章节正文
to the right."
Now, my father, the track below separated, because of a boulder, and
there were two little paths which led to the platform of the Witch's
knees with, perhaps, ten paces between them. Umslopogaas guarded the
left-hand path and Galazi took the right. Then they waited, having
spears in their hands. Presently the soldiers came round the rock and
rushed up against them, some on one path and some on the other.
Then the brethren hurled their spears at them and killed three men.
Now the assegais were done, and the foe was on them. Umslopogaas bends
forward, his long arm shoots out, the axe gleams, and a man who came
on falls back.
"One!" cries Umslopogaas.
"One, my brother!" answers Galazi, as he draws back the Watcher from
his blow.
A soldier rushes forward, singing. To and fro he moves in front of
Umslopogaas, his spear poised to strike. Groan-Maker swoops down, but
the man leaps back, the blow misses, and the Slaughterer's guard is
down.
"A poor stroke, Sorcerer!" cries the man as he rushes in to stab him.
Lo! the axe wheels in the air, it circles swiftly low down by the
ground; it smites upward. Before the spearsman can strike the horn of
Groan-Maker has sped from chin to brain.
"But a good return, fool!" says Umslopogaas.
"Two!" cries Galazi, from the right.
"Two! my brother," answers Umslopogaas.
Again two men come on, one against each, to find no better luck. The
cry of "Three!" passes from brother to brother, and after it rises the
cry of "Four!"
Now Faku bids the men who are left to hold their shields together and
push the two from the mouths of the paths, and this they do, losing
four more men at the hands of the brethren before it is done.
"Now we are on the open! Ring them round and down with them!" cries
Faku.
But who shall ring round Groan-Maker that shines on all sides at once,
Groan-Maker who falls heavily no more, but pecks and pecks and pecks
like a wood-bird on a tree, and never pecks in vain? Who shall ring
round those feet swifter than the Sassaby of the plains? Wow! He is
here! He is there! He is a sorcerer! Death is in his hand, and death
looks out of his eyes!
Galazi lives yet, for still there comes the sound of the Watcher as it
thunders on the shields, and the Wolf's hoarse cry of the number of
the slain. He has a score of wounds, yet he fights on! his leg is
almost hewn from him with an axe, yet he fights on! His back is
pierced again and again, yet he fights on! But two are left alive
before him, one twists round and spears him from behind. He heeds it
not, but smites down the foe in front. Then he turns and, whirling the
Watcher on high, brings him down for the last time, and so mightily
that the man before him is crushed like an egg.
Galazi brushes the blood from his eyes and glares round on the dead.
"All! Slaughterer," he cries.
"All save two, my brother," comes the answer, sounding above the clash
of steel and the sound of smittenshields.
Now the Wolf would come to him, but cannot, for his life ebbs.
"Fare you well, my brother! Death is good! Thus, indeed, I would die,
for I have made me a mat of men to lie on," he cried with a great
voice.
"Fare you well! Sleep softly, Wolf!" came the answer. "All save one!"
Now Galazi fell dying on the dead, but he was not altogether gone, for
he still spoke. "All save one! Ha! ha! ill for that one then when
Groan-Maker yet is up. It is well to have lived so to die. Victory!
Victory!"
And Galazi the Wolf struggled to his knees and for the last time shook
the Watcher about his head, then fell again and died.
Umslopogaas, the son of Chaka, and Faku, the captain of Dingaan, gazed
on each other. They alone were left standing upon the mountain, for
the rest were all down. Umslopogaas had many wounds. Faku was unhurt;
he was a strong man, also armed with an axe.
Faku laughed aloud. "So it has come to this, Slaughterer," he said,
"that you and I must settle whether the king's word be done or no.
Well, I will say that however it should fall out, I count it a great
fortune to have seen this fight, and the highest of honours to have
had to do with two such warriors. Rest you a little, Slaughterer,
before we close. That wolf-brother of yours died well, and if it is
given me to conquer in this bout, I will tell the tale of his end from
kraal to kraal throughout the land, and it shall be a tale forever."
