The Coming Race
Page 21
Chapter XXII.
As the reader has seen, Aph-Lin had not favoured my general andunrestricted intercourse with his countrywomen. Though relying on mypromise to abstain from giving any information as to the world I hadleft, and still more on the promise of those to whom had been put thesame request, not to question me, which Zee had exacted from Taee, yethe did not feel sure that, if I were allowed to mix with the strangerswhose curiosity the sight of me had aroused, I could sufficiently guardmyself against their inquiries. When I went out, therefore, it was neveralone; I was always accompanied either by one of my host's family, ormy child-friend Taee. Bra, Aph-Lin's wife, seldom stirred beyond thegardens which surrounded the house, and was fond of reading the ancientliterature, which contained something of romance and adventure not to befound in the writings of recent ages, and presented pictures of alife unfamiliar to her experience and interesting to her imagination;pictures, indeed, of a life more resembling that which we lead every dayabove ground, coloured by our sorrows, sins, passions, and much to herwhat the tales of the Genii or the Arabian Nights are to us. But herlove of reading did not prevent Bra from the discharge of her duties asmistress of the largest household in the city. She went daily theround of the chambers, and saw that the automata and other mechanicalcontrivances were in order, that the numerous children employed byAph-Lin, whether in his private or public capacity, were carefullytended. Bra also inspected the accounts of the whole estate, and it washer great delight to assist her husband in the business connected withhis office as chief administrator of the Lighting Department, so thather avocations necessarily kept her much within doors. The two sons wereboth completing their education at the College of Sages; and theelder, who had a strong passion for mechanics, and especially for worksconnected with the machinery of timepieces and automata, had decided ondevoting himself to these pursuits, and was now occupied in constructinga shop or warehouse, at which his inventions could be exhibited andsold. The younger son preferred farming and rural occupations; and whennot attending the College, at which he chiefly studied the theoriesof agriculture, was much absorbed by his practical application of thatscience to his father's lands. It will be seen by this how completelyequality of ranks is established among this people--a shopkeeper beingof exactly the same grade in estimation as the large landed proprietor.Aph-Lin was the wealthiest member of the community, and his eldest sonpreferred keeping a shop to any other avocation; nor was this choicethought to show any want of elevated notions on his part.
This young man had been much interested in examining my watch, the worksof which were new to him, and was greatly pleased when I made him apresent of it. Shortly after, he returned the gift with interest, by awatch of his own construction, marking both the time as in my watch andthe time as kept among the Vril-ya. I have that watch still, and it hasbeen much admired by many among the most eminent watchmakers of Londonand Paris. It is of gold, with diamond hands and figures, and it plays afavorite tune among the Vril-ya in striking the hours: it only requiresto be wound up once in ten months, and has never gone wrong since I hadit. These young brothers being thus occupied, my usual companions inthat family, when I went abroad, were my host or his daughter. Now,agreeably with the honourable conclusions I had come to, I began toexcuse myself from Zee's invitations to go out alone with her, andseized an occasion when that learned Gy was delivering a lecture at theCollege of Sages to ask Aph-Lin to show me his country-seat. As this wasat some little distance, and as Aph-Lin was not fond of walking, while Ihad discreetly relinquished all attempts at flying, we proceeded to ourdestination in one of the aerial boats belonging to my host. A child ofeight years old, in his employ, was our conductor. My host and myselfreclined on cushions, and I found the movement very easy and luxurious."Aph-Lin," said I, "you will not, I trust, be displeased with me, if Iask your permission to travel for a short time, and visit other tribesor communities of your illustrious race. I have also a strong desire tosee those nations which do not adopt your institutions, and which youconsider as savages. It would interest me greatly to notice what are thedistinctions between them and the races whom we consider civilised inthe world I have left."
"It is utterly impossible that you should go hence alone," said Aph-Lin."Even among the Vril-ya you would be exposed to great dangers. Certainpeculiarities of formation and colour, and the extraordinary phenomenonof hirsute bushes upon your cheeks and chin, denoting in you a speciesof An distinct alike from our own race and any known race of barbariansyet extant, would attract, of course, the special attention of theCollege of Sages in whatever community of Vril-ya you visited, and itwould depend upon the individual temper of some individual sage whetheryou would be received, as you have been here, hospitably, or whether youwould not be at once dissected for scientific purposes. Know that whenthe Tur first took you to his house, and while you were there put tosleep by Taee in order to recover from your previous pain or fatigue,the sages summoned by the Tur were divided in opinion whether you werea harmless or an obnoxious animal. During your unconscious state yourteeth were examined, and they clearly showed that you were not onlygraminivorous but carnivorous. Carnivorous animals of your size arealways destroyed, as being of savage and dangerous nature. Our teeth, asyou have doubtless observed,* are not those of the creatures who devourflesh."
* I never had observed it; and, if I had, am not physiologist enough tohave distinguished the difference.
