A Princess of Marsの勉強
Edgar Rice Burroughsの原作を読むと、映画化されたものとは全く違うことがわかった。原作は実に素晴らしい。John Carterの正義感と優しさ、princessの気品と美しさ、空気を合成する古代文明の素晴らしさ、緑色人との交流、すべてが新鮮で意表を突く。緑色人のイメージはGutenberg版の中のイラストが合っている。巨人になっているだけで長い牙は醜く見えない。
それはともかく、物語の進展を特徴づけるところを抜粋して勉強することにする。
まず、John Carterが火星に転送される場面から始めよう。
John Carterは友人と一緒に金鉱を探し、ついに発見した。採掘のための人出を集めに友人は一人で町に戻っていったところをアパッチに射殺され、助けに行った彼は追われて洞窟に逃げ込んだが、不思議なことにアパッチは何ものかを恐れて立ち去った。
To be held paralyzed麻痺, with one's back toward some horrible and unknown danger from the very sound of which the ferocious残忍 Apache warriors戦士 turn in wild stampedeどっと逃げる, as a flock of sheep would madly flee from a pack群れ of wolves, seems to me the last word in fearsome predicaments窮地 for a man who had ever been used to fighting for his life with all the energy of a powerful physique体格.
Several times I thought I heard faint sounds behind me as of somebody moving cautiously, but eventually結局 even these ceased, and I was left to the contemplation熟考 of my position without interruption中断. I could but vaguely曖昧 conjecture推測 the cause of my paralysis麻痺, and my only hope lay in that it might pass off as suddenly as it had fallen upon me.
Late in the afternoon my horse, which had been standing with dragging引きづる rein手綱 before the cave, started slowly down the trail足跡, evidently in search of food and water, and I was left alone with my mysterious unknown companion and the dead body of my friend, which lay just within my range of vision upon the ledge岩棚 where I had placed it in the early morning.
From then until possibly midnight all was silence, the silence of the dead; then, suddenly, the awful moan唸り声 of the morning broke upon my startled ears, and there came again from the black shadows the sound of a moving thing, and a faint rustlingがさがさ鳴る as of dead leaves. The shock to my already overstrained過度に緊張 nervous system was terrible in the extreme, and with a superhuman effort I strove努力 to break my awful bonds束縛. It was an effort of the mind, of the will, of the nerves; not muscular, for I could not move even so much as my little finger, but none the less mighty for all that. And then something gave, there was a momentary feeling of nausea吐き気, a sharp click as of the snapping折れる of a steel wire, and I stood with my back against the wall of the cave facing my unknown foe.
And then the moonlight flooded the cave, and there before me lay my own body as it had been lying all these hours, with the eyes staring toward the open ledge岩棚 and the hands resting limply力が抜けた upon the ground. I looked first at my lifeless clay肉体 there upon the floor of the cave and then down at myself in utter bewildermentうろたえ; for there I lay clothed, and yet here I stood but naked as at the minute瞬間 of my birth.
The transition転移 had been so sudden and so unexpected that it left me for a moment forgetful忘れて of aught零 else than my strange metamorphosis変成. My first thought was, is this then death! Have I indeed passed over forever into that other life! But I could not well believe this, as I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs from the exertion発揮 of my efforts to release myself from the anaesthesis麻痺 which had held me. My breath was coming in quick, short gasps, cold sweat stood out from every pore of my body, and the ancient experiment of pinching困窮 revealed現わす the fact that I was anything other than a wraith幽霊、死霊.
Again was I suddenly recalled to my immediate surroundings by a repetition of the weird不思議な moan from the depths of the cave. Naked and unarmed as I was, I had no desire to face the unseen thing which menaced脅迫 me.
My revolvers were strapped to my lifeless body which, for some unfathomable不可解な reason, I could not bring myself to touch. My carbine was in its bootホルダー, strappedくくりつけ to my saddle, and as my horse had wandered off I was left without means of defense. My only alternative選択肢 seemed to lie in flight and my decision was crystallized具体化 by a recurrence再発 of the rustlingかさかさ鳴る sound from the thing which now seemed, in the darkness of the cave and to my distortedゆがむ imagination, to be creeping忍び寄る stealthilyこっそり upon me.
