章节正文
and Mrs Mackenzie did not appear at it. We three also were very
silent, for in addition to our natural anxiety as to the fate
of the child, we were weighed down by the sense that we had brought
this trouble on the head of our kind host. When supper was nearly
at an end I made an excuse to leave the table. I wanted to get
outside and think the situation over. I went on to the veranda
and, having lit my pipe, sat down on a seat about a dozen feet
from the right-hand end of the structure, which was, as the reader
may remember, exactly opposite one of the narrow doors of the
protecting wall that enclosed the house and flower garden. I
had been sitting there perhaps six or seven minutes when I thought
I heard the door move. I looked in that direction and I listened,
but, being unable to make out anything, concluded that I must
have been mistaken. It was a darkish night, the moon not having
yet risen.
Another minute passed, when suddenly something round fell with
a soft but heavy thud upon the stone flooring of the veranda,
and came bounding and rolling along past me. For a moment I
did not rise, but sat wondering what it could be. Finally, I
concluded it must have been an animal. Just then, however, another
idea struck me, and I got up quick enough. The thing lay quite
still a few feet beyond me. I put down my hand towards it and
it did not move: clearly it was not an animal. My hand touched
it. It was soft and warm and heavy. Hurriedly I lifted it and
held it up against the faint starlight.
It was a newly severed human head!
I am an old hand and not easily upset, but I own that that ghastly
sight made me feel sick. How had the thing come there? Whose
was it? I put it down and ran to the little doorway. I could
see nothing, hear nobody. I was about to go out into the darkness
beyond, but remembering that to do so was to expose myself to
the risk of being stabbed, I drew back, shut the door, and bolted it.
Then I returned to the veranda, and in as careless a voice as
I could command called Curtis. I fear, however, that my tones
must have betrayed me, for not only Sir Henry but also Good and
Mackenzie rose from the table and came hurrying out.
'What is it?' said the clergyman, anxiously.
Then I had to tell them.
Mr Mackenzie turned pale as death under his red skin. We were
standing opposite the hall door, and there was a light in it
so that I could see. He snatched the head up by the hair and
held it against the light.
'It is the head of one of the men who accompanied Flossie,' he
said with a gasp. 'Thank God it is not hers!'
We all stood and stared at each other aghast. What was to be done?
Just then there was a knocking at the door that I had bolted,
and a voice cried, 'Open, my father, open!'
The door was unlocked, and in sped a terrified man. He was one
of the spies who had been sent out.
'My father,' he cried, 'the Masai are on us! A great body of
them have passed round the hill and are moving towards the old
stone kraal down by the little stream. My father, make strong
thy heart! In the midst of them I saw the white ass, and on
it sat the Water-lily [Flossie]. An Elmoran [young warrior]
led the ass, and by its side walked the nurse weeping. The men
who went with her in the morning I saw not.'
'Was the child alive?' asked Mr Mackenzie, hoarsely.
'She was white as the snow, but well, my father. They passed
quite close to me, and looking up from where I lay hid I saw
her face against the sky.'
'God help her and us!' groaned the clergyman.
'How many are there of them?' I asked.
'More than two hundred -- two hundred and half a hundred.'
'Once more we looked one on the other. What was to be done?
Just then there rose a loud insistent cry outside the wall.
'Open the door, white man; open the door! A herald -- a herald
to speak with thee.' Thus cried the voice.
Umslopogaas ran to the wall, and, reaching with his long arms
to the coping, lifted his head above it and gazed over.
'I see but one man,' he said. 'He is armed, and carries a basket
in his hand.'
'Open the door,' I said. 'Umslopogaas, take thine axe and stand
thereby. Let one man pass. If another follows, slay.'