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE LILY'S FAREWELL
Umslopogaas listened, but he made no answer to the words of Faku the
captain, though he liked them well, for he would not waste his breath
in talking, and the light grew low.
"I am ready, Man of Dingaan," he said, and lifted his axe.
Now for awhile the two circled round and round, each waiting for a
chance to strike. Presently Faku smote at the head of Umslopogaas, but
the Slaughterer lifted Groan-Maker to ward the blow. Faku crooked his
arm and let the axe curl downwards, so that its keen edge smote
Umslopogaas upon the head, severing his man's ring and the scalp
beneath.
Made mad with the pain, the Slaughterer awoke, as it were. He grasped
Groan-maker with both hands and struck thrice. The first blow hewed
away the plumes and shield of Faku, and drive him back a spear's
length, the second missed its aim, the third and mightiest twisted in
his wet hands, so that the axe smote sideways. Nevertheless, it fell
full on the breast of the captain Faku, shattering his bones, and
sweeping him from the ledge of rock on to the slope beneath, where he
lay still.
"It is finished with the daylight," said Umslopogaas, smiling grimly.
"Now, Dingaan, send more Slayers to seek your slain," and he turned to
find Nada in the cave.
But Faku the captain was not yet dead, though he was hurt to death. He
sat up, and with his last strength he hurled the axe in his hand at
him whose might had prevailed against him. The axe sped true, and
Umslopogaas did not see it fly. It sped true, and its point struck him
on the left temple, driving in the bone and making a great hole. Then
Faku fell back dying, and Umslopogaas threw up his arms and dropped
like an ox drops beneath the blow of the butcher, and lay as one dead,
under the shadow of a stone.
All day long Nada crouched in the cave listening to the sounds of war
that crept faintly up the mountain side; howling of wolves, shouting
of men, and the clamour of iron on iron. All day long she sat, and now
evening came apace, and the noise of battle drew near, swelled, and
sank, and died away. She heard the voices of the Wolf-Brethren as they
called to each other like bucks, naming the number of the slain. She
heard Galazi's cry of "Victory!" and her heart leapt to it, though she
knew that there was death in the cry. Then for the last time she heard
the faint ringing of iron on iron, and the light went out and all grew
still.
All grew still as the night. There came no more shouting of men and no
more clash of arms, no howlings of wolves, no cries of pain or triumph
--all was quiet as death, for death had taken all.
For awhile Nada the Lily sat in the dark of the cave, saying to
herself, "Presently he will come, my husband, he will surely come; the
Slayers are slain--he does not but tarry to bind his wounds; a
scratch, perchance, here and there. Yes, he will come, and it is well,
for I am weary of my loneliness, and this place is grim and evil."
Thus she spoke to herself in hope, but nothing came except the
silence. Then she spoke again, and her voice echoed in the hollow
cave. "Now I will be bold, I will fear nothing, I will push aside the
stone and go out to find him. I know well he does but linger to tend
some who are wounded, perhaps Galazi. Doubtless Galazi is wounded. I
must go and nurse him, though he never loved me, and I do not love him
overmuch who would stand between me and my husband. This wild wolf-man
is a foe to women, and, most of all, a foe to me; yet I will be kind
to him. Come, I will go at once," and she rose and pushed at the rock.
Why, what was this? It did not stir. Then she remembered that she had
pulled it beyond the socket because of her fear of the wolf, and that
the rock had slipped a little way down the neck of the cave.
Umslopogaas had told her that she must not do this, and she had
forgotten his words in her foolishness. Perhaps she could move the
stone; no, not by the breadth of a grain of corn. She was shut in,
without food or water, and here she must bide till Umslopogaas came.
And if he did not come? Then she must surely die.
Now she shrieked aloud in her fear, calling on the name of
Umslopogaas. The walls of the cave answered "Umslopogaas!
Umslopogaas!" and that was all.
