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Volume 0809
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A Collector's
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THE MONKEY-MAN ~ 1932.11.20As the panther leaped, Tarzan dodged out of the way of the menacing claws and the yellow man swung himself up to a tree. The ape-man stood ready for the beast's attack. But now attack came. The yellow man dropped lightly to the ground, and at a word from him, the panther stood obediently still. As the yellow man danced in delight at his triump, Tarzan saw some strangely garbed men approaching. They seemed to the ape-man, as thy stood silently, to be soldiers of ancient Egypt come to new life. In front of the yellow man they prostrated themselvesin reverence. Rising, at a word from their commander, two soldiers seized Tarzan firmly. With swift blows the ape-man threw them off and leaped for a down-hanging branch.
As Tarzan sped for safety through the trees, he heard a rustle behind him and, looking back he saw the yellow man following through the trees, swift as Tarzan himself. As the ape-ma paused, the yellow man jabbered like a monkey in glee. Then he hurled himself through the air, turning a double-flip. . . and came up at Tarzan's feet. Who was this strange man before whom soldiers salaamed and who kept pace with the ape-man in his swift flight through the jungle trees?
THE SACRED SAURIAN ~ 1932.11.27As Tarzan indicated that he was hungry, the monkey-man repeated the gesture. Every gesture that Tarzan made the monkey-man repeated until Tarzan swung off through the trees to rescue Von Harben and then to hunt for food. But always the monkey-man did exactly as Tarzan did. At the river bank Tarzan repaired the broken end of the fibre rope and hurled it across to his friend Von Harben. When the rope was made fast at both ends, Von Harben swung himself hand over hand across the perilous stream. After the explorer landed safely and greetings were exchanged, Tarzan pointed to the stream of crocodiles.
"We need go no farther for food," he said. Swinging his fibre rope lasso the ape-man caught the crocodile, and, as the rope tightened and held fast in the notches of the saurian's skin, Tarzan pulled hard ashore. With Von Harben's aid, he tied the crocodile until it was helpless. Tarzan was abouit to cut the crocodile steaks for the explorer and the monkey-man but when he indicated that the stranger should join them the monkey-man, in a frenzy of rage picked up the knife and made as if to strike!
CHARGE OF THE CHARIOTS ~ 1932.12.04The sudden attack by the monkey-man who had befriended him caught Tarzan off his guard. But swift as Ara the lightning, the ape-man caught the monkey-man's wrist and wrenched it until the knife fell to the ground. With the force of numa the lion Tarzan felled his assailant. A cry from Von Harben warned the ape-man of danger. The soldiers were upon them. Tarzan leaped to the trees amid a storm of spears. He caught one to replace the spear he had lost. Making good his escape, Tarzan saw his friend, Von Harben, taken prisoner and led beyond the forest across a desert space.
A great Egyptian city was in the distance. The foot soldiers were met by a troop of charioteers. The commander pointed toward a tree were Tarzan stood exposed and in a moment the chriot troop was sweeping across the desert. The leader was about to shoot the first arrow when Tarzan's spear pierced his heart. The man hunt was on! All the forced of the Egyptians was aroused against the ape-man who had killed one of the sacred crocodiles.
THE MAN HUNT ~ 1932.12.11While the leader lay stricken by Tarzan's spear, the charioteers gathered about him. Having no further orders they carried him back to the great temple. The body was brouight to Tutamken, the monkey-man, eccentric son of the Great Pharaoh. It was Tutamken who had rescued the ape-man, but now he called upon the soldiers to hunt through the whole forest to bring back Tarzan dead or alive. Troops of men, armed with bows and arrows were sent out across the desert. Tutamken followed, accompanied by his black panther. Tarzan, hidden high in the trees, saw the Egyptian soldiers spread out in the forest, hunting for him. He waited until one was alone and concealed from his fellows. Then he leaped.
