The
ERBzin-e Comics Summaries Project
ERB SUNDAY SUMMARIES
HAROLD FOSTER'S SUNDAY TARZAN STRIP
November 20, 1932 - March 5,
1933
THE EGYPTIANS SAGA I:
THE MONKEY-MAN
As
the panther leaped, Tarzan dodged out of the way of the menacing claws
and the yellow man swung himself up to a tree. The ape-man stood ready
for the beast's attack. But now attack came. The yellow man dropped lightly
to the ground, and at a word from him, the panther stood obediently still.
As the yellow man danced in delight at his triump, Tarzan saw some strangely
garbed men approaching. They seemed to the ape-man, as thy stood silently,
to be soldiers of ancient Egypt come to new life. In front of the yellow
man they prostrated themselvesin reverence. Rising, at a word from their
commander, two soldiers seized Tarzan firmly. With swift blows the ape-man
threw them off and leaped for a down-hanging branch. As Tarzan sped for
safety through the trees, he heard a rustle behind him and, looking back
he saw the yellow man following through the trees, swift as Tarzan himself.
As the ape-ma paused, the yellow man jabbered like a monkey in glee. Then
he hurled himself through the air, turning a double-flip. . . and came
up at Tarzan's feet. Who was this strange man before whom soldiers salaamed
and who kept pace with the ape-man in his swift flight through the jungle
trees?
As
Tarzan indicated that he was hungry, the monkey-man repeated the gesture.
Every gesture that Tarzan made the monkey-man repeated until Tarzan swung
off through the trees to rescue Von Harben and then to hunt for food. But
always the monkey-man did exactly as Tarzan did. At the river bank Tarzan
repaired the broken end of the fibre rope and hurled it across to his friend
Von Harben. When the rope was made fast at both ends, Von Harben swung
himself hand over hand across the perilous stream. After the explorer landed
safely and greetings were exchanged, Tarzan pointed to the stream of crocodiles.
"We need go no farther for food," he said. Swinging his fibre rope lasso
the ape-man caught the crocodile, and, as the rope tightened and held fast
in the notches of the saurian's skin, Tarzan pulled hard ashore. With Von
Harben's aid, he tied the crocodile until it was helpless. Tarzan was abouit
to cut the crocodile steaks for the explorer and the monkey-man but
when he indicated that the stranger should join them the monkey-man, in
a frenzy of rage picked up the knife and made as if to strike!
The
sudden attack by the monkey-man who had befriended him caught Tarzan off
his guard. But swift as Ara the lightning, the ape-man caught the monkey-man's
wrist and wrenched it until the knife fell to the ground. With the force
of numa the lion Tarzan felled his assailant. A cry from Von Harben warned
the ape-man of danger. The soldiers were upon them. Tarzan leaped to the
trees amid a storm of spears. He caught one to replace the spear he had
lost. Making good his escape, Tarzan saw his friend, Von Harben, taken
prisoner and led beyond the forest across a desert space. A great Egyptian
city was in the distance. The foot soldiers were met by a troop of charioteers.
The commander pointed toward a tree were Tarzan stood exposed and in a
moment the chriot troop was sweeping across the desert. The leader was
about to shoot the first arrow when Tarzan's spear pierced his heart. The
man hunt was on! All the forced of the Egyptians was aroused against the
ape-man who had killed one of the sacred crocodiles.
While
the leader lay stricken by Tarzan's spear, the charioteers gathered about
him. Having no further orders they carried him back to the great temple.
The body was brouight to Tutamken, the monkey-man, eccentric son of the
Great Pharaoh. It was Tutamken who had rescued the ape-man, but now he
called upon the soldiers to hunt through the whole forest to bring back
Tarzan dead or alive. Troops of men, armed with bows and arrows were sent
out across the desert. Tutamken followed, accompanied by his black panther.
