17 - The Gods of Mars - The Death Sentence

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The Gods of Mars, chapter seventeen, the death sentence. A
few moments before the appointed time on the following morning,
a strong guard of zat Arras officers appeared at our
quarters to conduct us to the Great Hall of the Temple.
In twos. We entered the chamber and march down the

(00:21):
broad Isle of Hope, as it is called, to the
platform in the center of the hall. Before and behind
us marched armed guards, while three solid ranks of Zodangan's
soldiery lined either side of the aisle from the entrance
to the rostrum. As we reached the raised enclosure, I
saw our judges, as is the custom upon barsoom, there

(00:44):
were thirty one, supposedly selected by lot from the men
of the noble class, for nobles were on trial. But
to my amazement, I saw no single friendly face among them.
Practically all were Zodangans. And it was I to whom
Zodanga owed her defeat at the hands of the Green Hordes,

(01:04):
and her subsequent vassalage to Helium. There could be little
justice here for John Carter or his son, or for
the great dark who had commanded the savage tribesmen who
over ran Zodenga's broad avenues, looting, burning, and murdering about us.
The vast circular colosseum was packed to its full capacity.

(01:25):
All classes were represented, all ages and both sexes. As
we entered the hall, the hum of subdued conversation ceased,
until as we halted upon the platform or throne of righteousness,
the silence of death enveloped the ten thousand spectators. The
judges were seated in a great circle about the periphery

(01:48):
of the circular platform. We were assigned seats with our
backs toward a small platform in the exact center of
the larger one. This placed us facing the judges and
the audience. Upon the smaller platform. Each would take his
place while his case was being heard. Zat Arras himself
sat in the golden chair of the presiding magistrate. As

(02:11):
we were seated and our guards retired to the foot
of the stairway leading to the platform, he arose and
called my name, John Carter. He cried, take your place
upon the pedestal of truth, to be judged impartially according
to your acts, and here to know the reward you
have earned. Thereby, then turning to and fro toward the audience,

(02:33):
he narrated the acts upon the value of which my
reward was to be determined. Know you, o, judges and
people of Helium. He said that John Carter, one time
Prince of Helium, has returned, by his own statement from
the valley door, and even from the temple of Issus itself,
That in the presence of many men of Helium, he

(02:55):
has blasphemed against the sacred iss and against the valley Door,
and the lost sea of Chorus, and the holy thurns themselves,
and even against Issus, Goddess of death and of life eternal.
And know you further by witness of thine own eyes
that see him here now upon the pedestal of truth,

(03:15):
that he has indeed returned from these sacred precincts, in
the face of our ancient customs, and in violation of
the sanctity of our ancient religion. He who be once
dead may not live again. He who attempts it must
be made dead. Forever judges. Your duty lies plain before you.

(03:36):
Here can be no testimony in contravention of truth. What
reward shall be meted to John Carter in the accordance
with the axe he has committed death shouted one of
the judges, and then a man sprang to his feet
in the audience, and raising his hand on high, cried justice, Justice, Justice.

(03:58):
It was Kantos Khan, and all eyes turned toward him.
He leaped past the Zodangan soldiery and sprang upon the platform.
What manner of justice be this, he cried to zach
Arras the defendant has not been heard, nor has he
had an opportunity to call others in his behalf. In
the name of the people of Helium, I demand fair

(04:19):
and impartial treatment for the Prince of Helium. A great
cry arose from the audience. Then justice, Justice, Justice, and
zach Ras dared not deny them. Speak. Then he snarled,
turning to me, but blasphemed, not against the things that
are sacred upon barsoom men of Helium, I cried, turning

(04:44):
to the spectators and speaking over the heads of my judges.
How can John Carter expect justice from the men of Zodanga.
He cannot, nor does he ask it. It is to
the men of Helium that he states his case, nor
does appeal for mercy to any It is not in
his own cause that he speaks. Now. It is in

(05:05):
thine in the cause of your wives and daughters, and
of wives and daughters yet unborn. It is to save
them from the unthinkably atrocious indignities that I have seen
heaped upon the fair women of Barsoom in the place
men called the temple of Issus. It is to save
them from the sucking embrace of the plant men, from

(05:27):
the fangs of the great white apes of Dor, from
the cruel lust of the holy thurns, from all that
the cold dead iss carries them to, from homes of
love and life and happiness sits. There no man here
who does not know the history of John Carter, how
he came among you from another world, and rose from

(05:48):
a prisoner among the green men, through torture and persecution,
to a place high among the highest of Barsoom. Nor ever,
did you know John Carter to lie in his own behalf,
or to say aught that might harm the people of Barsoom,
or to speak lightly of the strange religion which he
respected without understanding. There be no man here or elsewhereupon