The door was unbarred. In the shadow of the wall stood Umslopogaas,
his axe raised above his head to strike. Just then the moon
came out. There was a moment's pause, and then in stalked a
Masai Elmoran, clad in the full war panoply that I have already
described, but bearing a large basket in his hand. The moonlight
shone bright upon his great spear as he walked. He was physically
a splendid man, apparently about thirty-five years of age. Indeed,
none of the Masai that I saw were under six feet high, though
mostly quite young. When he got opposite to us he halted, put
down the basket, and stuck the spike of his spear into the ground,
so that it stood upright.
'Let us talk,' he said. 'The first messenger we sent to you
could not talk;' and he pointed to the head which lay upon the
paving of the stoep -- a ghastly sight in the moonlight; 'but
I have words to speak if ye have ears to hear. Also I bring
presents;' and he pointed to the basket and laughed with an air
of swaggering insolence that is perfectlyindescribable, and
yet which one could not but admire, seeing that he was surrounded
by enemies.
'Say on,' said Mr Mackenzie.
'I am the "Lygonani" [war captain] of a part of the Masai of
the Guasa Amboni. I and my men followed these three white men,'
and he pointed to Sir Henry, Good, and myself, 'but they were
too clever for us, and escaped hither. We have a quarrel with
them, and are going to kill them.'
'Are you, my friend?' said I to myself.
'In following these men we this morning caught two black men,
one black woman, a white donkey, and a white girl. One of the
black men we killed -- there is his head upon the pavement; the
other ran away. The black woman, the little white girl, and
the white ass we took and brought with us. In proof thereof
have I brought this basket that she carried. Is it not thy
daughter's basket?'
Mr Mackenzie nodded, and the warrior went on.
'Good! With thee and thy daughter we have no quarrel, nor do
we wish to harm thee, save as to thy cattle, which we have already
gathered, two hundred and forty head -- a beast for every man's
father.' {Endnote 6}
Here Mr Mackenzie gave a groan, as he greatly valued this herd
of cattle, which he bred with much care and trouble.
'So, save for the cattle, thou mayst go free; more especially,'
he added frankly, glancing at the wall, 'as this place would
be a difficult one to take. But as to these men it is otherwise;
we have followed them for nights and days, and must kill them.
Were we to return to our kraal without having done so, all the
girls would make a mock of us. So, however troublesome it
may be, they must die.
'Now I have a proposition for thee. We would not harm the
little girl; she is too fair to harm, and has besides a brave spirit.
Give us one of these three men -- a life for a life -- and we
will let her go, and throw in the black woman with her also.
This is a fair offer, white man. We ask but for one, not for
the three; we must take another opportunity to kill the other
two. I do not even pick my man, though I should prefer the big
one,' pointing to Sir Henry; 'he looks strong, and would die
more slowly.'
'And if I say I will not yield the man?' said Mr Mackenzie.
'Nay, say not so, white man,' answered the Masai, 'for then thy
daughter dies at dawn, and the woman with her says thou hast
no other child. Were she older I would take her for a servant;
but as she is so young I will slay her with my own hand -- ay,
with this very spear. Thou canst come and see, an' thou wilt.
I give thee a safe conduct;' and the fiend laughed aloud as
his brutal jest.
Meanwhile I had been thinking rapidly, as one does in emergencies,
and had come to the conclusion that I would exchange myself against
Flossie. I scarcely like to mention the matter for fear it should
be misunderstood. Pray do not let any one be misled into thinking
that there was anything heroic about this, or any such nonsense.
It was merely a matter of common sense and common justice.
My life was an old and worthless one, hers was young and valuable.
Her death would pretty well kill her father and mother also,
whilst nobody would be much the worse for mine; indeed, several
charitable institutions would have cause to rejoice thereat.
It was indirectly through me that the dear little girl was in
her present position. Lastly, a man was better fitted to meet
death in such a peculiarly awful form than a sweet young girl.
Not, however, that I meant to let these gentrytorture me to
death -- I am far too much of a coward to allow that, being naturally
a timid man; my plan was to see the girl safely exchanged and
then to shoot myself, trusting that the Almighty would take the
peculiar circumstances of the case into consideration and pardon
the act. All this and more went through my mind in very few
seconds.