Unable longer to resist the temptation to escape this horrible place I leaped飛ぶように動く quickly through the opening into the starlight of a clear Arizona night. The crispさわやかな, fresh mountain air outside the cave acted as an immediate tonic強壮剤 and I felt new life and new courage coursing走る through me. Pausing upon the brink淵 of the ledge I upbraided叱る myself for what now seemed to me wholly全く unwarranted許せない apprehension理解力. I reasoned with myself that I had lain横たわる helpless for many hours within the cave, yet nothing had molested乱暴する me, and my better judgment, when permitted the direction of clear and logical reasoning, convinced me that the noises I had heard must have resulted from purely natural and harmless causes; probably the conformation構造 of the cave was such that a slight breeze had caused the sounds I heard.
I decided to investigate調査, but first I lifted my head to fill my lungs with the pure, invigoratingさわやかな night air of the mountains. As I did so I saw stretching far below me the beautiful vista眺望 of rocky gorge峡谷, and level, cacti-studdedサボテンが立った flat平地, wrought飾った by the moonlight into a miracle of soft splendor光輝 and wondrous不思議な enchantment魅惑.
Few western wonders are more inspiring霊感 than the beauties of an Arizona moonlit月光に照らされた landscape; the silvered mountains in the distance, the strange lights and shadows upon hogback浸食地形 and arroyo枯れ谷, and the grotesque details of the stiff堅い, yet beautiful cacti form a picture at once enchanting and inspiring霊感; as though one were catching for the first time a glimpseちらっと見る of some dead and forgotten world, so different is it from the aspect光景 of any other spot upon our earth.
As I stood thus meditating熟考, I turned my gaze from the landscape to the heavens where the myriad無数 stars formed a gorgeous and fitting canopy天蓋 for the wonders of the earthly scene. My attention was quickly riveted引き付ける by a large red star close to the distant horizon. As I gazed upon it I felt a spell of overpowering fascination?it was Mars, the god of war, and for me, the fighting man, it had always held the power of irresistible enchantment. As I gazed at it on that far-gone気の変な night it seemed to call across the unthinkable void空間, to lureおびき寄せる me to it, to draw me as the lodestone天然磁石 attracts a particle of iron.
My longing切望 was beyond the power of opposition抵抗; I closed my eyes, stretched out my arms toward the god of my vocation使命 and felt myself drawn with the suddenness of thought through the trackless足跡のない immensity広大 of space. There was an instant of extreme cold and utter darkness.
そしてJone Carterは火星に転移した。
I OPENED my eyes upon a strange and weirdこの世のものとも思えない landscape. I knew that I was on Mars; not once did I question either my sanity分別 or my wakefulness用心深さ. I was not asleep, no need for pinching困窮 here; my inner consciousness told me as plainly that I was upon Mars as your conscious自覚 mind tells you that you are upon Earth. You do not question the fact; neither did I.
I found myself lying proneうつむき upon a bed of yellowish, mosslike vegetation which stretched around me in all directions for interminable無限 miles. I seemed to be lying in a deep, circular basin盆地, along the outer verge草地 of which I could distinguish the irregularities of low hills.
It was midday, the sun was shining full upon me and the heat of it was rather intense upon my naked body, yet no greater than would have been true under similar conditions on an Arizona desert. Here and there were slight outcroppings露頭 of quartz石英-bearing rock which glistenedきらりと光る in the sunlight; and a little to my left, perhaps a hundred yards, appeared a low, walled enclosure about four feet in height. No water, and no other vegetation than the moss was in evidence, and as I was somewhat thirsty I determined to do a little exploring.
Springing to my feet I received my first Martian surprise, for the effort, which on Earth would have brought me standing upright, carried me into the Martian air to the height of about three yards. I alighted降りる softly upon the ground, however, without appreciable感知できる shock or jar衝撃. Now commenced開始 a series of evolutions which even then seemed ludicrous滑稽 in the extreme極度. I found that I must learn to walk all over again, as the muscular exertion努力 which carried me easily and safely upon Earth played strange anticsおどけた仕草 with me upon Mars.
Instead of progressing in a sane正気 and dignified尊厳 manner, my attempts to walk resulted in a variety of hops which took me clear of the ground a couple of feet at each step and landed me sprawling腹ばい upon my face or back at the end of each second or third hop. My muscles, perfectly attuned慣れる and accustomed to the force of gravity on Earth, played the mischief with me in attempting for the first time to cope何とか切り抜ける with the lesser gravitation and lower air pressure on Mars.
