Black Wine

From one side a slave girl, barefoot, bangled, in sashed, diaphanous, trousered, chalwar, gathered at the ankles, in tight, red-silk vest, with bare midriff, fled to him, with the tall, graceful, silvered pot containing the black wine.
. . .
From the side there hastened to him another girl, a fair-skinned, red-haired girl. She, too, wore veil, vest, chalwar, bangles, collar. She carried a tray, on which were various spoons and sugars.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Pages 88 - 89

"Second slave," I told her, which, among the river towns, and in certain cities, particularly in the north, is a way of indicating that I would take the black wine without creams or sugars, and as it came from the pouring vessel, which, of course, in these areas, is handled by the "second slave," the first slave being the girl who puts down the cups, takes the orders and sees that the beverage is prepared according to the preferences of the one who is being served.
. . .
The expression "second slave," incidentally, serves to indicate that one does not wish creams or sugars with one's black wine, even if only one girl is serving.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Page 245


Susan then, as "first slave," took the orders and did the measuring and mixing; I, as "second slave," did the pouring.
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Page 406

"Black wine," said she, "from the Mountains of Thentis."

I had heard of black wine, but had never had any. It is drunk in Thentis, but I had never heard of it being much drunk in any of the other cities.

"Bring two bowls." I said.

"Two?" asked the girl.

"The slave," I said, indicating Elizabeth, "will taste it first."

"Of course, Master," said the girl.

"And put bread over the fire," I said, "and honey, and the eggs of vulos, and fried tarsk meat and a Torian larma fruit."

The girl nodded and, rising gracefully, backing away a step or two, head down, turned and went to the kitchen.

"I have heard," I said to Elizabeth, "that black wine is served hot."

"Incredible," she smiled.

In short order two bowls, steam cuffing out of them, were brought and placed on the table.

I sat there staring down at them, and Elizabeth did, too. Then I picked up one of the thick, heavy clay bowls. Since no one was looking, we knocked the bowls together and put them to our lips.

It was extremely strong, and bitter, but it was hot, and, unmistakably, it was coffee.
. . .

"Actually," I said to Elizabeth, "this is very rare. Thentis does not trade the beans for black wine. I have heard of a cup of black wine in Ar, some years ago, selling for a silver eighty-piece. Even in Thentis black wine is used commonly only in High Caste homes."

"Perhaps it is from Earth?" she asked.

"Originally, doubtless beans were brought from Earth," I said, "much as certain other seeds, and silk worms and such, but I doubt very much that the ship I saw last night had in its cargo anything as trivial as the beans for black wine."
Assassin of Gor     Book 5     Pages 106 - 107


"There is nothing like coffee and a good wench after breakfast," I told her.
Assassin of Gor     Book 5     Page 108

"It was my loss," smiled Ibn Saran, lifting to his lips a tiny, steaming cup of black wine.

Suleiman, with his finger, pushed back certain of the stones toward me.

I replaced these in my wallet. His greatest interest, apparently, lay in the sereem diamonds and opals.

Both sorts of stones were rare in the Tahari gem trade.

He lifted his eyes to Alyena. Her body seemed barely to move, yet it danced, as though against her will. It seemed she tried to hold herself immobile, as though fighting her own body, but yet that it forced her to dance, betraying her as a slave girl to the gaze of masters. Her eyes were shut, her teeth clenched on her lip, her face agonized; her arms were above her head, her fists clenched, and yet, seemingly in isolation, seemingly against her resolve, her body moved, forcing her to be beautiful before men. A fantastic intensity is achieved by this dancer's artifice. It was not lost on Suleiman, or Ibn Saran.

I had waited a month at the Oasis of Nine Wells before being granted an audience with Suleiman.

Ibn Saran, not taking his eyes from Alyena, lifted his finger, From one side a slave girl, barefoot, bangled, in sashed, diaphanous, trousered, chalwar, gathered at the ankles, in tight, red-silk vest, with bare midriff, fled to him, with the tall, graceful, silvered pot containing the black wine. She was veiled. She knelt, replenishing the drink. Beneath her veil I saw the metal of her collar.

