But it was ever thus. That which has never come within the
scope of our really pitifully meager world-experience cannot be--our
finite minds cannot grasp that which may not exist in accordance
with the conditions which obtain about us upon the outside of the
insignificant grain of dust which wends its tiny way among the
bowlders of the universe--the speck of moist dirt we so proudly
call the World.
So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a
Mezop, and that his name was Ja.
"Who are the Mezops?" I asked. "Where do they live?"
He looked at me in surprise.
"I might indeed believe that you were from another world," he said,
"for who of Pellucidar could be so ignorant! The Mezops live upon
the islands of the seas. In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop
lives elsewhere, and no others than Mezops dwell upon islands, but
of course it may be different in other far-distant lands. I do not
know. At any rate in this sea and those near by it is true that
only people of my race inhabit the islands.
"We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going
to the mainland in search of the game that is scarce upon all but
the larger islands. And we are warriors also," he added proudly.
"Even the Sagoths of the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar
was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they
do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed down from father to
son among us that this is so; but we fought so desperately and slew
so many Sagoths, and those of us that were captured killed so many
Mahars in their own cities that at last they learned that it were
better to leave us alone, and later came the time that the Mahars
became too indolent even to catch their own fish, except for
amusement, and then they needed us to supply their wants, and so a
truce was made between the races.
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