A READERS' COMPANION TO THE BARSOOMIAN MYTHOS
THE EPIPHANIES OF JOHN CARTER AND
THE FAKE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF ERB

Part II
The Seventeenth Runner-Up in the Seven Wonders of Barsoom
by
Woodrow Edgar Nichols, Jr.

THE SECOND EPIPHANY

We turn now to the hardback edition of The Gods of Mars, published on September 28, 1919, by A.C. McClurg – first published in the January-May 1913 editions of All-Story (see ERBzine #0423) – for the newly added Foreword, to which the readers of the pulp magazine didn’t have access. The Foreword either contains inadvertent mistakes, or clues to mysteries ERB wanted the reader to solve, which was one of his favorite pastimes. The first one can be found at the beginning of the third paragraph. See if you can guess why. Remember, the last time John Carter allegedly died from the fake ERB's point of view, was on March 4, 1886:

“Twelve years had passed since I had laid the body of my great-uncle, Captain John Carter, of Virginia, away from the sight of men in that strange mausoleum in the old cemetary at Richmond.
“Often had I pondered on the odd instructions he had left me governing the construction of his mighty tomb, and especially those parts which directed that he be laid in an open casket and that the ponderous mechanism which controlled the bolts of the vault’s huge door be accessible only from the inside.
“Twelve years had passed since I had read the remarkable manuscript of this remarkable man; this man who remembered no childhood and who could not even offer a vague guess as to his age; who was always young and yet who had dandled my grandfather’s great-grandfather upon his knee; this man who had spent ten years upon the planet Mars; who had fought for the green men of Barsoom and fought against them; who had fought for and against the red men and who had won the ever beautiful Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, for his wife, and for nearly ten years had been a prince of the house of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium.” (GM/Foreword.)

We learn that ERB had a good reason for calling Carter “Uncle Jack,” for we now learn that Carter was ERB’s “great-uncle.” And did you catch the admission of guilt? If you recall, the instructions called for the manuscript being left sealed and “unread,” just as he found it, for eleven years, to wit, until March 4, 1897. Yet, here we are told, sometime in 1898 – twelve years after March 4, 1886 – that he had read the manuscript almost immediately after receiving it. 

Perhaps the fake ERB figured out a way of justifying this in his fake mind so he could still state that he had performed his duty with absolute fidelity; perhaps something like, “there may be something in there that may require immediate emergency attention.” That’s always a good one in the clinch. Ask any law enforcement officer.

“Twelve years had passed since his body had been found upon the bluff before his cottage overlooking the Hudson, and oft-times during these long years I had wondered if John Carter were really dead, or if he again roamed the dead sea bottoms of that dying planet; if he had returned to Barsoom to find that he had opened the frowning portals of the mighty atmosphere plant in time to save the countless millions who were dying of asphyxiation on that far-gone day that had seen him hurtled ruthlessly through forty-eight million miles of space back to Earth once more. I had wondered if he had found his black-haired Princess and the slender son he had dreamed was with her in the royal gardens of Tardos Mors, awaiting his return.
“Or, had he found that he had been too late, and thus gone back to a living death upon a dead world? Or was he really dead after all, never to return either to his mother Earth or his beloved Mars?
“Thus was I lost in useless speculation one sultry August evening when old Ben, my body servant, handed me a telegram. Tearing it open I read:
“‘Meet me tomorrow hotel Raleigh Richmond.
“‘JOHN CARTER’”
(GM/Foreword.)

Just to keep ourselves oriented in imaginary time, the fake ERB received this telegram sometime in August, 1898. This is actually a year after he was supposed to read the manuscript.

Note the presence of “old Ben.” One can easily surmise that old Ben had once been one of ERB’s slaves in the good old days of State’s Rights. Now he had to be satisfied as being known as ERB’s body servant.

Was ERB worried that Carter might rebuke him for reading the manuscript too early? After all, no one else was to know of the manuscript for twenty-one years after March 4, 1886, to wit, until March 4, 1907, which would be a little under nine more years in the future. Well, he is about to find out.

