The Totems of Abydos (44 page)

It was large for a git. It crouched on one side of the cage, on some crumbled leaves. Its fur was oily. Its eyes were like bright spots.

Brenner tapped the cage, a little.

“Do not put your finger too close to it,” said Rodriguez. “They are wild.”

“It should be fed by now,” said Brenner.

“There are many varieties of totemism,” said Rodriguez, looking down at the git. “Even the concept of the totem animal is interesting, and varies from group to group. I assume the Pons are typical, but it is difficult to get clear on the matter. Certainly the totem animal is seldom identified with a particular animal, which might die or be killed. But, too, it is seldom understood as a species of animal, at least in the scientific sense. It is too real for that. The concept seems to be primitive, substantial, and mystical. It is alien to civilized understanding. The totem is an individual, and alive, as alive as that git, but it is somehow present in many places. It is one in many, so to speak. It lives in many houses. It is neither, say, the git as a species nor that git alone. It is more than both, and beyond both. It sees through both.”

The tiny animal in the cage lifted its head, and those tiny, bright eyes regarded Brenner.

“Let us return to the hut,” said Brenner.

“The keeper should be along soon,” said Rodriguez.

“Let us return to the hut,” said Brenner.

But Rodriguez was looking down, at the git.

“Totemism is an insanity,” said Brenner, suddenly, angrily.

“It is too widespread for that, in too many cultures, on too many worlds,” said Rodriguez.

“We have been here for weeks,” said Brenner. “We know little more about the Pons now than we did when we first came through the gate.”

“We have gathered a great deal of data,” said Rodriguez.

“But it does not fit together,” said Brenner. “There is no unity in it, no sense, no meaning.”

“There is a meaning in it,” said Rodriguez. “It is only that we have not yet detected it.”

“There is something about these little beasts which frightens me,” said Brenner.

“The Pons?” asked Rodriguez.

“Yes,” said Brenner.

“What?” asked Rodriguez.

“I do not know,” said Brenner. “They are too simple, too kindly, too inoffensive, too innocent, too good.”

“You should be pleased,” said Rodriguez. “They confirm all the theories which are so important to you.”

Brenner was silent. The git seemed to be looking at him.

“They are the beginning,” said Rodriguez. “They are the proof you have always desired, that the rational races did not begin in crime, that they did not emerge bloodily from the wars of nature in virtue of an uncompromising and superior ruthlessness, that they did not survive, and surpass, their competition in virtue of a more tenacious will and greater savagery, that their success is not to be attributed to the darkness of a heart which, in pride and mercilessness, will proclaim itself chieftain and king. The club, you see, is for pounding grain. It is not a heavier, crueler paw. The knife is for the gathering of fruit. It is not a more efficient fang.”

“Do you believe these things?” asked Brenner.

“It seems I must,” said Rodriguez.

“I am not at ease with the Pons,” said Brenner.

“You could not ask for a more harmless form of life,” said Rodriguez.

“I am not sure what it is,” said Brenner. “Something about them seems familiar. It is almost as if I knew them, as if I had been here before.”

“But you have not been,” said Rodriguez.

“No,” said Brenner.

“Presumably what you sense are affinities,” said Rodriguez. “They exist amongst many species, of diverse sorts. Such affinities make comparative studies possible, and occasionally illuminating. Indeed, it is precisely because of such hypothetical affinities that we have come to Abydos. Naturally they might be occasionally sensed, particularly by a sensitive individual, as a bit eerie, or familiar. Indeed, is it not hoped that the Pons will constitute a lens of sorts, with which to look back, into the past of our own species?”

“We have been sent here, and informed of as much, in so many words,” said Brenner, recalling the directress, “to confirm current political theories.”

“And it appears we will do so, honestly,” said Rodriguez. “It does not even seem that we must keep two sets of notebooks, one to be reviewed by the directress and her superiors, in which the data is faked for publication, the other in which the truth is concealed, for those trusted to understand it.”

“I am afraid here,” said Brenner.

“Do not fear the Pons,” said Rodriguez. “They are simple, they are stupid. They do not even have names.”

“There is much here that I do not understand,” said Brenner.

“There is much here which I do not understand either,” said Rodriguez.

“Where are the children?” asked Brenner. “Where are the other totems, the other clans?”

“I do not know,” said Rodriguez.

“How can these things live in the forests?” asked Brenner. “How is it that they can survive here?”

“The totem protects them,” said Rodriguez.

“Of course,” said Brenner.

The git was looking up at Brenner, with its small, round, shiny eyes.

“Perhaps the forests are not as dangerous as is alleged,” said Brenner.

“Perhaps,” said Rodriguez.

“I think the keeper wishes to feed the git,” said Brenner, looking to one side. The keeper of the git, in his smocklike robe, was now waiting, a few yards to the right. Under the scrutiny of Brenner and Rodriguez he turned about.

“He is a polite fellow,” said Rodriguez.

The Pons would seldom meet one’s eyes directly.

In many cultures direct eye contact is regarded as a sign of openness, of honesty. In many others, of course, it is regarded as impolite, or obtrusive, and may even be interpreted as a sign of hostility.

Brenner and Rodriguez then withdrew from the small, open-sided, roofed structure, returning to their hut.

It was near noon.

Chapter 18

“Let us review,” said Rodriguez, looking up from the pages of a large, black notebook.

“I have a headache,” said Brenner.

“It is the bemat brew you were given last night,” said Rodriguez. This was a fermented beverage derived from the bemat grain, which was the common staple, fried, baked, or boiled, of the Pon diet.

