A PRINCESS OF MARS
CHILD-RAISING ON MARS
After a breakfast, which was an exact of the of the day and an of every which while I was with the green men of Mars, Sola me to the plaza, where I the entire in or helping at the of animals to great three-wheeled chariots. There were about two hundred and fifty of these vehicles, each by a single animal, any one of which, from their appearance, might easily have the entire train when loaded.
The themselves were large, commodious, and decorated. In each was seated a female Martian with of metal, with and and furs, and upon the of each of the which the was a Martian driver. Like the animals upon which the were mounted, the animals neither bridle, but were by means.
This power is in all Martians, and for the of their language and the relatively spoken in long conversations. It is the language of Mars, through the medium of which the higher and animals of this world of are able to to a or less extent, upon the of the and the of the individual.
As the took up the line of in single file, Sola me into an empty and we with the toward the point by which I had entered the city the day before. At the of the some two hundred warriors, five abreast, and a like number up the rear, while twenty-five or thirty us on either side.
Every one but myself—men, women, and children—were armed, and at the of each a Martian hound, my own closely ours; in fact, the left me the entire ten years I on Mars. Our way out across the little the city, through the hills, and into the sea which I had on my from the to the plaza. The incubator, as it proved, was the point of our this day, and, as the entire into a as soon as we the level of sea bottom, we were soon of our goal.
On it the were with on the four of the enclosure, and a score of warriors, by the chieftain, and Tars Tarkas and other chiefs, and toward it. I see Tars Tarkas something to the chieftain, name, by the way, was, as nearly as I can it into English, Lorquas Ptomel, Jed; being his title.
I was soon of the of their conversation, as, calling to Sola, Tars Tarkas for her to send me to him. I had by this time the of walking under Martian conditions, and responding to his I to the of the where the stood.
As I their a me that all but a very eggs had hatched, the being alive with the little devils. They in from three to four feet, and were moving about the as though for food.
As I came to a him, Tars Tarkas pointed over the and said, "Sak." I saw that he wanted me to repeat my performance of yesterday for the of Lorquas Ptomel, and, as I must that my gave me no little satisfaction, I quickly, over the on the of the incubator. As I returned, Lorquas Ptomel something at me, and to his gave a of relative to the incubator. They paid no attention to me and I was thus permitted to close and watch their operations, which in an opening in the of the large to permit of the of the Martians.
On either of this opening the and the Martians, male and female, two solid leading out through the and away into the plain beyond. Between these the little Martians scampered, wild as deer; being permitted to the full length of the aisle, where they were one at a time by the and older children; the last in the line the little one to the end of the gauntlet, her opposite in the line the second, and so on until all the little had left the and been by some or female. As the the they out of line and returned to their chariots, while those who into the hands of the men were later over to some of the women.
I saw that the ceremony, if it be by such a name, was over, and out Sola I her in our with a little in her arms.
The work of young, green Martians in teaching them to talk, and to use the of with which they are from the very year of their lives. Coming from eggs in which they have for five years, the period of incubation, they step into the world perfectly in size. Entirely unknown to their mothers, who, in turn, would have in pointing out the fathers with any of accuracy, they are the common children of the community, and their education upon the who to them as they the incubator.
Their mothers may not have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not to lay, until less than a year she the mother of another woman's offspring. But this for little among the green Martians, as and love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I this which has been on for is the direct of the of all the and higher among these creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are that they are only to live until they can by their and that they are fit to live. Should they prove or in any way they are shot; do they see a tear for a single one of the many they pass through from infancy.
I do not that the adult Martians are or to the young, but theirs is a hard and for upon a planet, the natural of which have to a point where the support of each additional life means an added tax upon the into which it is thrown.
By selection they only the of each species, and with almost they the birth to the by death.
Each adult Martian female about thirteen eggs each year, and those which meet the size, weight, and are in the of some where the temperature is too low for incubation. Every year these eggs are by a of twenty chieftains, and all but about one hundred of the most perfect are out of each yearly supply. At the end of five years about five hundred almost perfect eggs have been from the thousands forth. These are then in the almost air-tight to be by the sun's rays after a period of another five years. The which we had today was a event of its kind, all but about one of the eggs in two days. If the eggs we nothing of the of the little Martians. They were not wanted, as their might and the to incubation, and thus the which has for and which the adult Martians to the proper time for return to the incubators, almost to an hour.
The are in fastnesses, where there is little or no of their being by other tribes. The result of such a would no children in the for another five years. I was later to the results of the of an incubator.
The of which the green Martians with my was a part was of some thirty thousand souls. They an of and semi-arid land and eighty south latitude, and on the east and west by two large tracts. Their in the of this district, near the of two of the so-called Martian canals.
As the had been north of their own in a and area, we had us a journey, which I, of course, nothing.
After our return to the city I passed days in idleness. On the day our return all the had early in the and had not returned until just fell. As I later learned, they had been to the in which the eggs were and had them to the incubator, which they had then up for another five years, and which, in all probability, would not be visited again that period.
The which the eggs until they were for the were many miles south of the incubator, and would be visited yearly by the of twenty chieftains. Why they did not to their and nearer home has always been a to me, and, like many other Martian mysteries, and by and customs.
Sola's were now doubled, as she was to for the Martian as well as for me, but neither one of us much attention, and as we were about in Martian education, Sola took it upon herself to train us together.
Her prize in a male about four tall, very and physically perfect; also, he learned quickly, and we had amusement, at least I did, over the we displayed. The Martian language, as I have said, is simple, and in a week I make all my wants and nearly that was said to me. Likewise, under Sola's tutelage, I my powers so that I that on around me.
What Sola most in me was that while I catch easily from others, and often when they were not for me, no one read a from my mind under any circumstances. At this me, but later I was very of it, as it gave me an over the Martians.
