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Allan Quatermain-Part35_H.Rider Haggard(1856-1925)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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looked at him with great eyes, and I saw that he was bewitched



by her beauty. Then she stretched out her hand and he kissed

it, whereon I gathered myself together to advance and take her,



seeing that now had Bougwan become a woman, and no longer knew

the good from the evil, when behold! she was gone.'



'Gone!' I ejaculated.

'Ay, gone, and there stood Bougwan staring at the wall like one



asleep, and presently he went too, and I waited a while and came

away also.'



'Art thou sure, Umslopogaas,' said I, 'that thou hast not been

a dreamer this night?'



In reply he opened his left hand, and produced about three inches

of a blade of a dagger of the finest steel. 'If I be, Macumazahn,



behold what the dream left with me. The knife broke upon Bougwan's

bosom and as I passed I picked this up in the sleeping-place



of the White Queen.'

CHAPTER XVIII



WAR! RED WAR!

Telling Umslopogaas to wait, I tumbled into my clothes and went



off with him to Sir Henry's room, where the Zulu repeated his

story word for word. It was a sight to watch Curtis' face as



he heard it.

'Great Heavens!' he said: 'here have I been sleeping away while



Nyleptha was nearly murdered -- and all through me, too. What

a fiend that Sorais must be! It would have served her well if



Umslopogaas had cut her down in the act.'

'Ay,' said the Zulu. 'Fear not; I should have slain her ere



she struck. I was but waiting the moment.

I said nothing, but I could not help thinking that many a thousand



doomed lives would have been saved if he had meted out to Sorais

the fate she meant for her sister. And, as the issue proved,



I was right.

After he had told his tale Umslopogaas went off unconcernedly



to get his morning meal, and Sir Henry and I fell to talking.

At first he was very bitter against Good, who, he said, was no



longer to be trusted, having designedly allowed Sorais to escape

by some secret stair when it was his duty to have handed her



over to justice. Indeed, he spoke in the most unmeasured terms

on the matter. I let him run on awhile, reflecting to myself



how easy we find it to be hard on the weaknesses of others, and

how tender we are to our own.



'Really, my dear fellow,' I said at length, 'one would never

think, to hear you talk, that you were the man who had an interview



with this same lady yesterday, and found it rather difficult

to resist her fascinations, notwithstanding your ties to one



of the loveliest and most loving women in the world. Now suppose

it was Nyleptha who had tried to murder Sorais, and you had



caught her, and she had pleaded with you, would you have been

so very eager to hand her over to an open shame, and to death



by fire? Just look at the matter through Good's eyeglass for

a minute before you denounce an old friend as a scoundrel.'



He listened to this jobation submissively, and then frankly

acknowledged that he had spoken hardly. It is one of the



best points in Sir Henry's character that he is always ready

to admit it when he is in the wrong.



But, though I spoke up thus for Good, I was not blind to the

fact that, however natural his behaviour might be, it was obvious



that he was being involved in a very awkward and disgraceful

complication. A foul and wicked murder had been attempted, and



he had let the murderess escape, and thereby, among other things,

allowed her to gain a complete ascendency over himself. In fact,



he was in a fair way to become her tool -- and no more dreadful

fate can befall a man than to become the tool of an unscrupulous



woman, or indeed of any woman. There is but one end to it: when

he is broken, or has served her purpose, he is thrown away --



turned out on the world to hunt for his lost self-respect. Whilst

I was pondering thus, and wondering what was to be done -- for



the whole subject was a thorny one -- I suddenly heard a great

clamour in the courtyard outside, and distinguished the voice



of Umslopogaas and Alphonse, the former cursing furiously, and

the latter yelling in terror.



Hurrying out to see what was the matter, I was met by a ludicrous

sight. The little Frenchman was running up the courtyard at



an extraordinary speed, and after him sped Umslopogaas like a

great greyhound. Just as I came out he caught him, and, lifting






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