“I do not feel well,” said Brenner.

“It was not a strong brew,” said Rodriguez.

“You have no ill effects?”

“No,” said Rodriguez.

“I did not sleep well,” said Brenner.

“I slept splendidly,” said Rodriguez.

“I had an odd dream,” said Brenner.

“What was it?” asked Rodriguez.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Brenner.

“One of those dreams?” asked Rodriguez.

“Perhaps,” said Brenner, angrily.

“Was she pretty?” asked Rodriguez.

“It was not what you think,” said Brenner.

“You do not find the Pon females of interest?” said Rodriguez.

“Certainly not!” said Brenner, angrily.

“Good,” said Rodriguez.

“They are like monkeys,” said Brenner, angrily.

“Members of our species, sufficiently frustrated, have made do with worse,” said Rodriguez. “I remember once, when I was a lad, on Abdera.”

“I do not care to hear it,” said Brenner.

“Stay away from the Pon females,” said Rodriguez.

“You need not fear,” said Brenner.

“You are a young man,” said Rodriguez. “I should have realized how difficult this would be for you.”

“I am all right,” said Brenner, angrily.

“We should have brought a contract slut from Company Station along for you,” said Rodriguez.

Brenner thought immediately of the brunette.

He would not have minded having her along, totally at his mercy, in the forests.

“But I thought it would be too much extra bother,” said Rodriguez. “It is not as though they are slaves, who are no trouble, who are instantly obedient, who are desperate to please, knowing that the integrity of their pretty little hides, and, indeed, their very lives, depends on the perfection of their service.”

“Slaves?” said Brenner.

“They stay where you put them, they leap to obey, they plead to be assigned further tasks, that they may to some extent redeem their worthlessness, in being of service to the master.”

“Contract women are not slaves,” said Brenner.

“Certainly not,” said Rodriguez. “But, sooner or later, one supposes, on one world or another, they will learn slavery.”

Brenner was silent. He supposed that that was true.

“Perhaps we could have brought your little brunette along, handcuffed, on a leash.”

“Please,” said Brenner.

“If she dallied, or resisted, we could have stripped her, and lashed her. They step lively enough then.”

“Please, Rodriguez,” said Brenner.

“Like the slaves they are,” said Rodriguez.

Brenner was silent, angry.

“You could have used her, to satisfy your needs. That is what they are good for.”

“Rodriguez!” said Brenner.

“But I thought it was too much bother,” said Rodriguez.

“You wished to summarize certain matters?” asked Brenner.

“What was your dream?” asked Rodriguez.

“It does not matter,” said Brenner.

“It concerned the Pon females,” said Rodriguez.

“Yes!” said Brenner.

“What was it?” asked Rodriguez.

“I found myself on a low table, helpless,” said Brenner, angrily. “I could scarcely move. I was naked. I was strapped down. Pon females clustered about me, with bowls and vials. They addressed attentions to me, with their tiny hands, their lips and teeth, their mouths. I could not resist. It seemed I slept and awakened so, to the same attentions, several times during the night.”

“Such things are a nuisance to clean up in the morning,” said Rodriguez.

“I was not soiled,” said Brenner.

“That is interesting,” said Rodriguez.

“You were concerned to summarize certain matters?”

“Review them,” said Rodriguez. “I am trying to bring together some of the things that we know, generally, about totemism.”

Brenner nodded. Whereas he and Rodriguez had certainly gathered a great deal of data on the Pons it mostly concerned their behaviors, and not, so to speak, their motivations and intentions. They were more aware of what the Pons did, and how they did it, than why they did it, or, indeed, what it might all be about. Furthermore, there were many varieties of totemism, as an interpreted system. To be sure, they all involved the totem itself, with the reverence and attention accorded to it, and, oddly enough, exogamy, which, embarrassingly, from the scientific point of view, did not seem to fit into the picture at all. It was conjectured by many culture scientists to be an accidental, ultimately inexplicable accretion on totemism, and yet, of course, its universal appearance in the totemistic cultures, particularly as the totemistic institutions had apparently developed independently on diverse worlds, suggested a more intimate relationship. What Rodriguez was up to here was to review certain commonly found totemistic elements. Some of these might be pertinent to the Pons. Too, of course, the Pons might have elements in their system which were local to, or possibly even unique in, their own form of totemism.

“The totem is the tribal ancestor of the clan,” said Rodriguez. “It is a sort of tutelary spirit, it acts as a guardian, a protector.”

“That probably fits,” said Brenner. To be sure, these were almost universal traits of totemism.

“In some cases it warns the clan of danger. It sends oracles to them. It can be used to predict the future.”

“I think you would need a priesthood, or medicine men, or shamans for that,” said Brenner.

“The Pons are presumably too primitive for that?” said Rodriguez.

“I would think so,” said Brenner. “Too, as far as I can tell, there seems to be little hierarchy, or differentiation, amongst Pons.”

“True,” said Rodriguez.

“Go on,” said Brenner.

“We know the strength of the totem bond,” said Rodriguez.

“That is clear,” said Brenner. “The Pons all claim descent from the totem.”

“The totem may not be killed,” said Rodriguez. “Its flesh may not be eaten. No use may be made of it whatsoever.”

“It is sacrosanct,” said Brenner.

“In many cases it is forbidden to touch it,” said Rodriguez. “Indeed, in many cases, it is forbidden even to look upon it.”

“That does not seem to fit,” said Brenner.