I was determined, however, to explore the low structure which was the only evidence of habitation in sight, and so I hit upon the unique plan of reverting元に戻る to first principles in locomotion運動、移動, creeping. I did fairly well at this and in a few moments had reached the low, encircling wall of the enclosure.
There appeared to be no doors or windows upon the side nearest me, but as the wall was but about four feet high I cautiously用心深く gained my feet and peered over the top upon the strangest sight it had ever been given me to see.
The roof of the enclosure was of solid glass about four or five inches in thickness, and beneath this were several hundred large eggs, perfectly round and snowy white. The eggs were nearly uniform in size being about two and one-half feet in diameter.
火星の低重力に慣れて高く跳躍できるようになったJohn Carterは、数百個の白い大きな卵を発見した。
Five or six had already hatched孵化 and the grotesque caricatures戯画 which sat blinking in the sunlight were enough to cause me to doubt my sanity分別. They seemed mostly head, with little scrawnyやせこけた bodies, long necks and six legs, or, as I afterward learned, two legs and two arms, with an intermediary pair of limbs which could be used at will either as arms or legs. Their eyes were set at the extreme両極端 sides of their heads a trifleちょっと above the center and protruded突き出す in such a manner that they could be directed either forward or back and also independently of each other, thus permitting this queer animal to look in any direction, or in two directions at once, without the necessity of turning the head.
The ears, which were slightly above the eyes and closer together, were small, cup-shaped antennae, protruding not more than an inch on these young specimens. Their noses were but longitudinal縦 slits in the center of their faces, midway between their mouths and ears.
There was no hair on their bodies, which were of a very light yellowish-green color. In the adults, as I was to learn quite soon, this color deepens to an olive green and is darker in the male than in the female. Further, the heads of the adults are not so out of proportion to their bodies as in the case of the young.
The iris虹彩 of the eyes is blood red, as in Albinos, while the pupil is dark. The eyeball itself is very white, as are the teeth. These latter add a most ferocious狂暴 appearance to an otherwise fearsome and terrible countenance顔つき, as the lower tusks牙 curve upward to sharp points which end about where the eyes of earthly human beings are located. The whiteness of the teeth is not that of ivory, but of the snowiest and most gleaming of china. Against the dark background of their olive skins their tusks stand out in a most striking manner, making these weapons present a singularly formidable恐るべき appearance.
Most of these details I noted later, for I was given but little time to speculate on the wonders of my new discovery. I had seen that the eggs were in the process of hatching, and as I stood watching the hideous醜悪な little monsters break from their shells I failed to note the approach of a score多数 of full-grown Martians from behind me.
Coming, as they did, over the soft and soundless moss, which covers practically the entire surface of Mars with the exception of the frozen areas at the poles and the scattered cultivated districts, they might have captured me easily, but their intentions were far more sinister不吉. It was the rattlingがらがらいう of the accoutrements装具 of the foremost先頭 warrior which warned me.
On such a little thing my life hung that I often marvel that I escaped so easily. Had not the rifle of the leader of the party swung from its fastenings締め具 beside his saddle in such a way as to strike against the butt的 of his great metal-shod spear I should have snuffedかぎつける out without ever knowing that death was near me. But the little sound caused me to turn, and there upon me, not ten feet from my breast, was the point of that huge spear, a spear forty feet long, tipped with gleaming metal, and held low at the side of a mounted replica of the little devils I had been watching.
But how punyちっぽけ、取るに足りない and harmless they now looked beside this huge and terrific incarnation姿、化身 of hate, of vengeance復讐 and of death. The man himself, for such I may call him, was fully fifteen feet in height and, on Earth, would have weighed some four hundred pounds. He sat his mount as we sit a horse, grasping the animal's barrel胴体 with his lower limbs, while the hands of his two right arms held his immense巨大な spear low at the side of his mount; his two left arms were outstretched laterally to help preserve his balance, the thing he rode having neither bridleくつわ or reins手綱 of any description for guidance.
And his mount! How can earthly words describe it! It towered ten feet at the shoulder; had four legs on either side; a broad flat tail, larger at the tip than at the root, and which it held straight out behind while running; a gaping大きく裂けた mouth which split裂ける its head from its snout鼻 to its long, massive neck.