The attack was so silent, so sudden, that the soldier had no chance to shout the alarm. Tarzan took the man's bow and arrow and fled swiftly to the trees. Goro, the moon, had risen in the sky and still the soldiers found no trace of the ape-man, who calmly turned in to sleep. But Tutamken had taken to the trees with his black panther, and finally the beast had caught the ape-man's scent. Stealthily they crept toward the ape-man as he slept.
TARZAN AND THE PANTHER ~ 1932.12.18Tarzan's ape instinct aroused him as the panther was about to leap. But the attack was too sudden for the ape-man to escape the panther's claws. Downward they plunged to a lower branch and the panther leaped after him. As the great cat reached for a foothold Tarzan swung on the branch and swerved it out of the panther's reach. And the beast fell to the ground amid a group of the Egyptian soldiers who were hunting the ape-man.
Tarzan drew the bow that he had taken from the Egyptian soldier. And the arrow found its mark. But as he shot, the Egyptians drew their bows. Tarzan stood at last as an open target. And then the mighty Tarzan fell pierced by the Egyptian arrows and lay as if dead with the beast he had slain.
THE FATE OF THE APE-MAN ~ 1932.12.25Within the temple Tarzan was brought before the high priest and accused of killing one of the sacred crocodiles, of slaying the palace panther, and of attacking the pharaoh's son -- all offenses punishable by death. The ape-man understood no word of the ancient Egyptian language that was spoken but he understood what his fate would be as the high priest pronounced the sentence. Still bound, as he had been when he lay wounded by the Egyptian arrows, Tarzan was led away by the temple guard. He was brought before the great god, Thoth, to make his peace. Priestesses were chanting a death dirge. After going through a long black corridor, the ape-man suddenly came into the briliant light of the outdoors and halted in surprise at the scene that confronted him.
There sat the pharaoh and all his court. Alone confronting them stood his friend, Erich Von Harben, condemned like Tarzan to death. As the two friends exchanged signs of recognition, the monkey-man, Tutamken, came rushing down the steps. Fiercely he lashed the ape-man. Then he took command of the guard and Tarzan and Von Harben were led forth to their fate. The bonds of the prisoners were unloosed. Then they were sent down a long wide staircase to meet the fate that feindish minds had devised for those who offended the gods of Egypt.
DEATH TO THE OFFENDERS ~ 1933.01.01The pharaoh on his throne and the members of his court looked on in grim silence while Tarzan and Von Harben descended into the pit where the sacred apes waited to destroy them.
"Who is your king?" Tarzan demanded as the first ape, growling fiercely, approached him on the staircase. Astonished at this man who spoke their own language, the apes gathered about him.
"I come as your friend," said Tarzan.
"Fight! Fight! Death to the offenders!" roared the Egyptians as the apes failed to attck Tarzn and Von Harben. Down into the pit rushed Tutamken, the monkey-man, fiercely brandishing his lash.
"Is it fear, Oh Rako, that keeps you from destroying the tarmangani who killed our brother, the panther?" the monkey-man shouted. "If you are king of the apes, kill?"
"Who are you? growled Rako.
"I am Tarzan of the Apes," the ape-man replied.
"Rako is king here!" screamed the other, and plunged to the attack. The ape-man met the attack with a terrific blow that sent Rako through the air. Sprawling down to the floor of the pit. Quickly the ape-king recovered. The battle raged all over the pit until Rako's neck was nearly broken in the ape-man's steely grip. Suddenly the beast cried, "Ka-Goda!" meaning "I surrender" and the apes turned to the victor, Tarzan, as their new leader.
"I am your king now!" Tarzan shouted. "Follow me! Death to the Egyptians!"
THE MIRACLE ~ 1933.01.08
As Tarzan led the apes up the staircase to attack the Egyptians, Tutamken, the monkey-man, stood alone in their pathway, screaming. Back of him were the soldiers with their spears ready to repel the attack. The pharaoh rose from his throne in panic, prepared to flee. Von Harben, knocked over in the onrush of the apes, had fallen helpless on the staircase.But as Tarzan reached Tutamken, the monkey-man shouted in the language of the apes, "Kagoda!" meaning "I surrender!" Tutanken then rushed toward the throne. "A miracle has happened Oh Pharaoh!" he cried. "The soul of Thoth, god of the apes, has entered into this man in the leopard skin so that he can talk the language of the apes and the apes hail him as king! All except Pharaoh, who is equal to the gods, must bow before him and worship him!"
