Already he knew
the names of his companions and the common names of the fauna and
flora with which they had most often come in contact.
Ta-den, he of the hairless, white skin, having assumed the role of
tutor, prosecuted his task with a singleness of purpose that was
reflected in his pupil's rapid mastery of Ta-den's mother tongue.
Om-at, the hairy black, also seemed to feel that there rested upon
his broad shoulders a portion of the burden of responsibility for
Tarzan's education, with the result that either one or the other of
them was almost constantly coaching the ape-man during his waking
hours. The result was only what might have been expected--a rapid
assimilation of the teachings to the end that before any of them
realized it, communication by word of mouth became an accomplished
fact.
Tarzan explained to his companions the purpose of his mission but
neither could give him any slightest thread of hope to weave into
the fabric of his longing. Never had there been in their country a
woman such as he described, nor any tailless man other than himself
that they ever had seen.
"I have been gone from A-lur while Bu, the moon, has eaten
seven times," said Ta-den. "Many things may happen in seven times
twenty-eight days; but I doubt that your woman could have entered
our country across the terrible morasses which even you found
an almost insurmountable obstacle, and if she had, could she have
survived the perils that you already have encountered beside those
of which you have yet to learn? Not even our own women venture into
the savage lands beyond the cities.
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