Filled with joy, Morge spent another endless time thanking Thor. Then all of a sudden an idea seized him. What if he carried Thor back to the tribe and presented him to the priest, Thougor, for all to worship and give sacrifices to? Would not he, the despised, the looked down upon, be the greatest of heroes? All that was known of Thor were the legends, but at last they would have the actual god!
Painfully, with many grunts and groans, he got Thor under one arm and staggered off towards the village, his crutch kicking up little puffs of dust.
Builder was having trouble with Thougor.
He almost wished now that he'd continued his search a little longer for a segment of humanity. He might have found a group less primitive who would have appreciated and understood his help much better. But this was the best he'd found; as it was, he'd wandered over the continent nearly a lifetime before even finding these poor wretches. But they were at least human--something that couldn't be said for those others he'd come in contact with all through the past years.
And now, after having been with the tribe--the only human tribe--for over a year, he was being balked by this--priest! Which meant being balked at setting up Truth and Knowledge as the only true gods of humanity, being balked at getting the dam built before the spring rains, so that there would not be another summer drouth followed by a winter of famine such as they had just passed through. The dam was his first big project; without freedom from want, there would be little progress next winter.
Almost savagely he turned on Thougor. "But why must you have this religious festival now?"
"Because of the finding of the god Thor," came Thougor's cold answer.
"Why the offerings of blood?[pg 082] Can't they wait? The dam must be finished before the rains; but the loss of blood already has so weakened the workers that they can no longer work for a full day."
"Which is more important, worldly or spiritual things?" Thougor replied.
"But there maybe won't be anyone around to indulge in spiritual things if there's another drouth this year!"