As Tutamken and Tarzan advanced up the staircase toward pharaoh's throne, the high priest halted them. "If this man is holy," he said, "the gods will tell us. We will take him to the temple."
In the vestibule of the temple, the high priest burned incense before the great statue of Isis. Then he led Tarzan into a dark corridor at the end of which a fire was burning in a huge kettle. He seized a great ladle, took the boiling pitch from the kettle and held it over Tarzan's head. "So will you perish if you betray the secrets of the temple!" he cried.
THE PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER ~ 1933.01.15When all had departed, Erich Von Harben still lay unconscious on the staircase leading to the apes' pit. And Nikotris, the daughter of the pharaoh, saw him. Tenderly she knelt beside him and found that he still lived. At her command a litter was brought and Von Harben was carried to the great outdoor hospital. That night Nikotris prayed to Peneter-Deva (the planet Venus) to make the stranger well. Rapidly he recovered and rapidly he learned to talk in the Egyptian to the fair Nikotris who came daily to see him. With her aid he learned to decipher the hieroglyphics that told the strange story of her people.
Meanwhile Tarzan, who had been brought into the secret confines of the temple, saw the high priest pour the burning pitch into an opening in the pavement. Below in a dungeon prisoners were chained. When the burning pitch flamed down upon one of them. . . the prisoner heard the high priest cry, "So the gods punish traitors!" But Tarzan understood not and he followed the high priest until. . . the high priest suddenly knelt. Opened a door in the floor, and pointed. Tarzan drew back at what he saw.
TO THE GOD OF THE APES ~ 1933.01.22In the month of Mechir - that is January -- in the second year of the reign of Cham-sem, his infant son, the prince Tutamken had been presented to the courtiers. "Tutamken shall be dedicated to Thoth, god of the apes," the high priestess said.
And in childhood the young prince had learned to play with the little brothers of the apes -- the monkeys. He had followed them to the trees and had learned to leap with them from branch to branch. He could run even as nimbly as they up theh palace walls, using the hieroglyphics for a foothold. As he grew to young manhood, Tutamken had followed them far beyond the palace gorunds, and he had learned their language and the language of the apes. Great in power the young prince had grown and the priests caused him to be venerated because of his kinship with the sacred beasts. But when he demanded that Tarzan, because of his kinship with the apes, be likewise worshipped, the Egyptian priests paused to take council. After Tarzan had been show the tortures inflicted upon those who incurred the displeasure of the gods. . . he was led before the court of Egyptian priests for judgement. With the torch of flame, the high priest commanded all evil spirits to leave the enclosure. After long deliberation, the sentence of the court was imposed. To prove his kinship with the beasts , Tarzan would have to swim through the River of Sacred Crocodiles.
DAUGHTER OF THE BEASTS ~ 1933.01.29At dawn a trumpeter blew the signal that announced the great day. Hours before the procession was to start, the streets were crowded. At length forth from the palace came pharaoh's trumpeters. The dancing girls followed. Then came the knights in their chariots, a company of lancers, the ladies of the court, and the Egyptian priests in litters.
The Princess Nikotris went by barge down the river. . . and Erich Von Harben was among her escort. The Prince Tutamken rode in state through the streets. Tarzan, sentenced to prove his kinship with the sacred beasts by seimming across the River of the Crocodiles, came with the palace guard at the end of the procession. . . while, at the river, the crocodiles waited.