'All right, Mackenzie,' I said, 'you can tell the man that I
will exchange myself against Flossie, only I stipulate that she
shall be safely in this house before they kill me.'
'Eh?' said Sir Henry and Good simultaneously. 'That you don't.'
'No, no,' said Mr Mackenzie. 'I will have no man's blood upon
my hands. If it please God that my daughter should die this
awful death, His will be done. You are a brave man (which I
am not by any means) and a noble man, Quatermain, but you shall
not go.'
'If nothing else turns up I shall go,' I said decidedly.
'This is an important matter,' said Mackenzie, addressing the
Lygonani, 'and we must think it over. You shall have our answer
at dawn.'
'Very well, white man,' answered the savageindifferently; 'only
remember if thy answer is late thy little white bud will never
grow into a flower, that is all, for I shall cut it with this,'
and he touched the spear. 'I should have thought that thou wouldst
play a trick and attack us at night, but I know from the woman
with the girl that your men are down at the coast, and that thou
hast but twenty men here. It is not wise, white man,' he added
with a laugh, 'to keep so small a garrison for you "boma" [kraal].
Well, good night, and good night to you also, other white men,
whose eyelids I shall soon close once and for all. At dawn thou
wilt bring me word. If not, remember it shall be as I have said.'
Then turning to Umslopogaas, who had all the while been standing
behind him and shepherding him as it were, 'Open the door for
me, fellow, quick now.'
This was too much for the old chief's patience. For the last
ten minutes his lips had been, figuratively speaking, positively
watering over the Masai Lygonani, and this he could not stand.
Placing his long hand on the Elmoran's shoulder he gripped it
and gave him such a twist as brought him face to face with himself.
Then, thrusting his fiercecountenance to within a few inches
of the Masai's evil feather-framed features, he said in a low
growling voice: --
'Seest thou me?'
'Ay, fellow, I see thee.'
'And seest thou this?' and he held Inkosi-kaas before his eyes.
'Ay, fellow, I see the toy; what of it?'
'Thou Masai dog, thou boasting windbag, thou capturer of little
girls, with this "toy" will I hew thee limb from limb. Well
for thee that thou art a herald, or even now would I strew thy
members about the grass.'
The Masai shook his great spear and laughed loud and long as
silent, for in addition to our natural anxiety as to the fate
of the child, we were weighed down by the sense that we had brought
this trouble on the head of our kind host. When supper was nearly
at an end I made an excuse to leave the table. I wanted to get
outside and think the situation over. I went on to the veranda
and, having lit my pipe, sat down on a seat about a dozen feet
from the right-hand end of the structure, which was, as the reader
may remember, exactly opposite one of the narrow doors of the
protecting wall that enclosed the house and flower garden. I
had been sitting there perhaps six or seven minutes when I thought
I heard the door move. I looked in that direction and I listened,
but, being unable to make out anything, concluded that I must
have been mistaken. It was a darkish night, the moon not having
yet risen.
Another minute passed, when suddenly something round fell with
a soft but heavy thud upon the stone flooring of the veranda,
and came bounding and rolling along past me. For a moment I
did not rise, but sat wondering what it could be. Finally, I
concluded it must have been an animal. Just then, however, another
idea struck me, and I got up quick enough. The thing lay quite
still a few feet beyond me. I put down my hand towards it and
it did not move: clearly it was not an animal. My hand touched
it. It was soft and warm and heavy. Hurriedly I lifted it and
held it up against the faint starlight.
It was a newly severed human head!
I am an old hand and not easily upset, but I own that that ghastly
sight made me feel sick. How had the thing come there? Whose
was it? I put it down and ran to the little doorway. I could
see nothing, hear nobody. I was about to go out into the darkness
beyond, but remembering that to do so was to expose myself to
the risk of being stabbed, I drew back, shut the door, and bolted it.
