the
story goes, there were more of these things around than
anything else. He had leaptar, though they became extinct. Come here, Katy, said, YIMMI,
nice little, sweet, little pretty little thing. It mewed again,
(03:51):
bowed its head, came over and rubbed against Yemi's hip.
Smells like hell, the Negro observed, scratching behind his ear.
Watch out the big Boy. The beasts gave a particularly
affectionate rubb that almost upset Jimmy's balance. Leave your pet alone,
said person, and let's get going. Geo patted the ape
(04:15):
like skull. So long, beautiful, he said. They turned toward
the river again. As they emerged on the rocky bank,
Geo said, well, at least we know we have seven
days to get to the Temple of Hama and out again.
What do you mean, asked Jimmy. Don't you remember the
(04:37):
dream back on the ship? Who was thinking that, asked Jimmy.
George the first mate, he makes everybody look dead. I
thought I was having a nightmare. I could hardly recognize
the captain. You see, one reason for believing he's a
spy because of the way he sees things again, he
(04:58):
smiled a poet reason, I'm afraid, but I see the
thin shriek sounded behind them, and they turned to see
the hooking form crouched on the rocks above them. Uh oh,
said Person, there's your cute friend. I hope we haven't
picked up, but tag along for the rest of the trip.
(05:20):
It looked down over the rocks and stopped just before them.
What's it got, Jimmy asked, I can't tell, said Geo.
Reaching into the bib of its animal skin, it brought
out a gray hunk of meat and held it toward them.
Jemmy laughed breakfast he said that, demanded urson. Can you
(05:46):
suggest anything better, Jeo asked. He took the meat from
the beast's claws. Thanks gorgeous, It turned, looked back and
bounded up the back and into the forest again. With
fire from the jewel wuells and wooden spits from the woods,
they soon had the meat crackling and brown, and the
grease bubbling down its sides and hissing onto the hot
(06:08):
stones they had used to rim the flame. Person sat apart, sniffed,
and then moved closer, and finally scratched his big fingers
through his hairy's stomach and said, damn it, I'm hungry.
They made room for him at the fire without comment.
Sun struck the tops of the trees for the first
time that morning, and a moment later splashed copper in
(06:32):
concentric curves on the water by the rock's edge. Standing
it further with dull gold, it seemed to know, you'll
wail around awfully well. Have ye ever been on Abda
befal Yimmy asked Snake. Suddenly, Snake paused for a moment
then he nodded slowly. They were all silent now. Finally
(06:56):
Geo asked, what made you ask that something in your
first theory? Jimmy said, I've been thinking it for some time,
and I guess you knew I was thinking it too.
Four arms. You thought Geordie wanted to get rid of me, Whitey,
and Snake, and that it was just an accident that
he caught Whitey first instead of Snape. You thought he
(07:19):
wanted to get rid of Whitey and me because of
something we'd seen or might have seen when we were
on Aptor with Argo. I just thought perhaps he wanted
to get rid of Snake for the same reason, which
meant he might have been on apdoor before too. Geordy
was on apdoor before, said Urson. You said that's when
(07:41):
he became a spy for them. They all turned to Snake,
who stood quietly. I don't think we ought to ask
him any more questions, said Jimmy. The answers aren't going
to do us any good, and no matter what we
find out, we've got a job to do, and seven now,
six and a half days to do it in Snake
(08:03):
quietly handed the metal chin with the pendent jewel backed
in Yimmy. The dark man put it around his neck
once more, and they turned up the river. By twelve,
the sun had parched the sky. Once they stopped to
swim and cool themselves. Chill water gave before reaching arms
and lowered faces. They even dove in search of their
(08:27):
aquatic helpers, but grubbed the pebbly bottom of the river
with blind fingers, instead, coming up with dripping twigs and
smooth wet stones. Soon they were in a splashing match,
of which it is rare to say. Snake won hands down.
Hunger thrust its sharp finger into their abdomens once more.
(08:49):
Only a mile on. Maybe we should have saved some
of that stuff from breakfast, muttered Erson. Jimmy suddenly broke
away from the bank toward the forest. Come on, he said,
let's get some faith. The building they suddenly came upon
had tongues of moss licking twenty two fifty feet up
(09:12):
the loosely mortared stones. A hundred yards from the water.
