Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Chapter 1
I: Belgian and Arab
Lieutenant Albert Werper, a disgraced Belgian officer, murders his captain and a sentry before fleeing into the jungle. He is captured by the Arab raider Achmet Zek, but instead of being killed, he joins Zek's band. Over time, Werper gains Zek's trust, and the two conspire to kidnap Tarzan's wife for ransom or sale.
Chapter 2
On the Road to Opar
Tarzan decides to return to Opar to replenish his lost fortune after a financial disaster, despite Jane's fears. Meanwhile, the Belgian officer Albert Werper, posing as a French gentleman named Jules Frecoult, ingratiates himself at the Greystoke estate, overhears Tarzan's plan, and begins to plot his own scheme to follow Tarzan and steal the treasure. Werper fakes illness, dismisses his Waziri guide, and sets out to shadow Tarzan's expedition, while also sending word to the bandit Achmet Zek.
Chapter 3
III: The Call of the Jungle
Tarzan, unable to sleep, leaves his camp to hunt in the jungle. He kills a deer but is confronted by Numa the lion. After a tense standoff, Tarzan retreats with part of the kill, then harries Numa with fruit until the lion leaves. Following Numa, Tarzan finds a witch-doctor whom the lion attacks. Tarzan leaps onto Numa's back, stabbing him repeatedly, and ultimately kills the lion. The witch-doctor, recognizing Tarzan as a jungle god, is terrified.
Chapter 4
Prophecy and Fulfillment
Tarzan encounters a dying witch-doctor who warns him of danger ahead. Despite the prophecy, Tarzan continues toward Opar to retrieve gold, unaware that Werper is following him. Werper discovers the treasure vault and plans to steal the gold. As Tarzan and his Waziri warriors transport the ingots, a rockfall injures Tarzan, shattering both his and Werper's hopes.
Chapter 5
The Altar of the Flaming God
An earthquake traps Tarzan in the treasure vault of Opar, leaving him unconscious and wounded. Werper escapes the collapsed passage, navigates a dangerous tunnel system, and emerges into a circular court where he is captured by the primitive priests of the Flaming God. He is about to be sacrificed by La when a lion interrupts the ritual, causing panic.
Chapter 6
VI: The Arab Raid
Basuli and his warriors, after laboring to rescue Tarzan from a collapsed passage, conclude he is dead and return to the Greystoke bungalow with gold. Meanwhile, Achmet Zek leads a raid on the estate. Mugambi organizes the Waziri defense, but the Arabs overwhelm them. Jane Clayton is captured, the bungalow is plundered and burned, and Mugambi, left for dead, survives and vows revenge.
Chapter 7
VII: The Jewel-Room of Opar
Tarzan, injured and lost in the subterranean passages beneath Opar, stumbles upon the forgotten jewel-room and collects a handful of gems. He then emerges into the temple just as a lion attacks the worshippers, saving Werper and La by killing the beast in a primal display of strength.
Chapter 8
The Escape from Opar
Tarzan, suffering from amnesia, rescues Werper from La's sacrificial altar in Opar. La recognizes Tarzan and professes her love, but Tarzan rejects her. After cutting Werper's bonds, they fight their way out of the temple, using La's sacrificial knife to ward off the priests. They escape the city, with Tarzan reverting to primal behavior, eating insects and rodents. Werper, seeing Tarzan's jewels, plots to exploit the ape-man's memory loss for his own gain.
Chapter 9
IX: The Theft of the Jewels
Werper discovers the murdered bodies of his three black companions, realizing he narrowly escaped death. Tarzan, having reverted to a primitive state, shows no concern. Werper covets Tarzan's pouch of jewels, but fears the ape-man's strength. He feigns sleep while Tarzan buries the pouch, then stealthily digs it up and hides it in his shirt. They later encounter Basuli and his Waziri warriors carrying gold ingots; Tarzan wants to attack them, but Werper dissuades him, and they follow the Waziri back to the plain, where Werper sees that the Greystoke bungalow is gone.
Chapter 10
X: Achmet Zek Sees the Jewels
Mugambi, recovering from his wounds, tracks the Arab raiders to their fortified camp. Meanwhile, Jane Clayton endures captivity, hoping for Tarzan's rescue. Albert Werper returns to the camp after his harrowing journey from Opar, secretly carrying a pouch of stolen jewels. While admiring the gems in his tent, he is spotted in a mirror by Achmet Zek, who later attempts to murder him for the treasure. Werper escapes, having left a decoy in his bed. Achmet Zek and his men ride out in pursuit, allowing Mugambi to slip into the village. He finds the hut where Jane was held, but it is empty.
Chapter 11
Tarzan Becomes a Beast Again
Werper abandons his plan to murder Tarzan, fleeing with the stolen jewels as a lion approaches. Tarzan awakens fully alert, drives off the lion, and discovers Werper's desertion. He reverts to a primitive state, observing the Waziri from a tree with vague familiarity. He hunts, kills a zebra, and later faces a pride of lions before a charging rhinoceros intervenes, leading to a battle in which Tarzan spears Buto. The episode ends with Tarzan feeding, drinking, and resting contentedly in the jungle, having fully shed his civilized identity.
Chapter 12
La Seeks Vengeance
La, the High Priestess of Opar, leads a caravan of fifty priests and three apes into the jungle to capture Tarzan and retrieve the sacred sacrificial knife. Her motivation is twofold: religious outrage at the desecration of her altar and the personal fury of a scorned woman. The party tracks Tarzan to where he sleeps on a low bough, and La commands them to take him alive and unhurt so she may exact her own vengeance. The chapter also delves into La's background, her lineage from Atlantis, and the transformation of her love for Tarzan into a burning desire for revenge.
