"John Norman - Gor 06 - Raiders of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

such an emergency the low-ceilinged rence huts on the island will have been
knocked down to prevent an enemy from using them for cover, and all food and
water supplies, usually brought from the eastern delta where the water is
fresh,
will be stored within; the circular wickerlike breastworks then form, in the
center
of the island, a more or less defensible stronghold, particularly against the
marsh
spears of other growers, and such. Ironically, it is not of much use against
an organized attack of well armed warriors, such as those of Port Kar, and
those
against whom it might be fairly adequate, other rence growers, sledom attack
communites like their own. I had heard there had not been general hostilities
among rence growers for more than fifty years; their communities are normally
isolated from one another, and they have enough to worry about contending
with тАЬtax collectorsтАЭ from Port Kar, without bothering to give much attention
to
making life miserable form one another. Incidentally, when the island is to be
moved under siege conditions, divers leave the island by means of the well
and,
in groups of two and three, attemp to cut a path in the direction of escape;
such
divers, of course, often fall prey to underwater predators and to the spears
of
enemies, who thrust down at them from the surface. Sometimes an entire island
is abandoned, the community setting it afire and taking to the marsh in their
marsh skiffs. At a given point, when it is felt safe, several of these skiffs
will be
tied together, forming a platform on which rence may be woven, and a new
island will be begun.
тАЬSo,тАЭ said Ho-Hak, regarding me, тАЬyou are on your way to Port Kar?тАЭ
He sat upon a giant shell of the Vosk sorp, as on a sort of throne, which,
for these people, I gather it was.
I knelt before him, naked and bound. Two ropes of marsh vine, besides
my other bonds, had been knottend about my neck, each in the hands of a man
on either side of me. My ankles had been unbound only long enough to push me
stumbling from the rush craft, among the shouting women and men and
children, to the throne of Ho-Hak. Then I had been forced to my knees, and my
ankles had again been lashed together.
тАЬYes,тАЭ I said. тАЬIt was my intention to go to Port Kar.тАЭ
тАЬWe are not fond of men of Port Kar,тАЭ Ho-Hak said.
There was a rusted, heavy iron collar riveted about the neck of Ho-Hak,
with a bit of chain dangling from it. I gathered that the rence growers did
not
have the tools to remove it. Ho-Hak might have worn it for years. He was
doubtless a slave, probably escaped from the galleys of Port Kar, who had fled
to
the marshes and been befriended by rence growers. Now, years later, he had
come to a position of authority among them.
тАЬI am not of Port Kar,тАЭ I said.