Tarzan, hidden high in the trees, saw the Egyptian soldiers spread out
in the forest, hunting for him. He waited until one was alone and concealed
from his fellows. Then he leaped. The attack was so silent, so sudden,
that the soldier had no chance to shout the alarm. Tarzan took the man's
bow and arrow and fled swiftly to the trees. Goro, the moon, had risen
in the sky and still the soldiers found no trace of the ape-man, who calmly
turned in to sleep. But Tutamken had taken to the trees with his black
panther, and finally the beast had caught the ape-man's scent. Stealthily
they crept toward the ape-man as he slept.
Tarzan's
ape instinct aroused him as the panther was about to leap. But the attack
was too sudden for the ape-man to escape the panther's claws. Downward
they plunged to a lower branch and the panther leaped after him. AS the
great cat reached for a foothold Tarzan swung on the branch and swerved
it out of the panther's reach. And the beast fell to the ground amid a
group of the Egyptian soldiers who were hunting the ape-man. Tarzan drew
the bow that he had taken from the Egyptian soldier. And the arrow found
its mark. But as he shot, the Egyptians drew their bows. Tarzan stood at
last as an open target. And then the mighty Tarzan fell pierced by the
Egyptian arrows and lay as if dead with the beast he had slain.
Within
the temple Tarzan was brought before the high priest and accused of killing
one of the sacred crocodiles, of slaying the palace panther, and of attacking
the pharaoh's son -- all offenses punishable by death. The ape-man understood
no word of the ancient Egyptian language that was spoken but he understood
what his fate would be as the high priest pronounced the sentence. Still
bound, as he had been when he lay wounded by the Egyptian arrows, Tarzan
was led away by the temple guard. He was brought before the great god,
Thoth, to make his peace. Priestesses were chanting a death dirge. After
going through a long black corridor, the ape-man suddenly came into the
briliant light of the outdoors and ahlted in surprise at the scene that
confronted him. There sat the pharaoh and all his court. Alone confronting
them stood his friend, Erich Von Harben, condemned like Tarzan to death.
As the two friends exchanged signs of recognition, the monkey-man, Tutamken,
came rushing down the steps. Fiercely he lashed the ape-man. Then he took
command of the guard and Tarzan and Von Harben were led forth to their
fate. The bonds of the prisoners were unloosed. Then they were sent down
a long wide staircase to meet the fate that feindish minds had devised
for those who offended the gods of Egypt.
The
pharaoh on his throne and the members of his court looked on in grim silence
while Tarzan and Von Harben descended into the pit where the sacred apes
waited to destroy them.
"Who is your king?" Tarzan demanded as the first ape, growling fiercely,
approached him on the staircase. Astonished at this man who spoke their
own language, the apes gathered about him.
"I come as your friend," said Tarzan.
"Fight! Fight! Death to the offenders!" roared the Egyptians as the
apes failed to attck Tarzn and Von Harben. Down into the pit rushed Tutamken,
the monkey-man, fiercely brandishing his lash.
"Is it fear, Oh Rako, that keeps you from destroying the tarmangani
who killed our brother, the panther?" the monkey-man shouted. "If you are
king of the apes, kill?"
"Who are you? growled Rako.
"I am Tarzan of the Apes," the ape-man replied.
"Rako is king here!" screamed the other, and plunged to the attack.
The ape-man met the attack with a terrific blow that sent Rako through
the air. Sprawling down to the floor of the pit. Quickly the ape-king recovered.
The battle raged all over the pit until Rako's neck was nearly broken in
the ape-man's steely grip. Suddenly the beast cried, "Ka-Goda!" meaning
"I surrender" and the apes turned to the victor, Tarzan, as their new leader.
"I am your king now!" Tarzan shouted. "Follow me! Death to the Egyptians!"
THE
MIRACLE
As Tarzan led the apes up the staircase to attack the Egyptians, Tutamken,
the monkey-man, stood alone in their pathway, screaming. Back of him were
the soldiers with their spears ready to repel the attack. The pharaoh rose
from his throne in panic, prepared to flee. Von Harben, knocked over in
the onrush of the apes, had fallen helpless on the staircase.
