him right off his legs, carried him some paces to a beautiful
but very dense flowering shrub which bore a flower not unlike

the gardenia, but was covered with short thorns. Next, despite
his howls and struggles, he with one mightythrust plunged poor

Alphonse head first into the bush, so that nothing but the calves
of his legs and heels remained in evidence. Then, satisfied

with what he had done, the Zulu folded his arms and stood grimly
contemplating the Frenchman's kicks, and listening to his yells,

which were awful.
'What art thou doing?' I said, running up. 'Wouldst thou kill

the man? Pull him out of the bush!'
With a savage grunt he obeyed, seizing the wretched Alphonse

by the ankle, and with a jerk that must have nearly dislocated
it, tearing him out of the heart of the shrub. Never did I see

such a sight as he presented, his clothes half torn off his back,
and bleeding as he was in every direction from the sharp thorns.

There he lay and yelled and rolled, and there was no getting
anything out of him.

At last, however, he got up and, ensconcing himself behind me,
cursed old Umslopogaas by every saint in the calendar, vowing

by the blood of his heroicgrandfather that he would poison him,
and 'have his revenge'.

At last I got to the truth of the matter. It appeared that Alphonse
habitually cooked Umslopogaas's porridge, which the latter ate

for breakfast in the corner of the courtyard, just as he would
have done at home in Zululand, from a gourd, and with a wooden

spoon. Now Umslopogaas had, like many Zulus, a great horror
of fish, which he considered a species of water-snake; so Alphonse,

who was as fond of playing tricks as a monkey, and who was also
a consummate cook, determined to make him eat some. Accordingly

he grated up a quantity of white fish very finely, and mixed
it with the Zulu's porridge, who swallowed it nearly all down

in ignorance of what he was eating. But, fortunately" target="_blank" title="ad.不幸；不朽；可惜">unfortunately for Alphonse,
he could not restrain his joy at this sight, and came capering

and peering round, till at last Umslopogaas, who was very clever
in his way, suspected something, and, after a careful examination

of the remains of his porridge, discovered 'the buffalo heifer's
trick', and, in revenge, served him as I have said. Indeed,

the little man was fortunate not to get a broken neck for his
pains; for, as one would have thought, he might have learnt from

the episode of his display of axemanship that 'le Monsieur noir'
was an ill person to play practical jokes upon.

This incident was unimportant enough in itself, but I narrate
it because it led to serious consequences. As soon as he had

stanched the bleeding from his scratches and washed himself,
Alphonse went off still cursing, to recover his temper, a process

which I knew from experience would take a very long time. When
he had gone I gave Umslopogaas a jobation and told him that I

was ashamed of his behaviour.
'Ah, well, Macumazahn,' he said, 'you must be gentle with me,

for here is not my place. I am weary of it, weary to death of
eating and drinking, of sleeping and giving in marriage. I love

not this soft life in stone houses that takes the heart out of
a man, and turns his strength to water and his flesh to fat.

I love not the white robes and the delicate women, the blowing
of trumpets and the flying of hawks. When we fought the Masai

at the kraal yonder, ah, then life was worth the living, but
here is never a blow struck in anger, and I begin to think I

shall go the way of my fathers and lift Inkosi-kaas no more,'
and he held up the axe and gazed at it in sorrow.

'Ah,' I said, 'that is thy complaint, is it? Thou hast the
blood-sickness, hast thou? And the Woodpecker wants a tree.

And at thy age, too. Shame on thee! Umslopogaas.'
'Ay, Macumazahn, mine is a red trade, yet is it better and more

honest than some. Better is it to slay a man in fair fight than
to suck out his heart's blood in buying and selling and usury

after your white fashion. Many a man have I slain, yet is there
never a one that I should fear to look in the face again, ay,

many are there who once were friends, and whom I should be right
glad to snuff with. But there! there! thou hast thy ways, and

I mine: each to his own people and his own place. The high-veldt
ox will die in the fat bush country, and so is it with me, Macumazahn.

I am rough, I know it, and when my blood is warm I know not
what to do, but yet wilt thou be sorry when the night swallows

me and I am utterly lost in blackness, for in thy heart thou
lovest me, my father, Macumazahn the fox, though I be nought

but a broken-down Zulu war-dog -- a chief for whom there is no
room in his own kraal, an outcast and a wanderer" target="_blank" title="n.流浪者">wanderer in strange places:

ay, I love thee, Macumazahn, for we have grown grey together,
and there is that between us that cannot be seen, and yet is

too strong for breaking;' and he took his snuff-box, which was
made of an old brass cartridge, from the slit in his ear where

he always carried it, and handed it to me for me to help myself.
I took the pinch of snuff with some emotion. It was quite true,

I was much attached to the bloodthirsty old ruffian. I do not
know what was the charm of his character, but it had a charm;

perhaps it was its fiercehonesty and directness; perhaps one
admired his almost superhuman skill and strength, or it may have

been simply that he was so absolutelyunique. Frankly, with
all my experience of savages, I never knew a man quite like him,

he was so wise and yet such a child with it all; and though it
seems laughable to say so, like the hero of the Yankee parody,

he 'had a tender heart'. Anyway, I was very fond of him, though
I should never have thought of telling him so.

'Ay, old wolf,' I said, 'thine is a strange love. Thou wouldst
split me to the chin if I stood in thy path tomorrow.'

'Thou speakest truth, Macumazahn, that would I if it came in
the way of duty, but I should love thee all the same when the

blow had gone fairy home. Is there any chance of some fighting
here, Macumazahn?' he went on in an insinuating voice. 'Methought

that what I saw last night did show that the two great Queens
were vexed one with another. Else had the "Lady of the Night"

not brought that dagger with her.'
I agreed with him that it showed that more or less pique and

irritation existed between the ladies, and told him how things
stood, and that they were quarrelling over Incubu.

'Ah, is it so?' he exclaimed, springing up in delight; 'then
will there be war as surely as the rivers rise in the rains --

war to the end. Women love the last blow as well as the last
word, and when they fight for love they are pitiless as a wounded

buffalo. See thou, Macumazahn, a woman will swim through blood
to her desire, and think nought of it. With these eyes have

I seen it once, and twice also. Ah, Macumazahn, we shall see
this fine place of houses burning yet, and hear the battle cries

come ringing up the street. After all, I have not wandered for
nothing. Can this folk fight, think ye?'

Just then Sir Henry joined us, and Good arrived, too, from another
direction, looking very pale and hollow-eyed. The moment Umslopogaas

saw the latter he stopped his bloodthirsty talk and greeted him.
'Ah, Bougwan,' he cried, 'greeting to thee, Inkoos! Thou art

surely weary. Didst thou hunt too much yesterday?' Then, without
waiting for an answer, he went on --

'Listen, Bougwan, and I will tell thee a story; it is about a
woman, therefore wilt thou hear it, is it not so?

'There was a man and he had a brother, and there was a woman