I had not thought to have such fortune. She did not look at me. She returned to her place with the pot of black wine.

Ibn Saran lifted another finger. From the side there hastened to him another girl, a fair-skinned, red-haired girl. She, too, wore veil, vest, chalwar, bangles, collar. She carried a tray, on which were various spoons and sugars. She knelt, placing her tray on the table. With a tiny spoon, its tip no more than a tenth of a hort in diameter, she placed four measures of white sugar, and six of yellow, in the cup; with two stirring spoons, one for the white sugar, another for the yellow, she stirred the beverage after each measure. She then held the cup to the side of her cheek, testing its temperature; Ibn Saran glanced at her; she, looking at him, timidly kissed the side of the cup and placed it before him. Then, her head down, she withdrew.

I did not turn to look back at the first girl, she who held the s lvered pot.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Pages 88 - 89


Ibn Saran, watching the yellow-silked, collared slave dance, sipped his hot, black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 92


He sipped his hot black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 101

I decided I might care to taste the steaming, black wine. I lifted my finger. The girl in whose charge was the silver vessel, filled with black wine, knelt beside a tiny brazier, on which it sat, retaining its warmth. Seeing my signal, she stiffened; she hesitated. She was white, dark-haired. She wore a high, tight vest of red silk, with four hooks; her midriff was bare; she wore the sashed chalwar, a sashed, diaphanous trousered garment, full but gathered in, closely, at the ankles; she was barefoot; her wrists and ankles were bangled; she was veiled; she was collared. She rose swiftly to her feet. She knelt, head down, before me. She poured, carefully, the hot, black beverage into the tiny red cup. I dismissed her. Beneath her veil I had not been able to read the lettering on her collar, which would tell who owned her. I supposed it was Suleiman, since she was serving in the palace. The other girl, the white-skinned, red-haired girl, also in vest, chalwar and veil, and bangles and collar, lifted her tray of spoons and sugars. But I turned away. She was not summoned. The girls, white-skinned, were a matched set of slaves, one for the black wine, one for its sugars.

Alyena, now, slowly, disengaged the dancing silk from her hips, yet held it, moving it on and about her body, by her hands, taunting the reclining, languid, heavy-lidded Ibn Saran, to whom she knew, at his slightest gesture, she must bare herself.

He regarded her veil work; she was skillful; he was a connoisseur of slave girls.

I, too, in my way, though doubtless less skillful than the noble Ibn Saran, was a connoisseur of slave girls. For example, the dark-haired slave, she who was one of the matched set, she who was charged with the careful pouring of black wine, was a piece of delicious woman meat, a luscious, if inadequately disciplined piece of female flesh.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Pages 105 - 106


I glanced casually back to look upon her, kneeling beside the slender, silvered, long-spouted vessel of black wine, resting over its tiny brazier, she only one of a pair, a matched set, of slaves.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 108


She was the other girl of the matched set, the other white-skinned wench, who had had in her charge the silvered, long-spouted vessel of black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 113


She lowered her eyes and, taking the tray with black wine and sugars, rose gracefully to her feet, backed away, turned, and left the room.
She moved sweetly. She had been aroused from sleep, not permitted to veil herself, and instructed to prepare and serve black wine.
. . .
We had then retired to the merchant's house for black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 157


I smelled the slave perfume. I recalled it from the palace of Suleiman Pasha, when the girl, with Zaya, the other slave, had served black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 230


It was Zaya, the red-haired girl, who had served sugars with the black wine in the palace of Suleiman Pasha.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 344


Soon I smelled the frying of vulo eggs in a large, flat pan, and the unmistakable odor of coffee, or as the Goreans express it, black wine. The beans grow largely on the slopes of the Thentis mountains. The original beans, I suppose, had been brought, l ke certain other Gorean products, from Earth; it is not impossible, of course, that the opposite is the case, that black wine is native to Gor and that the origin of Earth's coffee beans is Gorean; I regard this as unlikely, however, because black wine is far more common on Earth than on Gor, where it is, except for the city of Thentis, a city famed for her tarn flocks, and her surrounding villages, a somewhat rare and unusual luxury.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 73