The jungle came right to its edges. The whole edifice
had sunk a bit to one side in the boggy soil.
It was a far more stolid and primitive structure than
the barracks. They scraped and hacked in front of the entrance,
where two great columns of stone six feet across at
(09:35):
the base, rose fifty feet to a supported arch. The
stones of the building were rough and unfinished. It's a temple,
Geo suddenly said, and again they fell back to work.
What spots of light spilled through the twisted nut of
jungle stopped at the total shadow beneath the great arch.
(09:58):
A line of blackness up one side of the basal
door showed that it was ajar. Now they mounted the steps,
moving aside a fallen branch, which chattered leaves at them.
Geo Yemming. Then snake had at last Urson squeezed through
the door. Ceiling blocks had fallen from the high vault,
(10:20):
so that three shafts of sun struck through the continual
shift of dust to the littered floor. Do ye think
it's homus temple? Urson asked. His voice came back in
the stone room, small and hollow. I doubt it, said Jimmy,
At least not the one we're supposed to find. Maybe
it's an abandoned one, said Geo, and we can find
(10:43):
out something useful from it, something large and dark suddenly
flapped through a far shaft of sun. They stepped back.
After a moment of silence, Jeo handed his jewel to Snake.
Make some light in here, he said. The blue green
glow flowed from the upraised jewel in Snake's hand. As
the light flared and flared brighter, they saw that the
(11:06):
flapping had come from a medium sized bird that was
perched harmlessly on an arch that ran between two columns.
It ducked its head at them, cawed harshly, and then
flapped from its perch and out one of the apertures
in the ceiling, the sound of its wings still thrumbing
and echo seconds after it was gone. There were doors
(11:30):
between the columns, and one far wall had not withstood
time's sledge. A gaping rent was nearly blocked with vines,
except for a dim green tinted shimmer that broke in
here and there through the uneven foliage. Behind a twisted
metal rail and raised on steps of stone, the ruins
(11:50):
of a huge statue sat carved from black rock. It
represented a man seated cross legged on a dais. An
arm and shoulder had broken off and lay in pieces
on the altar steps. The hand, its fingers as thick
as Ersuon's thigh, lay just behind the altar rail. The
(12:12):
head was completely missing. Both the hand still on the
statue and the one in front of them on the
steps looked as though they had once held something, but
whatever it was had been removed. Jimmy was moving along
the rail to where a set of stone boxes were
placed like footstones along the side of the altar. Here, Snake,
(12:35):
he called, bring a light over hill. Snape obeyed, and
with Geo's and Urson's help, he loosened one of the lids.
What's in there, Urson asked, Books, said Jimmy, lifting out
one dusty volume. Geo peered over his shoulder while the
dark fingers turned the pages Our rituals. Jimmy said, look ye,
(13:01):
and he pointed to one of them. You can still
read them. Let me see, Geo said, you know, I
studied with Edno at the University of ortse ar one.
Jemmy looked up and laughed, ha ha, I thought some
of your ideas sounded familiar. I was a pupil of Wells.
(13:22):
You were at Aussie Allan two, Geo asked. Aha said
Jemmy turning the pages I signed aboard this ship as
a summer job. If I'd known where we'd end up,
I don't think I'd have gone, though stomach pangs were forgotten.
These rituals are not at all like those of the Goddess,
(13:45):
Jimmy observed, apparently not agreed Geo. Wait, Jemmy had been
turning pages at random. Look there, Geo pointed, What is it?
Jimmy asked? The lines Geo said, the ones Argo recited.
He read out aloud. Forked in the heart of the
(14:06):
dark oak, the circlet of his sash rimmed, where the
eye of Hama broke with fire, smoke and ash, freeze
the drop in the hand, and break the earth with
singing hail. The height of a man and also the
height of a woman. The eyes have imprisoned a vision.
The ash tree dribbles with blood thrust from the gates
(14:29):
of the prison, smear the yew tree with mud. It's
the other version of the palm I found in the
pre Purge rituals of Argo. I wonder if there were
any more palms in the old rituals of Leptar. The
parallel those of Aptor and Hama probably, Yemi said, especially
if the first invasion from Apta took place just before
(14:53):
and probably cost the purges. What about food, Urson suddenly asked,
from where he now sat on the altar steps. You
two scholars are the rest of time to argue, but
we may starve before you can enjoy the leisure. He's right,
said Yemmy. Besides, we have to get going. Would you
(15:14):
two consider it an imposition to set your minds to
procuring us on food? Person asked, Wait a minute, Yemmy asked.
