children, born of another woman named Zinita, little children, sweet

and loving. I was their father, O Elephant in a pit, and one Dingaan
slew them. Of them thou shalt hear also. Now away, for the path is

far!"
Two days went by, my father, and Dingaan sat bound and alone in the

cave on Ghost Mountain. We had dragged him slowly up the mountain, for
he was heavy as an ox. Three men pushing at him and three others

pulling on a cord about his middle, we dragged him up, staying now and
again to show him the bones of those whom he had sent out to kill us,

and telling him the tale of that fight.
Now at length we were in the cave, and I sent away those who were with

us, for we wished to be alone with Dingaan at the last. He sat down on
the floor of the cave, and I told him that beneath the earth on which

he sat lay the bones of that Nada whom he had murdered and the bones
of Galazi the Wolf.

On the third day before the dawn we came again and looked upon him.
"Slay me," he said, "for the Ghosts torment me!"

"No longer art thou great, O shadow of a king," I said, "who now dost
tremble before two Ghosts out of all the thousands that thou hast

made. Say, then, how shall it fare with thee presently when thou art
of their number?"

Now Dingaan prayed for mercy.
"Mercy, thou hyena!" I answered, "thou prayest for mercy who showed

none to any! Give me back my daughter. Give this man back his wife and
children; then we will talk of mercy. Come forth, coward, and die the

death of cowards."
So, my father, we dragged him out, groaning, to the cleft that is

above in the breast of the old Stone Witch, that same cleft where
Galazi had found the bones. There we stood, waiting for the moment of

the dawn, that hour when Nada had died. Then we cried her name into
his ears and the names of the children of Umslopogaas, and cast him

into the cleft.
This was the end of Dingaan, my father--Dingaan, who had the fierce

heart of Chaka without its greatness.
CHAPTER XXXVI

MOPO ENDS HIS TALE
That is the tale of Nada the Lily, my father, and of how we avenged

her. A sad tale--yes, a sad tale; but all was sad in those days. It
was otherwise afterwards, when Panda reigned, for Panda was a man of

peace.
There is little more to tell. I left the land where I could stay no

longer who had brought about the deaths of two kings, and came here to
Natal to live near where the kraal Duguza once had stood.

The bones of Dingaan as they lay in the cleft were the last things my
eyes beheld, for after that I became blind, and saw the sun no more,

nor any light--why I do not know, perhaps from too much weeping, my
father. So I changed my name, lest a spear might reach the heart that

had planned the death of two kings and a prince--Chaka, Dingaan, and
Umhlangana of the blood royal. Silently and by night Umslopogaas, my

fosterling, led me across the border, and brought me here to Stanger;
and here as an old witch-doctor I have lived for many, many years. I

am rich. Umslopogaas craved back from Panda the cattle of which
Dingaan had robbed me, and drove them hither. But none were here who

had lived in the kraal Duguza, none knew, in Zweete the blind old
witch-doctor, that Mopo who stabbed Chaka, the Lion of the Zulu. None

know it now. You have heard the tale, and you alone, my father. Do not
tell it again till I am dead.

Umslopogaas? Yes, he went back to the People of the Axe and ruled
them, but they were never so strong again as they had been before they

smote the Halakazi in their caves, and Dingaan ate them up. Panda let
him be and liked him well, for Panda did not know that the Slaughterer

was son to Chaka his brother, and Umslopogaas let that dog lie, for
when Nada died he lost his desire to be great. Yet he became captain

of the Nkomabakosi regiment, and fought in many battles, doing mighty
deeds, and stood by Umbulazi, son of Panda, in the great fray on the

Tugela, when Cetywayo slew his brother Umbulazi.
After that also he plotted against Cetywayo, whom he hated, and had it

not been for a certain white man, a hunter named Macumazahn,
Umslopogaas would have been killed. But the white man saved him by his

wit. Yes, and at times he came to visit me, for he still loved me as
of old; but now he has fled north, and I shall hear his voice no more.

Nay, I do not know all the tale; there was a woman in it. Women were
ever the bane of Umslopogaas, my fostering. I forget the story of that

woman, for I remember only these things that happened long ago, before
I grew very old.

Look on this right hand of mine, my father! I cannot see it now; and
yet I, Mopo, son of Makedama, seem to see it as once I saw, red with

the blood of two kings. Look on--
Suddenly the old man ceased, his head fell forward upon his withered

breast. When the White Man to whom he told this story lifted it and
looked at him, he was dead!

End

• elephant [´elifənt] n.象 (初中英语单词)
• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
• coward [´kauəd] n.胆怯者 a.胆小的 (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
• beheld [bi´held] behold的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• silently [´sailəntli] ad.寂静地；沉默地 (初中英语单词)
• hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)
• regiment [´redʒimənt] n.团；一大群 (初中英语单词)
• hunter [´hʌntə] n.猎人；猎狗；猎马 (初中英语单词)
• loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
• torment [´tɔ:ment] vt.(使)痛苦，折磨 (高中英语单词)
• weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)