Eta piled several of the hot, tiny eggs, earlier kept fresh in cool sand within the cave, on a plate, with heated yellow bread, for him. I, grasping the pot with a rag and both hands, poured him a handled, metal tankard of the steaming black brew, coffee or black wine.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 74


My master extended to me his metal tankard. Gratefully I filled it again with the steaming black wine.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 75


In Thentis, for example, sleen are used to smell out contraband, in the form of the unauthorized egress of the beans for black wine from the Thentian territories.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Pages 186 - 187


I grinned, and washed down the eggs with a swig of hot black wine, prepared from the beans grown upon the slopes of the Thentis mountains. This black wine is quite expensive. Men have been slain on Gor for attempting to smuggle the beans out of the Thentian territories.
. . .
"I suppose not," said Samos. He then drank from his cup, containing the black wine. I did not press him to elucidate his meaning.
Beasts of Gor     Book 12     Page 21


She withdrew, head down, She picked up the small tray from the stand near the table. On it was the small vessel containing a thick, sweet liqueur from distant Turia, the Ar of the south, and the two tiny glasses from which we had sipped it. On the tray, too, was the metal vessel which had contained the black wine, steaming and bitter, from far Thentis, famed for its tarn flocks, the small yellow-enameled cups from which we had drunk the black wine, its spoons and sugars, a tiny bowl of mint sticks, and the softened, dampened cloths on which we had wiped our fingers.
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 10

"You may serve the black wine now, in small cups, Lola," said Miss Henderson.

"Yes, Mistress," whispered Lola.

This was a delicacy. I had purchased some, some days ago, but we had not yet served it. In a few Ehn Lola returned with the tray, with the vessel of steaming liquid, the creams and sugars, the tiny cups, and the small spoons for mixing and measuring.

"Delicious," said Miss Henderson.

"Thank you, Mistress," said Lola. She then drew back a bit, and knelt, to be unobtrusive, and yet available, instantly, to serve, should free folk wish aught.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Page 132


I finished my black wine, enjoying it.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Page 133


"Yes, Master," she said. "Do Masters desire drink?"
Tasdron looked at Callimachus.
"Water," said Callimachus.
"Black wine," I said. I thought it best to keep my head clear until the conclusion of our evening's business.
"Black wine," said Tasdron.
"Yes, Master," said the girl, and hurried away.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Page 230


"Masters," said Peggy, approaching the table, kneeling beside it, bearing a tray. She placed the tray on the table, and removed three plates of bread and meat from it, a dish of as, sorted cheeses, a bowl of dates, a pitcher of water, a pot of black wine, steaming, and tiny vessels of sugars and creams, and three goble s. On the table, too, she placed small spoons, of silver, from Tharna, for use with the black wine, and, at each place, a kailiauk-horn-handled eating prong, from distant Turia. Finger towels, then, and a silver fingerbowl, too, she placed upon the table. The bowl was also of Tharnan silver. When she had placed these things on the table, she looked about, still kneeling, and saw me close the door to the room, locking her within, with us. She suddenly trembled. She knew that she was a slave, and that absolutely anything could be done with her.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Page 233


"Well, then," he said, "run now to the kitchen."
"Yes, Master," she said and, leaping up, ran to the kitchen. She was closely followed by the lovely little slave in the bluish gauze. Doubtless both of them were soon to bring forth the next course of the meal, which I took to be assorted desserts, to be followed by black wine and liqueurs.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Page 237

The two slaves had now left the pastries and custards upon the table, and had returned to the kitchen. They would there presumably be relieved of their chains and would return with the black wine.
. . .

The two slaves, their chains removed, now returned, and began to serve the black wine. The voluptuous slave of Aemilianus, whom he had not yet named, placed the tiny sliver cups, on small stands, before us. The lovely little slave in bluish gauze, whom I had not yet named, holding the narrow-spouted, silver pouring vessel in a heavy cloth, to retain its heat and protect her hands, poured the scalding, steaming black fluid, in narrow, tiny streams, into the small cups. She poured into the cups only the amount that would be compatible with the assorted sugars and creams which the guest might desire, if any, these being added in, and stirred, if, and as, pertinent, by Aemilianus' slave, who directed the serving.
. . .