(06:12):
Barsoom to day who does not owe his life directly
to a single act of mine in which I sacrificed
myself and the happiness of my princess, that you might live.
And so, men of Helium, I think that I have
the right to demand that I be heard, that I
be believed, and that you let me serve you and
save you from the false hereafter of dor and Issus,

(06:35):
as I saved you from the real death that other day.
It is to you of Helium that I speak. Now,
when I am done, let the men of Zodanga have
their will with me. Zad Arras has taken my sword
from me, so the men of Zodanga no longer fear me.
Will you listen? Speak? John Carter, Prince of Helium, cried

(06:57):
a great noble from the audience and the multitude his permission,
until the building rocked with the noise of their demonstration.
Zach Arras knew better than to interfere with such a
sentiment as was expressed that day in the Temple of Reward,
And so for two hours I talked with the people
of Helium. But when I had finished, zat Arras arose, and,

(07:19):
turning to the judges, said, in a low tone, my nobles,
you have heard John Carter's plea. Every opportunity has been
given him to prove his innocence, if he be not guilty,
but instead he has but utilized the time in further blasphemy. What, gentleman,
is your verdict? Death to the blasphemer, cried one, springing

(07:44):
to his feet, and in an instant the entire thirty
one judges were on their feet with uppraised swords in
token of the unanimity of their verdict. If the people
did not hear zat Arras charge, they certainly did hear
the verdict of the tribunal. A sullen murmur rose louder
and louder about the packed colosseum. And then kantos Kan,

(08:07):
who had not left the platform since first he had
taken his place near me, raised his hand for silence.
When he could be heard, he spoke to the people
in a cool and level voice. You have heard the
fate that the men of Zodanga would meet to Helium's
noblest hero. It may be the duty of the men
of Helium to accept the verdict as final. Let each

(08:31):
man act according to his own heart. Here is the
answer of kantos Kan, head of the navy of Helium,
to zat Arras and his judges, And with that he
unbuckled his scabbard and threw his sword at my feet.
In an instant, soldiers and citizens, officers and nobles were
crowding past the soldiers of Zodanga and forcing their way

(08:55):
to the Throne of Righteousness. A hundred men searched upon
the platform, and a hundred blades rattled and clanked to
the floor at my feet. Zat Arras and his officers
were furious, but they were helpless. One by one, I
raised the swords to my lips and buckled them again
upon their owners come, said kantos Kan. We will escort

(09:17):
John Carter and his party to his own palace. And
they formed about us and started toward the stairs leading
to the Isle of Hope. Stop, cried zat Arras, Soldiers
of Helium, let no prisoners leave the Throne of Righteousness.
The soldiery from Zodanga were the only organized body of
Heliometic troops within the temple. So zat Arras was confident

(09:41):
that his orders would be obeyed. But I do not
think that he looked for the opposition that was raised.
The moment the soldiers advanced toward the throne, from every
quarter of the colosseum, swords flashed and men rushed threatening
upon the Zodangans. Some one raised a cry, Tardos Moore's
is dead a thousand years to John Carter, Jeddak of Helium.

(10:05):
As I heard that, and saw the ugly attitude of
the men of Helium toward the soldiers of zat Arras,
I knew that only a miracle could avert a clash
that would end in civil war. Hold, I cried, leaping
to the pedestal of truth once more. Let no man
move till I am done. A single sword thrust here

(10:26):
to day may plunge Helium into a bitter and bloody war,
the results of which none can foresee. It will turn
brother against brother and father against son. No man's life
is worth that sacrifice. Rather would I submit to the
biased judgment of zad Arras than be the cause of

(10:46):
civil strife in Helium. Let us each give in a
point to the other, and let this entire matter rest
until tardos Moore's returns, or Morse Kajak his son, if
need there be back. At the end of a year,
a second trial may be held. The thing has a precedent.
And then, turning to zad Arras, I said, in a

(11:08):
low voice, unless you be a bigger fool than I
take you to be, you will grasp the chance I
am offering you. Ere, it is too late. Once that
multitude of swords below is drawn against your soldiery, no
man upon Barsoom, not even Tardos Moors himself, can avert
the consequences. What say you speak quickly? The Jed of

(11:30):
Zodangan Helium raised his voice to the angry sea beneath us,
stay your hands, men of Helium, he shouted, his voice
trembling with rage. The sentence of the court is past,
but the day of retribution has not been set. I
zat Arras, Jed of Zodanga, appreciating the royal connections of

(11:51):
the prisoner and his past services to Helium and Barsoom,
grant a respite of one year or until the return
of mores Kajak or Tordos Moor's to Helium. Disperse quietly
to your houses. Go. No one moved. Instead, they stood
in tense silence, with their faces fastened upon me, as

