章节正文
the shadow of the spear that Chaka held in his hand, the same with
which he had slain his mother and wherewith he should himself be
slain. Now she ceased her singing, and stood before the crouching king
and before me, who was behind the king, so that the light of her glory
shone upon us. She lifted the little spear, and with it touched Chaka,
son of Senzangacona, on the brow, giving him to doom. Then she spoke;
but, though Chaka felt the touch, he did not hear the words, that were
for my ears alone.
"Mopo, son of Makedama," said the low voice, "stay thy hand, the cup
of Chaka is not full. When, for the third time, thou seest me riding
down the storm, then SMITE, Mopo, my child."
Thus she spoke, and a cloud swept over the face of the moon. When it
passed she was gone, and once more I was alone with Chaka, with the
night and the dead.
Chaka looked up, and his face was grey with the sweat of fear.
"Who was this, Mopo?" he said in a hollow voice.
"This was the Inkosazana of the Heavens, she who watches ever over the
people of our race, O King, and who from time to time is seen of men
ere great things shall befall."
"I have heard speak of this queen," said Chaka. "Wherefore came she
now, what was the song she sang, and why did she touch me with a
spear?"
"She came, O King, because the dead hand of Baleka summoned her, as
thou sawest. The song she sang was of things too high for me; and why
she touched thee on the forehead with the spear I do not know, O King!
Perchance it was to crown thee chief of a yet greater realm."
"Yea, perchance to crown me chief of a realm of death."
"That thou art already, Black One," I answered, glancing at the silent
multitude before us and the cold shape of Baleka.
Again Chaka shuddered. "Come, let us be going, Mopo," he said; "now I
have learnt what it is to be afraid."
"Early or late, Fear is a guest that all must feast, even kings, O
Earth-Shaker!" I answered; and we turned and went homewards in
silence.
Now after this night Chaka gave it out that the kraal of Gibamaxegu
was bewitched, and bewitched was the land of the Zulus, because he
might sleep no more in peace, but woke ever crying out with fear, and
muttering the name of Baleka. Therefore, in the end he moved his kraal
far away, and built the great town of Duguza here in Natal.
Look now, my father! There on the plain far away is a place of the
white men--it is called Stanger. There, where is the white man's town,
stood the great kraal Duguza. I cannot see, for my eyes are dark; but
you can see. Where the gate of the kraal was built there is a house;
it is the place where the white man gives out justice; that is the
place of the gate of the kraal, through which Justice never walked.
Behind is another house, where the white men who have sinned against
Him pray to the King of Heaven for forgiveness; there on that spot
have I seen many a one who had done no wrong pray to a king of men for
mercy, but I have never seen but one who found it. Ou! the words of
Chaka have come true: I will tell them to you presently, my father.
The white man holds the land, he goes to and fro about his business of
peace where impis ran forth to kill; his children laugh and gather
flowers where men died in blood by hundreds; they bathe in the waters
of the Imbozamo, where once the crocodiles were fed daily with human
flesh; his young men woo the maidens where other maids have kissed the
assegai. It is changed, nothing is the same, and of Chaka are left
only a grave yonder and a name of fear.
Now, after Chaka had come to the Duguza kraal, for a while he sat
quiet, then the old thirst of blood came on him, and he sent his impis
against the people of the Pondos, and they destroyed that people, and
brought back their cattle. But the warriors might not rest; again they
were doctored for war, and sent out by tens of thousands to conquer
Sotyangana, chief of the people who live north of the Limpopo. They
went singing, after the king had looked upon them and bidden them
return victorious or not at all. Their number was so great that from
the hour of dawn till the sun was high in the heavens they passed the
gates of the kraal like countless herds of cattle--they the
unconquered. Little did they know that victory smiled on them no more;
that they must die by thousands of hunger and fever in the marshes of
the Limpopo, and that those of them who returned should come with
their shields in their bellies, having devoured their shields because
of their ravenous hunger! But what of them? They were nothing. "Dust"
was the name of one of the great regiments that went out against
Sotyangana, and dust they were--dust to be driven to death by the
breath of Chaka, Lion of the Zulu.