Afterwards madness fell upon Nada, my daughter, and she lay in the
cave for days and nights, nor knew ever how long she lay. And with her
madness came visions, for she dreamed that the dead One whom Galazi
had told her of sat once more aloft in his niche at the end of the
cave and spoke to her, saying:--
"Galazi is dead! The fate of him who bears the Watcher has fallen on
him. Dead are the ghost-wolves; I also am of hunger in this cave, and
as I died so shall you die, Nada the Lily! Nada, Star of Death!
because of whose beauty and foolishness all this death has come
about."
This is seemed to Nada, in her madness, that the shadow of him who had
sat in the niche spoke to her from hour to hour.
It seemed to Nada, in her madness, that twice the light shone through
the hole by the rock, and that was day, and twice it went out, and
that was night. A third time the ray shone and died away, and lo! her
madness left her, and she awoke to know that she was dying, and that a
voice she loved spoke without the hole, saying in hollow accents:--
"Nada? Do you still live, Nada?"
"Yea," she answered hoarsely. "Water! give me water!"
Next she heard a sound as of a great snake dragging itself along
painfully. A while passed, then a trembling hand thrust a little gourd
of water through the hole. She drank, and now she could speak, though
the water seemed to flow through her veins like fire.
"Is it indeed you, Umslopogaas?" she said, "or are you dead, and do I
dream of you?"
"It is I, Nada," said the voice. "Hearken! have you drawn the rock
home?"
"Alas! yes," she answered. "Perhaps, if the two of us strive at it, it
will move."
"Ay, if our strength were what it was--but now! Still, let us try."
So they strove with a rock, but the two of them together had not the
strength of a girl, and it would not stir.
"Give over, Umslopogaas," said Nada; "we do but waste the time that is
left to me. Let us talk!"
For awhile there was no answer, for Umslopogaas had fainted, and Nada
beat her breast, thinking that he was dead.
Presently he spoke, however, saying, "It may not be; we must perish
here, one on each side of the stone, not seeing the other's face, for
my might is as water; nor can I stand upon my feet to go and seek for
food."
"Are you wounded, Umslopogaas?" asked Nada.
"Ay, Nada, I am pierced to the brain with the point of an axe; no fair
stroke, the captain of Dingaan hurled it at me when I thought him
dead, and I fell. I do not know how long I have lain yonder under the
shadow of the rock, but it must be long, for my limbs are wasted, and
those who fell in the fray are picked clean by the vultures, all
except Galazi, for the old wolf Deathgrip lies on his breast dying,
but not dead, licking my brother's wounds, and scares the fowls away.
It was the beak of a vulture, who had smelt me out at last, that woke
me from my sleep beneath the stone, Nada, and I crept hither. Would
that he had not awakened me, would that I had died as I lay, rather
than lived a little while till you perish thus, like a trapped fox,
Nada, and presently I follow you."
"It is hard to die so, Umslopogaas," she answered, "I who am yet young
and fair, who love you, and hoped to give you children; but so it has
come about, and it may not be put away. I am well-nigh sped, husband;
horror and fear have conquered me, my strength fails, but I suffer
Now, my father, the track below separated, because of a boulder, and
there were two little paths which led to the platform of the Witch's
knees with, perhaps, ten paces between them. Umslopogaas guarded the
left-hand path and Galazi took the right. Then they waited, having
spears in their hands. Presently the soldiers came round the rock and
rushed up against them, some on one path and some on the other.
Then the brethren hurled their spears at them and killed three men.
Now the assegais were done, and the foe was on them. Umslopogaas bends
forward, his long arm shoots out, the axe gleams, and a man who came
on falls back.
"One!" cries Umslopogaas.
"One, my brother!" answers Galazi, as he draws back the Watcher from
his blow.
A soldier rushes forward, singing. To and fro he moves in front of
Umslopogaas, his spear poised to strike. Groan-Maker swoops down, but
the man leaps back, the blow misses, and the Slaughterer's guard is
down.
"A poor stroke, Sorcerer!" cries the man as he rushes in to stab him.