(12:14):
though waiting for a signal to attack. Clear the temple
commanded zad Arras in a low tone to one of
his officers. Fearing the result of an attempt to carry
out this order by force. I stepped to the edge
of the platform, and, pointing toward the main entrance, bid
them pass out as one man. They turned at my

(12:35):
request and filed silent and threatening past the soldiers of
zad Arras Jed of Zodanga, who stood scowling in impotent rage.
Kantos Kan, with the others who had sworn allegiance to me,
still stood upon the throne of righteousness with me. Come,
said kantos Kan to me, We will escort you to

(12:57):
your palace. My prince, come Carthoris and Zodar, Come Tars Tarkas,
And with a haughty sneer for zat Arras upon his
handsome lips, he turned and strode to the throne steps
and up the aisle of Hope. We four and the
hundred loyal ones followed behind him. Nor was a hand
raised to stay us, though glowering eyes followed our triumphal

(13:20):
march through the temple. In the avenues, we found a
press of people, but they opened a pathway for us,
and many were the swords that were flung at my
feet as I passed through the city of Helium toward
my palace. Upon the outskirts. Here, my old slaves fell
upon their knees and kissed my hands as I greeted them.

(13:41):
They cared not where I had been. It was enough
that I had returned to them. Ah Master, cried one.
If our divine princess were but here, this would be
a day. Indeed, tears came to my eyes, so that
I was forced to turn away that I might hide
my emotions. Carthoris wept openly as the slaves pressed about

(14:04):
him with expressions of affection and words of sorrow for
our common loss. It was now that tars Tarkas for
the first time learned that his daughter Sola had accompanied
dejah Thoris upon the last long pilgrimage. I had not
the heart to tell him what kantos Kan had told me.
With the stoicism of the green Martian, he showed no

(14:26):
sign of suffering, yet I knew that his grief was
as poignant as my own. In marked contrast to his kind,
he had in well developed form the kindlier human characteristics
of love, friendship, and charity. It was a sad and
somber party that sat at the feast of Welcome in

(14:47):
the great dining hall of the palace of the Prince
of Helium. That day we were over a hundred strong,
not counting the members of my little court, for dejah
Thoris and I had maintained a household consistent with our
royal rank. The board, according to red Martian custom, was triangular,
for there were three in our family. Carthoris and I

(15:10):
presided in the center of our sides of the table.
Midway of the third side, dejah thoris high backed carven
chair stood vacant except for her gorgeous wedding trappings and
jewels which were draped upon it. Behind stood a slave,
as in the days when his mistress had occupied her
place at the board, ready to do her bidding. It

(15:32):
was the way upon barsoom so I endured the anguish
of it, though it wrung my heart to see that
silent chair where should have been my laughing and vivacious
princess keeping the great hall ringing with her merry gaiety.
At my right sat kantos Kan, while to the right
of dejah Thoris empty place, tars Tarkas sat in a

(15:54):
huge chair before a raised section of the board, which
years ago I had had constructed to meet the requirements
of his mighty bulk. The place of honor at a
Martian board is always at the hostess's right, and this
place was ever reserved by dejah Thoris for the great Thark.
Upon the occasions that he was in Helium. Poor Vastus

(16:16):
sat in the seat of honor upon carthoris side of
the table. There was little general conversation. It was a
quiet and saddened party. The loss of dejah Thoris was
still fresh in the minds of all, and to this
was added fear for the safety of Tardos, Mors and
mors Kajak, as well as doubt and uncertainty as to

(16:37):
the fate of Helium, should it prove true that she
was permanently deprived of her great Jeddak. Suddenly our attention
was attracted by the sound of distant shouting, as of
many people raising their voices at once, but whether in
anger or rejoicing, we could not tell. Nearer and nearer

(16:57):
came the tumult slave rushed into the dining hall to
cry that a great concourse of people was swarming through
the palace gates. A second burst upon the heels of
the first, alternately laughing and shrieking, as a madman dejah
Thoris is found. He cried, a messenger from dejah Thoris.

(17:18):
I waited to hear no more. The great windows of
the dining hall overlooked the avenue leading to the main gates.
They were upon the opposite side of the hall from
me in the table intervening, I did not waste time
in circling the great board. With a single leap, I
cleared table and diners, and sprang upon the balcony. Beyond.
Thirty feet below lay the scarlet sward of the lawn,

(17:41):
and beyond were many people crowding about a great throat
which bore a rider headed toward the palace. I vaulted
to the ground below and ran swiftly toward the advancing party.
As I came near to them, I saw that the
figure on the thoat was Sola. Where is the Prince
of Helium? I cried. The green girl slid from her

(18:03):
mighty mount and ran toward me. Oh, my prince, my prince,
she cried, she is gone forever. Even now she may
be a captive upon the lesser moon. The black pirates
of Barsoom have stolen her. End of Chapter seventeen