Now few men remained in the kraal Duguza, for nearly all had gone with
the impi, and only women and aged people were left. Dingaan and
Umhlangana, brothers of the king, were there, for Chaka would not
suffer them to depart, fearing lest they should plot against him, and
he looked on them always with an angry eye, so that they trembled for
their lives, though they dared not show their fear lest fate should
follow fear. But I guessed it, and like a snake I wound myself into
their secrets, and we talked together darkly and in hints. But of that
presently, my father, for I must tell of the coming of Masilo, he who
would have wed Zinita, and whom Umslopogaas the Slaughterer had driven
out from the kraals of the People of the Axe.
It was on the day after the impi had left that Masilo came to the
kraal Duguza, craving leave to speak with the king. Chaka sat before
his hut, and with him were Dingaan and Umhlangana, his royal brothers.
I was there also, and certain of the indunas, councillors of the king.
Chaka was weary that morning, for he had slept badly, as now he always
did. Therefore, when one told him that a certain wanderer named Masilo
would speak with him, he did not command that the man should be
killed, but bade them bring him before him. Presently there was a
sound of praising, and I saw a fat man, much worn with travel, who
crawled through the dust towards us giving the sibonga, that is,
naming the king by his royal names. Chaka bade him cease from praising
and tell his business. Then the man sat up and told all that tale
which you have heard, my father, of how a young man, great and strong,
came to the place of the People of the Axe and conquered Jikiza, the
holder of the axe, and become chief of that people, and of how he had
taken the cattle of Masilo and driven him away. Now Chaka knew nothing
of this People of the Axe, for the land was great in those days, my
father, and there were many little tribes in it, living far away, of
whom the king had not even heard; so he questioned Masilo about them,
and of the number of their fighting-men, of their wealth in cattle, of
the name of the young man who ruled them, and especially as to the
tribute which they paid to the king.
Masilo answered, saying that the number of their fighting-men was
perhaps the half of a full regiment, that their cattle were many, for
they were rich, that they paid no tribute, and that the name of the
young man was Bulalio the Slaughterer--at the least, he was known by
that name, and he had heard no other.
Then the king grew wroth. "Arise, Masilo," he said, "and run to this
people, and speak in the ear of the people, and of him who is named
the Slaughterer, saying: 'There is another Slaughterer, who sits in a
kraal that is named Duguza, and this is his word to you, O People of
the Axe, and to thee, thou who holdest the axe. Rise up with all the
people, and with all the cattle of your people, and come before him
who sits in the kraal Duguza, and lay in his hands the great axe
Groan-Maker. Rise up swiftly and do this bidding, lest ye sit down
shortly and for the last time of all.'"[1]
[1] The Zulu are buried sitting.
Masilo heard, and said that it should be so, though the way was far,
and he feared greatly to appear before him who was called the
Slaughterer, and who sat twenty days' journey to the north, beneath
the shadow of the Witch Mountain.
"Begone," said the king, "and stand before me on the thirtieth day
from now with the answer of this boy with an axe! If thou standest not
before me, then some shall come to seek thee and the boy with an axe
also."
So Masilo turned and fled swiftly to do the bidding of the king, and
Chaka spoke no more of that matter. But I wondered in my heart who
this young man with an axe might be; for I thought that he had dealt
with Jikiza and with the sons of Jikiza as Umslopogaas would have
dealt with them had he come to the years of his manhood. But I also
said nothing of the matter.
Now on this day also there came to me news that my wife Macropha and
my daughter Nada were dead among their people in Swaziland. It was
said that the men of the chief of the Halakazi tribe had fallen on
their kraal and put all in it to the assegai, and among them Macropha
and Nada. I heard the news, but I wept no tear, for, my father, I was
so lost in sorrows that nothing could move me any more.
