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toward me, saying, "Galu!" and then touch my breast or arm and cry, "Alu, alu!" I
knew what she meant, for I had learned from Bowen's narrative the negative
gesture and the two words which she repeated. She meant that I was no Galu, as
I claimed, but an Alu, or speechless one. Yet every time she said this she laughed
again, and so infectious were her tones that I could only join her. It was only
natural, too, that she should be mystified by my inability to comprehend her or to
make her comprehend me, for from the club-men, the lowest human type in
Caspak to have speech, to the golden race of Galus, the tongues of the various
tribes are identical--except for amplifications in the rising scale of evolution. She,
who is a Galu, can understand one of the Bo-lu and make herself understood to
him, or to a hatchet-man, a spear-man or an archer. The Ho-lus, or apes, the
Alus and myself were the only creatures of human semblance with which she
could hold no converse; yet it was evident that her intelligence told her that I was
neither Ho-lu nor Alu, neither anthropoid ape nor speechless man.
Yet she did not despair, but set out to teach me her language; and had it not
been that I worried so greatly over the fate of Bowen and my companions of the
Toreador, I could have wished the period of instruction prolonged.
I never have been what one might call a ladies' man, though I like their company
immensely, and during my college days and since have made various friends
among the sex. I think that I rather appeal to a certain type of girl for the reason
that I never make love to them; I leave that to the numerous others who do it
infinitely better than I could hope to, and take my pleasure out of girls' society in
what seem to be more rational ways--dancing, golfing, boating, riding, tennis, and
the like. Yet in the company of this half-naked little savage I found a new
pleasure that was entirely distinct from any that I ever had experienced. When
she touched me, I thrilled as I had never before thrilled in contact with another
woman. I could not quite understand it, for I am sufficiently sophisticated to
know that this is a symptom of love and I certainly did not love this filthy little
barbarian with her broken, unkempt nails and her skin so besmeared with mud
and the green of crushed foliage that it was difficult to say what color it originally
had been. But if she was outwardly uncouth, her clear eyes and strong white,
even teeth, her silvery laugh and her queenly carriage, bespoke an innate
fineness which dirt could not quite successfully conceal.
The sun was low in the heavens when we came upon a little river which emptied
into a large bay at the foot of low cliffs. Our journey so far had been beset with
constant danger, as is every journey in this frightful land. I have not bored you
with a recital of the wearying successions of attacks by the multitude of creatures
which were constantly crossing our path or deliberately stalking us. We were
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