But as Tarzan reached Tutamken, the monkey-man shouted in the language
of the apes, "Kagoda!" meaning "I surrender!" Tutanken then rushed toward
the throne. "A miracle has happened Oh Pharaoh!" he cried. "The soul of
Thoth, god of the apes, has entered into this man in the leopard skin so
that he can talk the language of the apes and the apes hail him as king!
All except Pharaoh, who is equal to the gods, must bow before him and worship
him!"
As Tutamken and Tarzan advanced up the staircase toward pharaoh's throne,
the high priest halted them. "If this man is holy," he said, "the gods
will tell us. We will take him to the temple."
In the vestibule of the temple, the high priest burned incense before
the great statue of Isis. Then he led Tarzan into a dark corridor at the
end of which a fire was burning in a huge kettle. He seized a great ladle,
took the boiling pitch from the kettle and held it over Tarzan's head.
"So will you perish if you betray the secrets of the temple!" he cried.
When
all had departed, Erich Von Harben still lay unconscious on the staircase
leading to the apes' pit. And Nikotris, the daughter of the pharaoh, saw
him. Tenderly she knelt beside him and found that he still lived. At her
command a litter was brought and Von Harben was carried to the great outdoor
hospital. That night Nikotris prayed to Peneter-Deva (the planet Venus)
to make the stranger well. Rapidly he recovered and rapidly he learned
to talk in the Egyptian to the fair Nikotris who came daily to see him.
With her aid he learned to decipher the hieroglyphics that told the strange
story of her people.
Meanwhile Tarzan, who had been brought into the secret confines of the
temple, saw the high priest pour the burning pitch into an opening in the
pavement. Below in a dungeon prisoners were chained. When the burning pitch
flamed down upon one of them. . . the prisoner heard the high priest
cry, "So the gods punish traitors!" But Tarzan understood not and he followed
the high priest until. . . the high priest suddenly knelt. Opened
a door in the floor, and pointed. Tarzan drew back at what he saw.
In
the month of Mechir - that is January -- in the second year of the reign
of Cham-sem, his infant son, the prince Tutamken had been presented to
the courtiers. "Tutamken shall be dedicated to Thoth, god of the apes,"
the high priestess said.
And in childhood the young prince had learned to play with the little
brothers of the apes -- the monkeys. He had followed them to the trees
and had learned to leap with them from branch to branch. He could run even
as nimbly as they up theh palace walls, using the hieroglyphics for a foothold.
As he grew to young manhood, Tutamken had followed them far beyond the
palace gorunds, and he had learned their language and the language of the
apes. Great in power the young prince had grown and the priests caused
him to be venerated because of his kinship with the sacred beasts. But
when he demanded that Tarzan, because of his kinship with the apes, be
likewise worshipped, the Egyptian priests paused to take council. After
Tarzan had been show the tortures inflicted upon those who incurred the
displeasure of the gods. . . he was led before the court of Egyptian
priests for judgement. With the torch of flame, the high priest commanded
all evil spirits to leave the enclosure. After long deliberation, the sentence
of the court was imposed. To prove his kinship with the beasts , Tarzan
would have to swim through the River of Sacred Crocodiles.
At
dawn a trumpeter blew the signal that announced the great day. Hours before
the procession was to start, the streets were crowded. At length forth
from the palace came pharaoh's trumpeters. The dancing girls followed.
Then
came the knights in their chariots, a company of lancers, the ladies of
the court, and the Egyptian priests in litters. The Princess Nikotris went
by barge down the river. . . and Erich Von Harben was among her escort.
The Prince Tutamken rode in state through the streets. Tarzan, sentenced
to prove his kinship with the sacred beasts by seimming across the River
of the Crocodiles, came with the palace guard at the end of the procession.
. . while, at the river, the crocodiles waited.