CHAPTER XX
MOPO BARGAINS WITH THE PRINCES
Eight-and-twenty days went by, my father, and on the nine-and-
twentieth it befell that Chaka, having dreamed a dream in his troubled
sleep, summoned before him certain women of the kraal, to the number
of a hundred or more. Some of these were his women, whom he named his
"sisters," and some were maidens not yet given in marriage; but all
were young and fair. Now what this dream of Chaka may have been I do
not know, or have forgotten, for in those days he dreamed many dreams,
and all his dreams led to one end, the death of men. He sat in front
of his hut scowling, and I was with him. To the left of him were
gathered the girls and women, and their knees were weak with fear. One
by one they were led before him, and stood before him with bowed
heads. Then he would bid them be of good cheer, and speak softly to
them, and in the end would ask them this question: "Hast thou, my
sister, a cat in thy hut?"
Now, some would say that they had a cat, and some would say that they
had none, and some would stand still and make no answer, being dumb
with fear. But, whatever they said, the end was the same, for the king
would sigh gently and say: "Fare thee well, my sister; it is
unfortunate for thee that there is a cat in thy hut," or "that there
is no cat in thy hut," or "that thou canst not tell me whether there
be a cat in thy hut or no."
Then the woman would be taken by the slayers, dragged without the
kraal, and their end was swift. So it went on for the most part of
that day, till sixty-and-two women and girls had been slaughtered. But
at last a maiden was brought before the king, and to this one her
snake had given a ready wit; for when Chaka asked her whether or no
there was a cat in her hut, she answered, saying that she did not
know, "but that there was a half a cat upon her," and she pointed to a
cat's-skin which was bound about her loins.
Then the king laughed, and clapped his hands, saying that at length
his dream was answered; and he killed no more that day nor ever again
--save once only.
That evening my heart was heavy within me, and I cried in my heart,
"How long?"--nor might I rest. So I wandered out from the kraal that
was named Duguza to the great cleft in the mountains yonder, and sat
down upon a rock high up in the cleft, so that I could see the wide
lands rolling to the north and the south, to my right and to my left.
Now, the day was drawing towards the night, and the air was very
still, for the heat was great and a tempest was gathering, as I, who
am a Heaven-Herd, knew well. The sun sank redly, flooding the land
with blood; it was as though all the blood that Chaka had shed flowed
about the land which Chaka ruled. Then from the womb of the night
great shapes of cloud rose up and stood before the sun, and he crowned
them with his glory, and in their hearts the lightning quivered like a
blood of fire. The shadow of their wings fell upon the mountain and
the plains, and beneath their wings was silence. Slowly the sun sank,
and the shapes of cloud gathered together like a host at the word of
its captain, and the flicker of the lightning was as the flash of the
spears of a host. I looked, and my heart grew afraid. The lightning
died away, the silence deepened and deepened till I could hear it, no
leaf moved, no bird called, the world seemed dead--I alone lived in
the dead world.
Now, of a sudden, my father, a bright star fell from the height of
heaven and lit upon the crest of the storm, and as it lit the storm
burst. The grey air shivered, a moan ran about the rocks and died
away, then an icy breath burst from the lips of the tempest and rushed
which he had slain his mother and wherewith he should himself be
slain. Now she ceased her singing, and stood before the crouching king
and before me, who was behind the king, so that the light of her glory
shone upon us. She lifted the little spear, and with it touched Chaka,
son of Senzangacona, on the brow, giving him to doom. Then she spoke;
but, though Chaka felt the touch, he did not hear the words, that were
for my ears alone.
"Mopo, son of Makedama," said the low voice, "stay thy hand, the cup
of Chaka is not full. When, for the third time, thou seest me riding
down the storm, then SMITE, Mopo, my child."
Thus she spoke, and a cloud swept over the face of the moon. When it
passed she was gone, and once more I was alone with Chaka, with the
night and the dead.
Chaka looked up, and his face was grey with the sweat of fear.
