[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
. What is that? I asked my hostess. It is a joke, she said. He has captured a free female.We will put herstripped back in one of the tunnel alcoves.Her wrists will be braceletedbehind her, chained to a slave ring.She will be unable to speak, being perfectly gagged.She will be left there inthe darkness, helpless. But she might be used, I said. It is not impossible, she said. It is a matter of chance.Access to herwill be as unrestricted as that to a slave. Do you approve of such things? I asked. If she is a feminine female, she said,  of course.Such belong to men. It is a splendid joke, I said. Yes, she said. What is done with them later? I asked. Nothing, she said. We just put them out naked in the back, in the morning.If they have been used, however, we tie their hands behind their back and, ona cord about their waist, suspend a punched tarsk bit on their belly. Why would someone do this sort of thing to a free woman? I asked. Perhaps they found her displeasing in some way, she (pg.314) said,  andthought it might do her a bit of good, to discover something about what it isto be a female. I see, I said. There she goes, said the woman. She is being taken into one of the tunnelalcoves now, There are small exits from the larger room, on the other side ofthe open space, that lead to various tunnels, off of which may be found cellsand alcoves.From such tunnels the establishment, of course, derives its name. Yes, I said.We watched the fellow crouch down and enter one of the smallopenings, the sack now, with its helpless, squirming occupant, dragging behindhim.One cannot, on the whole, stand upright in the tunnels.Sometimes onemust actually crawl.The musicians had now stopped playing. Are you interested in free females? she asked. Not particularly, I said. Let us show you one, she said. Esne, she called. Bring Lady Labiena.In a few moments one of the hostesses had emerged from a side door leading alovely woman, barefoot, in a wrap-around tunic, on a neck chain.She wasPage 168ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlbrought to my table where, unbidden, she knelt. She is attractive, is she not? asked my hostess. Yes, I said. She is a captive free woman, said my hostess. We are keeping her for afriend. I see, I said. Open your tunic, said my hostess.The woman parted her tunic, and held it to the sides. She is pretty, isn't she? asked my hostess. Yes, I said. Widen your knees, I told the woman.She did so, continuing tohold her tunic open. Are you sure she is free? I asked. Yes, said my hostess.I regarded the woman. It seems she might as well be a slave, I said.The woman threw me a look of gratitude. No, she is free, said my hostess,  though now, to be (pg 315) sure, shedoubtless has some notion of what a slave s life might be like. One can have no adequate notion of that, I said,  Until one has been trulyenslaved. True, said my hostess. What is your life like here? I asked the woman. I wear a neck chain, she said. I see, I said. You may lower your hands, but do not close your tunic, said my hostess. In what manner does she serve here, in this house? I asked.To be sure shewas barefoot, and was naked but for a tunic, and had a chain on her neck.These things suggested some answers to my question. Much as a slave, but with little of their skill, said my hostess. They will not tell me their secrets, said the woman. They have been ordered not to, said my hostess,  our orders countermandingany which she might give them. But they are pleased not to tell me! she wept. Of course, said my hostess. They are slaves, and you are merely free.Too,often the secrets of slaves are perhaps best kept between themselves and theirmasters. We will not even give her training, said the hostess who had brought her in. That has cost me many beatings, said the free woman. Why not train her? I asked. Training would be inappropriate for her, as she is a free woman, said myhostess. Too, it might scandalize and horrify her.We would certainly not want that.Too, it is not likely that it would even be fully meaningful to her, as she isfree, and would thus not be able to fully understand it as it is meant to beunderstood, in the helpless depths of an owned belly. Is she being held for ransom? I asked. No, said my hostess. But that was your hope, in the beginning, wasn t it,LadyLabiena? No, said the woman, putting her head down. But when it was learned that she had been captured, (pg.316) said myhostess,  she was cast off by her family, and sworn from the Home Stone. My life as a free person was unsatisfactory to me, said the woman. Watch your tongue, prisoner, said the female holding her neck chain. It seems now, I said,  that you are neither fully a free person nor aslave. It amuses them, she said,  to keep me as a free person in their power, fortheir customers. Occasionally such women are available in these places, I said.Page 169ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html You do not know what I have done here, she said, looking up,  what I havebeen made to do! I can speculate, I assured her. But much of what she has done here, said the woman holding her neck chain, has been simply servile.For example, we enjoy having her naked, on allfours, on a chain, scrubbing floors. But surely she has been put upon occasion to the uses of your customers, Isaid. Of course, said the woman holding the neck chain,  haven t you, LadyLabiena. Yes, said the kneeling woman, her knees wide, her tunic parted.I regarded her. But I have learned things here, she said,  that I never dreamed of as a freewoman.Ihave been able to sense here the ecstasies of bondage, the ecstasies of a lifeobligatorilysensual, a life under strict discipline, a life where I must obey, a lifewhere I will, and must, surrender myself totally and, subject to penalties,and even death, if I am displeasing, live thenceforth solely for service andlove. You sing the joys of a love slave, surely, I said,  not the woes of a womanwho must crawl beneath the whip of a hated master. Do you not think a love slave crawls fearfully beneath the whip of hermaster? she asked.(pg.317)  The love slave is still a slave, you see, I said,  and perhapsmore a slave than any other. Yes, whispered the woman. She is held in her bondage by the strongest of all bonds, I said,  that oflove. Yes, she said. It is stronger than the chain on your neck, I said. I know, she said. It must then be very strong, laughed the woman who held her chain.She gaveit a tug, jerking it against the side of the woman s neck. It is, I said. They give me to anyone here, said the woman. Some are hideous, some smell,in the fetid breath of some I almost choke and die, and yet I must serve them,unquestioningly, although a free woman, according to whatever their dictatesand whims.I regarded the woman [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]