Tarzan the Terrible · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Tarzan the Terrible by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Chapter 1
The Pithecanthropus
Tarzan, searching for Lady Jane, crosses a forbidding landscape and encounters a strange, tailed humanoid creature (a pithecanthropus). He saves the creature from a lion, and they form a tentative alliance. The pithecanthropus tends Tarzan's wound and attempts to teach him its language. Their breakfast is interrupted by a sudden attack from a hairy beast.
Chapter 2
II: “To the Death!”
Tarzan battles a shaggy, tailed creature and then allies with it against a saber-tooth hybrid. He later joins Om-at and Ta-den on a perilous journey through the mountains, where they swear a pact of brotherhood. They arrive at the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho and see the city of A-lur. Tarzan learns the language of his companions and hears of Ta-den's love for O-lo-a and his exile by King Ko-tan.
Chapter 3
III: Pan-at-lee
Om-at leads Tarzan and Ta-den to the caves of Kor-ul-ja to find Pan-at-lee. After a perilous ascent, they witness a chief-battle (gund-bar) between Om-at and Es-sat. Es-sat cheats by drawing a knife, but Tarzan intervenes, and Es-sat is thrown to his death. Om-at becomes the new chief.
Chapter 4
IV: Tarzan-jad-guru
After Es-sat's death, Om-at declares himself gund of Kor-ul-ja and challenges any dissenters. He defies tradition by sparing Tarzan and Ta-den, decreeing that strangers who are brave and good friends shall no longer be slain. Om-at then organizes a search for the missing Pan-at-lee. Tarzan uses his keen sense of scent to track her to the cliff above Kor-ul-lul, where signs suggest she jumped to escape a lion. The search party encounters An-un and his sons fleeing the Kor-ul-lul, and they unite to charge the pursuing tribe, sending Id-an to warn Kor-ul-ja.
Chapter 5
In the Kor-ul-gryf
Tarzan, having been captured by the Kor-ul-lul, escapes by killing his guard In-tan and taking his head as a trophy. He then tracks Pan-at-lee's scent, discovering she survived her leap into a pool. Meanwhile, Pan-at-lee hides from the Kor-ul-lul and witnesses her father and brothers fleeing from them. The chapter also introduces a mysterious armed man approaching Pal-ul-don.
Chapter 6
Tor-o-don
Tarzan battles a Tor-o-don and is saved by Pan-at-lee, who holds him from falling into a chasm. Afterward, he hunts a deer but is confronted by a gryf, a massive dinosaur-like creature. Pan-at-lee warns that the gryf will relentlessly pursue them, and they are trapped in a tree with the beast waiting below.
Chapter 7
Jungle Craft
Tarzan devises a plan to lure the gryfs away from Pan-at-lee so she can escape, but finds himself trapped in Kor-ul-gryf as the beasts relentlessly pursue him. Using his jungle instincts and a gamble based on the Tor-o-don's command over the gryfs, he attempts to escape by imitating their call. Pan-at-lee waits for him in a cave, then sets out alone for Kor-ul-ja when he does not return.
Chapter 8
A-lur
Tarzan enters the Ho-don city of A-lur, posing as a messenger from Jad-ben-Otho. He is initially challenged by a child who notices his lack of a tail, but he uses his taillessness as proof of his divine origin. After confronting a warrior and then the guard Dak-lot, he demands to be taken to King Ko-tan, successfully intimidating them into compliance. The chapter also describes Tarzan's journey to A-lur, his appreciation of nature, and the architecture of the city.
Chapter 9
IX: Bloodstained Altars
Tarzan, posing as Dor-ul-Otho, is led through the temple of A-lur by the high priest Lu-don. He witnesses the brutal religious practices of the Ho-don, including human sacrifices on eastern altars. Tarzan challenges Lu-don, demanding the release of the pithecanthropi prisoners. Later, in the throne room, Dak-lot presents Tarzan to King Ko-tan and the warriors, where a young warrior confirms having seen Tarzan riding a gryf, helping to convince the assembly of his divine identity.