Here's a section on the burial of the dead. Yes,
I thought so, he read out aloud. Now sink the
bright dead with misgiving from the half light of the living.
(15:36):
What does that mean? Asked Ursa. It means that the
dead are buried with all the couterments of the living.
That means that they put food in the graves over here,
cried Jimmy, with snack following it came to the row
of sealed doors behind the columns along the wall. Yimmy
(15:57):
looked at the inscription, don't he reported? He turned the
handles a double set of rings, which he twisted in
opposite directions in an out uncared for temple like this.
The lock mechanisms must have rusted by now, if they
are at all like the ancient Thames of Laptop. Have
(16:18):
you studied the ancient timbs, asked Geo excitedly. Professor Idno
always considered them a waste of time. That's all, wellis
Ebba talked about laughed, yimy here uss ack, you set
a back to this. A moment, grumbling Ursul came forward,
took the rings and twisted. One snapped off in his hand.
(16:40):
The other gave with a crumbling sound inside the door.
I think that does it, Yemmy said. They all helped
pull now, and suddenly the door gave an inch, and
then on the next tug swung free snake preceded them
into the tiny stone cell. On a rock table. Lying
(17:00):
on its side was a bald, shriveled, sexless body. Around
the floor were a few sealed jars, heaps of parchment,
and a few piles of ornaments. Jimmy moved among the jars.
The one has grain, he said, give me a hand.
Jele helped him lug the big pottery vessel to the door. Suddenly,
(17:23):
a thin shriek scarred the dusty air, and both boys stumbled.
The jar hit the ground, split and grain heaped over
the floor. The shriek came again. Jea saw there on
the edge of the broken wall across the temple from them,
five of the apelike figures crouched before the thickly shingled leaves,
(17:45):
just visible in the uneven light. One leapt from the
wall now and ran wailing across the littered temple floor
straight for the door of the tomb. Two others followed,
and then two others. Moore had mounted the broken ridge
of stone. Only a greenish rectangle of light fell through
(18:05):
the tomb's door. As the loping forms burst into the room,
One and then its two companions, claws and teeth closed
on the shriveled skin. The body rolled beneath the ripping
hands and mouths. For one arm swept into the air
above their lowered heads and humped backs. It fell on
(18:27):
the edge of the rock table, broke at the mid forearm,
and the skeletal hand fell to the floor, shattering like
china into a dozen pieces. They backed to the temple door.
Then they turned and ran down the temple steps. The
sunlight on the broad rocks touched them. They became still
breathed deeply. They walked quietly. Hunger returned slowly after that,
(18:51):
and occasionally one would look aside into the faces of
the others, in attempt to identify the horror that still
pulsed behind their eyes. End of Chapter six
Chapter six of the Jewels of Aptur by Samuel R. Delany.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Reading by Maperard.
Chapter six. Geo rolled over and out of sleep stones
and moss beneath his shoulder. He grabbed his hord and
(00:24):
was on his feet instantly. Yenni was also standing with
raised blade. The river sloshed coldly behind them. The thin
screaming came again, like a hot wire drawn down the
jellied morning. Snake and Urson were also up. Now The
sounds came from the direction of the ruined barracks. Gea
(00:46):
started forward cautiously, curiosity drawing him toward the sound, fear
sending him from the relatively unprotected bank and into the woods.
The others followed him abruptly. They reached the edge of
the forest wall, beyond which was the clear space before
the broken building. They crouched now behind the trees, watching
(01:10):
fascinated between Ape and man. It hovered at the edge
of the forest in the shadow. It was Snake's height,
but more of Urson's build. An animal pelt wrapped its
metal and went over its shoulder, clothing it more fully
than either of the four humans were clothed, thick footed,
right handed, it loped four steps into the clearing, uttered
(01:34):
its piercing shriek, and fell on a hunk of flesh
that last night's beasts had dropped from the sky. Its
head rocked back and forth as it tore at its food.
Once it raised its head, and a sliver of flesh
shook from its teeth, before the face dropped again to devour.