"Who was this, Mopo?" he said in a hollow voice.
"This was the Inkosazana of the Heavens, she who watches ever over the
people of our race, O King, and who from time to time is seen of men
ere great things shall befall."
"I have heard speak of this queen," said Chaka. "Wherefore came she
now, what was the song she sang, and why did she touch me with a
spear?"
"She came, O King, because the dead hand of Baleka summoned her, as
thou sawest. The song she sang was of things too high for me; and why
she touched thee on the forehead with the spear I do not know, O King!
Perchance it was to crown thee chief of a yet greater realm."
"Yea, perchance to crown me chief of a realm of death."
"That thou art already, Black One," I answered, glancing at the silent
multitude before us and the cold shape of Baleka.
Again Chaka shuddered. "Come, let us be going, Mopo," he said; "now I
have learnt what it is to be afraid."
"Early or late, Fear is a guest that all must feast, even kings, O
Earth-Shaker!" I answered; and we turned and went homewards in
silence.
Now after this night Chaka gave it out that the kraal of Gibamaxegu
was bewitched, and bewitched was the land of the Zulus, because he
might sleep no more in peace, but woke ever crying out with fear, and
muttering the name of Baleka. Therefore, in the end he moved his kraal
far away, and built the great town of Duguza here in Natal.
Look now, my father! There on the plain far away is a place of the
white men--it is called Stanger. There, where is the white man's town,
stood the great kraal Duguza. I cannot see, for my eyes are dark; but
you can see. Where the gate of the kraal was built there is a house;
it is the place where the white man gives out justice; that is the
place of the gate of the kraal, through which Justice never walked.
Behind is another house, where the white men who have sinned against
Him pray to the King of Heaven for forgiveness; there on that spot
have I seen many a one who had done no wrong pray to a king of men for
mercy, but I have never seen but one who found it. Ou! the words of
Chaka have come true: I will tell them to you presently, my father.
The white man holds the land, he goes to and fro about his business of
peace where impis ran forth to kill; his children laugh and gather
flowers where men died in blood by hundreds; they bathe in the waters
of the Imbozamo, where once the crocodiles were fed daily with human
flesh; his young men woo the maidens where other maids have kissed the
assegai. It is changed, nothing is the same, and of Chaka are left
only a grave yonder and a name of fear.
Now, after Chaka had come to the Duguza kraal, for a while he sat
quiet, then the old thirst of blood came on him, and he sent his impis
against the people of the Pondos, and they destroyed that people, and
brought back their cattle. But the warriors might not rest; again they
were doctored for war, and sent out by tens of thousands to conquer
Sotyangana, chief of the people who live north of the Limpopo. They
went singing, after the king had looked upon them and bidden them
return victorious or not at all. Their number was so great that from
the hour of dawn till the sun was high in the heavens they passed the
gates of the kraal like countless herds of cattle--they the
unconquered. Little did they know that victory smiled on them no more;
that they must die by thousands of hunger and fever in the marshes of
the Limpopo, and that those of them who returned should come with
their shields in their bellies, having devoured their shields because
of their ravenous hunger! But what of them? They were nothing. "Dust"
was the name of one of the great regiments that went out against
Sotyangana, and dust they were--dust to be driven to death by the
breath of Chaka, Lion of the Zulu.
Now few men remained in the kraal Duguza, for nearly all had gone with
the impi, and only women and aged people were left. Dingaan and
Umhlangana, brothers of the king, were there, for Chaka would not
suffer them to depart, fearing lest they should plot against him, and
he looked on them always with an angry eye, so that they trembled for
their lives, though they dared not show their fear lest fate should
follow fear. But I guessed it, and like a snake I wound myself into
their secrets, and we talked together darkly and in hints. But of that
presently, my father, for I must tell of the coming of Masilo, he who
would have wed Zinita, and whom Umslopogaas the Slaughterer had driven
out from the kraals of the People of the Axe.
