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translating her words as well as he could.
    â€œJaga’s target was the people of the east, beyond the great cleft in the earth—your people. We told ourselves that you were inferior and only fit to be slaves, and that victory with our poisoned weapons was a certainty. How eagerly the men readied themselves for battle!” Hurnoa closed her eyes for a moment, too pained to continue, and slowly shook her head. “What devil is it that makes men prefer war to peace?” she inquired, more of herself than her audience. “Maybe life was too easy! Men who do not have to struggle in order to eat, men with idle time and over-abundant energy, turn their minds to war and conquest. I don’t know why. And yet we, the attackers, needed nothing that your people had. And you were far away! Why should we seek you? Our minds were sick before our bodies were.”
    Zan urged the old woman to eat something from his supplies and resume her tale after she felt stronger.But she could hardly chew the coarse food Zan gave her, and soon put it aside. After a while she continued unbidden: “Jaga led an army of our warriors, eager for battle and thinking themselves invulnerable; and a single man overthrew the entire attack! We were told he was a giant. Perhaps it was that huge fellow you have with you.” She pointed a bony finger at Chul. “He hurled down the bridge spanning the abyss, cutting off our forces and sending them home unsatisfied.”
    â€œYes,” Chul responded, wiping his nose with his hairy fist. “I sent them home, and I wish they had stayed there. I have other things to do besides fighting and killing wild men.” Hurnoa did not understand his words, only the gruffness of his tone.
    â€œWhat vexation and rage they brought back with them! Eager for war, they could only war on each other. The alliance fell apart more quickly than it was formed, and Jaga, who was blamed for everything, had to surround himself with armed guards to prevent his assassination.
    â€œJaga was beaten for a time, but Crawf, the oldest of his brothers, began to buzz about. His plan was to bring the warriors together under his leadership by promising a new, successful campaign. Jaga was not happy with his brother’s ambition, but decided to allow him to build the alliance with the intention (I am sure) of getting rid of him after he had done the work of war. But the gods had other plans.
    â€œYou know yourself, young man, that at the time you served us we encountered a new, invisible enemy—anevil spirit against whom we were helpless. We sent you away because it was thought that you were the demon, but we discovered otherwise. This spirit rode on every breeze, and if it touched you in the morning, you would be dead by the next evening! Your face, arms, and legs felt as if they were on fire, and before long blood issued from your nose and eyes, and every part of your body. With convulsions and hoarse cries, each victim would grapple with the demon. The swelling was terribly painful, and so disfiguring that members of your own family could hardly recognize you. But before long your agonies would be over, and your family’s too! We soon learned—although not soon enough—that the spirit visited anyone who touched the dying. We could hardly dispose of the corpses, and this dreadful smell came to keep the injurious spirit company.
    â€œOne of the elders said that the evil came upon us because we were cowards, slow to resume the battle; and the men, both frightened and furious, and anxious to get away from the curse, were more eager to fight than ever. Not many returned, and those who did found death in every hive. But even so desolated, there were those who wanted to seize power from Jaga—who himself was powerless to overcome what had befallen us.
    â€œThe bad spirit went away for a time, and the warriors broke into a number of shifting friendships and plotting alliances. The war had