Chapter 13
XIII: Condemned to Torture and Death
La, the High Priestess of Opar, struggles with her love for Tarzan as she prepares to sacrifice him on the fiery altar. Despite her passion, Tarzan refuses her love. As the priests prepare to ignite the pyre, Tarzan summons Tantor, a mad bull elephant in musth, which crashes into the scene. La cuts Tarzan's bonds, and he rescues her from the rampaging elephant, escaping into the trees while Tantor attacks the priests.
Chapter 14
A Priestess but Yet a Woman
La, the High Priestess of Opar, is rescued by Tarzan after being chased by a mad elephant. She shows conflicting emotions of love and hatred toward Tarzan. Tarzan negotiates with the Oparian priests to allow La to return safely to Opar, threatening them with jungle creatures if they refuse. The priests agree, except for the jealous High Priest Cadj, who is forced to comply. Tarzan leaves La, who longs for his return, and returns to the jungle. Meanwhile, Tarzan discovers his stolen jewels are missing and tracks the thief, Albert Werper, through a village and into the jungle, where he also detects the scent of a woman that stirs a primal instinct.
Chapter 15
The Flight of Werper
Werper and Mugambi are captured by Abyssinian soldiers under Abdul Mourak, who mistakes Werper for a French hunter. Mugambi discovers Werper's hidden pouch of jewels from Opar but feigns indifference. Mugambi escapes during the night, while Werper remains a prisoner. Meanwhile, Jane Clayton escapes from the Arab village and evades a stalking beast. Werper, pursued by an Arab, hides and witnesses a lion attack the pursuer, seizing the opportunity to flee.
Chapter 16
Tarzan Again Leads the Mangani
Achmet Zek and his men search for the deserting Werper, but instead recapture Jane Clayton as she attempts to escape. Tarzan, having reverted to a savage state, leads a group of apes and plans to rescue Jane. After being wounded, he delays pursuit but eventually ambushes and kills three Arabs, taking their garments to disguise himself and his ape companions for a future assault on the village.
Chapter 17
The Deadly Peril of Jane Clayton
Jane Clayton is rescued from the Arab raiders by a giant ape, mistaking him for Tarzan until she discovers his true nature and faints. Tarzan searches Achmet Zek's tent for his stolen pouch and then the hut where Jane was held, finding it empty. He escapes the aroused village and roams the jungle, missing Jane by a narrow margin due to a shift in the wind. Meanwhile, Albert Werper bargains with Abdul Mourak for his freedom by promising to lead him to a hidden cache of gold, diverting the Abyssinian force southward. Achmet Zek plans to retrieve the buried fortune from the Englishman's douar.
Chapter 18
The Fight for the Treasure
Tarzan tracks Werper and the Abyssinians to the ruins of his bungalow, where they unearth the golden ingots of Opar. Achmet Zek and his raiders attack, leading to a chaotic battle for the treasure. Werper flees, pursued by Achmet Zek, while Tarzan observes from concealment, his memory stirred by the gold. The chapter ends with a duel between Werper and Achmet Zek in the forest.
Chapter 19
XIX: Jane Clayton and the Beasts of the Jungle
Jane Clayton, having witnessed the brutal death of an ape by Numa, spends a terrified night in a tree. The next day, she continues southward toward the Waziri plains, hoping to find safety. She hears gunfire and observes a confrontation between Jules Frecoult and Achmet Zek, culminating in Frecoult shooting Zek. Meanwhile, Mugambi, weakened and lost, builds a shelter and is stalked by the ape Chulk, who steals his pouch and knob-stick. Later, Jane encounters Numa again while trying to escape, but manages to climb a tree to safety as the lion feeds on the ape's remains. She spends another night in the tree, surrounded by hyenas.
Chapter 20
XX: Jane Clayton Again a Prisoner
Jane Clayton, believing Albert Werper to be a friend and rescuer, is deceived into returning to the Arab raiders' camp. Werper, having killed Achmet Zek and failed to find the stolen jewels, concocts a story to gain entry and trust. Once inside, Jane is imprisoned again, but Werper's true intentions become increasingly sinister as both he and Mohammed Beyd plot to possess her and the jewels.
Chapter 21
The Flight to the Jungle
Albert Werper, driven by jealousy and a twisted sense of protection, rescues Jane Clayton from Mohammed Beyd's assault, killing the Arab in the struggle. He devises a ruse to smuggle Jane out of the camp by pretending she is dead, hides her in the jungle, and returns to stage Mohammed Beyd's death as a suicide.
Chapter 22
Tarzan Recovers His Reason
Tarzan, still struggling with amnesia, begins to piece together fragments of his past as he encounters Werper, retrieves his stolen pouch, and experiences a gradual return of memory. He recalls a white woman and a pile of gold, and sets out to find answers. Meanwhile, he uses clever deception to mislead Abyssinian soldiers, and a mysterious jungle creature observes from the shadows.
Chapter 23
Home
Tarzan rescues Jane from the Abyssinian camp during a lion attack, and they reunite with the Waziri and Mugambi. They return to rebuild their home, and later discover the remains of Albert Werper along with the jewels of Opar, which Mugambi had replaced with gravel but which somehow returned to Werper's pouch.