Then I returned to the veranda, and in as careless a voice as
I could command called Curtis. I fear, however, that my tones
must have betrayed me, for not only Sir Henry but also Good and
Mackenzie rose from the table and came hurrying out.
'What is it?' said the clergyman, anxiously.
Then I had to tell them.
Mr Mackenzie turned pale as death under his red skin. We were
standing opposite the hall door, and there was a light in it
so that I could see. He snatched the head up by the hair and
held it against the light.
'It is the head of one of the men who accompanied Flossie,' he
said with a gasp. 'Thank God it is not hers!'
We all stood and stared at each other aghast. What was to be done?
Just then there was a knocking at the door that I had bolted,
and a voice cried, 'Open, my father, open!'
The door was unlocked, and in sped a terrified man. He was one
of the spies who had been sent out.
'My father,' he cried, 'the Masai are on us! A great body of
them have passed round the hill and are moving towards the old
stone kraal down by the little stream. My father, make strong
thy heart! In the midst of them I saw the white ass, and on
it sat the Water-lily [Flossie]. An Elmoran [young warrior]
led the ass, and by its side walked the nurse weeping. The men
who went with her in the morning I saw not.'
'Was the child alive?' asked Mr Mackenzie, hoarsely.
'She was white as the snow, but well, my father. They passed
quite close to me, and looking up from where I lay hid I saw
her face against the sky.'
'God help her and us!' groaned the clergyman.
'How many are there of them?' I asked.
'More than two hundred -- two hundred and half a hundred.'
'Once more we looked one on the other. What was to be done?
Just then there rose a loud insistent cry outside the wall.
'Open the door, white man; open the door! A herald -- a herald
to speak with thee.' Thus cried the voice.
Umslopogaas ran to the wall, and, reaching with his long arms
to the coping, lifted his head above it and gazed over.
'I see but one man,' he said. 'He is armed, and carries a basket
in his hand.'
'Open the door,' I said. 'Umslopogaas, take thine axe and stand
thereby. Let one man pass. If another follows, slay.'
The door was unbarred. In the shadow of the wall stood Umslopogaas,
his axe raised above his head to strike. Just then the moon
came out. There was a moment's pause, and then in stalked a
Masai Elmoran, clad in the full war panoply that I have already
described, but bearing a large basket in his hand. The moonlight
shone bright upon his great spear as he walked. He was physically
a splendid man, apparently about thirty-five years of age. Indeed,
none of the Masai that I saw were under six feet high, though
mostly quite young. When he got opposite to us he halted, put
down the basket, and stuck the spike of his spear into the ground,
so that it stood upright.
'Let us talk,' he said. 'The first messenger we sent to you
could not talk;' and he pointed to the head which lay upon the
paving of the stoep -- a ghastly sight in the moonlight; 'but
I have words to speak if ye have ears to hear. Also I bring
presents;' and he pointed to the basket and laughed with an air
of swaggering insolence that is perfectlyindescribable, and
yet which one could not but admire, seeing that he was surrounded
by enemies.
'Say on,' said Mr Mackenzie.
'I am the "Lygonani" [war captain] of a part of the Masai of
the Guasa Amboni. I and my men followed these three white men,'
and he pointed to Sir Henry, Good, and myself, 'but they were
too clever for us, and escaped hither. We have a quarrel with
them, and are going to kill them.'
'Are you, my friend?' said I to myself.
'In following these men we this morning caught two black men,
one black woman, a white donkey, and a white girl. One of the
black men we killed -- there is his head upon the pavement; the
other ran away. The black woman, the little white girl, and
the white ass we took and brought with us. In proof thereof
have I brought this basket that she carried. Is it not thy
daughter's basket?'
Mr Mackenzie nodded, and the warrior went on.
'Good! With thee and thy daughter we have no quarrel, nor do
we wish to harm thee, save as to thy cattle, which we have already
gathered, two hundred and forty head -- a beast for every man's
father.' {Endnote 6}
Here Mr Mackenzie gave a groan, as he greatly valued this herd
of cattle, which he bred with much care and trouble.
