"Burroughs, Edgar Rice - People That Time Forgot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burroughs Edgar Rice)

to talk; but though copiously filled with incentive, gestures
and sounds, the conversation did not flourish notably. And then
Ajor took up in earnest the task of teaching me her language.
She commenced, as I later learned, with the simplest form of
speech known to Caspak or for that matter to the world--that
employed by the Bo-lu. I found it far from difficult, and even
though it was a great handicap upon my instructor that she could
not speak my language, she did remarkably well and demonstrated
that she possessed ingenuity and intelligence of a high order.

After we had eaten, I added to the pile of firewood so that I
could replenish the fire before the entrance to our barricade,
believing this as good a protection against the carnivora as we
could have; and then Ajor and I sat down before it, and the
lesson proceeded, while from all about us came the weird and
awesome noises of the Caspakian night--the moaning and the
coughing and roaring of the tigers, the panthers and the lions,
the barking and the dismal howling of a wolf, jackal and
hyaenadon, the shrill shrieks of stricken prey and the hissing
of the great reptiles; the voice of man alone was silent.

But though the voice of this choir-terrible rose and fell from
far and near in all directions, reaching at time such a
tremendous volume of sound that the earth shook to it, yet so
engrossed was I in my lesson and in my teacher that often I was
deaf to what at another time would have filled me with awe.
The face and voice of the beautiful girl who leaned so eagerly
toward me as she tried to explain the meaning of some word or
correct my pronunciation of another quite entirely occupied my
every faculty of perception. The firelight shone upon her
animated features and sparkling eyes; it accentuated the
graceful motions of her gesturing arms and hands; it sparkled
from her white teeth and from her golden ornaments, and
glistened on the smooth firmness of her perfect skin. I am
afraid that often I was more occupied with admiration of this
beautiful animal than with a desire for knowledge; but be that
as it may, I nevertheless learned much that evening, though
part of what I learned had naught to do with any new language.

Ajor seemed determined that I should speak Caspakian as quickly
as possible, and I thought I saw in her desire a little of that
all-feminine trait which has come down through all the ages
from the first lady of the world--curiosity. Ajor desired that
I should speak her tongue in order that she might satisfy a
curiosity concerning me that was filling her to a point where
she was in danger of bursting; of that I was positive. She was
a regular little animated question-mark. She bubbled over
with interrogations which were never to be satisfied unless
I learned to speak her tongue. Her eyes sparkled with
excitement; her hand flew in expressive gestures; her little