On
her way to the test of Tarzan's kinship with the sacred beasts, thr Princess
Nikotris made festival in her royal barge. And Erich Von Harben quickly
learned the Egyptian words of love she taught him. In the desert, on the
highway, swarmed the procession. But suddenly the leader called a halt
as he stared at something in the sand. The high priest was summoned and
kneeling he saw a holy thing. . . a sacred golden beetle. Lest the golden
beetle be crushed, the whole procession was ordered to march half a mile
out of its way toward the river. A trumpeter blew the signal. Pharaoh himself
was waiting in his barge when the procession finally reached the river
bank. And then Tarzan was brought forth by the high priest. When Von Harben
saw it was Tarzan who was to be sacrificed to the crocodiles, he pleaded
with the princess to save his friend. But even as Von Harben pleaded, the
high priest gave the signal for Tarzan to plunge into the churning waters
of death.
When
the high priest commanded Tarzan to plunge into the river of crocodiles,
the ape-man gave no sign of understanding. Von Harben was summoned from
the barge of the pharaoh's daughter to act as interpreter. A plan flashed
through the ape-man's mind as he learned of the test he faced. Borrowing
Von Harben's knife, he cut down from the tree the crocodile he had killed.
From head to foot, he covered himself with the oil of the saurian. Through
the skin he cut holes at equal intervals. Into these, he inserted the fibre
of a vine. He fitted the skin about him and laced it up with the vine-fibre
until only his arms were free. Then uttering the blood-freezing cry of
the crocodile Tarzan dove full into the stream of man-eating crocodiles.
After
Tarzan swam unscathed through the River of Crocodiles, he stood on the
opposite bank and held aloft the skin that had protected him. The Egyptians
shouted in one voice, "The god Thoth walks again amongst us!" For they
believed the gods often took human form. Before the statue of Thoth, god
of wisdom and god of the apes, the pharaoh declared a national feast. That
night Tarzan sat enthroned in the palace and oriental splendor. Great oxen
were roasted for the soldiers. At the pit of the sacred apes stood three
drunken soldiers, who had wandered from the great festival in the palace
gardens. . . and, while the apes stared, wondering. . . one of the soldiers,
in his madness, started shooting at them. Then Tarzan, in the midst of
the great banquet, Heard the apes calling in terror to their king.
As
the arrows pierced the hide of Bulga, the she-ape, she cried out in terror.
The other apes rushed about in panic at the unexpected attack. The drunken
soldiers, shooting the arrows laughed madly at the queer antics of the
apes. But suddenly their laughter stopped as they heard the blood-curdling
cry of the bull-ape. It was Tarzan who uttered the cry. Leaping upon two
of the soldiers the apes-man lifted them and smashed their heads together.
One by one, he hurled them, unconcscous into the pit where the sacred
apes were kept. But the third soldier fell. Tarzan dashed into the midst
of the apes and disarmed one of the of the solders.
"Follow me!" the ape-man commanded. Up the staircase raced the
ape horde.
Meanwhile the soldier who had fled sought the aid of his comrades. As
Tarzan led the apes to the palace wall, the soldiers shot a fusillade of
arrows.
While
Tarzan led the apes to the trees beyond the palace walls the drunken soldiers
suddenly stopped shooting their arrows. Guests rushed out from the palace
banquet, shrieking wildly. The news had spread that the great statue of
Thoth was swaying.
"Lo!" cried Nikotris, "By the sacrilege of ouir soldiers, we have angered
the god of the apes!" She turned in anger toward the soldiers. "What evil
spirits are in you," she cried, "that you shoot arrows at the sacred apes
of Thoth?"
The soldiers hung their heads in shame. But suddenly they started in
panic flight as the great statue o fthe god of the apes slowly began to
fall. It crashed down among the soldiers.
"Thus is Thoth avenged!" cried Nikotris.
And deep in the forest, Tarzan shouted the victory cry of the bull ape.