Lo! the axe wheels in the air, it circles swiftly low down by the
ground; it smites upward. Before the spearsman can strike the horn of
Groan-Maker has sped from chin to brain.
"But a good return, fool!" says Umslopogaas.
"Two!" cries Galazi, from the right.
"Two! my brother," answers Umslopogaas.
Again two men come on, one against each, to find no better luck. The
cry of "Three!" passes from brother to brother, and after it rises the
cry of "Four!"
Now Faku bids the men who are left to hold their shields together and
push the two from the mouths of the paths, and this they do, losing
four more men at the hands of the brethren before it is done.
"Now we are on the open! Ring them round and down with them!" cries
Faku.
But who shall ring round Groan-Maker that shines on all sides at once,
Groan-Maker who falls heavily no more, but pecks and pecks and pecks
like a wood-bird on a tree, and never pecks in vain? Who shall ring
round those feet swifter than the Sassaby of the plains? Wow! He is
here! He is there! He is a sorcerer! Death is in his hand, and death
looks out of his eyes!
Galazi lives yet, for still there comes the sound of the Watcher as it
thunders on the shields, and the Wolf's hoarse cry of the number of
the slain. He has a score of wounds, yet he fights on! his leg is
almost hewn from him with an axe, yet he fights on! His back is
pierced again and again, yet he fights on! But two are left alive
before him, one twists round and spears him from behind. He heeds it
not, but smites down the foe in front. Then he turns and, whirling the
Watcher on high, brings him down for the last time, and so mightily
that the man before him is crushed like an egg.
Galazi brushes the blood from his eyes and glares round on the dead.
"All! Slaughterer," he cries.
"All save two, my brother," comes the answer, sounding above the clash
of steel and the sound of smittenshields.
Now the Wolf would come to him, but cannot, for his life ebbs.
"Fare you well, my brother! Death is good! Thus, indeed, I would die,
for I have made me a mat of men to lie on," he cried with a great
voice.
"Fare you well! Sleep softly, Wolf!" came the answer. "All save one!"
Now Galazi fell dying on the dead, but he was not altogether gone, for
he still spoke. "All save one! Ha! ha! ill for that one then when
Groan-Maker yet is up. It is well to have lived so to die. Victory!
Victory!"
And Galazi the Wolf struggled to his knees and for the last time shook
the Watcher about his head, then fell again and died.
Umslopogaas, the son of Chaka, and Faku, the captain of Dingaan, gazed
on each other. They alone were left standing upon the mountain, for
the rest were all down. Umslopogaas had many wounds. Faku was unhurt;
he was a strong man, also armed with an axe.
Faku laughed aloud. "So it has come to this, Slaughterer," he said,
"that you and I must settle whether the king's word be done or no.
Well, I will say that however it should fall out, I count it a great
fortune to have seen this fight, and the highest of honours to have
had to do with two such warriors. Rest you a little, Slaughterer,
before we close. That wolf-brother of yours died well, and if it is
given me to conquer in this bout, I will tell the tale of his end from
kraal to kraal throughout the land, and it shall be a tale forever."
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE LILY'S FAREWELL
Umslopogaas listened, but he made no answer to the words of Faku the
captain, though he liked them well, for he would not waste his breath
in talking, and the light grew low.
"I am ready, Man of Dingaan," he said, and lifted his axe.
Now for awhile the two circled round and round, each waiting for a
chance to strike. Presently Faku smote at the head of Umslopogaas, but
the Slaughterer lifted Groan-Maker to ward the blow. Faku crooked his
arm and let the axe curl downwards, so that its keen edge smote
Umslopogaas upon the head, severing his man's ring and the scalp
beneath.
Made mad with the pain, the Slaughterer awoke, as it were. He grasped
Groan-maker with both hands and struck thrice. The first blow hewed
away the plumes and shield of Faku, and drive him back a spear's
length, the second missed its aim, the third and mightiest twisted in
his wet hands, so that the axe smote sideways. Nevertheless, it fell
full on the breast of the captain Faku, shattering his bones, and
sweeping him from the ledge of rock on to the slope beneath, where he
lay still.
