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beyond this gate that would make an excellent flying field, and also so
that I would have my finished plane finally assembled where it could
easily be wheeled out of the city without interfering with traffic to any
great extent.
On the advice of the Sanjong, which took a deep interest in both this
new venture into aeronautics and the, to them, new science of
astronomy, I divided my time between the two.
My time was fully occupied, and I worked far more than the usual
four hours a day. But I enjoyed the work, especially the building of a
plane; and engrossing were the day dreams in which I indulged of
exploring Venus in a ship of my own.
The necessity for relaxation and entertainment is stressed by the
people of Havatoo, and Ero Shan was constantly dragging me away
from my drawing board or my conferences with the corps of
assistants that had been placed at my disposal by Mohar to take me to
this thing or that.
There were theaters, art exhibits, lectures, musicales, concerts, and
games of various descriptions in gymnasiums and the great stadium.
Many of their games are extremely dangerous, and injury and death
often accompany them. In the great stadium at least once a month
men fight with wild beasts or with one another to the death, and once
a year the great war game is played. Ero Shan, Gara Lo, Ero Shan's
friend, Nalte, and I attended this year's game together. To Nalte and I
it was all new; we did not know what to expect.
"Probably we shall witness an exhibition of such scientific wonders as
only the men of Havatoo are capable," I suggested to her.
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"I haven't the faintest conception of what it will be," she replied. "No
one will tell me anything about it. They say, 'Wait and see. You will be
thrilled as you have never been before.'"
"The game doubtless hinges on the use of the most modern, scientific
instruments of war and stratgey," I ventured.
"Well," she remarked, "we shall soon know. It is about time for the
games to begin."
The great stadium, seating two hundred thousand people, was
crammed to capacity. It was gorgeous with the costumes and the
jewels of the women and the handsome trappings of the men, for the
intelligence of Havatoo concedes their full value to beauty and to art.
But of all that went to make up this splendid spectacle there was
nothing more oustanding than the divine beauty of the people
themselves.
Suddenly a cry arose, a roar of welcome. "They come! The warriors!"
Onto the field at each end marched two hundred men; a hundred men
naked but for white gee-strings at one end of the field, a hundred men
with red gee-strings at the other end of the field.
They carried short swords and shields. For a while they stood
inactive, waiting; then two small cars were driven onto the field. Each
contained a driver and a young woman.
One of the cars was red, the other white. The red car attached itself to
the contingent wearing the red gee-strings, the white cars to the
whites.
When they were in position the two factions paraded entirely around
the field clockwise. As they passed the stands the people cheered and
shouted words of encouragement and praise, and when the warriors
had completed the circuit they took their places again.
Presently a trumpet sounded, and the reds and the whites approached
each other. Now their formations were changed. There was an
advance party and a rear guard, there were flankers on either side.
The cars remained in the rear, just in front of the rear guard. On
running-boards that encircled the cars were a number of warriors.
I leaned toward Ero Shan. "Tell us something of the idea of the game,"
I begged, "so that we may understand and enjoy it better."
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"It is simple," he replied. "They contend for fifteen vir (the equivalent
of sixty minutes of earth time), and the side that captures the
opponent's queen oftenest is the winner."
I do not know what I expected, but certainly not that which followed.
The reds formed a wedge with its apex toward the whites, then
charged. In the melee that ensued I saw three men killed and more
than a dozen wounded, but the whites held their queen.
When a queen was pressed too closely her car turned and fled, the
rear guard coming up to repel the enemy. The tide of battle moved up
and down the field. Sometimes the whites seemed about to capture
the red queen, again their own was in danger. There were many
individual duels and a display of marvelous swordsmanship
throughout.
But the whole thing seemed so out of harmony with all that I had
heretofore seen in Havatoo that I could find no explanation for it.
Here was the highest type of culture and civilization that man might
imagine suddenly reverting to barbarism. It was inexplicable. And the
strangest part of all of it to me was the almost savage enjoyment with
which the people viewed the bloody spectacle.
I must admit that I found it thrilling, but I was glad when it was over.
Only one queen was captured during the entire game. At the very last
the white queen fell into the hands of the reds, but only after the last
of her defenders had fallen.
Of the two hundred men who took part in the game, not one came
through unwounded; fifty were killed on the field, and I afterward [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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