"Master?" asked the girl in yellow gauze, who had been Shirley and now belonged, for the moment nameless, to my friend Aemilianus, of Ar's Station.

"Second slave," I told her, which, among the river towns, and in certain cities, particularly in the north, is a way of indicating that I would take the black wine without creams or sugars, and as it came from the pouring vessel, which, of course, in these areas, is handled by the "second slave," the first slave being the girl who puts down the cups, takes the orders and sees that the beverage is prepared according to the preferences of the one who is being served.

"Second slave," said the slave of Aemilianus.

"Yes, Mistress," said the girl in bluish gauze. She was extremely careful not to spill a drop. Black wine, except in the vicinity of Thentis, where most of it is grown on the slopes of the Thentis range, is quite expensive. Also, of course, clumsy slave girls are often whipped. The expression "second slave," incidentally, serves to indicate that one does not wish creams or sugars with one's black wine, even if only one girl is serving.
. . .

I lifted the tiny silver cup to my lips and took a drop of the black wine. Its strength and bitterness are such that it is normally drunk in such a manner, usually only a drop or a few drops at a time. Commonly, too, it is mollified with creams and sugars. I drank it without creams and sugars, perhaps, for I had been accustomed, on Earth, to drinking coffee in such a manner, and the black wine of Gor is clearly coffee, or closely akin to coffee. Considering its bitterness, however, if I had not been drinking such a tiny amount, and so slowly, scarcely wetting my lips, I, too, would surely have had recourse to the tasty, gentling additives with which it is almost invariably served.
. . .

I took another sip of the black wine.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Pages 243 - 247


"Your gift to me, your performance, during the course of the black wine," I said, "was very beautiful."
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Page 274

"I have a surprise," I told her.

I brought up from the kitchen, where I had been keeping it hot, a vessel of black wine, with sugars, and cups and spoons. Too, I had brought up a small bowl of powdered bosk milk. We had finished the creams last night and, in any event, it was unlikely they would have lasted the night. If I had wanted creams I would have had to have gone to the market. My house, incidentally, like most Gorean houses, had no ice chest. There is little cold storage on Gor. Generally food is preserved by being dried or salted. Some cold storage, of course, does exist. Ice is cut from ponds in the winter, and then stored in icehouses, under sawdust. One may go to the icehouses for it, or have it delivered in ice wagons. Most Goreans, of course, cannot afford the luxury of ice in the summer.

Immediately the girl, kneeling, prepared to serve me. "I believe Master prefers his black wine 'second slave,'" she said. "Yes," I said.

I watched her pouring the beverage. She did so carefully, deferentially, being careful not to spill a drop. I noticed how her breasts depended from her body. How marvelous it is to be served by a beautiful woman.

"There are two cups," she whispered.

"One is for you," I said.

"Black wine is expensive," she said.

"Pour one for yourself," I said.

"Even though I am a slave?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Am I a high slave?" she asked.

"Do you wish me to hold your head back, my hand in your hair, your back almost breaking, and force the spout of the vessel between your teeth, pouring the wine as it is, black and scalding, down your throat?" I asked.

"No, Master!" she said.

"Your brand is pretty," I said.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

"You are not a high slave," I said. "You are a low slave.

You are the lowest of low slaves."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"And do not forget it," I said.

"No, Master," she said.

"Now pour yourself a cup of wine," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said. "May I mollify my beverage?"

"Yes," I said.

I watched her as she mixed in a plentiful helping of powdered bosk milk, and two of the assorted sugars. She then left the small, rounded metal cup on the tray.

"Why do you not drink?" I asked her.

"A girl does not drink before her master," she said.

"I see that you are not totally stupid," I said.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

I then sipped the black wine. She, too, then, after it was clear that I had drunk, lifted her own cup to her lips.

"Yes," I said, "you may drink, Slave."

She then, head down, holding the small cup by its two tiny handles, sipped the beverage.

We drank the black wine in silence, sipping it, looking at one another. How beautiful she was, and I owned her!

