"You will learn them," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"But beyond such arts as cooking and sewing, arts commonly thought appropriatefor women, arts with which you are familiar, there are, obviously, many otherarts. It should thus come as no surprise to you that among these other should becertain delicate, delicious and intimate arts, particularly appropriate to thefemale slave."

"I suppose not, Master," she said.

"You are not a wastrel free woman," I said. "You are a slave. You must earn yourkeep."

She trembled.

"Why do you think you were purchased?" I asked.

She put her small hand before her mouth, fearfully.

"Take your hand away from your mouth," I said. "I would see the lips of theslave."

Swiftly she lowered her hand.

"Straighten your back," I said.

She did so.

"The free woman," I said, "lies down, and waits to see what will happen. Thefemale slave kneels beside her master, and begs to please him. The free womandeems it sufficient that she should exist, the slave girl, on the other hand, isexpected not only to exist, but to excel; indeed, she fears only, commonly, thatshe may not be sufficiently marvelous for her master. It is little wonder thatmost men find the free woman, in her inertness, her ignorance and arrogance,boring. It is little wonder that most men prefer to order her rival to theirfurs, the helpless, collared, curvaceous, lascivious, feminine slave."

"I was once a free woman," said the girl.

"There is hope for the free woman," I said. "She may put in a collar, andstripped, and made subject to the whip. She may then, enslaved, be trained, too,for the pleasure of men."

"Yes, Master," whispered the girl.

"Training, then, should not come as a surprise to you," I said. "It is quitenatural for female slaves to be given training."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Expect, then, to be trained," I said.

"I shall, Master," she said.

I regarded her.

Suddenly she flung herself on her belly across the dark blankets. She reached tomy left ankle and holding it with her small hands, began to kiss at my foot.

"Slaves may beg to please their masters, may they not?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"I beg to please my Master," she said. Her lips were warm and soft on my foot.

"I am not your master," I said.

"All free men are my masters," she said, "as all free women are my mistresses."

"That is true," I granted her.

"I beg to please you, as my Master," she said, "and, indeed, tonight, in theseblankets, you are my master, for it is you who have opened me and to whom I havebeen consigned in these hours for your pleasure."

It was true. I was her current use-master. In these hours, in my blankets, shemust be to me as my own slave. In these hours, in my blankets, for all practicalpurposes, I owned her.

I felt her tongue.

"Consider me," she whispered, "for your renewed pleasure."

It is pleasant, as you might well imagine, receiving such attentions from awoman. It is particularly pleasant, I assure you, when she is a slave, for thenshe is owned, and you in do with her what you wish.

"Please, Master," she begged.

"Perhaps," I said.

"Slaves such as I are not trained only by women, are we, Master?" she asked.

"No," I said. "Many Goreans believe that the finest of slave trainers are men,and that only a man with a whip, and total power over a woman, can properlyteach her to be slave."

"Do you have a whip, Master?" she asked.

"My belt will do," I told her.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"But, in my opinion," I said, "This is over simple. I believe that other women,particularly if they are slaves themselves can be superb slave trainers. Manyslave houses, of course, maintain both male and female trainers. My own theorythat if a girl is to have but one trainer, it is doubtless best for that trainerto be a man, for the girl, in her bondage, is a] most certain to have to relateprimarily to men, to please placate and serve them, and so on. On the otherhand, I think it is also undeniable that a girl can learn much from anothergirl, one who has survived, and is surviving, as a slave."

"Surviving? ' she asked.

"Yes," I said, "for the slave girls who are not pleasing are commonly killed."

She put the side of her head fearfully down on my foot.

"Be pleasing," I told her.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"But most girls," I said, "not only survive as slaves, but thrive as slaves."

"Master?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "You may find this hard to grasp now, but most girls, as you willlearn, once they discover its authenticity and inescapability, blossom joyously,submitted, in their bondage; in it they occupy their place in nature; in it,subject to the authority and power of strong men, owned and mastereduncompromisingly as mere slaves, they obtain their deepest biologicalself-realization, their ultimate fulfillment. In it, in their place in nature,they become women, as outside of it, they cannot. As the true woman is the trueslave, no woman can become a true woman who is not a true slave."

"Men and women, then," she said, "are not the same."

"No," I said. "Men are the masters. Women are the slaves. Your world has taughtboth sexes to strive for what are, in effect, masculine, or neuteristic, values.

This produces unhappiness and frustration for both sexes. Hormonally normalwomen find it difficult or impossible to achieve happiness through the adoptionof, in effect, transvestite values. Similarly this perversion of valuescomplicates or precludes, for the glandularly normal male, the achievement of anatural biological fulfillment. Both sexes, then, frequently fail to obtainhappiness, or fall far short of the happiness of which they are both capable,that happiness which is a consequence of maintaining a biological fidelity totheir separate natures."

"The lies, the hypocrisies, the pretensions of pseudo-masculinity will not bepermitted to me on Gor, will they, Master?" she asked.

"Not in the least," I told her, "for you are a slave."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Does this displease you?" I asked.

"No, Master," she said.

"Does it please you?" I asked.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Even the girl who does not have a female trainer," I said, "will often seek outmore experienced girls, to beg them for their intimate counsels and theirsecrets of love and beauty. Sometimes she purchases these by such tiny gifts, offood and such, as may be within her province, or by performing portions of theother's labors, and so on. Indeed, much of the chitchat of slave girls, in theirgatherings, has to do, in one way or another, with the pleasing of masters."

It is in our best interest to fulfill our duties well," she said.

"But the best trainers you will have," I said, "will be your particular masters,and yourself. There is a specific magic, so to speak, and chemistry, betweeneach master and each slave. Each master is different, and, so, too, deliciously,is each Slave. Each master will train his own girl according to his owninterests and tastes, and each girl, in the private and intimate context of theparticular master/slave relation, by means of her intelligence and imagination,owned, will train herself to be his special slave, specifically and personally."

"I understand, Master," she said.

"But, even given the uniqueness of each bondage relation," I said, "there arestill certain common denominators in all such relations, which must not be lostsight of, such as the legal status of the slave, that she is, ultimately, onlyan article of property, that she is liable to discipline and punishment, andthat she is totally subject to the will of the master."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"But beyond this," I said, "Beyond the concern with an individual master, youwill learn, more generally, how to be pleasing to men. You may be sold to astranger, or given to one, or fall into the hands of a stranger, or group ofstrangers. You may know little or nothing of your master, or masters, other thanthe fact that he holds total power over you, and he may know little or nothingof you, other than the fact that your lovely hide is marked with the brand ofthe female slave. You thus begin again, anew, your struggle to convince a masterthat there may be some point in keeping you about, that there may be some pointin putting a bit of gruel in a bowl, or hollowed stone, for you, or thrusting acrust of bread in your mouth. You attempt to convince him of this, of course,even though he is unknown to you, even though he is a total stranger to you, byserving him, and superbly, as a female slave. Do you understand what I amsaying?"