Read Online Renegades of Gor by John Norman - Free Book Online Page B

meat. Ideally, they are taught to do this from the time of
    hatchlings, it being thrust into their mouths, given to them much as their
    mother bird would do in the wild. Tongs are used. With older birds, on the other
    hand, captured wild tarns, for example, the training usually takes the form of
    tying fresh meat on live animals, and then, when the tarn is accustomed to
    eating both, effecting the transition to the prepared meat. Needless to say, a
    hunting tarn is extremely dangerous, and although its favorite prey may be
    tabuk, or wild tarsk, they can attack human beings. This training innovation,
    interestingly enough, and perhaps predictably, was not primarily the result of
    an attempt to increase the safety of human beings, particularly those in rural
    areas, but was rather largely the result of attempting to achieve military
    objectives, in particular those having to do with the logistical support of
    (pg.53) the tarn cavalry. Because of it, for the first time, large tarn
    cavalries, numbering in the hundreds of men, became practical.
    “Tal,” said a grizzled fellow, wearily, appearing through a door to the side.
    “Tal,” said I to him.
    “It is quieter outside now,” he said.
    “It is still raining,” I said.
    “It is ten tarsks a night,” he said. That agreed with the sign.
    “That is very expensive,” I said.
    “True,” he said. “I myself would not pay so much.”
    “Perhaps I will leave now,” I said.
    “The rain has slacked off?” he said.
    “Are these prices negotiable?” I inquired.
    “No,” said he.
    “Are you sure?” I asked.
    “Yes,” he said. “The keeper, believe me, I know, is a resolute and greedy
    fellow.”
    “He is probably not as bad as you think,” I said.
    “Take my word for it, he is,” he said.
    “I would like a bath, the sponge, and such, and a bath girl.”
    “That will add two to your bill,” he said.
    “Should it not add four?” I asked.
    “No bath girl,” he said. “Because of the crowding, and the demand, we are using
    them as inn girls.”
    “I see,” I said.
    “You will have to sponge, oil and strigil yourself,” he said.
    “That seems somewhat barbaric,” I said. Also it was hard to reach certain spots
    on the back.
    “Times are hard,” he said.
    “Where are your baths?” I asked.
    “Through there,” he said, indicating a passage.
    “Where is your paga room?” I asked.
    “There,” said he, indicating another passage.
    “Later,” I said. “I would like a girl sent to my room.”
    “You do not have a room,” he said.
    “What are the ten tarsks for?” I asked.
    “Lodging,” he said.
    “You do not have rooms?” I asked.
    (pg.54) “Not separate rooms, for guests,” he said. “There are, instead, common
    areas.”
    “There are beds there?” I asked, apprehensively.
    “Yes, beds,” he said.
    “I see,” I said.
    “Surely you know where you are,” he said.
    “On the Vosk Road,” I said, warily.
    “And within a hundred pasangs of the river,” he said. “No inns around here have
    beds. You should know that. You seem uninformed.”
    “Perhaps,” I said.
    “Perhaps you would like to try one of the luxury inns between Ar and Venna,” he
    said.
    “They are over two thousand pasangs away,” I said.
    “You are surely not going to hold me responsible for their location,” he said.
    “I would not think do doing so,” I said.
    “Do not be dismayed,” he said. “Even in these hard times, the keeper, who has
    his congenial, noble side, has refused to surrender space lines.”
    “That is good news,” I said. “What are space lines?”
    “Most inn,” he said, “for your lodging, simply assign you to a large common
    room, to be shared with others. Quite primitive. Here, at the Crooked Tarn,
    however, we rent out spaces.”
    “I see,” I said.
    “Furthermore, they are clearly marked.”
    “I am glad to hear that,” I said.
    “You can accommodate fewer people that way, to be sure,” he said, “but