"I love belonging to you, Master," she whispered.

"Finish the wine," I told her.

"Yes, Master," she said.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Pages 295 - 297

Susan then approached the diners. "Black wine, Masters?" she asked.

"Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

"Yes," said Publius.

Susan then turned to me and snapped her fingers. "Sheila," she called.

"Yes, Mistress," I said. I took the vessel of black wine, removing it from its warmer, and put it on its tray, that already bearing the tiny cups, the creams and sugars, the spices, the napkins and spoons. I then carried the tray, with the black wine, hot and steaming, to the table and put it down there. Susan then, as "first slave," took the orders and did the measuring and mixing; I, as "second slave," did the pouring. Afterward I returned the tray to the serving table, and the vessel of black wine to its warmer I then joined Susan, kneeling beside her in the vicinity of the serving table.
. . .

Twice more, rather, talking and sipping, did they call for black wine, and twice more did two slaves, Susa and Sheila, serve it to them.
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Pages 405 - 406


One was, of course familiar with the studied inconspicuousness of the serving slave, for I had learned it in the pens. One serves humbly, self-effacingly, eyes cast downward. When not serving one kneels deferentially, silently, well back, and to the side, of the low tables. When then one is summoned to further service, by perhaps so little as a glance or snapping of fingers, one leaps up and hurries forward, perhaps then, on one's knees, to clear, or perhaps to fetch and then serve, again kneeling, the tiny cups of strong coffees, or black wines, the shallow silver bowls of white and yellow sherbet.
Witness of Gor     Book 26     Page 220


"Perhaps a little to eat, and some strong coffee?" said the young man. "You must be very hungry."
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 31

At this point Tutina, carrying a tray, in her brief silk, and anklet, followed by one of the two men who had been outside, entered the room. The man behind her carried a small table, which he put down, before the older woman. Tutina, then, placed the tray on the table. On the tray, tastefully arranged, with napkins, was a plate of small pastries, a saucer and cup, some sugars and creams, some spoons, and a small pot of coffee.

The man who had brought the table withdrew.

Tutina regarded the older woman with hatred, unseen by the young man, as her back was to him.

The older woman returned her stare, coldly.

Tutina, of course, must await the consent, the signal, of the older woman.

The older woman made her wait, for several seconds. Then she said, sweetly, "Yes, please."

Tutina then poured the coffee, carefully, and then replaced the small container on the tray.

Then Tutina waited.

"Thank you," said the older woman, politely dismissing her.

Tutina then backed away, gracefully, her head down, humbly.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 32


Then she sipped the coffee.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 33


"You will continue to serve," he said. "After dessert, we will have the coffee and liqueurs at the coffee table."
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 105


"I awakened several hours later, toward noon, as though I might be in my own compartments, waiting for my girls to open the draperies and bring me steaming black wine and fresh, honeyed pastries,
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 65


And others served here and there about the ship in yet other ways, ways similarly appropriate for slaves, carrying messages, running errands, bringing food and black wine, not paga, to the men, both those on deck and those on the ice below, being lowered on a stirrup rope, to be drawn from the side of the ship to the ice by hooked poles, and such.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 139


She turned about, frightened, the vessel of steaming black wine, wrapped in its thick cloths, from the wool of the bounding hurt, held in two hands.
. . .
She put the black wine to the side on the deck, and put her head to the boards, before me, her hands beside the sides of her head.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 141


Beside her the vessel of black wine no longer steamed.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 145


"It seems, slave," I said, "you have let the black wine grow cold."
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 154


Shortly thereafter the slaves rose to their feet and, a bit later, I could smell the fumes of freshly brewed black wine. It shortly made its appearance. Alcinoë, as she was Gorean, had the honor of bringing forth the vessel and cups, and my slave, as she was a barbarian, and thus subordinate, unless it was otherwise specified, brought forth the small pitcher of cream, the tiny spoons, and the small, flat bowls of sugars and spices. Later, each slave brought forth, as well, a tray of assorted cakes and pastries.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 579