It was on the day after the impi had left that Masilo came to the
kraal Duguza, craving leave to speak with the king. Chaka sat before
his hut, and with him were Dingaan and Umhlangana, his royal brothers.
I was there also, and certain of the indunas, councillors of the king.
Chaka was weary that morning, for he had slept badly, as now he always
did. Therefore, when one told him that a certain wanderer named Masilo
would speak with him, he did not command that the man should be
killed, but bade them bring him before him. Presently there was a
sound of praising, and I saw a fat man, much worn with travel, who
crawled through the dust towards us giving the sibonga, that is,
naming the king by his royal names. Chaka bade him cease from praising
and tell his business. Then the man sat up and told all that tale
which you have heard, my father, of how a young man, great and strong,
came to the place of the People of the Axe and conquered Jikiza, the
holder of the axe, and become chief of that people, and of how he had
taken the cattle of Masilo and driven him away. Now Chaka knew nothing
of this People of the Axe, for the land was great in those days, my
father, and there were many little tribes in it, living far away, of
whom the king had not even heard; so he questioned Masilo about them,
and of the number of their fighting-men, of their wealth in cattle, of
the name of the young man who ruled them, and especially as to the
tribute which they paid to the king.
Masilo answered, saying that the number of their fighting-men was
perhaps the half of a full regiment, that their cattle were many, for
they were rich, that they paid no tribute, and that the name of the
young man was Bulalio the Slaughterer--at the least, he was known by
that name, and he had heard no other.
Then the king grew wroth. "Arise, Masilo," he said, "and run to this
people, and speak in the ear of the people, and of him who is named
the Slaughterer, saying: 'There is another Slaughterer, who sits in a
kraal that is named Duguza, and this is his word to you, O People of
the Axe, and to thee, thou who holdest the axe. Rise up with all the
people, and with all the cattle of your people, and come before him
who sits in the kraal Duguza, and lay in his hands the great axe
Groan-Maker. Rise up swiftly and do this bidding, lest ye sit down
shortly and for the last time of all.'"[1]
[1] The Zulu are buried sitting.
Masilo heard, and said that it should be so, though the way was far,
and he feared greatly to appear before him who was called the
Slaughterer, and who sat twenty days' journey to the north, beneath
the shadow of the Witch Mountain.
"Begone," said the king, "and stand before me on the thirtieth day
from now with the answer of this boy with an axe! If thou standest not
before me, then some shall come to seek thee and the boy with an axe
also."
So Masilo turned and fled swiftly to do the bidding of the king, and
Chaka spoke no more of that matter. But I wondered in my heart who
this young man with an axe might be; for I thought that he had dealt
with Jikiza and with the sons of Jikiza as Umslopogaas would have
dealt with them had he come to the years of his manhood. But I also
said nothing of the matter.
Now on this day also there came to me news that my wife Macropha and
my daughter Nada were dead among their people in Swaziland. It was
said that the men of the chief of the Halakazi tribe had fallen on
their kraal and put all in it to the assegai, and among them Macropha
and Nada. I heard the news, but I wept no tear, for, my father, I was
so lost in sorrows that nothing could move me any more.
CHAPTER XX
MOPO BARGAINS WITH THE PRINCES
Eight-and-twenty days went by, my father, and on the nine-and-
twentieth it befell that Chaka, having dreamed a dream in his troubled
sleep, summoned before him certain women of the kraal, to the number
of a hundred or more. Some of these were his women, whom he named his
"sisters," and some were maidens not yet given in marriage; but all
were young and fair. Now what this dream of Chaka may have been I do
not know, or have forgotten, for in those days he dreamed many dreams,
and all his dreams led to one end, the death of men. He sat in front
of his hut scowling, and I was with him. To the left of him were
gathered the girls and women, and their knees were weak with fear. One
by one they were led before him, and stood before him with bowed
heads. Then he would bid them be of good cheer, and speak softly to
them, and in the end would ask them this question: "Hast thou, my
sister, a cat in thy hut?"
