West of Eden

FIFTEEN
    "I have thought about your status for a long time," Enge said. "I have reached the inescapable conclusion that you are the lowest of the lowest."
    "I am the lowest of the lowest," Kerrick agreed, trying to concentrate on her speech and ignore the unutakh crawling damply over his skull. This was only the third day that it had cleansed his body of hair and he still found it repulsive. As soon as it was finished he looked forward eagerly to washing off its slimy tracks. He also had a growing respect for the small creature. When he had pried it off the previous morning it had adhered to his finger and consumed most of one fingernail. It was crawling to the back of his head now and he could wipe his browless and lashless eyes clean with the back of his hand.
    "Are you giving me all of your attention?" Enge asked.
    "All. I am the lowest of the low."
    "But you don't speak that way. You have never learned to do it correctly. Now you must. Say it this way.
    Lowest of the low."
    Kerrick noted her bent posture, tail tucked under, and did his best to imitate it.
    "Better. You must practice. Because you will soon be in the company of those who are highest here and they will not take insults of language."
    "How do you know that I am lowest of the low?" Kerrick said, phrasing it as a question asked by one of low mentality—when in reality he was getting both bored and annoyed by their talk.
    "Vaintè is the Eistaa and rules here in Alpèasak. She is the highest. Beneath her and infinitely above you West of Eden - Harry Harrison
    and I are Stallan and Vanalpè and others who order the city. They have their aides and of course the fargi who train in their service. Even though you now speak better than many fargi you must still be lower than they are for they are Yilanè and you are merely ustuzou, a talking animal but still an animal."
    Kerrick cared nothing for the structure of their complicated relationships of rank and privilege. He was just curious about the word he had never heard before.
    "What are fargi?"
    "They are, well, just fargi."
    As soon as she had said it Enge realized the emptiness of the statement. She sat rigid and unmoving for a long time as she struggled for a definition. It was difficult to express clearly since, like any accepted fact of life, one took it for granted and never questioned the fact's existence. It was like asking What is the sun? It is the sun. Its existence defines it. She knew that physicists could tell her many facts about the sun, far more than she might ever wish to know. But if she were to train this ustuzou to appear in public it had to know all the commonplace things that others knew. Including, apparently, what a fargi was. To explain she must begin at the beginning.
    "When the young leave the birth beaches they enter the sea. They live in the ocean for many years, growing and maturing. It is a happy time because fish are easy to catch and dangers are few. All those who enter the ocean at the same time belong to the same efenburu. They are efenselè to each other and form a bond that lasts a lifetime. Eventually they mature and emerge from the ocean to live on land. The males are rounded up and brought to the city since they are too stupid to fend for themselves. This is a very hard time for every one must find her own way into life. Food is plentiful but so are dangers. Life is in the cities and the young go there. They listen and learn, and those that learn to speak become part of the city at the lowest level. They are fargi. You are lower than they are."
    "I can understand that, but I do not understand about the males. The fargi are females?"
    "Of course."
    "But you are male—"
    "Do not be insulting. You have never seen a male since they are carefully protected in the hanalè."
    Kerrick was stunned by this information. Female—all the murgu were female! Even the repellent Stallan.
    Indeed, everything about the murgu did not make sense. All Tanu could talk, even young ones. These murgu must be stupid. "What happens to those who do not learn how to speak?" he asked.
    "That is no concern of yours. Just remember that even to the lowest fargi, one who is yileibe, that is speaking with utmost difficulty, you are lower."
    West of Eden - Harry Harrison
    "I am the lowest of the low," Kerrick agreed and tried not to yawn.
    A short time later their lesson was interrupted by the unbolting of the door. Kerrick smoothed his features to hide the intense loathing he always felt when