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+} +.p017width { +width:500px; +} +.p049width { +width:497px; +} +.xd33e1032 { +text-indent:4em; +} +.xd33e1040 { +text-indent:6em; +} +.p072width { +width:504px; +} +.p121width { +width:497px; +} +.p137width { +width:500px; +} +.p183width { +width:492px; +} +.p204width { +width:504px; +} +/* ]]> */ </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75833 ***</div> +<div class="front"> +<div class="div1 cover"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"></p> +<div class="figure cover-imagewidth"><img src="images/new-cover.jpg" alt="Newly Designed Front Cover." width="480" height="720"></div><p> +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 frenchtitle"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> +<p class="first center large">FAIRY TALES<br> +FROM SOUTH AFRICA +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 imprint"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"></p> +<div class="figure logowidth"><img src="images/logo.png" alt="Publisher’s monogram: MM&C." width="234" height="69"></div><p> +</p> +<p class="center">MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class="sc">Limited</span> +</p> +<p class="center">LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br> +MELBOURNE +</p> +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +</p> +<p class="center">NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br> +ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO +</p> +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, <span class="sc">Ltd.</span><br> +TORONTO +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 frontispiece"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"></p> +<div class="figure frontispiecewidth" id="frontispiece"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="“The old woman continued to gaze at Setuli, and said three times in a loud voice, ‘Speak!’”" width="499" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“The old woman continued to gaze at Setuli, and said three times in a loud voice, +‘Speak!’ ”</p> +<p class="first"><i>Frontispiece.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 titlepage"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"></p> +<div class="figure titlepage-imagewidth"><img src="images/titlepage.png" alt="Original Title Page." width="478" height="720"></div><p> +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="titlePage"> +<div class="docTitle"> +<h1 class="mainTitle">FAIRY TALES<br> +FROM SOUTH AFRICA</h1> +</div> +<div class="byline">COLLECTED FROM ORIGINAL NATIVE SOURCES AND ARRANGED BY +<br> +<span class="docAuthor"><span class="sc">Mrs.</span> E. J. BOURHILL</span><br> +AND<br> +<span class="docAuthor"><span class="sc">Mrs.</span> J. B. DRAKE</span> +<br> +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY<br> +<span class="docAuthor">W. HERBERT HOLLOWAY</span></div> +<div class="docImprint">MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED<br> +ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON +<br> +<span class="docDate">1908</span></div> +</div> +<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb.v">[<a href="#pb.v">v</a>]</span></p> +<div class="div1 preface"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">TO ALL CHILDREN WHO STILL LOVE FAIRY TALES</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">All the stories in this book are real Fairy Tales, just as much as “Jack the Giant-Killer” +or “The Sleeping Beauty.” By this I mean that they are traditional, handed down by +word of mouth. Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first. But little Kafir +children sit round the fire at night and hear them from their old grandmother, and +sometimes—but very very seldom—white people are allowed to hear them too. You see, +the Kafirs are afraid white people would laugh at them, and so they will only begin +if they are quite sure you are really interested. Even then they never like to tell +the tales by daylight, for they say that if they do so a wicked spirit will cause +a horn to grow out of the middle of their forehead, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb.vi">[<a href="#pb.vi">vi</a>]</span>they will become as ugly as an Imbula.<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e197src" href="#xd33e197" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> Sometimes they can be persuaded, but then they always take a piece of grass and place +it in their hair to ward off evil lest they be bewitched. But the best time to hear +the tales is in the evening when all the work is done. Then a huge fire is made, and +when all the children have played till they are tired, and sung and danced till they +can remember no more songs to sing, they gather in a circle and lie upon the ground +where they can best see the story-teller. And if the Kafir people were quite sure +you would be interested and wouldn’t laugh, they would give you the best seat of all +and let you hear the finest tales. All the Kafir children know the tales as we know +ours, but not all can tell them well. When many people are there the best story-teller +will be asked to come forward. Most often it is a