Chapter 10
X: The Forbidden Garden
Tarzan, disguised as the son of Jad-ben-Otho, questions O-lo-a about recent strangers and a possible woman of another race in A-lur. Ko-tan interrupts and leads him away, but later Tarzan intervenes to stop a human sacrifice, redirecting the ritual to offerings of food and clothing. He notices a Waz-don slave who seems to recognize him, and later learns that the slave has informed Lu-don of suspicions about his identity. Meanwhile, a figure with an Enfield rifle approaches Pal-ul-don. Tarzan explores a hidden garden within the palace grounds.
Chapter 11
The Sentence of Death
Tarzan is condemned to death by Lu-don, the high priest of A-lur, after being accused of impersonating the son of Jad-ben-Otho. Despite Ja-don's defense and Tarzan's challenge to prove his divinity through divine judgment, Lu-don refuses and orders his execution. Tarzan violently escapes by throwing a priest at Lu-don and leaping over the temple wall, sparking a citywide manhunt.
Chapter 12
The Giant Stranger
Om-at and Ta-den encounter a strange, brown-skinned stranger who is searching for Tarzan. Through sign language, they learn he is a friend. Om-at organizes a raid on the Kor-ul-lul to capture prisoners and learn Tarzan's fate. The stranger, called Jar-don, fights fiercely alongside the Kor-ul-ja, and after a victorious battle, prisoners reveal that Tarzan escaped captivity five days earlier. The last prisoner offers to trade information for his life, claiming to know Tarzan's current location.
Chapter 13
The Masquerader
Tarzan, hiding in the Forbidden Garden, devises a plan to search for his mate in A-lur. He kills a priest, dons his headdress and tail to disguise himself as a priest, and moves through the palace grounds. He is discovered by O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee, but O-lo-a, moved by Tarzan's knowledge of Ta-den, agrees not to betray him. Pan-at-lee brings him food and reports rumors of a mysterious she hidden in the temple, possibly Jane.
Chapter 14
XIV: The Temple of the Gryf
Tarzan, having donned the mask and tail of a slain priest, infiltrates the Temple of the Gryf at night to rescue Jane. He climbs the building's exterior and enters through a window, only to be separated from Jane by a cunning partition triggered by Lu-don. Meanwhile, Jane faces Lu-don's advances in her prison quarters; hope dies within her as the high priest attempts to claim her. Tarzan's dramatic entry momentarily disrupts Lu-don's plan, but the priest uses a trapdoor to send Tarzan into a subterranean pit where a gryf attacks. Tarzan escapes the gryf by diving into a pool, but finds himself trapped in a circular enclosure with no apparent exit.
Chapter 15
The King Is Dead!
As fighting erupts in the palace, Mo-sar and Bu-lot attempt to kidnap O-lo-a and Jane Clayton. Tarzan escapes the gryf pit and later intervenes to save Pan-at-lee from Bu-lot, killing him. Meanwhile, Ja-don guides Jane to O-lo-a's quarters, where she is reunited with the princess and shares her sorrow.
Chapter 16
XVI: The Secret Way
Tarzan escapes the gryf pool and finds a secret passage into the temple. Overhearing a plot, he disguises himself as a priest and learns that Jane has been taken by Mo-sar. He rescues Pan-at-lee and O-lo-a from an attacker, then pursues Mo-sar to save his mate, rallying loyal warriors against Lu-don's conspiracy.
Chapter 17
By Jad-bal-lul
Mo-sar carries Jane Clayton away from A-lur, transporting her by canoe across lakes and rivers. Jane reflects on her captivity under the Germans and her escape with Obergatz, eventually finding herself alone in the jungle. She adapts to her surroundings, finds obsidian fragments to fashion tools and weapons, and rekindles hope of being reunited with Tarzan.