WATERS OF DEATH ~ 1933.02.05On her way to the test of Tarzan's kinship with the sacred beasts, thr Princess Nikotris made festival in her royal barge. And Erich Von Harben quickly learned the Egyptian words of love she taught him. In the desert, on the highway, swarmed the procession. But suddenly the leader called a halt as he stared at something in the sand. The high priest was summoned and kneeling he saw a holy thing. . . a sacred golden beetle. Lest the golden beetle be crushed, the whole procession was ordered to march half a mile out of its way toward the river.
A trumpeter blew the signal. Pharaoh himself was waiting in his barge when the procession finally reached the river bank. And then Tarzan was brought forth by the high priest. When Von Harben saw it was Tarzan who was to be sacrificed to the crocodiles, he pleaded with the princess to save his friend. But even as Von Harben pleaded, the high priest gave the signal for Tarzan to plunge into the churning waters of death.
THE APE-MAN'S STRATEGY ~ 1933.02.12When the high priest commanded Tarzan to plunge into the river of crocodiles, the ape-man gave no sign of understanding. Von Harben was summoned from the barge of the pharaoh's daughter to act as interpreter. A plan flashed through the ape-man's mind as he learned of the test he faced. Borrowing Von Harben's knife, he cut down from the tree the crocodile he had killed. From head to foot, he covered himself with the oil of the saurian. Through the skin he cut holes at equal intervals.
Into these, he inserted the fibre of a vine. He fitted the skin about him and laced it up with the vine-fibre until only his arms were free. Then uttering the blood-freezing cry of the crocodile Tarzan dove full into the stream of man-eating crocodiles.
THE FEAST OF THOTH ~ 1933.02.19
After Tarzan swam unscathed through the River of Crocodiles, he stood on the opposite bank and held aloft the skin that had protected him. The Egyptians shouted in one voice, "The god Thoth walks again amongst us!" For they believed the gods often took human form. Before the statue of Thoth, god of wisdom and god of the apes, the pharaoh declared a national feast.
That night Tarzan sat enthroned in the palace and oriental splendor. Great oxen were roasted for the soldiers. At the pit of the sacred apes stood three drunken soldiers, who had wandered from the great festival in the palace gardens. . . and, while the apes stared, wondering. . . one of the soldiers, in his madness, started shooting at them. Then Tarzan, in the midst of the great banquet, Heard the apes calling in terror to their king.
DARTS OF DEATH ~ 1933.02.26As the arrows pierced the hide of Bulga, the she-ape, she cried out in terror. The other apes rushed about in panic at the unexpected attack. The drunken soldiers, shooting the arrows laughed madly at the queer antics of the apes. But suddenly their laughter stopped as they heard the blood-curdling cry of the bull-ape. It was Tarzan who uttered the cry. Leaping upon two of the soldiers the apes-man lifted them and smashed their heads together. One by one, he hurled them, unconcscous into the pit where the sacred apes were kept. But the third soldier fell. Tarzan dashed into the midst of the apes and disarmed one of the of the solders.
"Follow me!" the ape-man commanded. Up the staircase raced the ape horde.
Meanwhile the soldier who had fled sought the aid of his comrades. As Tarzan led the apes to the palace wall, the soldiers shot a fusillade of arrows.
THE VENGEANCE OF THOTH ~ 1933.03.05While Tarzan led the apes to the trees beyond the palace walls the drunken soldiers suddenly stopped shooting their arrows. Guests rushed out from the palace banquet, shrieking wildly. The news had spread that the great statue of Thoth was swaying.
"Lo!" cried Nikotris, "By the sacrilege of our soldiers, we have angered the god of the apes!" She turned in anger toward the soldiers. "What evil spirits are in you," she cried, "that you shoot arrows at the sacred apes of Thoth?"
The soldiers hung their heads in shame. But suddenly they started in panic flight as the great statue o fthe god of the apes slowly began to fall. It crashed down among the soldiers.
"Thus is Thoth avenged!" cried Nikotris.
And deep in the forest, Tarzan shouted the victory cry of the bull ape.
The Egyptian Saga
The Hal Foster Sunday Pages
ERBzine 4396
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0809
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