Like its master, it was entirely devoid欠けている of hair, but was of a dark slate青灰色 color and exceeding smooth and glossy光沢. Its belly腹 was white, and its legs shaded from the slate of its shoulders and hips to a vivid yellow at the feet. The feet themselves were heavily padded肉球 and nailless, which fact had also contributed to the noiselessness of their approach, and, in common with a multiplicity of legs, is a characteristic feature of the fauna動物相 of Mars. The highest type of man and one other animal, the only mammal existing on Mars, alone have well-formed nails, and there are absolutely no hoofedひづめ animals in existence there.
Behind this first charging突撃 demon trailed nineteen others, similar in all respects点, but, as I learned later, bearing individual characteristics peculiar to themselves; precisely正確に as no two of us are identical although we are all cast鋳型 in a similar mold姿. This picture, or rather materialized nightmare, which I have described at length, made but one terrible and swift即座 impression on me as I turned to meet it.
Unarmed and naked as I was, the first law of nature manifested現れる itself in the only possible solution of my immediate problem, and that was to get out of the vicinity of the point of the charging spear. Consequently I gave a very earthly and at the same time superhuman leap to reach the top of the Martian incubator保育器, for such I had determined it must be.
My effort was crowned完成する with a success which appalled唖然 me no less than it seemed to surprise the Martian warriors, for it carried me fully thirty feet into the air and landed me a hundred feet from my pursuers and on the opposite side of the enclosure.
John Carterは見事な跳躍で緑色人の意表を突いた。
I alighted upon the soft moss easily and without mishap, and turning saw my enemies lined up along the further wall. Some were surveying me with expressions which I afterward discovered marked extreme astonishment, and the others were evidently satisfying themselves that I had not molested乱暴 their young.
They were conversing談話 together in low tones, and gesticulating身振り手振り and pointing toward me. Their discovery that I had not harmed the little Martians, and that I was unarmed, must have caused them to look upon me with less ferocity狂暴; but, as I was to learn later, the thing which weighed重要視 most in my favor好意を持たれる was my exhibition of hurdling障害越え.
While the Martians are immense巨大, their bones are very large and they are muscled only in proportion to the gravitation which they must overcome. The result is that they are infinitely無限 less agile敏捷 and less powerful, in proportion to their weight, than an Earth man, and I doubt that were one of them suddenly to be transported to Earth he could lift his own weight from the ground; in fact, I am convinced that he could not do so.
My feat離れ業 then was as marvelous upon Mars as it would have been upon Earth, and from desiring to annihilate[anaialeit]殲滅 me they suddenly looked upon me as a wonderful discovery to be captured and exhibited among their fellows.
孵化した緑色人の子どもに害を与えなかったことと、驚くべき跳躍力と腕力を持っていることが評価され、John Carterは殺されずにTars Tarkasの奴隷になった。
Now, I had made no attempt to walk, since my first signal failure, except while tightly graspingつかむ Tars Tarkas' arm, and so now I went skipping and flitting軽く跳ぶ about among the desks and chairs like some monstrous grasshopper. After bruising苛酷 myself severely, much to the amusement of the Martians, I again had recourse to頼る creeping, but this did not suit気に入る them and I was roughly jerked to my feet by a towering fellow who had laughed most heartily at my misfortunes.
As he bangedたたく me down upon my feet his face was bent close to mine and I did the only thing a gentleman might do under the circumstances of brutality野蛮, boorishness, and lack of consideration for a stranger's rights; I swung my fist squarely to his jaw and he went down like a felled ox. As he sunk to the floor I wheeled旋回 around with my back toward the nearest desk, expecting to be overwhelmed by the vengeance復讐 of his fellows, but determined to give them as good a battle as the unequal odds would permit before I gave up my life.
My fears were groundless根拠なし, however, as the other Martians, at first struck dumb無言 with wonderment, finally broke into wild pealsとどろく of laughter and applause喝采. I did not recognize the applause as such, but later, when I had become acquainted with their customs, I learned that I had won what they seldom accord一致, a manifestation表明 of approbation是認.
John Carterは、Tar Tarkasの随行者Solaに世話されながら、試合に勝てる強い奴隷として認められるようになった。
My fair companion was about eight feet tall, having just arrived at maturity, but not yet to her full height. She was of a light olive-green color, with a smooth, glossy光沢 hide皮革. Her name, as I afterward learned, was Sola, and she belonged to the retinue随行者 of Tars Tarkas. She conducted案内 me to a spacious chamber in one of the buildings fronting on the plaza, and which, from the litter of silks and furs upon the floor, I took to be the sleeping quarters of several of the natives.