Chapter 18
The Lion Pit of Tu-lur
Tarzan arrives in Tu-lur demanding the return of Jane from Mo-sar, who claims she escaped during the night. Mo-sar, torn between fear and duplicity, consults with priests of Lu-don and ultimately avoids direct confrontation, leaving the priests to deal with Tarzan. Meanwhile, the chapter reveals Tarzan's search for Jane, his pursuit by canoe, and the circumstances of her escape.
Chapter 19
XIX: Diana of the Jungle
Jane makes her first kill, a hare, and successfully creates fire using volcanic glass. She builds a treehouse for safety and encounters the German officer Obergatz, who has gone mad. She threatens to kill him if he enters her domain again.
Chapter 20
Silently in the Night
Tarzan is imprisoned in a lion pit in Tu-lur, where he works to escape by chipping away stone from the window bars. Meanwhile, political machinations unfold as Mo-sar and Lu-don vie for power, and Pan-sat delivers a treacherous message to the high priest of Tu-lur, leading to an assassination attempt on Tarzan. Jane Clayton, now aware of Obergatz's presence, fears him more than wild beasts and resolves to kill him if he approaches again.
Chapter 21
XXI: The Maniac
Tarzan escapes from his prison cell and the palace grounds of Tu-lur, fighting off Ho-don warriors with clubs before fleeing into the forest. He plans to travel to A-lur to reunite with Jane. Meanwhile, a wounded and deranged Erich Obergatz, believing himself to be Jad-ben-Otho, wanders toward A-lur, shouting his delusion.
Chapter 22
A Journey on a Gryf
Tarzan and Jane travel together, encountering a gryf which Tarzan subdues and rides. They journey to Ja-lur, where Tarzan is hailed as a god. Plans are made for an attack on A-lur, and Jane is left in Ja-lur for safety.
Chapter 23
XXIII: Taken Alive
Tarzan's plan to infiltrate the temple and attack A-lur with Ja-don and Ta-den goes awry when he rushes ahead of his warriors and is trapped in a dark chamber. Meanwhile, Pan-sat captures Jane from Ja-lur and transports her downriver to A-lur, while the battle erupts and the priests spread word that the false Dor-ul-Otho is a prisoner.
Chapter 24
XXIV: The Messenger of Death
Tarzan is bound and about to be sacrificed by Lu-don and the German Obergatz, who poses as Jad-ben-Otho. Jane Clayton is forced to watch. At the last moment, a Ho-don warrior and a mysterious figure (the Messenger of Death) appear on the temple wall, shooting Lu-don, Obergatz, and Mo-sar. The messenger orders the prisoners freed. Meanwhile, Tarzan had been trapped in a cell and captured by priests, then paraded before the armies. Obergatz recognizes Tarzan with terror. The chapter ends with the intervention of the messenger.
Chapter 25
Home
After the fall of Lu-don and Mo-sar, Ja-don is proclaimed king of Pal-ul-don. Tarzan advises reforming the temples by removing the priests and placing women in charge to administer them with kindness. A feast unites the Ho-don and Waz-don in peace. Ta-den marries O-lo-a, and Om-at marries Pan-at-lee. After a week, Tarzan, Jane, and Korak depart, traveling through Kor-ul-ja and across the great morass on the back of a gryf. They bid farewell to their friends and head north toward home.
Chapter 26
Map of Pal-ul-don
A map of Pal-ul-don, copied and redrawn from a rough sketch found among Lord Greystoke's notes of his experiences in the region.
Chapter 27
Glossary
An incomplete glossary of Pal-ul-don language and customs, compiled from Lord Greystoke's notes, detailing the naming conventions, word meanings, and descriptions of creatures like the gryf.
Chapter 28
Endnotes
The author provides a linguistic note on the Pal-ul-don language, explaining the plural formation rule and his decision to use the English plural for the word 'gorge' for readability.
Chapter 29
List of Illustrations
A map of Pal-ul-don is presented, showing a circular land area surrounded by a marshy morass and mountain ranges, with a river flowing from southeast to northwest that opens into three lakes. Four towns—Bu-Lur, Tu-Lur, A-Lur, and Ja-Lur—are identified along the river.
