The Moon Maid · Chapter
VI: Saku the Nipon explained
The narrator encounters the Nipons, a tiny, free people living in the hills who have successfully resisted Kalkar domination.
What happens
The narrator encounters the Nipons, a tiny, free people living in the hills who have successfully resisted Kalkar domination. Their chief, Saku, explains their history and warns of the giant Raban. After a meal, the narrator departs but later faces a Kalkar warrior in combat, ultimately killing him. A girl observes the duel without fleeing.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Resilience
The Nipons have survived Kalkar attacks through knowledge of their terrain and guerrilla warfare.
Colonialism and Alien Invasion
The Kalkars' attempts to dominate the Nipons and the Nipons' successful resistance reflect colonial dynamics.
Characters to notice
- Saku
Chief of the Nipon district; explains his people's history and warns of Raban.
- Nipons
A tiny, free people living in the hills, descended from the giant Mik-do; they have resisted the Kalkars.
- Red Lightning
The narrator's horse, noted for its lightness and agility in battle.
- The Kalkars
Oppressors who have been fought off by the Nipons; a Kalkar warrior is killed in combat.
- Raban
A giant who hunts and eats Nipons; Saku warns the narrator about him.
Key passages
“We are Nipons. I am Saku, chief of this district. We have always been here in these hills. The first Nipon, our ancestor, was a most honorable giant who lived upon an island far, far out in the middle of the sea. His name was Mik-do. He lives there now. When we die we go there to live with him.”
Saku introduces himself as the Nipon chief and explains their origin myth: their ancestor Mik-do, a giant, lives on a distant island where the Nipons go after death.
Saku provides cultural and historical background of the Nipons.
“We have no enemies other than Raban, the giant, who lives on the other side of the hills. He comes sometimes to hunt us with his dogs and his slaves. Those whom he kills or captures, he eats. He is a very terrible creature, is Raban.”
Saku warns of Raban, a giant who hunts and eats Nipons, though the narrator initially dismisses this as myth.
Foreshadowing of a future threat; the narrator's skepticism contrasts with later events.
“I could not, however, bring myself to the point of butchering him without appearing, at least, to give him a chance, and so I played with him, parrying his cuts and thrusts and tapping him now and then upon his iron bonnet and vest.”
The narrator spars with the Kalkar warrior, giving him a chance despite knowing he must kill him.
Highlights the narrator's sense of honor even toward an enemy.