The room was well lighted by a number of large windows and was beautifully decorated with mural壁画 paintings and mosaics, but upon all there seemed to rest that indefinable不明瞭 touch of the finger of antiquity which convinced確信 me that the architects and builders of these wondrous不思議 creations had nothing in common with the crude粗野 half-brutes獣 which now occupied them.
Sola motioned me to be seated upon a pile of silks near the center of the room, and, turning, made a peculiar hissingしっという sound, as though signaling to someone in an adjoining room. In response to her call I obtained my first sight of a new Martian wonder. It waddledよちよち歩く in on its ten short legs, and squattedうづくまる down before the girl like an obedient従順 puppy. The thing was about the size of a Shetland pony, but its head bore a slight resemblance to that of a frog, except that the jaws were equipped with three rows of long, sharp tusks.
10本足の猛獣WoolaがJohn Carterの番犬になった。John Carterが白猿の襲撃を受けたとき、Woolaは白猿と死闘を続け、あわやという時にJohn Carterが白猿の頭を石棒で粉砕して助けてから、WoolaはJohn Carterに完全になついた。
ある時、赤色人の国の飛行船が気流観測のため多数飛来してきたが、緑色人はこれを地上砲火で攻撃し、一隻を捕獲して捕虜を捉えた。
They removed their prisoner to the ground and then commenced開始 a systematic rifling略奪 of the vessel船. This operation required several hours, during which time a number of the chariots二輪戦車 were requisitioned徴発 to transport the loot戦利品, which consisted in arms, ammunition, silks, furs, jewels, strangely carved stone vessels, and a quantity of solid foods and liquids, including many casks樽 of water, the first I had seen since my advent upon Mars.
After the last load had been removed the warriors made lines fast to the craft and towed引く her far out into the valley in a southwesterly direction. A few of them then boarded her and were busily engaged in what appeared, from my distant position, as the emptying of the contents of various carboysガラス瓶 upon the dead bodies of the sailors and over the decks and works of the vessel.
This operation concluded, they hastily clamberedよじ登る over her sides, sliding down the guy支え綱 ropes to the ground. The last warrior to leave the deck turned and threw something back upon the vessel, waiting an instant to note the outcome of his act. As a faint spurt噴出 of flame rose from the point where the missile struck he swung over the side and was quickly upon the ground. Scarcely had he alighted than the guy ropes were simultaneously released, and the great warship, lightened by the removal of the loot, soared舞い上がる majestically威厳 into the air, her decks and upper works a mass of roaring flames.
Slowly she drifted to the southeast, rising higher and higher as the flames ate away her wooden parts and diminished減少 the weight upon her. Ascending to the roof of the building I watched her for hours, until finally she was lost in the dim vistas眺望 of the distance. The sight was awe畏敬-inspiring霊感 in the extreme極度 as one contemplated熟考 this mighty floating funeral pyre火葬用の薪の山, drifting unguided and unmanned無人 through the lonely wastes荒地 of the Martian heavens; a derelict遺棄 of death and destruction, typifying象徴 the life story of these strange and ferocious狂暴 creatures into whose unfriendly hands fate運命 had carried it.
Much depressed落胆, and, to me, unaccountably説明できない so, I slowly descended to the street. The scene I had witnessed目撃 seemed to mark the defeat and annihilation全滅 of the forces of a kindred類似 people, rather than the routing by our green warriors of a horde大群 of similar, though unfriendly, creatures. I could not fathom推測 the seeming見せかけ hallucination幻覚, nor could I free myself from it; but somewhere in the innermost最奥 recessesくぼみ of my soul I felt a strange yearning同情 toward these unknown foemen, and a mighty hope surged沸き立つ through me that the fleet would return and demand a reckoning from the green warriors who had so ruthlessly残酷 and wantonly悪意 attacked it.
Close at my heel, in his now accustomed place, followed Woola, the hound, and as I emerged upon the street Sola rushed up to me as though I had been the object of some search on her part. The cavalcade騎馬行列 was returning to the plaza, the homeward march having been given up for that day; nor, in fact, was it recommenced再開 for more than a week, owing to the fear of a return attack by the air craft.
Lorquas Ptomel was too astute機敏 an old warrior to be caught upon the open plains with a caravan of chariots and children, and so we remained at the deserted city until the danger seemed passed.