'So, save for the cattle, thou mayst go free; more especially,'
he added frankly, glancing at the wall, 'as this place would
be a difficult one to take. But as to these men it is otherwise;
we have followed them for nights and days, and must kill them.
Were we to return to our kraal without having done so, all the
girls would make a mock of us. So, however troublesome it
may be, they must die.
'Now I have a proposition for thee. We would not harm the
little girl; she is too fair to harm, and has besides a brave spirit.
Give us one of these three men -- a life for a life -- and we
will let her go, and throw in the black woman with her also.
This is a fair offer, white man. We ask but for one, not for
the three; we must take another opportunity to kill the other
two. I do not even pick my man, though I should prefer the big
one,' pointing to Sir Henry; 'he looks strong, and would die
more slowly.'
'And if I say I will not yield the man?' said Mr Mackenzie.
'Nay, say not so, white man,' answered the Masai, 'for then thy
daughter dies at dawn, and the woman with her says thou hast
no other child. Were she older I would take her for a servant;
but as she is so young I will slay her with my own hand -- ay,
with this very spear. Thou canst come and see, an' thou wilt.
I give thee a safe conduct;' and the fiend laughed aloud as
his brutal jest.
Meanwhile I had been thinking rapidly, as one does in emergencies,
and had come to the conclusion that I would exchange myself against
Flossie. I scarcely like to mention the matter for fear it should
be misunderstood. Pray do not let any one be misled into thinking
that there was anything heroic about this, or any such nonsense.
It was merely a matter of common sense and common justice.
My life was an old and worthless one, hers was young and valuable.
Her death would pretty well kill her father and mother also,
whilst nobody would be much the worse for mine; indeed, several
charitable institutions would have cause to rejoice thereat.
It was indirectly through me that the dear little girl was in
her present position. Lastly, a man was better fitted to meet
death in such a peculiarly awful form than a sweet young girl.
Not, however, that I meant to let these gentrytorture me to
death -- I am far too much of a coward to allow that, being naturally
a timid man; my plan was to see the girl safely exchanged and
then to shoot myself, trusting that the Almighty would take the
peculiar circumstances of the case into consideration and pardon
the act. All this and more went through my mind in very few
seconds.
'All right, Mackenzie,' I said, 'you can tell the man that I
will exchange myself against Flossie, only I stipulate that she
shall be safely in this house before they kill me.'
'Eh?' said Sir Henry and Good simultaneously. 'That you don't.'
'No, no,' said Mr Mackenzie. 'I will have no man's blood upon
my hands. If it please God that my daughter should die this
awful death, His will be done. You are a brave man (which I
am not by any means) and a noble man, Quatermain, but you shall
not go.'
'If nothing else turns up I shall go,' I said decidedly.
'This is an important matter,' said Mackenzie, addressing the
Lygonani, 'and we must think it over. You shall have our answer
at dawn.'
'Very well, white man,' answered the savageindifferently; 'only
remember if thy answer is late thy little white bud will never
grow into a flower, that is all, for I shall cut it with this,'
and he touched the spear. 'I should have thought that thou wouldst
play a trick and attack us at night, but I know from the woman
with the girl that your men are down at the coast, and that thou
hast but twenty men here. It is not wise, white man,' he added
with a laugh, 'to keep so small a garrison for you "boma" [kraal].
Well, good night, and good night to you also, other white men,
whose eyelids I shall soon close once and for all. At dawn thou
wilt bring me word. If not, remember it shall be as I have said.'
Then turning to Umslopogaas, who had all the while been standing
behind him and shepherding him as it were, 'Open the door for
me, fellow, quick now.'
This was too much for the old chief's patience. For the last
ten minutes his lips had been, figuratively speaking, positively
watering over the Masai Lygonani, and this he could not stand.