"It is finished with the daylight," said Umslopogaas, smiling grimly.
"Now, Dingaan, send more Slayers to seek your slain," and he turned to
find Nada in the cave.
But Faku the captain was not yet dead, though he was hurt to death. He
sat up, and with his last strength he hurled the axe in his hand at
him whose might had prevailed against him. The axe sped true, and
Umslopogaas did not see it fly. It sped true, and its point struck him
on the left temple, driving in the bone and making a great hole. Then
Faku fell back dying, and Umslopogaas threw up his arms and dropped
like an ox drops beneath the blow of the butcher, and lay as one dead,
under the shadow of a stone.
All day long Nada crouched in the cave listening to the sounds of war
that crept faintly up the mountain side; howling of wolves, shouting
of men, and the clamour of iron on iron. All day long she sat, and now
evening came apace, and the noise of battle drew near, swelled, and
sank, and died away. She heard the voices of the Wolf-Brethren as they
called to each other like bucks, naming the number of the slain. She
heard Galazi's cry of "Victory!" and her heart leapt to it, though she
knew that there was death in the cry. Then for the last time she heard
the faint ringing of iron on iron, and the light went out and all grew
still.
All grew still as the night. There came no more shouting of men and no
more clash of arms, no howlings of wolves, no cries of pain or triumph
--all was quiet as death, for death had taken all.
For awhile Nada the Lily sat in the dark of the cave, saying to
herself, "Presently he will come, my husband, he will surely come; the
Slayers are slain--he does not but tarry to bind his wounds; a
scratch, perchance, here and there. Yes, he will come, and it is well,
for I am weary of my loneliness, and this place is grim and evil."
Thus she spoke to herself in hope, but nothing came except the
silence. Then she spoke again, and her voice echoed in the hollow
cave. "Now I will be bold, I will fear nothing, I will push aside the
stone and go out to find him. I know well he does but linger to tend
some who are wounded, perhaps Galazi. Doubtless Galazi is wounded. I
must go and nurse him, though he never loved me, and I do not love him
overmuch who would stand between me and my husband. This wild wolf-man
is a foe to women, and, most of all, a foe to me; yet I will be kind
to him. Come, I will go at once," and she rose and pushed at the rock.
Why, what was this? It did not stir. Then she remembered that she had
pulled it beyond the socket because of her fear of the wolf, and that
the rock had slipped a little way down the neck of the cave.
Umslopogaas had told her that she must not do this, and she had
forgotten his words in her foolishness. Perhaps she could move the
stone; no, not by the breadth of a grain of corn. She was shut in,
without food or water, and here she must bide till Umslopogaas came.
And if he did not come? Then she must surely die.
Now she shrieked aloud in her fear, calling on the name of
Umslopogaas. The walls of the cave answered "Umslopogaas!
Umslopogaas!" and that was all.
Afterwards madness fell upon Nada, my daughter, and she lay in the
cave for days and nights, nor knew ever how long she lay. And with her
madness came visions, for she dreamed that the dead One whom Galazi
had told her of sat once more aloft in his niche at the end of the
cave and spoke to her, saying:--
"Galazi is dead! The fate of him who bears the Watcher has fallen on
him. Dead are the ghost-wolves; I also am of hunger in this cave, and
as I died so shall you die, Nada the Lily! Nada, Star of Death!
because of whose beauty and foolishness all this death has come
about."
This is seemed to Nada, in her madness, that the shadow of him who had
sat in the niche spoke to her from hour to hour.
It seemed to Nada, in her madness, that twice the light shone through
the hole by the rock, and that was day, and twice it went out, and
that was night. A third time the ray shone and died away, and lo! her
madness left her, and she awoke to know that she was dying, and that a
voice she loved spoke without the hole, saying in hollow accents:--
"Nada? Do you still live, Nada?"
"Yea," she answered hoarsely. "Water! give me water!"