“Early the next morning I took the first train for Richmond and within two hours was being ushered into the room occupied by John Carter.
“As I entered he rose to greet me, his old-time cordial smile of welcome lighting his handsome face. Apparently he had not aged a minute, but was still the straight, clean-limbed fighting-man of thirty. His keen gray eyes were undimmed, and the only lines upon his face were the lines of iron character and determination that always had been there since first I remembered him, nearly thirty-five years before.” (GM/Foreword.)

Okay, let’s do a fact check on that last one. In the imaginary time of the Foreword, it is August 1898. We know from the first Foreword that ERB had first remembered Carter in December 1860 or January 1861, a few months before the outbreak of the civil war. Thus 1898 minus “nearly” 35 years ago – which would be just short of 35 – would place the time in 1864, three years longer than stated in the first Foreword. To be exact, however, it was over 37 years earlier since Carter disappeared from the young ERB’s life shortly after the war started in April 1861. Personally, I think this was a common error ERB made, with nothing of significance to it.

If he was like me, ERB just made stupid mistakes when it came to math.

“‘Well, nephew,’ he greeted me, ‘do you feel as though you are seeing a ghost, or suffering from the effects of too many of Uncle Ben’s mint juleps.’
“‘Juleps, I reckon,’ I replied, ‘for I certainly feel mighty good; but maybe it’s just the sight of you again that affects me. You have been back to Mars? Tell me. And Dejah Thoris? You found her well and awaiting you?’
“‘Yes, I have been to Barsoom again, and – but it’s a long story, too long to tell in the limited time I have before I must return. I have learned the secret, nephew, and I may traverse the trackless void at my will, coming and going between the countless planets as I list; but my heart is always in Barsoom, and while it is there in the keeping of my Martian Princess, I doubt that I shall ever again leave the dying world that is my life.’” (GM/Foreword.)

Now, there is no epiphany or Foreword in the next two installments of the Barsoomian Mythos, but there is information in this epiphany that lends belief to the idea that the notes Carter gives to ERB contain much more information than appears in The Gods of Mars or The Warlord of Mars. There is no epiphany either in Thuvia, Maid of Mars, the fourth book in the Mythos.

We don’t get another epiphany – the Third One – until the Prelude in the fifth book of the series, The Chessmen of Mars. So, all of the information before then must have been in the information conveyed in this, the second, epiphany. Anyway, this assumption makes things a lot easier to understand.

“‘I have come now because my affection for you prompted me to see you once more before you pass over for ever into that other life that I shall never know, and which though I have died thrice and shall die again tonight, as you know death, I am as unable to fathom as are you.
“‘Even the wise and mysterious therns of Barsoom, that ancient cult which for countless ages has been credited with holding the secret of life and death in their impregnable fortresses upon the hither slopes of the Mountains of Otz, are as ignorant as we, I have proved it, though I near lost my life in the doing of it; but you shall read it all in the notes I have been making during the last three months that I have been back upon Earth.’” (GM/Foreword.)

Thus, he died for the third time on Mars in order to come back to Earth. He must die again in order to return to Barsoom. He died on Mars and returned to Earth three months prior to meeting the fake ERB at the hotel Raleigh in Richmond. We assume that Carter had some sort of means, likely stored in his tomb, that would have allowed him a means of income during this three month period, since otherwise ERB had control of his old assets, and he wasn’t aware that Carter had returned to Earth since he received the telegram in August 1898.

Anyway, ERB is about discover an enormous amount of evidence indicating that John Carter is a divine being, being unconsciously controlled by the higher powers of fate. Carter has specifically returned to reveal this evidence to ERB.

“He patted a swelling portfolio that lay on the table at his elbow.
“‘I know that you are interested and that you believe, and I know that the world, too, is interested, though they will not believe for many years; yes, for many ages, since they cannot understand. Earth men have not yet progressed to a point where they can comprehend the things that I have written in those notes.
“‘Give them what you wish of it, what you think will not harm them, but do not feel aggrieved if they laugh at you.’” (GM/Forword.)

Here we see the development of a pseudo-religious belief system, where those that believe in the Barsoomian Mythos are true believers and Chosen Ones. We will see this belief system at its highest in The Master Mind of Mars, where Ulysses Paxton is resurrected from a WWI battlefield in France to the garden of the mad scientist Ras Thavas on Mars. And all because of Paxton’s belief in John Carter and Barsoom, and, of course, in the God of War.

