Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eighteen of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs,
Chapter eighteen, Chained in Warhoon, It must have been several
hours before I regained consciousness, and I well remember the
feeling of surprise which swept over me as I realized
that I was not dead. I was lying among a
(00:20):
pile of sleeping silks and furs, in a corner of
a small room in which were several green warriors, and
bending over me was an ancient and ugly female. As
I opened my eyes, she turned to one of the warriors,
saying he will live. O jed tis Well replied the
one so addressed, rising and approaching my couch, he should
(00:42):
render rare sport for the great Games. And now, as
my eyes fell upon him, I saw that he was
no Thark, for his ornaments and metal were not of
that horde. He was a huge fellow, terribly scarred about
the face and chest, and with one broken tusk and
a missing strapped on either breast were human skulls, and
(01:04):
depending from these a number of dried human hands. His
reference to the Great Games of which I had heard
so much while among the Tharks, convinced me that I
had but jumped from burgatory into Gehenna. After a few
more words with the female, during which she assured him
that I was now fully fit to travel, the Jed
(01:24):
ordered that we mount and ride after the main column.
I was strapped securely to as wild and unmanageable a
thoat as I had ever seen, and with a mounted
warrior on either side to prevent the beast from bolting,
we rode forth at a furious pace in pursuit of
the column.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
My wounds gave me but little pain. So wonderfully and
rapidly had the applications and injections of the female exercised
their therapeutic powers, and so deftly had she bound and
plastered the injuries. Just before dark we reached the main
body of troops shortly after they had made camp. I
was immediately taken before the leader, who proved to be
(02:04):
the Jeddak of the hordes of Warhoun. Like the Jed
who had brought me, he was frightfully scarred, and also
decorated with the breastplate of human skulls and dried dead hands,
which seemed to mark all the greater warriors among the Warhoons,
as well as to indicate their awful ferocity, which greatly
transcends even that of the Tharks. The Jeddak bar Comas,
(02:29):
who was comparatively young, was the object of the fierce
and jealous hatred of his old lieutenant dak Kova, the
Jed who had captured me. And I could not but
note the almost studied efforts which the latter made to
affront his superior He entirely omitted the usual formal salutation.
As we entered the presence of the Jeddak, and as
(02:51):
he pushed me roughly before the ruler, he exclaimed, in
a loud and menacing voice, I have brought a strange
creature wearing the metal of a Thark, whom it is
my pleasure to have battle with a wild thoat at
the Great Games. He will die as barred comas your
Jeddak sees fit if at all, replied the young ruler,
(03:13):
with emphasis and dignity, if at all, roared dak Kova,
by the dead hands of my thoat. But he shall
die bar comas. No maudlin weakness on your part shall
save him. Oh, would that Warhoon were ruled by a
real Jeddak rather than by a water hearted weakling from
(03:34):
whom even old dak Kova could tear the metal with
his bare hands. Barkmas eyed the defiant and insubordinate chieftain
for an instant, his expression one of haughty, fearless, contempted hate,
and then, without drawing a weapon, and without uttering a word,
he hurled himself at the throat of his defamer. I
(03:55):
never before had seen two green Martian warriors battle with
nature's weapons, and the exhibition of animal ferocity which ensued
was as fearful a thing as the most disordered imagination
could picture. They tore at each other's eyes and ears
with their hands, and with their gleaming tusks, repeatedly slashed
and goured until both were fairly cut to ribbons from
(04:17):
head to foot. Bar Comas had much the better of
the battle, as he was stronger, quicker, and more intelligent.
It soon seemed that the encounter was done, saving only
the final death thrust. When bar Comas slipped in breaking
away from a clinch. It was the one little opening
that dak Kova needed, and hurling himself at the body
(04:39):
of his adversary, he buried his single mighty tusk in
bar comas groin, and with the last powerful effort ripped
the young Jeddak wide open the full length of his body.
The great tusk, finally wedging in the bones of bar
Comas's jaw, victor and vanquished, rolled limp and lifeless upon
(05:01):
the moss, a huge mass of torn and bloody flesh.
Bar Comas was stone dead, and only the most herculean
efforts on the part of dak Kova's females saved him
from the fate he deserved. Three days later, he walked
without assistance to the body of bar Comas, which by
custom had not been moved from where it fell, and
(05:22):
placing his foot upon the neck of his erstwhile ruler,
he assumed the title of Jeddak of Warhoon. The dead
Jeddak's hands and head were removed to be added to
the ornaments of his conqueror, and then his women cremated
what remained amid wild and terrible laughter. The injuries to
(05:42):
dak Kova had delayed the march so greatly that it
was decided to give up the expedition, which was a
raid upon a small thought community in retaliation for the
destruction of the incubator. Until after the Great Games and
the entire body of warriors, ten thousand in number, turned
back toward Warhoon. My introduction to these cruel and bloodthirsty
(06:04):
people was but an index to the scenes I had
witnessed almost daily while with them. They are a smaller
horde than the Tharks, but much more ferocious. Not a
day passed but that some members of the various Warhoon
communities met in deadly combat. I have seen as high
as eight mortal duels within a single day. We reached
(06:27):
the city of Warhoon after some three days March, and
I was immediately cast into a dungeon and heavily chained
to the floor and walls. Food was brought me at intervals,
but owing to the utter darkness of the place, I
do not know whether I lay their days or weeks
or months. It was the most horrible experience of all
(06:48):
my life, and that my mind did not give way
to the terrors of that inky blackness has been a
wonder to me ever since. The place was filled with creeping,
crawling thing. Cold, sinuous bodies passed over me when I
lay down, and in the darkness I occasionally caught glimpses
of gleaming, fiery eyes fixed in horrible intentness upon me.
