Chapter V. The White Ape

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

　　Tenderly Kala nursed her little waif, wondering silentlywhy it did not gain strength and agility as did the littleapes of other mothers. It was nearly a year from the time thelittle fellow came into her possession before he would walkalone, and as for climbing--my, but how stupid he was!

　　Kala sometimes talked with the older females about heryoung hopeful, but none of them could understand how achild could be so slow and backward in learning to care foritself. Why, it could not even find food alone, and morethan twelve moons had passed since Kala had come upon it.

　　Had they known that the child had seen thirteen moonsbefore it had come into Kala's possession they would haveconsidered its case as absolutely hopeless, for the little apesof their own tribe were as far advanced in two or threemoons as was this little stranger after twenty-five.

　　Tublat, Kala's husband, was sorely vexed, and but for the female'scareful watching would have put the child out of the way.

　　"He will never be a great ape," he argued. "Always willyou have to carry him and protect him. What good will he beto the tribe? None; only a burden.

　　"Let us leave him quietly sleeping among the tall grasses,that you may bear other and stronger apes to guard us in ourold age."

　　"Never, Broken Nose," replied Kala. "If I must carry himforever, so be it."

　　And then Tublat went to Kerchak to urge him to use hisauthority with Kala, and force her to give up little Tarzan,which was the name they had given to the tiny Lord Greystoke,and which meant "White-Skin."

　　But when Kerchak spoke to her about it Kala threatenedto run away from the tribe if they did not leave her in peacewith the child; and as this is one of the inalienable rights ofthe jungle folk, if they be dissatisfied among their own people,they bothered her no more, for Kala was a fine clean-limbedyoung female, and they did not wish to lose her.

　　As Tarzan grew he made more rapid strides, so that by thetime he was ten years old he was an excellent climber, and onthe ground could do many wonderful things which were beyondthe powers of his little brothers and sisters.

　　In many ways did he differ from them, and they oftenmarveled at his superior cunning, but in strength and size hewas deficient; for at ten the great anthropoids were fullygrown, some of them towering over six feet in height, whilelittle Tarzan was still but a half-grown boy.

　　Yet such a boy!

　　From early childhood he had used his hands to swing frombranch to branch after the manner of his giant mother, andas he grew older he spent hour upon hour daily speedingthrough the tree tops with his brothers and sisters.

　　He could spring twenty feet across space at the dizzyheights of the forest top, and grasp with unerring precision,and without apparent jar, a limb waving wildly in the path ofan approaching tornado.

　　He could drop twenty feet at a stretch from limb to limbin rapid descent to the ground, or he could gain the utmostpinnacle of the loftiest tropical giant with the ease andswiftness of a squirrel.

　　Though but ten years old he was fully as strong as theaverage man of thirty, and far more agile than the mostpracticed athlete ever becomes. And day by day his strengthwas increasing.

　　His life among these fierce apes had been happy; for hisrecollection held no other life, nor did he know that thereexisted within the universe aught else than his little forestand the wild jungle animals with which he was familiar.

　　He was nearly ten before he commenced to realize that agreat difference existed between himself and his fellows. Hislittle body, burned brown by exposure, suddenly caused himfeelings of intense shame, for he realized that it was entirelyhairless, like some low snake, or other reptile.

　　He attempted to obviate this by plastering himself fromhead to foot with mud, but this dried and fell off. Besides itfelt so uncomfortable that he quickly decided that hepreferred the shame to the discomfort.

　　In the higher land which his tribe frequented was a littlelake, and it was here that Tarzan first saw his face in theclear, still waters of its bosom.

　　It was on a sultry day of the dry season that he and one ofhis cousins had gone down to the bank to drink. As theyleaned over, both little faces were mirrored on the placidpool; the fierce and terrible features of the ape beside thoseof the aristocratic scion of an old English house.

　　Tarzan was appalled. It had been bad enough to be hairless,but to own such a countenance! He wondered that theother apes could look at him at all.

　　That tiny slit of a mouth and those puny white teeth! Howthey looked beside the mighty lips and powerful fangs of hismore fortunate brothers!