“That night I walked down to the cemetery with him. At the door of his vault he turned and pressed my hand.
“‘Goodbye, nephew,’ he said. ‘I may never see you again, for I doubt that I can ever bring myself to leave my wife and boy while they live, and the span of life upon Barsoom is often more than a thousand years.’
“He entered the vault. The great door swung slowly to. The ponderous bolts grated into place. The lock clicked. I have never seen Captain John Carter, of Virginia, since. 
“But here is the story of his return to Mars on that other occasion, as I have gleaned it from the great mass of notes which he left for me upon the table of his room in the hotel at Richmond.
“There is much which I have left out; much which I have not dared to tell; but you will find the story of his second search for Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, even more remarkable than was his first manuscript which I gave to an unbelieving world a short time since and through which we followed the fighting Virginian across dead sea bottoms under the moons of Mars.
“E.R.B.”
(GM/Foreword.)

The “much” that ERB has left out in Gods and Warlord gives him the artistic leeway to write about Thuvia and Carthoris, John Carter’s son, later in the fourth book of the series, Thuvia, Maid of Mars. At least that is how I see it. I think this idea pans out for the reason that ERB wrote a glossary for the end of Thuvia before he conceived the epiphanies and fake biographies. Thuvia first appeared in pulp in All-Story in 1914 (see ERBzine 0425.) 

The First Epiphany appeared in the 1917 Foreword to the hardcover of Princess. This shows a conscious early development of the Mythos, which was later embellished, adding depth by means of the epiphanies and fake biographies.

Also, as we learn in the Third Epiphany, ERB had learned the secret of astral traveling with clothing and accoutrements from Kar Komak, the Lotharian bow man, and since he had somehow learned to travel by will alone before this, as he explained to ERB in his Second Epiphany, he might have learned this also from Kar Komak. It is reasonable speculation. Let us now go on to our next epiphany.

THE THIRD EPIPHANY

From 1914 to 1921, except for new material in the hardback Forewords, ERB turned his back on Barsoom. That’s seven years. Why did he feel he had to return to the peep show during this period? Well, this was the year he wrote his Lust Trilogy. Something was turning him on, and I have already given my reason in the Introduction to “Ghek’s Manatorian Mind-Games,” (ERBzine # 3903).

ERB titles this epiphany as “John Carter Comes to Earth.” Could it be that this epiphany of John Carter was linked to ERB’s love life? That it was some kind of secret code to his discerning readers, like the amount of stars on the Playboy logo indicated, according to urban legend, the amount of times Hugh Hefner shagged the Playmate of the Month? Anyway, we the readers are grateful for the creation of Tara of Helium, regardless of who was the inspiration behind the sexy Princess.

The Prelude is also ERB’s way of setting the reader up for his new creation: the board game of Jetan, to wit, Martian chess. I have no idea if the Prelude was part of the Argosy All-Story Weekly pulp magazine from February to March 1922, but it makes little difference since there was just a few months before the pulp and the hardback edition, published by A.C. McClurg on November 29, 1922. (See ERBzine #0426.)

But both the Prelude and the story were written after 1917, when ERB invented the First Epiphany and Fake Autobiography, so nothing is being added that the reader is not already prepared for. A man named Shea appears in this Prelude, and it is my understanding that he was an actual person who worked at Rancho Tarzana, the mansion of which is subtly described as background in this epiphany. I will highlight these descriptions to make it easy.

“ Shea had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain scientists, which is based upon the assertion that the phenomenal chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally defective – a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated king. 
“While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the livingroom open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow’s work; but when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms I saw there framed the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise naked body trapped with jewel-encrusted harness from which there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steely-gray eyes, brave and smiling, the noble features – I recognized them at once, and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand.” (CM/Prelude.)

Since by now, 1921, ERB was world famous and everyone knew he was living at Rancho Tarzana, ERB made sure that the fake ERB was likely situated, even though the ranch is never specifically mentioned. For a visual guide of the sparse descriptions, check out tarzana.ca. This is the first time ERB sees John Carter as he appears to the other Martians on Barsoom. Except for his utilitarian harness, John Carter is naked. 