They watched the huge fingers upon broad flat palms, tipped
(01:59):
with bronze colored claws, convulse again and again reflexibly into
the gray, fibrous meat, while the fanged mouth ripped. Whether
it was a shift of breeze or a final reflex,
GEO couldn't tell. But one of the membranus sails raised
darkly and beat about the oblivious animal that fed on
(02:21):
its corpse. Come ersuon said let's go. A thin scream
sounded behind them, and they whirled. It crouched aepishly. The
bronze clawed fingers opened and closed like breathing, and the
shaggy head was knotted with dirt and twigs. The breath
hissed from the faintly moving full lips. Erson reached for
(02:45):
his sword, but Yemmy saw him and whispered, now dount
The Negro extended his hand and moved slowly forward. The
hulking form took a step back and mewed. Geo suddenly
caught the idea coming up beside Yemmi. He made a
quick series of snaps with his fingers and said, in
(03:06):
a coaxing baby voice. Come, Come, Come, he laughed softly
to Urson back over his shoulder. It won't hurt us,
he said, if we don't at it, added Yimmy. It's
some sort of necrofagh a. What, asked Urson. It only
(03:27):
eats dead things, Geo explained. They're mentioned in some of
the old legends. Apparently after the Great Fire, so the
story goes, there were more of these things around than
anything else. He had leaptar, though they became extinct. Come here, Katy, said, YIMMI,
nice little, sweet, little pretty little thing. It mewed again,
(03:51):
bowed its head, came over and rubbed against Yemi's hip.
Smells like hell, the Negro observed, scratching behind his ear.
Watch out the big Boy. The beasts gave a particularly
affectionate rubb that almost upset Jimmy's balance. Leave your pet alone,
said person, and let's get going. Geo patted the ape
(04:15):
like skull. So long, beautiful, he said. They turned toward
the river again. As they emerged on the rocky bank,
Geo said, well, at least we know we have seven
days to get to the Temple of Hama and out again.
What do you mean, asked Jimmy. Don't you remember the
(04:37):
dream back on the ship? Who was thinking that, asked Jimmy.
George the first mate, he makes everybody look dead. I
thought I was having a nightmare. I could hardly recognize
the captain. You see, one reason for believing he's a
spy because of the way he sees things again, he
(04:58):
smiled a poet reason, I'm afraid, but I see the
thin shriek sounded behind them, and they turned to see
the hooking form crouched on the rocks above them. Uh oh,
said Person, there's your cute friend. I hope we haven't
picked up, but tag along for the rest of the trip.
(05:20):
It looked down over the rocks and stopped just before them.
What's it got, Jimmy asked, I can't tell, said Geo.
Reaching into the bib of its animal skin, it brought
out a gray hunk of meat and held it toward them.
Jemmy laughed breakfast he said that, demanded urson. Can you
(05:46):
suggest anything better, Jeo asked. He took the meat from
the beast's claws. Thanks gorgeous, It turned, looked back and
bounded up the back and into the forest again. With
fire from the jewel wuells and wooden spits from the woods,
they soon had the meat crackling and brown, and the
grease bubbling down its sides and hissing onto the hot
(06:08):
stones they had used to rim the flame. Person sat apart, sniffed,
and then moved closer, and finally scratched his big fingers
through his hairy's stomach and said, damn it, I'm hungry.
They made room for him at the fire without comment.
Sun struck the tops of the trees for the first
time that morning, and a moment later splashed copper in
(06:32):
concentric curves on the water by the rock's edge. Standing
it further with dull gold, it seemed to know, you'll
wail around awfully well. Have ye ever been on Abda
befal Yimmy asked Snake. Suddenly, Snake paused for a moment
then he nodded slowly. They were all silent now. Finally
(06:56):
Geo asked, what made you ask that something in your
first theory? Jimmy said, I've been thinking it for some time,
and I guess you knew I was thinking it too.