"It is, indeed, maintained by Zee and other philosophers, that as, inremote ages, the Ana did prey upon living beings of the brute species,their teeth must have been fitted for that purpose. But, even if so,they have been modified by hereditary transmission, and suited to thefood on which we now exist; nor are even the barbarians, who adopt theturbulent and ferocious institutions of Glek-Nas, devourers of fleshlike beasts of prey.
"In the course of this dispute it was proposed to dissect you; butTaee begged you off, and the Tur being, by office, averse to all novelexperiments at variance with our custom of sparing life, except where itis clearly proved to be for the good of the community to take it, sentto me, whose business it is, as the richest man of the state, to affordhospitality to strangers from a distance. It was at my option to decidewhether or not you were a stranger whom I could safely admit. Had Ideclined to receive you, you would have been handed over to the Collegeof Sages, and what might there have befallen you I do not like toconjecture. Apart from this danger, you might chance to encounter somechild of four years old, just put in possession of his vril staff; andwho, in alarm at your strange appearance, and in the impulse of themoment, might reduce you to a cinder. Taee himself was about to do sowhen he first saw you, had his father not checked his hand. Therefore Isay you cannot travel alone, but with Zee you would be safe; and I haveno doubt that she would accompany you on a tour round the neighbouringcommunities of Vril-ya (to the savage states, No!): I will ask her."
Now, as my main object in proposing to travel was to escape from Zee, Ihastily exclaimed, "Nay, pray do not! I relinquish my design. You havesaid enough as to its dangers to deter me from it; and I can scarcelythink it right that a young Gy of the personal attractions of yourlovely daughter should travel into other regions without a betterprotector than a Tish of my insignificant strength and stature."
Aph-Lin emitted the soft sibilant sound which is the nearest approachto laughter that a full-grown An permits to himself, ere he replied:"Pardon my discourteous but momentary indulgence of mirth at anyobservation seriously made by my guest. I could not but be amused at theidea of Zee, who is so fond of protecting others that children call her'THE GUARDIAN,' needing a protector herself against any dangers arisingfrom the audacious admiration of males. Know that our Gy-ei, whileunmarried, are accustomed to travel alone among other tribes, to see ifthey find there some An who may please them more than the Ana they findat home. Zee has already made three such journeys, but hitherto herheart has been untouched."
Here the opportunity which I sought was afforded to me, and I said,looking down, and with
faltering voice, "Will you, my kind host, promiseto pardon me, if what I am about to say gives offence?"
"Say only the truth, and I cannot be offended; or, could I be so, itwould not be for me, but for you to pardon."
"Well, then, assist me to quit you, and, much as I should have liketo witness more of the wonders, and enjoy more of the felicity, whichbelong to your people, let me return to my own."
"I fear there are reasons why I cannot do that; at all events, notwithout permission of the Tur, and he, probably, would not grant it. Youare not destitute of intelligence; you may (though I do not thinkso) have concealed the degree of destructive powers possessed by yourpeople; you might, in short, bring upon us some danger; and if the Turentertains that idea, it would clearly be his duty, either to put an endto you, or enclose you in a cage for the rest of your existence. But whyshould you wish to leave a state of society which you so politely allowto be more felicitous than your own?"
"Oh, Aph-Lin! My answer is plain. Lest in naught, and unwittingly, Ishould betray your hospitality; lest, in the caprice of will which inour world is proverbial among the other sex, and from which even a Gyis not free, your adorable daughter should deign to regard me, though aTish, as if I were a civilised An, and--and--and---" "Court you asher spouse," put in Aph-Lin, gravely, and without any visible sign ofsurprise or displeasure.
"You have said it."
"That would be a misfortune," resumed my host, after a pause, "and Ifeel you have acted as you ought in warning me. It is, as you imply,not uncommon for an unwedded Gy to conceive tastes as to the object shecovets which appear whimsical to others; but there is no power to compela young Gy to any course opposed to that which she chooses to pursue.All we can to is to reason with her, and experience tells us that thewhole College of Sages would find it vain to reason with a Gy in amatter that concerns her choice in love. I grieve for you, because sucha marriage would be against the A-glauran, or good of the community, forthe children of such a marriage would adulterate the race: they mighteven come into the world with the teeth of carnivorous animals; thiscould not be allowed: Zee, as a Gy, cannot be controlled; but you, as aTish, can be destroyed. I advise you, then, to resist her addresses;to tell her plainly that you can never return her love. This happensconstantly. Many an An, however, ardently wooed by one Gy, rejects her,and puts an end to her persecution by wedding another. The same courseis open to you."
"No; for I cannot wed another Gy without equally injuring the community,and exposing it to the chance of rearing carnivorous children."
"That is true. All I can say, and I say it with the tenderness due to aTish, and the respect due to a guest, is frankly this--if you yield, youwill become a cinder. I must leave it to you to take the best way youcan to defend yourself. Perhaps you had better tell Zee that she isugly. That assurance on the lips of him she woos generally suffices tochill the most ardent Gy. Here we are at my country-house."