Savages of Gor coc-17

by John Norman

  I nodded, encouraging her to speak. Gorean infantry, with staggered lines andfixed pikes, their butts anchored in the earth, could usually turn an attack oflight cavalry.

  "I cried out again to Alfred, but he paid me no attention," she said.

  The red savages, I speculated, would have been surprised that they had beenunable to force their way, through the infantry lines. Such lines, of course,can usually be outflanked.

  "Men seemed everywhere," she said. "There was the clash of arms, the squealingof kaiila. The savages now from the north and west swept through the wagons.

  Some passed within feet of me. Some were naked, none seemed to wear more thanthe breechclout. They screamed hideously. They were covered with paint, andtheir mounts, too. Feathers were in their hair, and tied, too, in the silkenhair of their beasts. I saw a man's brains struck out not more than a few feetfrom me."

  "What of the beasts from your own wagons," I asked, those who can bear arms, whocan go on two feet when they chooserShe looked up at me.

  "I know of them," I said. "Speak." I slapped the quirt solidly into my palm. Iwould not have had the least compunction in laying it liberally to the beauty ofmy fair interlocutress.

  She seemed frighten.

  "How many of them were there?" I asked.

  "Seventeen," she said.

  "What became of them?" I asked.

  "When the battle began they emerged from their wagons,* she said. "Some killedsome of the men about, even our own soldiers, who did not know what they were.

  Some fought savages. Some were slain by savages. Some, in a small group,together, made their way northward, through the fighting. The savages seemed, onthe whole, reluctant to attack them."

  "How many escaped?" I asked.

  "I do not know," she said. "Perhaps seven, perhaps eight."

  This report seemed congruent with what I had learned from Pumpkin and theWaniyanpi and with my own conjectures.

  "Continue," I said to the girl.

  "Taking advantage of the confusion, momentary, among the red savages, followingtheir failure to break the line of the infantry, Alfred ordered his men throughhis own infantry lines, and led them again to the southeast. His actiondisrupted the infantry, trampling soldiers, buffeting them aside the red savagesthen poured through the breached line. Some perhaps pursued the escaping columnbut most, I think, remained to finish their battle with the infantry, with whichthey were then, following the escape of Alfred, much embroiled."

  "Too," I said, "they would presumably not wish to give the Infantry a chance toreform, to close, its lines again and set up a solid perimeter."

  She shrugged. "Perhaps not," she whispered. "Then it seemed, again, that allabout me were hurtling kaiila and screaming savages, and paint and feathers."

  "These were doubtless the concerted forces of the red savages," I said, "beingapplied to the destruction of the infantry" I think so," she said.

  "Were there any survivors?" I asked.

  "I do not think so," she said.

  "Alfred made good his escaper' I asked.

  "I think so," she said.

  "How many men did he have with him?" I asked.

  "I do not know," she said. "Perhaps three hundred, perhaps four hundred."

  "What did you do?" I asked.

  "I lay down in the wagon, and hid," she said. "They found me later, in theafternoon, after the battle. Two men pulled me forth from the wagon bed. Theythrust back my veils and hood. I was thrown to my knees on the grass and one ofthe men held my wrists, crossed, before my body. The other drew back a heavyclub, the termination of which contained a heavy, wooden, ball-like knob. Theywere preparing, apparently, to dash out my brains. A word was spoken. The menstepped back. I looked up to see a tall savage, mounted astride a kaiila. It washe who had spoken. He motioned for me to rise and, unsteadily, terrified, I didso. These men were all hideous, and fearful, in their paint and feathers. Hesaid another word and, in a moment, I had been stripped before him, absolutelynaked. He then leaned down from the back of the beast and pointed to itsforepaws. I shrank back, frightened. He said another word and again, suddenly, Iwas much as I had been before, only now stripped, kneeling on the grass, myhands crossed and held before me by one man, the other readying his club tostrike out my brains. "No, no, I cried, "please, no! The man on the kaiilaagain spoke, and again I was released. Once more he pointed to the forepaws ofhis kaiila." She shuddered. She stopped speaking. There were tears in her eyes.