Next she heard a sound as of a great snake dragging itself along
painfully. A while passed, then a trembling hand thrust a little gourd
of water through the hole. She drank, and now she could speak, though
the water seemed to flow through her veins like fire.
"Is it indeed you, Umslopogaas?" she said, "or are you dead, and do I
dream of you?"
"It is I, Nada," said the voice. "Hearken! have you drawn the rock
home?"
"Alas! yes," she answered. "Perhaps, if the two of us strive at it, it
will move."
"Ay, if our strength were what it was--but now! Still, let us try."
So they strove with a rock, but the two of them together had not the
strength of a girl, and it would not stir.
"Give over, Umslopogaas," said Nada; "we do but waste the time that is
left to me. Let us talk!"
For awhile there was no answer, for Umslopogaas had fainted, and Nada
beat her breast, thinking that he was dead.
Presently he spoke, however, saying, "It may not be; we must perish
here, one on each side of the stone, not seeing the other's face, for
my might is as water; nor can I stand upon my feet to go and seek for
food."
"Are you wounded, Umslopogaas?" asked Nada.
"Ay, Nada, I am pierced to the brain with the point of an axe; no fair
stroke, the captain of Dingaan hurled it at me when I thought him
dead, and I fell. I do not know how long I have lain yonder under the
shadow of the rock, but it must be long, for my limbs are wasted, and
those who fell in the fray are picked clean by the vultures, all
except Galazi, for the old wolf Deathgrip lies on his breast dying,
but not dead, licking my brother's wounds, and scares the fowls away.
It was the beak of a vulture, who had smelt me out at last, that woke
me from my sleep beneath the stone, Nada, and I crept hither. Would
that he had not awakened me, would that I had died as I lay, rather
than lived a little while till you perish thus, like a trapped fox,
Nada, and presently I follow you."
"It is hard to die so, Umslopogaas," she answered, "I who am yet young
and fair, who love you, and hoped to give you children; but so it has
come about, and it may not be put away. I am well-nigh sped, husband;
horror and fear have conquered me, my strength fails, but I suffer
- platform [´plætfɔ:m]
n.(平)台；讲台；站台 (初中英语单词) - presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- upward [´ʌpwəd] a.&ad.向上(的)；以上 (初中英语单词)
- softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
- altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- conquer [´kɔŋkə] v.征服；克服；抑制 (初中英语单词)
- awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- shield [ʃi:ld] n.盾牌；防御 v.保护 (初中英语单词)
- nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)
- temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
- butcher [´butʃə] n.屠夫，刽子手 (初中英语单词)
- linger [´liŋgə] v.逗留；留恋；拖延 (初中英语单词)
- doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)
- hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)
- thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)
- hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)
- perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)
- crooked [´krukid] a.弯曲的；畸形的 (高中英语单词)
- faintly [´feintli] ad.微弱地，软弱无力的 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- loneliness [´ləunliniz] n.孤独，寂寞 (高中英语单词)
- breadth [bredθ] n.宽度，幅面，广度 (高中英语单词)
- madness [´mædnis] n.疯狂；狂热 (高中英语单词)
- strive [straiv] vi.争取；努力；奋斗 (高中英语单词)
- strove [strəuv] strive的过去式 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- boulder [´bəuldə] n.大石头，卵石；巨砾 (英语四级单词)
- hoarse [hɔ:s] a.嘶哑的；嗓门粗哑的 (英语四级单词)
- downwards [´daunwədz] ad.向下，以下 (英语四级单词)
- thrice [θrais] ad.三倍地；三次 (英语四级单词)
- perchance [pə´tʃɑ:ns] ad.偶然；可能 (英语四级单词)
- smitten [´smitn] smite的过去分词 (英语六级单词)
- socket [´sɔkit] n.窝，穴，孔；插座 (英语六级单词)
- foolishness [´fu:liʃnis] n.愚蠢 (英语六级单词)
- calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)
- hoarsely [´hɔ:sli] ad.嘶哑地 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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