Four arms. You thought Geordie wanted to get rid of me, Whitey,
and Snake, and that it was just an accident that
he caught Whitey first instead of Snape. You thought he
(07:19):
wanted to get rid of Whitey and me because of
something we'd seen or might have seen when we were
on Aptor with Argo. I just thought perhaps he wanted
to get rid of Snake for the same reason, which
meant he might have been on apdoor before too. Geordy
was on apdoor before, said Urson. You said that's when
(07:41):
he became a spy for them. They all turned to Snake,
who stood quietly. I don't think we ought to ask
him any more questions, said Jimmy. The answers aren't going
to do us any good, and no matter what we
find out, we've got a job to do, and seven now,
six and a half days to do it in Snake
(08:03):
quietly handed the metal chin with the pendent jewel backed
in Yimmy. The dark man put it around his neck
once more, and they turned up the river. By twelve,
the sun had parched the sky. Once they stopped to
swim and cool themselves. Chill water gave before reaching arms
and lowered faces. They even dove in search of their
(08:27):
aquatic helpers, but grubbed the pebbly bottom of the river
with blind fingers, instead, coming up with dripping twigs and
smooth wet stones. Soon they were in a splashing match,
of which it is rare to say. Snake won hands down.
Hunger thrust its sharp finger into their abdomens once more.
(08:49):
Only a mile on. Maybe we should have saved some
of that stuff from breakfast, muttered Erson. Jimmy suddenly broke
away from the bank toward the forest. Come on, he said,
let's get some faith. The building they suddenly came upon
had tongues of moss licking twenty two fifty feet up
(09:12):
the loosely mortared stones. A hundred yards from the water.
The jungle came right to its edges. The whole edifice
had sunk a bit to one side in the boggy soil.
It was a far more stolid and primitive structure than
the barracks. They scraped and hacked in front of the entrance,
where two great columns of stone six feet across at
(09:35):
the base, rose fifty feet to a supported arch. The
stones of the building were rough and unfinished. It's a temple,
Geo suddenly said, and again they fell back to work.
What spots of light spilled through the twisted nut of
jungle stopped at the total shadow beneath the great arch.
(09:58):
A line of blackness up one side of the basal
door showed that it was ajar. Now they mounted the steps,
moving aside a fallen branch, which chattered leaves at them.
Geo Yemming. Then snake had at last Urson squeezed through
the door. Ceiling blocks had fallen from the high vault,
(10:20):
so that three shafts of sun struck through the continual
shift of dust to the littered floor. Do ye think
it's homus temple? Urson asked. His voice came back in
the stone room, small and hollow. I doubt it, said Jimmy,
At least not the one we're supposed to find. Maybe
it's an abandoned one, said Geo, and we can find
(10:43):
out something useful from it, something large and dark suddenly
flapped through a far shaft of sun. They stepped back.
After a moment of silence, Jeo handed his jewel to Snake.
Make some light in here, he said. The blue green
glow flowed from the upraised jewel in Snake's hand. As
the light flared and flared brighter, they saw that the
(11:06):
flapping had come from a medium sized bird that was
perched harmlessly on an arch that ran between two columns.
It ducked its head at them, cawed harshly, and then
flapped from its perch and out one of the apertures
in the ceiling, the sound of its wings still thrumbing
and echo seconds after it was gone. There were doors
(11:30):
between the columns, and one far wall had not withstood
time's sledge. A gaping rent was nearly blocked with vines,
except for a dim green tinted shimmer that broke in
here and there through the uneven foliage. Behind a twisted
metal rail and raised on steps of stone, the ruins
(11:50):
of a huge statue sat carved from black rock. It
represented a man seated cross legged on a dais. An
arm and shoulder had broken off and lay in pieces
on the altar steps. The hand, its fingers as thick
as Ersuon's thigh, lay just behind the altar rail. The
(12:12):
head was completely missing. Both the hand still on the
statue and the one in front of them on the
steps looked as though they had once held something, but
whatever it was had been removed. Jimmy was moving along
the rail to where a set of stone boxes were
placed like footstones along the side of the altar. Here, Snake,
(12:35):
he called, bring a light over hill. Snape obeyed, and
with Geo's and Urson's help, he loosened one of the lids.
What's in there, Urson asked, Books, said Jimmy, lifting out
one dusty volume. Geo peered over his shoulder while the
dark fingers turned the pages Our rituals. Jimmy said, look ye,
(13:01):
and he pointed to one of them. You can still
read them. Let me see, Geo said, you know, I
studied with Edno at the University of ortse ar one.
Jemmy looked up and laughed, ha ha, I thought some
of your ideas sounded familiar. I was a pupil of Wells.
