Edgar Rice Burroughs - Princess of Mars / Принцесса Марса. Уровень 2

The iris of the eyes is blood red while the pupil is dark. The eyeball itself is very white and so are teeth. The lower tusks curve upward to sharp points which end about where the eyes of earthly human beings are located. Against the dark background of their olive skins their tusks stand out in a most striking manner, making these weapons present an especially formidable appearance.

Most of these details I noted later because I had little time to speculate on the wonders of my new discovery. As I stood watching the hideous little monsters break from their shells, I failed to note full-grown Martians from behind me.

The rattling of the ammunition of the foremost warrior warned me and I turned. And there upon me, not ten feet from my breast [14] not ten feet from my breast – меньше чем в десяти футах от моей груди , was the point of that huge spear.

The man himself, for such I may call him, was fully fifteen feet in height. He sat his mount as we sit a horse, grasping the animal's barrel with his lower limbs, while the hands of his two right arms held his immense spear low at the side of his mount. His mount was ten feet at the shoulder; had four legs on either side; a broad flat tail, larger at the tip than at the root, and which it held straight out behind while running; a gaping mouth which split its head from its snout to its long, massive neck.

Like its master, it was bold, but of a dark slate color and exceeding smooth and glossy. Its belly was white, and its legs shaded from the slate of its shoulders and hips to a vivid yellow at the feet. The feet themselves were heavily padded and nailless.

I needed to get out of the point of the charging spear. I gave a very earthly and at the same time superhuman leap to reach the top of the Martian incubator. Successfully I landed a hundred feet from my pursuers and on the opposite side of the enclosure. My enemies were clearly surprised by my leap. Some of them seemed to be satisfied that I did not molest their young.

They were conversing together in low tones, gesticulating and pointing toward me. Now they looked upon me with less ferocity.

While the Martians are immense, their bones are very large and they are muscled only in proportion to the gravitation which they must overcome. The result is that they are much less agile and less powerful, in proportion to their weight, than an Earthman. In fact, if one of them were transported to Earth, he could not lift his own weight from the ground. My feat then was as marvelous upon Mars as it was upon Earth. I was a wonderful discovery to them.

Each of them was armed with several other weapons in addition to the huge spear which I described. They had rifles of a white metal stocked with wood. The wood was much prized on Mars as it was hard to grow. The metal of the barrel is an alloy composed principally of aluminum and steel which they learned to temper to a great hardness.

After conversing for a short time, the Martians turned and rode away. One of them stayed alone by the enclosure. He definitely was the leader of the band. He threw down his spear and small arms and came around the end of the incubator toward me. He was entirely unarmed and naked except for the ornaments strapped upon his head, limbs and breast.

When he was within about fifty feet of me, he unclasped an enormous metal armlet and put it in the open palm of his hand. He tried to tell me something but I did not understand the language. I guessed that he was making overtures of peace [15] was making overtures of peace – предложил мир .

Placing my hand over my heart I bowed low to the Martian. He understood the action right. I took the armlet from his open palm, clasped it about my arm above the elbow; smiled at him and stood waiting. His wide mouth spread into an answering smile. Then we turned and walked back toward his mount. At the same time he motioned his followers to advance. They started toward us on a wild run, but were checked by a signal from him.

He exchanged a few words with his men, motioned to me [16] motioned to me – показал жестом that I would ride behind one of them, and then mounted his own animal. The fellow designated reached down two or three hands and lifted me up behind him on the glossy back of his mount.

The entire cavalcade then turned and galloped away toward the range of hills in the distance.

Ten miles after, we were nearing the edge of one of Mars' long-dead seas. In a short time, we gained the foot of the mountains. After traversing a narrow gorge, we came to an open valley. At the far extremity of it was a low tableland upon which I saw an enormous city. We entered the city by a ruined roadway that led out from the city but only to the edge of the tableland. Then it ended abruptly in a flight of broad steps.

As we came closer to the buildings, I saw that they were abandoned. They seemed uninhabited for years or even ages. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza. Some nine or ten hundred creatures of the same breed as my captors camped upon this and in the buildings immediately surrounding it.

All were naked with the exception of their ornaments. The women looked much like the men. But their tusks were much larger in proportion to their height and curving nearly to their high-set ears. Their bodies were smaller and lighter in color. Their fingers and toes had the rudiments of nails, which were entirely lacking among the males. The adult females ranged in height from ten to twelve feet.

The children were light in color, even lighter than the women. They all looked precisely alike to me, except that some were taller than others; older, I presumed.

I saw no signs of extreme age [17] extreme age – старость among them and no difference in their appearance from the age of maturity. All looked about forty.

Only about one Martian in a thousand dies of sickness or disease. Possibly about twenty take the voluntary pilgrimage down the river Iss [18] the river Iss – река Исс . No living Martian knows where leads the river and no Martian ever returned from there. The other nine hundred and seventy-nine die violent deaths in duels, in hunting, in aviation and in war. But perhaps by far the greatest death loss comes during the age of childhood. Vast numbers of the little Martians fall victims to the great white apes of Mars.

The average life expectancy [19] average life expectancy – средняя продолжительность жизни of a Martian after the age of maturity, about forty, is about three hundred years. It would be nearer the one-thousand mark if it were not for the waning resources of the planet [20] waning resources of the planet – истощающиеся ресурсы планеты and the almost continual warfare between the various communities.

As we neared the plaza, hundreds of the creatures immediately surrounded us. They seemed anxious to pluck me from my seat behind my guard. A word from the leader of the party stilled their clamor. We proceeded across the plaza to the entrance of a magnificent building.

The building was low, but covered an enormous area. It was made of gleaming white marble with gold and brilliant stones. The stones sparkled and scintillated in the sunlight. The main entrance was some hundred feet in width and projected from the building forming a huge canopy above the entrance hall. There was no stairway, but a gentle incline to the first floor of the building opened into an enormous chamber encircled by galleries.