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the meaning of some word or correct my pronunciation of another quite entirely
occupied my every faculty of perception. The firelight shone upon her animated
features and sparkling eyes; it accentuated the graceful motions of her gesturing
arms and hands; it sparkled from her white teeth and from her golden
ornaments, and glistened on the smooth firmness of her perfect skin. I am afraid
that often I was more occupied with admiration of this beautiful animal than with
a desire for knowledge; but be that as it may, I nevertheless learned much that
evening, though part of what I learned had naught to do with any new language.
Ajor seemed determined that I should speak Caspakian as quickly as possible,
and I thought I saw in her desire a little of that all-feminine trait which has come
down through all the ages from the first lady of the world--curiosity. Ajor desired
that I should speak her tongue in order that she might satisfy a curiosity
concerning me that was filling her to a point where she was in danger of bursting;
of that I was positive. She was a regular little animated question-mark. She
bubbled over with interrogations which were never to be satisfied unless I learned
to speak her tongue. Her eyes sparkled with excitement; her hand flew in
expressive gestures; her little tongue raced with time; yet all to no avail. I could
say man and tree and cliff and lion and a number of other words in perfect
Caspakian; but such a vocabulary was only tantalizing; it did not lend itself well
to a very general conversation, and the result was that Ajor would wax so wroth
that she would clench her little fists and beat me on the breast as hard as ever
she could, and then she would sink back laughing as the humor of the situation
captured her.
She was trying to teach me some verbs by going through the actions herself as
she repeated the proper word. We were very much engrossed--so much so that
we were giving no heed to what went on beyond our cave--when Ajor stopped very
suddenly, crying: "Kazor!" Now she had been trying to teach me that ju meant
stop; so when she cried kazor and at the same time stopped, I thought for a
moment that this was part of my lesson--for the moment I forgot that kazor
means beware. I therefore repeated the word after her; but when I saw the
expression in her eyes as they were directed past me and saw her point toward
the entrance to the cave, I turned quickly--to see a hideous face at the small
aperture leading out into the night. It was the fierce and snarling countenance of
a gigantic bear. I have hunted silvertips in the White Mountains of Arizona and
thought them quite the largest and most formidable of big game; but from the
appearance of the head of this awful creature I judged that the largest grizzly I
had ever seen would shrink by comparison to the dimensions of a Newfoundland
dog.
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