[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

projectile, by varying the angle of the blow, by turning the blade a little,
just at the last instant. It was rumored there was collusion sometimes,
between them and gamblers, in the stands.
The hymn to Floon, as thin, as frail, as pathetic as it might seem, was
audible in the arena.
There were, of course, far worse ways to die, at least with respect to
torture, to pain, and such.
There was the rack and, the pincers, the tongs, the knives, the pegs, the
skewers, the knotted cords, the stake, the burning irons, such things, such
devices, and many others, which would only later, much later, be brought to
scrupulous perfection by the adherents of Floon himself, usually for
application to other adherents of Floon, heretics, schizmatics and such.
Indeed, such devices,
on the whole, were seldom employed by the empire, which commonly tended to
exercise a certain restraint, or taste, in such matters, given pause,
seemingly, by scruples which would seldom deter the later adherents of Floon,
but then the adherents of Floon would always possess, it would seem to the
Page 41
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
peasant, a certain petty, low-class vindictiveness, that of the little person
into whose hands suddenly comes power. The most common device of the empire
was the rack. It might even appear in courtrooms, where it was commonly
employed in the extraction of testimony from slaves. Indeed, a slave was
normally fastened on the rack before his testimony was taken, it being assumed
that the veridicality of his testimony might be best assured by such a device.
But there were the beasts, however. The empire was fond of them. Doubtless
because of the spectacle they could provide. These beasts, ravenous, tortured
by hunger, released into the arena, driven wild by the scent of blood and
flesh, would lose little time in attacking, and feeding.
No, decapitation was presumably, as such things went, a merciful death. It was
quick. The head presumably did not think for very long, if at all, after it
was cut off, and in the sand, or a basket.
The stroke of the barang was doubtless superior to certain other deaths, such
as those of the lingering, wasting diseases, or the cannibalistic diseases, in
which parts of one's body seemed to devour other parts.
Another head flew from a body. There was another cheer.
Most of the adherents of Floon in the arena were citizens of the empire, at
least nominally. That was quite possibly why the barang was being used. It was
thought to constitute an honorable death, one acceptable for citizens. Too, of
course, beasts were expensive, and had to be kept fed between shows. Some
entrepreneurs transported them from world to world, in menageries, for various
games, various spectacles. Sometimes they escaped on shipboard. But such
rentals did not come cheap. Floon had not been a citizen of the empire. He had
died in an electric chair, or in what we have spoken of as an electric chair,
in order to use a term which seems sufficiently appropriate. The actual device
is a sort of burning rack. The crime, if one may think of it along those
lines, of the adherents of Floon in the arena, was the refusal to place a
sprig of laurel on the altar of the genius of the empire, on the porch of the
town hall. This small ceremony was usually performed by civic officials, on
behalf of the town. It would commonly take place on the birthday of the
current emperor, and on certain holidays, the day set aside, for example, to
commemorate the acceptance into the empire of the federation of the thousand
suns. Once a year each citizen was expected to come to the altar and place his
sprig of laurel, or a pinch of incense, or a flower, even one plucked from the
wayside, on the altar. This ceremony, as innocent as it seemed to most, at
least those who were not adherents of Floon, was repudiated, at that time, by
many of the adherents of Floon. The townships tended to ignore this matter,
but it was of some concern to the empire. Sporadically an edict would emanate
from the Telnarian worlds pertaining to the enforcement of this ceremony, it
normally being construed as a touchstone for allegiance to the empire. When
the empire felt most threatened it seemed it took such things most seriously. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]