  I saw that it would be difficult for her to continue.

  "Yes?" I said.

  "Must I continue?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said. I did not see fit to show mercy to her. She was a slave.

  "This time," she said, "I crawled to them on my belly. I put down my head. Ikissed the beast's paws. I licked and sucked them. I cleaned them of dirt anddust with my teeth, even the nails."

  "Excellent," I said.

  She looked at me, dismayed.

  "Yes," I said, "excellent."

  She put down her head.

  The woman, of course, had been being assessed for slavery. First, she had beenstripped. In this, once the garments and the tiresome robes of concealment, hadbeen removed from her, once she had been exposed to the view of masters, fully,it had been determined that her face and figure, in themselves, did not militateagainst the plausibility of her being imbonded; they were desirable enough,other things being equal, to be of interest to men. They were good enough, otherthings being equal, to own. There are many beautiful women, of course. Beauty,strictly, is not even a necessary condition for bondage, let alone a sufficientcondition for it. Many women, in fact, do not even become beautiful, trulybeautiful, until after they have been collared.

  In the second portion of her test, she had been commanded. On her knees,stripped, held, the club being lifted, she had become aware of the consequencesof failing this second portion of her test. She had then, in effect, petitionedthat this second portion of her test be readministered to her. She had beggedthen, in effect, to be given a second chance to prove her suitability forslavery. This chance, in the mercy of her captors, had been given to her. Shehad crawled to the paws of the savage's kaiila and there, on her belly, cleanedthem with her tongue and mouth. This was a behavior suitable for a slave, evenone who was not, at the moment, desperately striving to save her own life. Herperformance at the paws of the kaiila had apparently been adjudged adequate bythe savages. She knelt now before me, alive.

  The significance of the test is clear. In performing such intimate acts, and onthe mere beast of the master, the humbled suppliant, the captured girl,acknowledges to both herself and others, nonrepudiably and publicly, that she isproposing herself as a serious candidate for bondage, that she is begging to beenslaved. Too, of course, such performances give the master an opportunity toobserve the touch, the sensitivity, the techniques and skill of the girl. If shecannot even function at the paws of a kaiila what should one expect in one's ownfurs? If she cannot even do well with an animal, what reason is there to expectthat she could do better with a man? The most significant aspect of this test,of course, is that it gives masters a means for determining not only or not thegirl is truly begging to be enslaved but, more importantly, whether or not sheis, truly, a slave. No girl is regarded as having passed this test who has not,in her performances, made it clear to all, save perhaps herself, that it istruly a slave who lies at the paws of the kaiila. This revelation becomesmanifest through subtle behavioral cues, usual physical, but sometimes verbal,as well.

  I regarded the woman kneeling before me. That her brains had not been dashed outby the club of the savage indicated to me not only that she had, intimately andlengthily, in her performances, petitioned to be enslaved, but that she had, inthese same performances, proved herself a slave. I wondered if she knew that shewas a slave. I surmised that she still thought herself free. This delusion couldalways be dispelled at the convenience of a master. In the beginning,incidentally, the cues, which reveal slavery in a woman, can some
times besubtle. Later, of course, as she grows in her slavery, as she realizes that herdeepest and most profound nature may not only be revealed, but must be revealed,that it is not only permissible to reveal her womanhood, but that it must berevealed, and fully, she, in accord with this liberation, undergoes a marveloustransformation; she tends to become vital and sensuous, and loving, and happy.

  This is a beautiful transformation to see in a woman. Happy is he who has aslave.

  "After your performances," I said, "Doubtless you expected to be well andlengthily ravished."

  "Yes," she said, "almost from the first moment I felt the warm grass under mybelly, almost from the first moment I put my mouth to the paws of that beast"

  "And were you?" I asked.

