Part 6 (1/2)
”And the banths?” questioned Carthoris ”They, too, were but creatures of suggestion?”
”Some of them were real,” replied Jav ”Those that accompanied the archers in pursuit of the Torquasians were unreal Like the archers, they never returned, but, having served their purpose, vanished with the bohen the rout of the enemy was assured
”Those that reers to devour the bodies of the dead of Torquas This thing is de us I am a realist Tario is an etherealist
”The etherealistsas matter--that all is ination of his fellows, other than as an intangible, invisibleto Tario, it is but necessary that we all unite in i that there are no dead Torquasians beneath our walls, and there will be none, nor any need of scavenging banths”
”You, then, do not hold Tario's beliefs?” asked Carthoris
”In part only,” replied the Lotharian ”I believe, in fact I know, that there are some truly ethereal creatures Tario is one, I ainations of his people
”Of course, it is the contention of all us realists that all etherealists are but figination They contend that no food is necessary, nor do they eat; but any one of the enceactual existence”
”Yes,” agreed Carthoris, ”not having eaten to-day I can readily agree with you”
”Ah, pardon er,” and with a wave of his hand he indicated a bountifully laden table that had not been there an instant before he spoke Of that Carthoris was positive, for he had searched the rooently with his eyes several times
”It is well,” continued Jav, ”that you did not fall into the hands of an etherealist Then, indeed, would you have gone hungry”
”But,” exclaimed Carthoris, ”this is not real food--it was not here an instant since, and real food does not materialize out of thin air”
Jav looked hurt
”There is no real food or water in Lothar,” he said; ”nor has there been for countless ages Upon such as you now see before you have we existed since the dawn of history Upon such, then, ht you were a realist,” exclaimed Carthoris
”Indeed,” cried Jav, ”what more realistic than this bounteous feast? It is just here that we differ most froine food; but we have found that for the maintenance of life we must thrice daily sit down to hearty o certain cheestion and assi of wasted tissue
”Noe all know that h we may differ in the interpretation of its variousas substance, all being created from the substanceless matter of the brain
”We realists, however, know better We know that h it may not be able to create substance--the latter is still an open question And so we know that in order to ans properly to function
”This we acco of the food thus created We chealloe digest All our organs function precisely as if we had partaken of material food And what is the result? What h both direct and indirect suggestion, and we live and thrive”
Carthoris eyed the food before hih He lifted a morsel to his lips There was substance indeed And flavour as well Yes, even his palate was deceived
Jav watched hi?” he asked
”I must admit that it is,” replied Carthoris ”But tell me, how does Tario live, and the other etherealists who maintain that food is unnecessary?”
Jav scratched his head
”That is a question we often discuss,” he replied ”It is the strongest evidence we have of the non-existence of the etherealists; but who may know other than Komal?”
”Who is Komal?” asked Carthoris ”I heard your jeddak speak of him”
Jav bent loard the ear of the Heliu fearfully about before he spoke
”Komal is the essence,” he whispered ”Even the etherealists admit that inings the appearance of substance For if there really was no such thing as substance it could not be suggested--what never has been cannot be i,” replied Carthoris dryly
”So the essence must be substance,” continued Jav ”Komal is the essence of the All, as it were He is maintained by substance He eats He eats the real To be explicit, he eats the realists That is Tario's work
”He says that inasmuch as we maintain that we alone are real we should, to be consistent, admit that we alone are proper food for Komal Sometimes, as to-day, we find other food for him He is very fond of Torquasians”
”And Komal is a man?” asked Carthoris
”He is All, I told you,” replied Jav ”I know not how to explain hi and the end All life emanates froinings radiates from the body of Komal
”Should Komal cease to eat, all life upon Barsooht cease to eat, and, thus, to radiate”
”And he feeds upon the men and women of your belief?” cried Carthoris
”Women!” exclaimed Jav ”There are no woes since, upon that cruel and terrible journey across the reen hordes scourged us across the world to this our last hiding-place--our inable fortress of Lothar
”Scarce twenty thousand men of all the countlessus were no women and no children All these had perished by the way
”As ti extinction, when the Great Truth was revealed to us, that mind is all Many more died before we perfected our powers, but at last ere able to defy death e fully understood that death was merely a state of mind
”Then came the creation of s We first put these to practical use when the Torquasians discovered our retreat, and fortunate for us it was that it required ages of search upon their part before they found the single tiny entrance to the valley of Lothar
”That day we threw our first bowhten them away by the vast numbers of bohich we could muster upon our walls All Lothar bristled with the bows and arrows of our ethereal host
”But the Torquasians did not frighten They are lower than the beasts--they know no fear They rushed upon our walls, and standing upon the shoulders of others they built human approaches to the wall tops, and were on the very point of surging in upon us and overwheled by our bow the wall top, screaht to attehty intellect upon the bowmen of my own creation--each of us produces and directs as ination is capable of
”I caused them to fit arrows to their bows for the first tireen reen men see all this, and then I made them see the arrows fly, and I made them think that the points pierced their hearts