Placing his long hand on the Elmoran's shoulder he gripped it
and gave him such a twist as brought him face to face with himself.
Then, thrusting his fiercecountenance to within a few inches
of the Masai's evil feather-framed features, he said in a low
growling voice: --
'Seest thou me?'
'Ay, fellow, I see thee.'
'And seest thou this?' and he held Inkosi-kaas before his eyes.
'Ay, fellow, I see the toy; what of it?'
'Thou Masai dog, thou boasting windbag, thou capturer of little
girls, with this "toy" will I hew thee limb from limb. Well
for thee that thou art a herald, or even now would I strew thy
members about the grass.'
The Masai shook his great spear and laughed loud and long as
- addition [ə´diʃən]
n.加；加法；附加物 (初中英语单词) - anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)
- structure [´strʌktʃə] n.结构，构造；组织 (初中英语单词)
- unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)
- doorway [´dɔ:wei] n.门口 (初中英语单词)
- expose [ik´spəuz] vt.揭露，暴露；陈列 (初中英语单词)
- careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)
- stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
- messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)
- hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)
- warrior [´wɔriə] n.勇士，战士 (初中英语单词)
- frankly [´fræŋkli] ad.直率地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)
- conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
- rejoice [ri´dʒɔis] v.(使)高兴；欢庆 (初中英语单词)
- torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)
- coward [´kauəd] n.胆怯者 a.胆小的 (初中英语单词)
- safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
- consideration [kən,sidə´reiʃən] n.考虑；原因；体谅 (初中英语单词)
- savage [´sævidʒ] a.野蛮的 n.蛮人 (初中英语单词)
- patience [´peiʃəns] n.忍耐(力)；耐心；坚韧 (初中英语单词)
- fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- countenance [´kauntinəns] n.面部表情；脸色；面容 (初中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- clergyman [´klə:dʒimən] n.牧师；教士 (高中英语单词)
- herald [´herəld] n.先驱；预兆 vt.预示 (高中英语单词)
- bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)
- apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
- ghastly [´gɑ:stli] a.苍白的；可怕的 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- donkey [´dɔŋki] n.驴子；蠢人；顽固的人 (高中英语单词)
- pavement [´peivmənt] n.路面；铺筑材料 (高中英语单词)
- proposition [,prɔpə´ziʃən] n.提议；主张；陈述 (高中英语单词)
- heroic [hi´rəuik] a.英雄的，英勇的 (高中英语单词)
- worthless [´wə:θləs] a.无价值的 (高中英语单词)
- garrison [´gærisən] n.警备队 vt.驻防 (高中英语单词)
- right-hand [´rait´hænd] a.右手的，右边的 (英语四级单词)
- hurriedly [´hʌridli] ad.仓促地，忙乱地 (英语四级单词)
- veranda [və´rændə] n.游廊；阳台 (英语四级单词)
- brutal [´bru:tl] a.兽性的；残暴的 (英语四级单词)
- lastly [´lɑ:stli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
- peculiarly [pi´kju:liəli] ad.特有地；古怪地 (英语四级单词)
- almighty [ɔ:l´maiti] a.万能的；全能的 (英语四级单词)
- simultaneously [,siməl´teinjəsli] ad.同时，一起 (英语四级单词)
- aghast [ə´gɑ:st] a.吓呆的，吃惊的 (英语六级单词)
- weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)
- insistent [in´sistənt] a.坚持的；逼人注意的 (英语六级单词)
- insolence [´insələns] n.傲慢；无礼 (英语六级单词)
- indescribable [,indis´kraibəbəl] a.难以形容的 (英语六级单词)
- indirectly [,indi´rektli] a.间接地；迂回地 (英语六级单词)
- gentry [´dʒentri] n.上流社会人士，绅士 (英语六级单词)
- trusting [´trʌstiŋ] a.信任的；相信的 (英语六级单词)
- indifferently [in´difrəntli] ad.不关心地；冷淡地 (英语六级单词)
- speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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