(07:13):
No sound reached me from the world above, and no
word would my jailer vouchsafe when my food was brought
to me. Although I at first bombarded him with questions,
finally all the hatred and maniacal loathing for these awful
creatures who had placed me in this horrible place was centered,
by my tottering reason, upon this single emissary, who represented
(07:35):
to me the entire horde of Wohoons. I had noticed
that he always advanced with his dim torch to where
he could place the food within my reach, And as
he stooped to place it upon the floor, his head
was about on a level with my breast. So with
the cunning of a madman, I backed into the far
corner of my cell. When next I heard him approaching
(07:58):
and gathering a little slack of the great chain which
held me in my hand, I waited his coming, crouching
like some beast of prey. As he stooped to place
my food upon the ground, I swung the chain above
my head and crashed the lynks with all my strength
upon his skull. Without a sound, he slipped to the
(08:18):
floor stone dead, laughing and chattering like the idiot I
was fast becoming. I fell upon his prostrate form, my
fingers feeling for his dead throat. Presently they came in
contact with a small chain, at the end of which
dangled a number of keys. The touch of my fingers
on these keys brought back my reason with the suddenness
(08:40):
of thought. No longer was I a gibbering idiot, but
a sane, reasoning man, with the means of escape within
my very hands. As I was groping to remove the
chain from about my victim's neck, I glanced up into
the darkness to see six pairs of gleaming eyes fixed,
unwinking upon me. Slowly they approached, and slowly I shrank
(09:04):
back from the awful horror of them. Back into my corner,
I crouched, holding my hands palms out before me, and
stealthily on came the awful eyes until they reached the
dead body at my feet. Then slowly they retreated, but
this time with a strange grating sound, And finally they
(09:26):
disappeared in some black and distant recess of my dungeon.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
End of Chapter eighteen
Chapter eighteen of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs,
Chapter eighteen, Chained in Warhoon, It must have been several
hours before I regained consciousness, and I well remember the
feeling of surprise which swept over me as I realized
that I was not dead. I was lying among a
(00:20):
pile of sleeping silks and furs, in a corner of
a small room in which were several green warriors, and
bending over me was an ancient and ugly female. As
I opened my eyes, she turned to one of the warriors,
saying he will live. O jed tis Well replied the
one so addressed, rising and approaching my couch, he should
(00:42):
render rare sport for the great Games. And now, as
my eyes fell upon him, I saw that he was
no Thark, for his ornaments and metal were not of
that horde. He was a huge fellow, terribly scarred about
the face and chest, and with one broken tusk and
a missing strapped on either breast were human skulls, and
(01:04):
depending from these a number of dried human hands. His
reference to the Great Games of which I had heard
so much while among the Tharks, convinced me that I
had but jumped from burgatory into Gehenna. After a few
more words with the female, during which she assured him
that I was now fully fit to travel, the Jed
(01:24):
ordered that we mount and ride after the main column.
I was strapped securely to as wild and unmanageable a
thoat as I had ever seen, and with a mounted
warrior on either side to prevent the beast from bolting,
we rode forth at a furious pace in pursuit of
the column.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
My wounds gave me but little pain. So wonderfully and
rapidly had the applications and injections of the female exercised
their therapeutic powers, and so deftly had she bound and
plastered the injuries. Just before dark we reached the main
body of troops shortly after they had made camp. I
was immediately taken before the leader, who proved to be
(02:04):
the Jeddak of the hordes of Warhoun. Like the Jed
who had brought me, he was frightfully scarred, and also
decorated with the breastplate of human skulls and dried dead hands,
which seemed to mark all the greater warriors among the Warhoons,
as well as to indicate their awful ferocity, which greatly
transcends even that of the Tharks. The Jeddak bar Comas,
(02:29):
who was comparatively young, was the object of the fierce
and jealous hatred of his old lieutenant dak Kova, the
Jed who had captured me. And I could not but
note the almost studied efforts which the latter made to
affront his superior He entirely omitted the usual formal salutation.