As Sola and I entered the plaza a sight met my eyes which filled my whole being with a great surge沸き立つ of mingled混ざる hope, fear, exultation歓喜, and depression落胆, and yet most dominant was a subtle sense of relief救済 and happiness; for just as we neared the throng群衆 of Martians I caught a glimpse一瞥 of the prisoner from the battle craft who was being roughly dragged into a nearby building by a couple of green Martian females.
And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure, similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life. She did not see me at first, but just as she was disappearing through the portal入口 of the building which was to be her prison she turned, and her eyes met mine. Her face was oval卵 and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled彫刻 and exquisite極めて美しい, her eyes large and lustrous輝く and her head surmounted上に置く by a mass of coal black黒珊瑚, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure念入りにととのえられた髪型. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson深紅色 glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing高める effect.
She was as destitute欠乏 of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for除き her highly wrought細工 ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure.
As her gaze rested on me her eyes opened wide in astonishment, and she made a little sign with her free hand; a sign which I did not, of course, understand. Just a moment we gazed upon each other, and then the look of hope and renewed courage which had glorified賛美 her face as she discovered me, faded into one of utter dejection落胆, mingled with loathing嫌う and contempt侮辱. I realized I had not answered her signal, and ignorant as I was of Martian customs, I intuitively直観的 felt that she had made an appeal for succor救助 and protection which my unfortunate ignorance had prevented me from answering. And then she was dragged out of my sight into the depths of the desertedさびれた edifice壮大な建物.
John CarterはSolaに教えられて火星の口語を覚え、テレパシーで相手の思考を知る能力も身に着けた。
絶世の美女Dejar Thorisに出会ったJohn Carterは、一度は悲惨な目に遭ったのを助けて感謝され、一度は恋人になったつもりで彼女のプライドを傷つけたためか軽蔑された。しかし、二度、死の危機から救ったため、Dejar Thorisのかたくなな心が融けてきた。
Without waiting for a further invitation I bolted駆ける up the winding runway which led to the second floor, and entering a great chamber at the front of the building was greeted by the frenzied狂乱 Woola, who threw his great carcass体 upon me, nearly hurling投げる me to the floor; the poor old fellow was so glad to see me that I thought he would devour貪り食う me, his head split分離 from ear to ear, showing his three rows of tusks牙 in his hobgoblin化け物 smile.
Quieting him with a word of command and a caress愛撫, I looked hurriedly through the approaching gloom暗がり for a sign of Dejah Thoris, and then, not seeing her, I called her name. There was an answering murmur from the far corner of the apartment, and with a couple of quick strides I was standing beside her where she crouchedうづくまる among the furs and silks upon an ancient carved wooden seat. As I waited she rose to her full height and looking me straight in the eye said:
"What would Dotar Sojat, Thark, of Dejah Thoris his captive?"
"Dejah Thoris, I do not know how I have angered you. It was furtherest from my desire to hurt or offend you, whom I had hoped to protect and comfort. Have none of me if it is your will, but that you must aid me in effecting your escape, if such a thing be possible, is not my request, but my command. When you are safe once more at your father's court you may do with me as you please, but from now on until that day I am your master, and you must obey and aid me."
She looked at me long and earnestly and I thought that she was softening toward me.
"I understand your words, Dotar Sojat," she replied, "but you I do not understand. You are a queer mixture of child and man, of brute粗野 and noble. I only wish that I might read your heart."
"Look down at your feet, Dejah Thoris; it lies there now where it has lain横たわる since that other night at Korad, and where it will ever lie beating alone for you until death stills it forever."
She took a little step toward me, her beautiful hands outstretched in a strange, groping手探り gesture.
"What do you mean, John Carter?" she whispered. "What are you saying to me?"
"I am saying what I had promised myself that I would not say to you, at least until you were no longer a captive among the green men; what from your attitude toward me for the past twenty days I had thought never to say to you; I am saying, Dejah Thoris, that I am yours, body and soul, to serve you, to fight for you, and to die for you. Only one thing I ask of you in return, and that is that you make no sign, either of condemnation非難 or of approbation是認 of my words until you are safe among your own people, and that whatever sentiments感情 you harbor隠す toward me they be not influenced or colored by gratitude感謝; whatever I may do to serve you will be prompted思いつかせる solely from selfish motives, since it gives me more pleasure to serve you than not."
"I will respect your wishes, John Carter, because I understand the motives which prompt them, and I accept your service no more willingly than I bow to your authority; your word shall be my law. I have twice wronged間違った you in my thoughts and again I ask your forgiveness."