At this point Lavinia swiftly knelt, her knees in proper position, that of the female slave who is used also for the pleasure of men, reach to her tunic, and from within it, from where she had concealed it, from where it rested, at her bosom, withdrew the note which she then held, her arm extended, to the handsome fellow. One of the other two strode forward to seize the not but Lavinia drew it back, clutched in her tiny fist, held it to her body, and shook her head vigorously, negatively. This note, it seemed, was to be delivered to the slave alone. The fellow reached for it again and she put down her head to the stones, rather as in common obeisance or in kneeling to the whip, holding the note beneath her. "No, Master!" she said. "Forgive me, Master!"
"Slut!" he cried, and kicked her, again.
"Hold," said his fellow. "You are under orders?" he asked the slave.
"Yes, Master!" said the girl. "The note may be given to one, and one alone!" "Very well," said the second fellow.
Lavinia then, gratefully, rose to her feet, and went to kneel before the slave. How well she knelt before him! how well she looked at his feet, though he were only a slave. She then lifted the note to him, her head down between her extended arms, holding the note in both hands, proffering it to him, much as in the manner in which a slave offers wine, and herself, to a master. The fellow gasped, and seemed shaken by this, the sight of the beauty so before him. I almost feared he might fall, so beautiful she was. Never I suspect had he had a woman so before him. In that instance I think he may have first begun to sense the glories, the exultancies, the fittingness, the perfections and powers of the mastery. I watched Lavinia surrender the note to him. it was almost as though it were her own note, offered pleadingly to him on her own behalf, and not putatively the note of another, in whose transit and delivery she was merely humble courier. To be sure, she had written the note herself. I was much puzzled by her behavior. I was also much impressed by it. I had never hitherto realized she was that beautiful.
"You have delivered your note, slut!" said one of the men, angrily. "Now, be off with you!"
"Yes, Master!" she said.
He drew back his hand, angrily, as though contemplating giving her a cuff. "Yes, Master!" she said, and scrambled to her feet, not at all gracefully, in her haste, and raced past me, going west on Tarn Court. Clearly she would not have relished further attentions from the fellow. Already she was a bruised, thrice-kicked slave. I do not think that he intended striking her that time, incidentally, but was only threatening to do so. The threat, however, had been sufficient to speed her on her way, and had she not leaped up and departed with suitable dispatch I did not doubt but what her lovely face in an instant, flashing and burning scarlet, might have suffered the sting, and perhaps more than once, of that ready, harsh masculine hand.
"She is pretty," said one of the fellows, he who had questioned her, looking after her.
"But she is only a female," said the other, he who had threatened her.
"And a slave," said he who had questioned her.
"Yet they are the prettiest and best, " said he who had threatened her.
"Yes," said he who had questioned her. "There is no comparison."
The handsome slave stood in the street, under the trellises, in the light and shade, looking after the slave, wonderingly. In his hand, neglected, was the note. It seemed he could not take his eyes off the retreating figure of Lavinia. Could it be that he found her of interest, and in the most profoundly sexual way in which a man may find a woman of interest, of slave interest? I had not counted on that. I trusted that this would not disrupt my plans.
"Read the note," ordered one of the fellows.
Absently, almost as though not aware of his surroundings, except for the now tiny figure of the slave, hurrying away, he opened the note. He could, apparently, read. I had counted on that. He was a high slave. Too, it would have been difficult for him, I supposed, as he was a well-known actor, to have learned parts without being able to read. To be sure, some actors do, having the parts read to them, and they memorizing them from the hearing of the lines. This is particularly the case with women, as most parts of women on the Gorean stage, other than those in high theater, which tend to be acted by boys or men, are acted by female slaves, many of whom cannot read. Also, of course, as is well known, singers, scalds in the north, and such, transmit even epics orally. Because there are many Goreans who cannot read, many stores, shops, and such, will utilize various signs and devices to identify their place of business. For example, a large, wooden image of a paga goblet may hang outside a tavern, a representation of a hammer and anvil outside a metal-worker's shop, one of a needle and thread outside a cloth-worker's shop, and so on. I have known extremely intelligent men on Gor, incidentally, who could not read. Illiteracy, or, more kindly, an inability to read and write, is not taken on Gor as a mark of stupidity. These things tend rather, in many cases, to be associated with the caste structure and cultural traditions. Some warriors, as I have indicated earlier, seem to feel it is somewhat undignified for them to know how to read, or, at least, how to read well, perhaps because that sort of thing is more in the line of, say, the scribes. One hires a warrior for one thing, one hires a scribe for another. One does not expect a scribe to know the sword. Why, then, should one expect the warrior to know the pen? An excellent example of this sort of thing is the caste of musicians which has, as a whole, resisted many attempts to develop and standardize a musical notation. Songs and melodies tend to be handed down within the caste, from one generation to another. If something is worth playing, is it worth remembering, they say. On the other hand, I suspect that they fear too broad a dissemination of the caste knowledge. Physicians, interestingly, perhaps for a similar reason, tend to keep records in archaic Gorean, which is incomprehensible to most Goreans. Many craftsmen, incidentally, keep such things as formulas for certain kinds of glass and alloys, and manufacturing processes, generally, in cipher. Merchant law has been unsuccessful, as yet, in introducing such things as patents and copyrights on Gor. Such things do exist in municipal law on Gor but the jurisdictions involved are, of course, local.