　　And the little pinched nose of his; so thin was it that itlooked half starved. He turned red as he compared it with thebeautiful broad nostrils of his companion. Such a generous nose!Why it spread half across his face! It certainly must befine to be so handsome, thought poor little Tarzan.

　　But when he saw his own eyes; ah, that was the final blow--a brown spot, a gray circle and then blank whiteness!Frightful! not even the snakes had such hideous eyes as he.

　　So intent was he upon this personal appraisement of hisfeatures that he did not hear the parting of the tall grassbehind him as a great body pushed itself stealthily throughthe jungle; nor did his companion, the ape, hear either, forhe was drinking and the noise of his sucking lips and gurglesof satisfaction drowned the quiet approach of the intruder.

　　Not thirty paces behind the two she crouched--Sabor, thehuge lioness--lashing her tail. Cautiously she moved a greatpadded paw forward, noiselessly placing it before she liftedthe next. Thus she advanced; her belly low, almost touchingthe surface of the ground--a great cat preparing to springupon its prey.

　　Now she was within ten feet of the two unsuspecting littleplayfellows--carefully she drew her hind feet well up beneathher body, the great muscles rolling under the beautiful skin.

　　So low she was crouching now that she seemed flattened tothe earth except for the upward bend of the glossy back as itgathered for the spring.

　　No longer the tail lashed--quiet and straight behind her it lay.

　　An instant she paused thus, as though turned to stone, andthen, with an awful scream, she sprang.

　　Sabor, the lioness, was a wise hunter. To one less wise thewild alarm of her fierce cry as she sprang would have seemeda foolish thing, for could she not more surely have fallen uponher victims had she but quietly leaped without that loud shriek?

　　But Sabor knew well the wondrous quickness of the junglefolk and their almost unbelievable powers of hearing. Tothem the sudden scraping of one blade of grass acrossanother was as effectual a warning as her loudest cry, andSabor knew that she could not make that mighty leap withouta little noise.

　　Her wild scream was not a warning. It was voiced tofreeze her poor victims in a paralysis of terror for the tinyfraction of an instant which would suffice for her mightyclaws to sink into their soft flesh and hold them beyond hopeof escape.

　　So far as the ape was concerned, Sabor reasoned correctly.The little fellow crouched trembling just an instant, but thatinstant was quite long enough to prove his undoing.

　　Not so, however, with Tarzan, the man-child. His lifeamidst the dangers of the jungle had taught him to meetemergencies with self-confidence, and his higher intelligenceresulted in a quickness of mental action far beyond the powersof the apes.

　　So the scream of Sabor, the lioness, galvanized the brainand muscles of little Tarzan into instant action.

　　Before him lay the deep waters of the little lake, behindhim certain death; a cruel death beneath tearing claws andrending fangs.

　　Tarzan had always hated water except as a medium forquenching his thirst. He hated it because he connected it withthe chill and discomfort of the torrential rains, and he fearedit for the thunder and lightning and wind which accompanied them.

　　The deep waters of the lake he had been taught by his wildmother to avoid, and further, had he not seen little Neetasink beneath its quiet surface only a few short weeks beforenever to return to the tribe?

　　But of the two evils his quick mind chose the lesser ere thefirst note of Sabor's scream had scarce broken the quiet ofthe jungle, and before the great beast had covered half herleap Tarzan felt the chill waters close above his head.

　　He could not swim, and the water was very deep; but still helost no particle of that self-confidence and resourcefulnesswhich were the badges of his superior being.

　　Rapidly he moved his hands and feet in an attempt toscramble upward, and, possibly more by chance than design,he fell into the stroke that a dog uses when swimming, sothat within a few seconds his nose was above water and hefound that he could keep it there by continuing his strokes,and also make progress through the water.

　　He was much surprised and pleased with this new acquirementwhich had been so suddenly thrust upon him, but he had notime for thinking much upon it.

　　He was now swimming parallel to the bank and there hesaw the cruel beast that would have seized him crouchingupon the still form of his little playmate.

　　The lioness was intently watching Tarzan, evidently expectinghim to return to shore, but this the boy had no intentionof doing.

　　Instead he raised his voice in the call of distress commonto his tribe, adding to it the warning which would preventwould-be rescuers from running into the clutches of Sabor.