As we entered the presence of the Jeddak, and as
(02:51):
he pushed me roughly before the ruler, he exclaimed, in
a loud and menacing voice, I have brought a strange
creature wearing the metal of a Thark, whom it is
my pleasure to have battle with a wild thoat at
the Great Games. He will die as barred comas your
Jeddak sees fit if at all, replied the young ruler,
(03:13):
with emphasis and dignity, if at all, roared dak Kova,
by the dead hands of my thoat. But he shall
die bar comas. No maudlin weakness on your part shall
save him. Oh, would that Warhoon were ruled by a
real Jeddak rather than by a water hearted weakling from
(03:34):
whom even old dak Kova could tear the metal with
his bare hands. Barkmas eyed the defiant and insubordinate chieftain
for an instant, his expression one of haughty, fearless, contempted hate,
and then, without drawing a weapon, and without uttering a word,
he hurled himself at the throat of his defamer. I
(03:55):
never before had seen two green Martian warriors battle with
nature's weapons, and the exhibition of animal ferocity which ensued
was as fearful a thing as the most disordered imagination
could picture. They tore at each other's eyes and ears
with their hands, and with their gleaming tusks, repeatedly slashed
and goured until both were fairly cut to ribbons from
(04:17):
head to foot. Bar Comas had much the better of
the battle, as he was stronger, quicker, and more intelligent.
It soon seemed that the encounter was done, saving only
the final death thrust. When bar Comas slipped in breaking
away from a clinch. It was the one little opening
that dak Kova needed, and hurling himself at the body
(04:39):
of his adversary, he buried his single mighty tusk in
bar comas groin, and with the last powerful effort ripped
the young Jeddak wide open the full length of his body.
The great tusk, finally wedging in the bones of bar
Comas's jaw, victor and vanquished, rolled limp and lifeless upon
(05:01):
the moss, a huge mass of torn and bloody flesh.
Bar Comas was stone dead, and only the most herculean
efforts on the part of dak Kova's females saved him
from the fate he deserved. Three days later, he walked
without assistance to the body of bar Comas, which by
custom had not been moved from where it fell, and
(05:22):
placing his foot upon the neck of his erstwhile ruler,
he assumed the title of Jeddak of Warhoon. The dead
Jeddak's hands and head were removed to be added to
the ornaments of his conqueror, and then his women cremated
what remained amid wild and terrible laughter. The injuries to
(05:42):
dak Kova had delayed the march so greatly that it
was decided to give up the expedition, which was a
raid upon a small thought community in retaliation for the
destruction of the incubator. Until after the Great Games and
the entire body of warriors, ten thousand in number, turned
back toward Warhoon. My introduction to these cruel and bloodthirsty
(06:04):
people was but an index to the scenes I had
witnessed almost daily while with them. They are a smaller
horde than the Tharks, but much more ferocious. Not a
day passed but that some members of the various Warhoon
communities met in deadly combat. I have seen as high
as eight mortal duels within a single day. We reached
(06:27):
the city of Warhoon after some three days March, and
I was immediately cast into a dungeon and heavily chained
to the floor and walls. Food was brought me at intervals,
but owing to the utter darkness of the place, I
do not know whether I lay their days or weeks
or months. It was the most horrible experience of all
(06:48):
my life, and that my mind did not give way
to the terrors of that inky blackness has been a
wonder to me ever since. The place was filled with creeping,
crawling thing. Cold, sinuous bodies passed over me when I
lay down, and in the darkness I occasionally caught glimpses
of gleaming, fiery eyes fixed in horrible intentness upon me.
(07:13):
No sound reached me from the world above, and no
word would my jailer vouchsafe when my food was brought
to me. Although I at first bombarded him with questions,
finally all the hatred and maniacal loathing for these awful
creatures who had placed me in this horrible place was centered,
by my tottering reason, upon this single emissary, who represented
(07:35):
to me the entire horde of Wohoons. I had noticed
that he always advanced with his dim torch to where
he could place the food within my reach, And as
he stooped to place it upon the floor, his head
was about on a level with my breast. So with
the cunning of a madman, I backed into the far
corner of my cell. When next I heard him approaching
(07:58):
and gathering a little slack of the great chain which
held me in my hand, I waited his coming, crouching
like some beast of prey. As he stooped to place
my food upon the ground, I swung the chain above
my head and crashed the lynks with all my strength
upon his skull. Without a sound, he slipped to the
(08:18):
floor stone dead, laughing and chattering like the idiot I
was fast becoming. I fell upon his prostrate form, my
fingers feeling for his dead throat. Presently they came in
contact with a small chain, at the end of which
dangled a number of keys. The touch of my fingers
on these keys brought back my reason with the suddenness
(08:40):
of thought. No longer was I a gibbering idiot, but
a sane, reasoning man, with the means of escape within
my very hands. As I was groping to remove the
chain from about my victim's neck, I glanced up into
the darkness to see six pairs of gleaming eyes fixed,
unwinking upon me. Slowly they approached, and slowly I shrank
(09:04):
back from the awful horror of them. Back into my corner,
I crouched, holding my hands palms out before me, and
stealthily on came the awful eyes until they reached the
dead body at my feet. Then slowly they retreated, but
this time with a strange grating sound, And finally they
(09:26):
disappeared in some black and distant recess of my dungeon.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
End of Chapter eighteen
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