"John Norman - Gor 18 - Blood Brothers of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

had raised their lances in salute to the young warrior. Such courage is
acknowledged in the Barrens, even though it be in an enemy.
Hci reined in his kaiila, squealing, kicking dust, before us.
The disfigurement was indeed prominent. The blow of the canhpi had slashed
through to the jawbone.
page 9
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What are you doing here?" demanded Hci, speaking in Kaiila. I could not,
given my time with Grunt and Cuwignaka, and my time in the Isbu camp, follow
much of what was said. I could now, too, to some extent, communicate in that
expressive, sibilant language.
"We have come to see the Pte," said Cuwignaka. The expression 'Pte',
literally stands for the kailiauk cow, as 'Ta-tanka' stands for the kailiauk
bull, but it is commonly used colloquially, more generally, to stand for the
kailiauk in general. In a sense, the "Pte" may be considered the mother of the
tribes, as it is through her that their nomadic life, in its tichness and
variety, becomes possible. More formally, of course, one speaks of the
kailiauk. The expression 'kailiauk' is a Gorean word and, as far as I know,
does not have an Earth origin.
I looked beyond Hci to the beasts, some two to three pasangs away. The
kailiauk is a large, lumbering, shaggy trident-horned ruminant. I has four
stomachs and an eight-valved heart. It is dangerous, gregarious, small-eyed
and short-tempered. Adult males can stand as high as twenty or twenty-five
hands at the shoulder and weigh as much as four thousand pounds.
"You have no right here," said Hci, angrily.
"We are causing no harm," said Cuwignaka.
"No one will hunt until the great hunt," said Hci. "Then we will hunt. The
Isbu will hunt. The Casmu will hunt! The Isanna will hunt! The Napoktan will
hunt! TheWismahi will hunt! The Kaiila will hunt!"
The Isbu, or Little-Stones band; the Casmu, or Sand, band; the Isanna, the
Little-Knife band; the Napoktan, or Bracelets, band; and the Wismahi, or
Arrowhead band, are the five bands which constitute the Kaiila tribe. The
origins of these names are not always clear. It seems probable that the Litte-
Stones and the Sand bands may have had their names from geographical features,
perhaps those adjacent to riverside encampments. The Wismahi, or Arrowhead,
band is said by some to have once made their winter camp at the confluence of
two rivers, the joining of the rivers resembling the point of an arrowhead.
Others claim that they once lived in a flintrich area, and prior to the
general availability of trade points, conducted a lively trade in flint with
surrounding tribes. The Bracelets band, or the Napoktan, wear copper bracelets
on the left wrist. This band, outside of the Kaiila, is often known as the
Mazahubu band, which is the Dust-Leg word for
page 10
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

braceltes. I do not know the origin of the name for the Isanna, or the
Little-Knife, band. Sometimes, as I suspect was the case with the Napoktan,
these names may owe their origin to the idiosyncrasies of given leaders, to
unique historiacal events of perhaps, even, to dreams. Dreams, and dreaming on