　　Almost immediately there came an answer from the distance,and presently forty or fifty great apes swung rapidly andmajestically through the trees toward the scene of tragedy.

　　In the lead was Kala, for she had recognized the tones ofher best beloved, and with her was the mother of the littleape who lay dead beneath cruel Sabor.

　　Though more powerful and better equipped for fighting thanthe apes, the lioness had no desire to meet these enragedadults, and with a snarl of hatred she sprang quicklyinto the brush and disappeared.

　　Tarzan now swam to shore and clambered quickly upondry land. The feeling of freshness and exhilaration which thecool waters had imparted to him, filled his little being withgrateful surprise, and ever after he lost no opportunity totake a daily plunge in lake or stream or ocean when it waspossible to do so.

　　For a long time Kala could not accustom herself to thesight; for though her people could swim when forced to it,they did not like to enter water, and never did so voluntarily.

　　The adventure with the lioness gave Tarzan food forpleasurable memories, for it was such affairs which brokethe monotony of his daily life--otherwise but a dull round ofsearching for food, eating, and sleeping.

　　The tribe to which he belonged roamed a tract extending,roughly, twenty-five miles along the seacoast and some fiftymiles inland. This they traversed almost continually,occasionally remaining for months in one locality; but as theymoved through the trees with great speed they often coveredthe territory in a very few days.

　　Much depended upon food supply, climatic conditions, andthe prevalence of animals of the more dangerous species;though Kerchak often led them on long marches for no otherreason than that he had tired of remaining in the same place.

　　At night they slept where darkness overtook them, lyingupon the ground, and sometimes covering their heads, andmore seldom their bodies, with the great leaves of theelephant's ear. Two or three might lie cuddled in each other'sarms for additional warmth if the night were chill, and thusTarzan had slept in Kala's arms nightly for all these years.

　　That the huge, fierce brute loved this child of another raceis beyond question, and he, too, gave to the great, hairy beastall the affection that would have belonged to his fair youngmother had she lived.

　　When he was disobedient she cuffed him, it is true, but shewas never cruel to him, and was more often caressing himthan chastising him.

　　Tublat, her mate, always hated Tarzan, and on severaloccasions had come near ending his youthful career.

　　Tarzan on his part never lost an opportunity to show thathe fully reciprocated his foster father's sentiments, andwhenever he could safely annoy him or make faces at him or hurlinsults upon him from the safety of his mother's arms, or theslender branches of the higher trees, he did so.

　　His superior intelligence and cunning permitted him to inventa thousand diabolical tricks to add to the burdens ofTublat's life.

　　Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes bytwisting and tying long grasses together, and with these hewas forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him fromsome overhanging branch.

　　By constant playing and experimenting with these he learnedto tie rude knots, and make sliding nooses; and with these heand the younger apes amused themselves. What Tarzan did theytried to do also, but he alone originated and became proficient.

　　One day while playing thus Tarzan had thrown his rope atone of his fleeing companions, retaining the other end in hisgrasp. By accident the noose fell squarely about the runningape's neck, bringing him to a sudden and surprising halt.

　　Ah, here was a new game, a fine game, thought Tarzan, andimmediately he attempted to repeat the trick. And thus, bypainstaking and continued practice, he learned the art of roping.

　　Now, indeed, was the life of Tublat a living nightmare. Insleep, upon the march, night or day, he never knew whenthat quiet noose would slip about his neck and nearly chokethe life out of him.

　　Kala punished, Tublat swore dire vengeance, and old Kerchaktook notice and warned and threatened; but all to no avail.

　　Tarzan defied them all, and the thin, strong noose continuedto settle about Tublat's neck whenever he least expected it.

　　The other apes derived unlimited amusement from Tublat'sdiscomfiture, for Broken Nose was a disagreeable old fellow,whom no one liked, anyway.

　　In Tarzan's clever little mind many thoughts revolved, andback of these was his divine power of reason.

　　If he could catch his fellow apes with his long arm ofmany grasses, why not Sabor, the lioness?

　　It was the germ of a thought, which, however, was destinedto mull around in his conscious and subconscious minduntil it resulted in magnificent achievement.

　　But that came in later years.