TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE
“they could not hold me. But who are you and what did you do to get yourself in the dungeons of Caesar?”
“I am in the dungeon of no Caesar,” replied the other.
“This creature who sits upon the throne of Castra Sanguinarius is no Caesar.”
“Who then is Caesar?” inquired Tarzan.
“Only the Emperors of the East are entitled to be called Caesar,” replied the other.
“I take it that you are not of Castra Sanguinarius then,” suggested the ape-man.
“No,” replied the other, “I am from Castrum Mare.”
“And why are you a prisoner?” asked Tarzan.
“Because I am from Castrum Mare,” replied the other.
“Is that a crime in Castra Sanguinarius?” asked the apeman.
“We are always enemies,” replied the other. “We trade occasionally under a flag of truce, for we have things that they want and they have things that we must have, but there is much raiding and often there are wars, and then whichever side is victorious takes the things by force that otherwise they would be compelled to pay for.”
“In this small valley what is there that one of you may have that the other one has not already?” asked the ape-man.
“We of Castrum Mare have the iron mines,” replied the other, “and we have the papyrus swamps and the lake, which give us many things that the people of Castra Sanguinarius can obtain only from us. We sell them iron and paper, ink, snails, fish, and jewels, and many manufactured articles. In their end of the valley they mine gold, and as they control the only entrance to the country from the outside world, we are forced to obtain our slaves through them as well as new breeding-stock for our herds.
“As the Sanguinarians are naturally thieves and raiders and are too lazy to work and too ignorant to teach their slaves how to produce things, they depend entirely upon their gold mine and their raiding and trading with the outer world, while we, who have developed many skilled artisans, have been in a position for many generations that permitted us to obtain much more gold and many more slaves than we
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