Like the real ERB, who was not embarrassed by the male nude form, the fake ERB takes little note of this fact, spending most of his time on the short-sword and pistol. Note that in the narrative to come there is no mention of the tomb back in the old cemetary back in Richmond. In fact, the reader never hears of the body in the tomb again. Was the tomb empty? Is this Easter Sunday for the fake ERB? Though there may be mischief here, it has not been made obvious by any mention of the date.

“‘John Carter!’ I cried. ‘You?’
“‘None other, my son,’ he replied, taking my hand in one of his and placing the other upon my shoulder.
“‘And what are you doing here?’ I asked. ‘It has been long years since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you – a not a day older in appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you try to explain it?’
“‘Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?’ he replied. ‘As I have told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been always as you see me now and as you saw me first when you were five years old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as most men in a corresponding number of years, which may be accounted for by the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; but I have not aged at all. I have discussed the question with a noted Martian scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are still only theories. However, I am content with the fact – I never age, and I love life and the vigor of youth.’” (CM/Prelude.)

Of course, when you get older, it is natural to want to feel young again, full of vigor. After all, that is why Viagra is so popular. So, its been ten years in the real ERB’s career since he first took pen in hand to write “Under the Moons of Mars,” meaning ERB is on the short of side of 50 years old. Was he going through some sort of midlife crisis? He was in the perfect area to have one, not far from Hollywood, but still far enough out in the country to give him the illusion of being a rich landowner. He had a tendency to forget that most of the money that kept him at the ranch was from Hollywood, unless he had fallen love with a girl from Hollywood, as the novel he wrote after Chessmen was titled.

As it turns out, both ERB and now John Carter both have daughters. We learned of his son in Thuvia, Maid of Mars. Thuvia had been a Martian Princess from Ptarth, but had been kidnapped by the Therns and made their plaything for fifteen years before Carthoris married her.

But Tara, while she has much of the haughtiness of Thuvia – who didn’t let the fact that she had been soiled for fifteen years get in the way of resuming her role as a haughty Princess after being freed – is the daughter of both John Carter and the incomparable Dejah Thoris, notorious for being the most beautiful woman on the planet. Both of these daughters are precious to their fathers, which becomes apparent as the narrative progresses:

“‘And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to Earth again in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see me – you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark.
“‘Aside from seeing you, which is my principle reason for being here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon Barsoom – my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love even better than I love life.’
“As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of the chess table.
“‘You spoke of children,’ I said. ‘Have you more than Carthoris?’
“‘A daughter,’ he replied, ‘only a little younger than Carthoris, and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more beautiful than Tara of Helium.
“For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. ‘We have a game on Mars similar to chess,’ he said, ‘very similar. And there is a race there that plays it grimly with men and naked swords. We call the game jetan. It is played on a board like yours, except that there a hundred squares and we use twenty pieces on each side. I never see it played without thinking of Tara of Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. Would you like to hear her story?
“I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall to try to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there be inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian.” (CM/Prelude.)

And so ends the Prelude. But fortunately, ERB brings us back to the ranch at the very end of the story in what amounts to a postscript, where again I shall highlight the references to the mansion at Rancho Tarzana:

“His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion.
“‘You must go?’ I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it seemed that he had been with me but a moment.
“‘The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours,’ he replied, ‘and it will soon be day.’
“‘Just one question before you go,’ I begged.” (CM/22.)

The fake ERB inquires about Gahan and Ghek, and the Warlord answers until he tires:

“‘But come! No more questions now.
“I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was glowing beyond the arches.
“‘Goodbye!’ he said.
“‘I can scarce believe that it is really you,’ I exclaimed. ‘Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this.’
“‘He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the concrete of one of the arches.
“‘If you are in doubt tomorrow,’ he said, ‘come and see if you dreamed this.’
“A moment later he was gone.” (CM/22.)

Thus ends the Third Epiphany. How much money are you willing to bet that at the real Rancho Tarzana, until it was raised, there existed a scratched cross on one the arches in the arcade? Check out the photos of the real Rancho Tarzana at ERBzine #1041. We will proceed with the next two epiphanies in Part Three.