  "No," she said, angrily. "I was bound, and given to these people."

  "I see," I said. I had thought that it would be so.

  "Do not fear," said Pumpkin to the stripped beauty, kneeling in the primitiveyoke, well fastened in it, "your trials and tribulations, your embarrassments,your hardships, your miseries, will soon be over."

  "Do not slay me," she begged.

  "That may be done to you, if Masters wish," I told her.

  She turned white. I saw that, on some level, she understood that she was aslave.

  "But you are very fortunate," said one of the Waniyanpi.

  "The masters have seen fit to show you mercy," said another.

  "At least for the time," said another.

  "Masters?" she asked.

  "Your masters, and ours," said Pumpkin, "Bondwoman."

  "Bondwoman!" she cried, struggling in the yoke. But she did not try to rise toher feet. I think this was because I was present.

  "Yes," said Pumpkin.

  "We are going to call her Turnip," said one of Waniyanpi.

  "I am a free woman," she cried. "I am the Lady Mira, the City of Venna!"

  I smiled to myself. How naive seemed the kneeling slave, Turnip.

  "By the instructions of our masters," said Pumpkin, "you are to be taken as youare, yoked and unclothed, to the con pound" Compound?" she asked.

  "Yes, Garden Eleven, our home," said Pumpkin.

  "You will be happy there," said one of the Waniyanpi.

  "We all are," insisted another.

  "Unfortunately," said Pumpkin, "you are to be taken there on a tether, marchedacross the grasslands, without clothing and in your yoke, much as might be anycommon Gorean slave, whose slavery is being impressed upon her."

  "And, doubtlessly," she said, acidly, "I will give you much pleasure on thetrek."

  "We will look forward to the pleasure of your company, said one of them.

  "I see," she said.

  "I do not think you do," I said, "at least as yet."

  "Do not fear," said Pumpkin. "You will be treated, at times, with total dignityand respect."

  "We will not even look at you, at least not directly," said another.

  "That is," said another, "until your shame has been covered."

  "Shame?" asked the girl.

  "Your beauty, your prettiness," explained another.

  Not all the Sames, those who have the unimportant and negligible property offemaleness, are as — healthy appearing as you," said another.

  "Thus you might make them feel that they were not the same as you, or that youwere not the same as they," said another.

  "They would not like that," said another.

  "It is shameful not to make people feel they are the same, said another.

  "Because everyone is the same, really," said another, "of course."

  "Of course," said another.

  "Too," said Pumpkin, "it can trouble the Sames who have the unimportant andnegligible property of maleness. It may make them have certain kinds offeelings."

  "Not me," said one of the Waniyanpi.

  "Nor I," said another. "I never have such feelings."

  "But not all of us," said Pumpkin, "are as strong and good as Carrot andCabbage."

  "I myself," said another, "can look on such things and not have the leastfeeling."

  A chorus of admiration thrilled the Waniyanpi.

  "Nor as Beans," said Pumpkin. "But for some of us your healthy appearance can beextremely disturbing."

  "It makes me sick," said another.

  "It makes me ill, too, to look upon it," said another. "I threw up when first Isaw it."

  "Good," said another fellow.

  "It disturbs me," said another fellow. "I admit that it is "An honest confession," said Pumpkin. "You are to be congratulated on yourcandor and veracity. The next task is to seek improvement."

  "Yes," said the fellow who had spoken, contritely. "Perhaps if I were permittedto look upon it more often I might manage to steel myself against it."

  "Plunge rather into arduous, time-consuming, mind-occupying labors," saidPumpkin.

  "And bathe often in cold streams," advised another.

  The fellow looked down. I did not blame him. I myself did not relish bathing incold streams. I preferred warm baths, being attended by a beautiful femaleslave. After all, should a free man be expected to apply his own oils, scrapethe dirt from his own skin with the strigil and towel himself?

