"Look," said Grunt, pointing to the right.
A rider, a red savage, was approaching rapidly. He wore a breechclout and moccasins. About his neck was a string of sleen claws. There were no feathers in his hair and neither he nor his animal wore paint. Too, he did not carry lance and shild. He was not on the business of war. He did have a bow case and quiver, and at the thong of his waist was a beaded sheath, from which protruded the hilt of a trade knife.
"It is Hci," said Cuwingaka. There is no exact translation of the expression 'Hci' from Kaiila, into either Gorean or English. This is ot all that unusual, incidentally. One cannot expect identical regularities in meaning and usage to obtain in diverse linguistic communities. The expression, for most practical regularities in meaning and usage to obtain in diverse linguistic communites. The expresion, for most practical purposes, signifies a certain type of gap, such as, for example, might occur in the edge of a trade ax, or hatchet, for use in drawing nails, an occupation for which red savages, of course, have little use. It is also used more broadly for a gash, such as an ax might cut in a tree, or for a cut or scar. It seems to be clearly in the latter range of meanings that the name belonged. At the left side of Hci's face, at the chin, there was an irregular, jagged scar, som two inches in length. This dated from several years ago, when he had been seventeen, from the second time he had set the paws of his kaiila on the warpath. It had been given to him by a Yellow Knife in mounted combat, the result of a stroke by a long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk, or canhpi. Before that time, as a stalwart, handsome lad, he had been affectionately known as Ihdazicaka, or One-Who-Counts-Himself-Rich. Afterwards he had become, by his own wish, only Hci. He had become morose and cruel. Immersing himself in the comraderie, and the rituals and ceremonies of the Sleen Soldiers, it seemed he lived then for little other than the concerns of raiding and war. There were members of his own society who feared to ride with him, so swift, so fierce, so careless of danger he was. Once, in a fight with Fleer, he had leaped to the ground and thrust his lance through the long, trailing end of the society's war sash, which, on that occasion, he had been wearing. He thus fastened himself in place, on foot, among the charging Fleer. "I will not yield this ground!" he had cried. The fleeing members of his society, seeing this, and knowing that he wore the war sash, had then rallied and, though outnumbered, had charged the Fleer. The Fleer, eventually, had left the scene of battle, feeling the cost of obtaining a victory over such men would be too high. As they left they 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.
"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 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 matters of importance, are taken very seriously by the red savages. Indeed, is it not that in dreams one may even enter the medicine world itself? In dreams is it not the case that one might sit about the fires of the dead, conversing with them? is it not the case that in dreams one may understand the speech of animals? And is it not the case that in dreams one may find oneself in distant lands and countries, moons away, and yet, in a single night, find oneself, awakening, returned to one's lodge, to the embers of one's fire and the familiar poles and skins about one?
"We are here to see the Pte," said Cuwignaka, "not to hunt."
"It is well for you," said Hci, angrily. "You well know the penalties for illcit hunting."
Cuwignaka did not even deign to respond. To be sure, the penalties were not light. One might be publicly denounced and abuse, even beaten, in the village. One's weapons could be broken. One's lodge, and robes, and possessions could be taken away or cut to pieces with knives and scattered to the winds. In the beliefs of the red savages the welfare of the whole, that of the tribe, takes precedence over the welfare of the individual. In the thinking of the red savages the right to diminish and jeopordize the community does not lie within the prerogatives of the individual.
"Go away!" said Hci, with an angry wave of his arm.
Cuwignaka stiffened on the back of his kaiila.
Hci was angrily gestured to the string of sleen claws about his neck, the sign of the Sleen Soldiers.
"It is an order," said Grunt to Cuwignaka, in Gorean. "He is well within his authority, as you know. He is a Sleen Soldier, and it is among his duties to track and protect the kailiauk. Do not think of it as a personal thing. He is a Sleen Soldier, doing his work. In his place you would doubtless do much the same."
Cuwignaka nodded, recognizing the justice of this view. It was not Hci, so to speak, who was being obeyed, but rather a duly constituted authority, an officer, a constable or warden in such matters.
We turned our kaiila about, to take our way from the place.
"Women, slaves, and white men are not to ride forth to look upon the Pte," called Hci after us.
Cuwignaka wheeled his kaiila about, angrily. I, wheeling aoubt, too, caught his arm.
"I am not a woman," said Cuwignaka.
"You are a woman," said Hci. "You sould please warriors."
"I am not a woman," said Cuwignaka.
"You do not wear the breechclout," said Hci, "You did not take the warpath."
"I am not a woman," said Cuwingaka.