Now, some would say that they had a cat, and some would say that they
had none, and some would stand still and make no answer, being dumb
with fear. But, whatever they said, the end was the same, for the king
would sigh gently and say: "Fare thee well, my sister; it is
unfortunate for thee that there is a cat in thy hut," or "that there
is no cat in thy hut," or "that thou canst not tell me whether there
be a cat in thy hut or no."
Then the woman would be taken by the slayers, dragged without the
kraal, and their end was swift. So it went on for the most part of
that day, till sixty-and-two women and girls had been slaughtered. But
at last a maiden was brought before the king, and to this one her
snake had given a ready wit; for when Chaka asked her whether or no
there was a cat in her hut, she answered, saying that she did not
know, "but that there was a half a cat upon her," and she pointed to a
cat's-skin which was bound about her loins.
Then the king laughed, and clapped his hands, saying that at length
his dream was answered; and he killed no more that day nor ever again
--save once only.
That evening my heart was heavy within me, and I cried in my heart,
"How long?"--nor might I rest. So I wandered out from the kraal that
was named Duguza to the great cleft in the mountains yonder, and sat
down upon a rock high up in the cleft, so that I could see the wide
lands rolling to the north and the south, to my right and to my left.
Now, the day was drawing towards the night, and the air was very
still, for the heat was great and a tempest was gathering, as I, who
am a Heaven-Herd, knew well. The sun sank redly, flooding the land
with blood; it was as though all the blood that Chaka had shed flowed
about the land which Chaka ruled. Then from the womb of the night
great shapes of cloud rose up and stood before the sun, and he crowned
them with his glory, and in their hearts the lightning quivered like a
blood of fire. The shadow of their wings fell upon the mountain and
the plains, and beneath their wings was silence. Slowly the sun sank,
and the shapes of cloud gathered together like a host at the word of
its captain, and the flicker of the lightning was as the flash of the
spears of a host. I looked, and my heart grew afraid. The lightning
died away, the silence deepened and deepened till I could hear it, no
leaf moved, no bird called, the world seemed dead--I alone lived in
the dead world.
Now, of a sudden, my father, a bright star fell from the height of
heaven and lit upon the crest of the storm, and as it lit the storm
burst. The grey air shivered, a moan ran about the rocks and died
away, then an icy breath burst from the lips of the tempest and rushed
- forehead [´fɔrid]
n.额，前部 (初中英语单词) - learnt [lə:nt] learn 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- thirst [θə:st] n.渴，口渴；渴望 (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- regiment [´redʒimənt] n.团；一大群 (初中英语单词)
- tribute [´tribju:t] n.贡物；献礼；颂词 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
- maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- lightning [´laitniŋ] n.闪电 a.突然的 (初中英语单词)
- height [hait] n.高度；顶点；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
- homewards [´həumwədz] ad.&a.回家(的) (高中英语单词)
- forgiveness [fə´givnis] n.原谅，饶恕；宽仁 (高中英语单词)
- victorious [vik´tɔ:riəs] a.得胜的，胜利的 (高中英语单词)
- countless [´kauntlis] a.无数的 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- manhood [´mænhud] n.人格；男子气概 (高中英语单词)
- tempest [´tempist] n.暴风雨 (高中英语单词)
- flicker [´flikə] n.&v.闪烁；忽隐忽现 (高中英语单词)
- perchance [pə´tʃɑ:ns] ad.偶然；可能 (英语四级单词)
- befell [bi´fel] befall的过去式 (英语四级单词)
- drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)
- gathering [´gæðəriŋ] n.集会，聚集 (英语四级单词)
- wherewith [wɛə´wiθ] ad.用什么；用以 (英语六级单词)
- darkly [´dɑ:kli] adv.暗，黑；暗中 (英语六级单词)
- craving [´kreiviŋ] n.渴望，热望 (英语六级单词)
- wanderer [´wɔndərə] n.流浪者 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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