  "You see," said Pumpkin to the captured girl, "your appearance, even if it werenot so healthy looking. perhaps, can cause some of us to think certain thoughtsand have certain feelings. It can even bring about movements in our bodies. Thismakes it harder to be Sames. And it is shameful not to be Sames."

  "For we are Sames," said another. "Everyone knows that."

  "And thus it is," said Pumpkin, "that your appearance can cause shame, and as itcauses shame, it must be shameful."

  "Too," said another, "it can distract from truly important things.

  "Such as being Sames," said another.

  "Yes," said Pumpkin.

  The girl shuddered, convinced perhaps that she was in the presence of lunatics.

  Madness is an interesting concept. As some define it, it is a function of thesocial conventions obtaining at a given time. In the country of the mad, thuslyonly the sane will be accounted insane. Acquiescence to con temporaryaxiological conventions, of course is not the only possible conceptual approachto such matters. Another approach might be to envision a world compatible withreality and congenial to human nature, a world in which science even socialscience, might be free, a world in which truth would not be against the law, aworld designed not for the crippling, distortion and torture of humanity but forits fulfillment" But do not fear," said Pumpkin to the girl, "for, soon when we reach thecompound, you will be decently clothed."

  "Like you?" she asked. She regarded the long, gray, coarse, clumsy dresses onthe Waniyanpi with distaste.

  "These garments help us to suppress our desires and keel us humble," said one ofthe Waniyanpi.

  "We are reminded by them that we are all Sames," said another.

  "That we all, when all is said and done," said another, "an naught butWaniyanpi."

  This seemed to make sense to me. The human being has tendency to be consistent,no matter from what eccentric premises he may begin. He will normally behave ina way accordingly, that befits his clothing. This is perhaps the deeper sense ofthe English expression that clothing makes the man.

  "Better to be stripped and have a string of hide tied on one's neck!" said thegirl, angrily.

  "What is done to those in your compound who are not the same?" I asked.

  "We attempt to convert them," said one of the men.

  "We plead with them. We reason with them " said another.

  "And what if you cannot convince them of the glories of sameness?" I asked.

  "We then drive them out, into the Barrens, to die," said another.

  "It grieves us to do so," said another.

  "But it must be done," said another.

  "The contagion of their heresy must not be permitted to Infect others," saidanother.

  "The good of the whole must take precedence over the good of the parts," sai
danother.

  "You kill them?". I asked.

  "No!" cried one.

  "We cannot kill!" said another.

  "It is against the Teaching," said another.

  "But you banish them, on the supposition that they will perish in the Barrens,"

  I said.

  "Thusly, it is the Barrens which kills them, not us," said another.

  "We are thus innocent," said another.

  "Such banishment is acceptable to the Teaching?" I asked.

  "Of course," said another. "How else is the compound to be ridded of them?"

  "You must understand," said another, "it does not please us to do that sort ofthing."

  "It is done only after every other alternative has been exhausted," saidanother.

  "Difference strikes at the root of sameness," said another. "Sameness isessential to civilization itself. Difference, thus, threatens society andcivilization itself."

  "It must thus be eradicated," said another.

  "There is, thus, only one value, one virtue?" I asked.

  "Yes," said another.

  "One is one," said another, profoundly, "self-identical and the same."

  "Sixteen is sixteen, too," I said.

  "But sixteen is only sixteen times one, and thus all reduces to one, which isone," said another.

  "What about one-half and one-half?" I asked.

  "They add up to one," said another.

  "What about one-third and one-third, then?" I asked.

  "Each of those is but one number," said another, "and, thus, each is one, andone is one."

  "What of the diversity you see about you," I asked, "say, of kaiila and sleen?"

  "One kaiila and one sleen are both one, which is one," said another fellow.

  "What about zero and one?" I asked.

  "Zero is one number and one is one number, and thus each is one, and one isone," said another.

  "What about nothing and one?" I asked.

  "One is one, and nothing is nothing," said another, "so one is left with one,which is one."