I had breakfasted well, on larma, vulo eggs, fried sul, roast bosk, sa-tarna, and even black wine, the beans for which, I supposed, derived from the far slopes of the Thentis mountains, and may have been brought west at some risk.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 76


I finished the black wine, rose, and dropped a silver tarsk on the table, a rather insolent gesture, I suppose, as it would have purchased half a hundred such breakfasts, save for the black wine.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 80


Many are the markets of Gor, and some are supplied by contraband merchandise, of dubious origins, and evasive of taxes and harbor fees, such as rogue silver from the mines of Tharna, to be exported to Cos and Tyros, and the Farther Islands, even to the World's End; the beans from which Black-Wine is brewed, so carefully guarded by those of Thentis, famed for its tarn flocks, to be shipped as far south as Schendi, as far north as Torvaldsland;
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Page 243

Steaming black wine, with its trays of sugars and creams, one of which I bore, and liqueurs, some apparently from as far away as Turia, were being served.

Black wine is expensive.

The plants from which its seeds are obtained apparently grow favorably, perhaps even most favorably, on the slopes of the Thentis Mountains, an area under the jurisdiction of the mountain city of Thentis. The trade in black wine is closely controlled by the so-called "vintners" of Thentis. For example, it is forbidden to take viable black-wine seeds or plants from the vicinity of Thentis. And, as one would suppose, the sale of the roasted seeds from which the black wine is brewed is carefully supervised and regulated. Doubtless some smuggling occurs. Where such plants are found, illegitimately planted, at least from the point of view of the Thentis "vintners," they are uprooted and destroyed. Similarly, smugglers, if apprehended, are often dealt with harshly, by impalement, or servitude in the mines, quarries, or galleys. This policing is commonly done by representatives of the "vintners" of Thentis, but it is sometimes hired out to the caste of Assassins, which constitutes the nearest thing to an international police force on Gor, a force subject neither to the constraints of walls, borders, or Home Stones. Most public eating establishments cannot afford to serve black wine. There are several cases where a female slave has been exchanged for a cup of the beverage. Needless to say, the serving of this beverage at our small collation, or feast, was an indication of the formidable wealth, and widely ranging connections, of Decius Albus, trade advisor to the Ubar of Ar, a man named Marlenus. Whereas the plants from which the seeds, or beans, for black wine are brewed may have been native to Gor, I rather suspected that their world of origin might have lain far away, perhaps on another world.

Then, after a time, the tiny vessels of black wine, and the liqueurs, were put aside.
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Pages 403 - 404

"Do not neglect the black wine, flavored with Turian sugars," said a fellow in merchant robes, nearby.

He poured himself a tiny cup of the beverage. Black wine tends to be expensive. Its presence at the feast in more than one vessel bespoke the affluence of Decius Albus. Some Goreans have never tasted the beverage.

"I approve your slave," said the fellow with the cup of black wine. "Is she not hungry?"
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Pages 529 - 530

"How went the voyage, noble Astron?" inquired Florian.

"As reported, well," said the newcomer. "Our hold is bulging. Too we have bales and boxes of six new teas, unknown, I think, even in Brundisium or Jad. They may yet rival black wine in preciousness, at a quarter the cost."
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 363

"This is no holiday, at least no common holiday," said Astron, "and yet I see no seaman's supper before me, bread, meat, porridge, larmas and paga. Are those not decanters of ka-la-na, ruby red and tawny, like the wet pelt of a fresh-foaled kaiila? Do I not see flasks and vessels common to the liqueurs and syrups of Turia? Might those not even be tospits, short-stemmed and long-stemmed, from the lands of the Wagon Peoples? And do I not smell the aroma of hot, steaming black wine? That must have cost the holding a shiny tarsk-bit. For a common day, is the board not unusually laden, so heavily and lavishly? You even have girls under the table, unclothed."
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 365

"Given this celebration, the ka-la-na, the black wine, and such," said Astron, "I gather that the outcome of the interrogation proved favorable to the interests of the holding."
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 366

"By six months," said Miles, "if all goes well, Bosk, lord of the holding, should be well returned."

"I see now the point of the black wine, and such," said Astron.
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Pages 366 - 367