(13:22):
You were at Aussie Allan two, Geo asked. Aha said
Jemmy turning the pages I signed aboard this ship as
a summer job. If I'd known where we'd end up,
I don't think I'd have gone, though stomach pangs were forgotten.
These rituals are not at all like those of the Goddess,
(13:45):
Jimmy observed, apparently not agreed Geo. Wait, Jemmy had been
turning pages at random. Look there, Geo pointed, What is it?
Jimmy asked? The lines Geo said, the ones Argo recited.
He read out aloud. Forked in the heart of the
(14:06):
dark oak, the circlet of his sash rimmed, where the
eye of Hama broke with fire, smoke and ash, freeze
the drop in the hand, and break the earth with
singing hail. The height of a man and also the
height of a woman. The eyes have imprisoned a vision.
The ash tree dribbles with blood thrust from the gates
(14:29):
of the prison, smear the yew tree with mud. It's
the other version of the palm I found in the
pre Purge rituals of Argo. I wonder if there were
any more palms in the old rituals of Leptar. The
parallel those of Aptor and Hama probably, Yemi said, especially
if the first invasion from Apta took place just before
(14:53):
and probably cost the purges. What about food, Urson suddenly asked,
from where he now sat on the altar steps. You
two scholars are the rest of time to argue, but
we may starve before you can enjoy the leisure. He's right,
said Yemmy. Besides, we have to get going. Would you
(15:14):
two consider it an imposition to set your minds to
procuring us on food? Person asked, Wait a minute, Yemmy asked.
Here's a section on the burial of the dead. Yes,
I thought so, he read out aloud. Now sink the
bright dead with misgiving from the half light of the living.
(15:36):
What does that mean? Asked Ursa. It means that the
dead are buried with all the couterments of the living.
That means that they put food in the graves over here,
cried Jimmy, with snack following it came to the row
of sealed doors behind the columns along the wall. Yimmy
(15:57):
looked at the inscription, don't he reported? He turned the
handles a double set of rings, which he twisted in
opposite directions in an out uncared for temple like this.
The lock mechanisms must have rusted by now, if they
are at all like the ancient Thames of Laptop. Have
(16:18):
you studied the ancient timbs, asked Geo excitedly. Professor Idno
always considered them a waste of time. That's all, wellis
Ebba talked about laughed, yimy here uss ack, you set
a back to this. A moment, grumbling Ursul came forward,
took the rings and twisted. One snapped off in his hand.
(16:40):
The other gave with a crumbling sound inside the door.
I think that does it, Yemmy said. They all helped
pull now, and suddenly the door gave an inch, and
then on the next tug swung free snake preceded them
into the tiny stone cell. On a rock table. Lying
(17:00):
on its side was a bald, shriveled, sexless body. Around
the floor were a few sealed jars, heaps of parchment,
and a few piles of ornaments. Jimmy moved among the jars.
The one has grain, he said, give me a hand.
Jele helped him lug the big pottery vessel to the door. Suddenly,
(17:23):
a thin shriek scarred the dusty air, and both boys stumbled.
The jar hit the ground, split and grain heaped over
the floor. The shriek came again. Jea saw there on
the edge of the broken wall across the temple from them,
five of the apelike figures crouched before the thickly shingled leaves,
(17:45):
just visible in the uneven light. One leapt from the
wall now and ran wailing across the littered temple floor
straight for the door of the tomb. Two others followed,
and then two others. Moore had mounted the broken ridge
of stone. Only a greenish rectangle of light fell through
(18:05):
the tomb's door. As the loping forms burst into the room,
One and then its two companions, claws and teeth closed
on the shriveled skin. The body rolled beneath the ripping
hands and mouths. For one arm swept into the air
above their lowered heads and humped backs. It fell on
(18:27):
the edge of the rock table, broke at the mid forearm,
and the skeletal hand fell to the floor, shattering like
china into a dozen pieces. They backed to the temple door.
Then they turned and ran down the temple steps. The
sunlight on the broad rocks touched them. They became still
breathed deeply. They walked quietly. Hunger returned slowly after that,
(18:51):
and occasionally one would look aside into the faces of
the others, in attempt to identify the horror that still
pulsed behind their eyes. End of Chapter six
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