"John Norman - Gor 01- Tarnsman of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

Stone of a village was always placed in the market; in a city, on the top of the highest tower.
The Home Stone came naturally, in time, to acquire a mystique, and something

of the same hot, sweet emotions as our native peoples of Earth feel toward their flags became
invested in it."

My father had risen to his feet and had begun to pace the room, and his eyes seemed strangely
alive. In time I would come to understand more of what he felt. Indeed, there is a saying on Gor,
a saying whose origin is lost in the past of this strange planet, that one who speaks of Home
Stones should stand, for matters of honor are here involved, and honor is respected in the
barbaric codes of Gor.

"These stones," said my father, "are various, of different colors, shapes, and sizes, and many of
them are intricately carved. Some of the largest cities have small, rather insignificant Home
Stones, but of incredible antiquity, dating back to the time when the city was a village or only a
mounted pride of warriors with no settled abode."

My father paused at the narrow window in the circular room and looked out onto the hills beyond
and fell silent.

At last he spoke again.

"Where a man sets his Home Stone, he claims, by law, that land for himself. Good land is protected
only by the swords of the strongest owners in the vicinity."

"Swords?" I asked.

"Yes," said my father, as if there were nothing incredible in this admission. He smiled. "You have
much to learn of Gor," he said. "Yet there is a hierarchy of Home Stones, one might say, and two
soldiers who would cut one another down with their steel blades for an acre of fertile ground will
fight side by side to the death for the Home Stone of their village or of the city within whose
ambit their village lies.

"I shall show you someday," he said, "my own small Home Stone, which I keep in my chambers. It
encloses a handful of soil from the Earth, a handful of soil that I first brought with me when I
came to this


file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Tarnsman%20of%20Gor.txt (8 of 98) [1/20/03 3:36:22 AM]
 file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Tarnsman%20of%20Gor.txt

world-along time ago." He looked at me evenly. "I shall keep the handful of earth you brought," he
said, his voice very quiet, "and someday it may be yours." His eyes seemed moist. He added, "If
you should live to earn a Home Stone."

I rose to my feet and looked at him.

He had turned away, as if lost in thought. "It is the occasional dream of a conqueror or
statesman," he said, "to have but a single Supreme Home Stone for the planet." Then, after a long
moment, not looking at me, he said, "It is rumored there is such a stone, but it lies in the