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'I know,' said Misk.
'This will be recorded,' said the newcomer.
Misk seemed to shrug.His head turned, his laterally opening jaws opened and closed slowly, his shoulders rustled and the two ante
'The Nest was not jeopardised,' came from Misk's translator.
The newcomer's ante
It turned a knob on its own translator and in a moment the air was filled with the sharp odours of what I take might have been a reprimand.I heard nothing for the creature had snapped off his translator.
When Misk replied he too turned off his translator.
I observed their ante
They stalked about one another and some of their motions were almost whiplike.Upon occasion, undoubtedly as a sign of irritation, the tips of the forelegs were inverted, and I caught my first glimpse of the bladed, hornlike structures therein concealed.
I would learn to interpret the emotions and states of Priest-Kings by such signs.Many of these signs would be far less obvious than the ones now displayed in the throes of anger. Impatience, for example, is often indicated by a trembling in the tactile hair on the supporting appendages, as though the creature could not wait to be off; a wandering of attention can be shown by the unconscious movement of the cleaning hooks from behind the third joints of the forelegs, suggesting perhaps the creature is thinking of grooming, an occupation in which Priest-Kings, to my mind, spend an inordinate amount of time; I might note, however, in deference to them, that they consider humans a particularly unclean animal and in the tu
The translator, incidentally, supposing it to be turned on, would provide only the translation of what was said, and the words, unless the volume control was manipulated during the message, would always occur at the same sound level.An analogue to listening to a translator would be to imagine words as pictures which, in the same type face and size, flash serially on a screen.There would be no clue in the individual pictures, per se, of the rhythm of the language or the mood of the speaker.The translator can tell you that the speaker is angry but it ca
After a minute or two the Priest-Kings stopped circling one another and turned to face me.As one creature, they turned on their translators.
'You are Tarl Cabot of the City of Ko-ro-ba,' said the larger.
'Yes,' I said.
'I am Sarm,' it said, 'beloved of the Mother and First Born.'
'Are you the leader of the Priest-Kings?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Sarm.
'No,' said Misk.
Sarm's ante
'Greatest in the Nest is the Mother,' said Misk.
Sarm's ante
'I have much to speak of with Priest-Kings,' I said.'If the one whom you call the Mother is chief among you, I wish to see her.'
Sarm rested back on his posterior appendages.His ante
'Except on the three great holidays,' said Misk.
Sarm's ante
'What are the three great holidays?' I asked.
'The Nest Feast Cycle,' said Misk, 'Tola, Tolam and Tolama.'
'What are these feasts?' I asked.
'They are the A
'Are these holidays near?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Misk.
'But,' said Sarm, 'even on such feasts none of the lower orders may view the Mother - only Priest-Kings.'
'True,' said Misk.
Anger suffused my countenance.Sarm seemed not to notice this change but Misk's ante
'Do not think badly of us, Tarl Cabot,' said Misk, 'for on the holidays those of the lower orders who labour for us - be it even in the pastures or fungus trays - are given surcease from their labours.'
'The Priest-Kings are generous,' I said.
'Do the men below the mountains do as much for their animals?' asked Misk.
'No,' I said.'But men are not animals.'
'Are men Priest-Kings?' asked Sarm.
'No,' I said.
'Then they are animals,' said Sarm.
I drew my sword and faced Sarm.The motion was extremely rapid and must have startled him.
At any rate Sarm leaped backward on his jointed, stalklike legs with almost incredible speed.
He now stood almost forty feet from me.
'If I ca
I took a step towards Sarm.
Sarm pranced angrily backward, his ante
We faced one another.
I noticed the tips of his forelegs were inverted, unsheathing the two curved, hornlike blades which reposed there.
We watched one another carefully.
From behind me I heard the mechanical voice of Misk's translator: 'But she is the Mother,' it said, 'and we of the Nest are all her children.'
I smiled.
Sarm saw that I did not intend to advance further and his agitation decreased, although his general attitude of awareness was not relaxed.
It was at this time that I first saw how Priest-Kings breathed, probably because Sarm's respiratory movements were now more pronounced than they had been hitherto.Muscular contractions in the abdomen take place with the result that air is sucked into the system through four small holes on each side of the abdomen, the same holes serving also as exhalation vents.Usually the breathing cycle, unless one is quite close and listens carefully, ca
Now the muscular contractions in Sarm's abdomen became almost u