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Allan Quatermain-Part47_H.Rider Haggard(1856-1925)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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and content myself with saying that, on the whole, I am getting

on very well in my curious position of King-Consort -- better,



indeed, than I had any right to expect. But, of course, it is

not all plain sailing, and I find the responsibilities very heavy.



Still, I hope to be able to do some good in my time, and I intend

to devote myself to two great ends -- namely, to the consolidation



of the various clans which together make up the Zu-Vendi people,

under one strong central government, and to the sapping of the



power of the priesthood. The first of these reforms will, if

it can be carried out, put an end to the disastrous civil wars



that have for centuries devastated this country; and the second,

besides removing a source of political danger, will pave the



road for the introduction of true religion in the place of this

senseless Sun worship. I yet hope to see the shadow of the Cross



of Christ lying on the golden dome of the Flower Temple; or,

if I do not, that my successors may.



There is one more thing that I intend to devote myself to, and

that is the total exclusion of all foreigners from Zu-Vendis.



Not, indeed, that any more are ever likely to get here, but

if they do, I warn them fairly that they will be shown the shortest



way out of the country. I do not say this from any sense of

inhospitality, but because I am convinced of the sacred duty



that rests upon me of preserving to this, on the whole, upright

and generous-hearted people the blessings of comparative barbarism.



Where would all my brave army be if some enterprising rascal

were to attack us with field-guns and Martini-Henrys? I cannot



see that gunpowder, telegraphs, steam, daily newspapers, universal

suffrage, etc., etc., have made mankind one whit the happier



than they used to be, and I am certain that they have brought

many evils in their train. I have no fancy for handing over



this beautiful country to be torn and fought for by speculators,

tourists, politicians and teachers, whose voice is as the voice



of Babel, just as those horrible creatures in the valley of the

underground river tore and fought for the body of the wild swan;



nor will I endow it with the greed, drunkenness, new diseases,

gunpowder, and general demoralization which chiefly mark the



progress of civilizationamongst unsophisticated peoples. If

in due course it pleases Providence to throw Zu-Vendis open to



the world, that is another matter; but of myself I will not take

the responsibility, and I may add that Good entirely approves



of my decision. Farewell.

Henry Curtis



December 15, 18--.

PS -- I quite forgot to say that about nine months ago Nyleptha



(who is very well and, in my eyes at any rate, more beautiful

than ever) presented me with a son and heir. He is a regular



curly-haired, blue-eyed young Englishman in looks, and, though

he is destined, if he lives, to inherit the throne of Zu-Vendis,



I hope I may be able to bring him up to become what an English

gentleman should be, and generally is -- which is to my mind



even a prouder and a finer thing than being born heir apparent

to the great House of the Stairway, and, indeed, the highest



rank that a man can reach upon this earth.

H. C.



NOTE BY GEORGE CURTIS, Esq.

The MS of this history, addressed to me in the handwriting of



my dear brother Henry Curtis, whom we had given up for dead,

and bearing the Aden postmark, reached me in safety on December



20, 18--, or a little more than two years after it left his hands

in the far centre of Africa, and I hasten to give the astonishing



story it contains to the world. Speaking for myself, I have

read it with very mixed feelings; for though it is a great relief



to know that he and Good are alive and strangely prosperous,

I cannot but feel that for me and for all their friends they



might as well be dead, since we can never hope to see them more.

They have cut themselves off from old England and from their



homes and their relations for ever, and perhaps, under the

circumstances, they were right and wise to do so.






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