woman with children and grandchildren +of her own, whom everybody knows well. She sits in the firelight, and begins quite +quietly. But soon she gets excited, and before long she acts the whole story <span class="pageNum" id="pb.vii">[<a href="#pb.vii">vii</a>]</span>before you. She does it so well that if I were to tell you just the name of the story +you could follow it without knowing a word of the language. One favourite tale is +that which we have called “The Beauty and the Beast,” and there are ever so many different +versions of this story. Other well-known ones are “Nya-nya Bulembu,” “The Fairy Frog,” +and “The Fairy Bird.” +</p> +<p>The little black children all open their eyes with horror when the monster appears, +and you cannot think how glad they are to remember there are no ogres nowadays who +have long red hair and kill and eat little girls. I don’t think such people ever really +existed anywhere, not even in Kafir-land. They are just like our fairies and ogres; +nobody knows who first thought of them. +</p> +<p>But there used to be many bad Kings, like Semai-mai, who made their subjects unhappy, +and much fighting took place in former days. For all these stories come from the olden +times, when there were no white settlers in the country, and when the Kafirs lived +alone and <span class="pageNum" id="pb.viii">[<a href="#pb.viii">viii</a>]</span>followed their own customs. They did not have one great King over all, but were broken +up into tribes, and each tribe had its Chief, who was sometimes called its King. That +is why there are so many Kings and Princes and Princesses in the tales. They were +much commoner then than in our days. +</p> +<p>These tribes often fought against one another. The great aim of every Chief was to +have plenty of men to do his bidding, and plenty of cattle in his kraal; and if his +neighbour were better off, he often tried to steal from him. You will notice that +the Princes in these tales did not think of conquering new lands to occupy, as we +should, but they all wanted men to fight for them. It seems as if, in South Africa, +there was always plenty of land, but never enough men and women to occupy it. There +was no money then, but a man’s riches were counted by the number of his cattle and +his wives. +</p> +<p>In peaceful times the Kafir men do very little except look after the cattle. This +the women have nothing to do with; they must not so <span class="pageNum" id="pb.ix">[<a href="#pb.ix">ix</a>]</span>much as touch the bowls in which milk has been placed. In the old times fighting was +very frequent, so that a Kafir Chief was not so lazy as many people seem to think. +Still, to fight, to look after cattle, and now and then to set the foundations of +a hut, were the only occupations he had. His women-folk tilled the land, fetched water +and wood, and saw to the cooking. They also thatched the huts, and made the most beautiful +fences of woven reeds. You see, they were often left alone for weeks and months while +the men were away hunting or fighting, so they had to be able to help themselves. +</p> +<p>A Kafir Chief usually had many wives; this was considered due to his position, but +the wife he married first remained the chief lady in his kraal and ruled the others. +They each had their own hut and managed their own affairs, but of course there were +often many quarrels. Poorer men had one or two wives only. You see, it was expensive +to have many; for every woman had to be paid for with a certain number of cattle. +This payment was called the “lobola,” and no marriage was legal without it. This does +not <span class="pageNum" id="pb.x">[<a href="#pb.x">x</a>]</span>sound a very good custom, but it worked well in practice. Savage people are often +very unkind to baby girls because they cannot fight, but among the Kafirs they were +always well treated. The daughters were valuable to their father because of the dowry +they would bring him, and the husbands thought all the more of their wives because +they had cost them something. +</p> +<p>Most of these stories were told by Swazis, others by Zulus, and two by the tribes +which live on the Portuguese border in the low, wooded country. “The Shining Princess” +came from the Mapoch Kafirs, who formerly lived in the north. None of the people who +tell them lived on what is called the high veld. A Kafir loves country with plenty +of wood and water, and he likes to build his hut in some green valley on a well-drained +slope facing the morning sun. Such country is found in Natal and the eastern parts +of Cape Colony, and again in Swaziland and the Eastern Transvaal. In summer there +are marvellous wild flowers and abundant green grass, and in every mountain valley +there are clear streams bordered with luxuriant ferns and overshadowed <span class="pageNum" id="pb.xi">[<a href="#pb.xi">xi</a>]</span>with beautiful evergreen trees. All the rain falls in summer amidst continuous thunderstorms, +and it is often very hot. In winter no rain falls for four or five months; the sky +is clear and shining and the nights are cold, but by day the sun makes everything +pleasantly warm. +</p> +<p>The Kafir people still live and flourish in this country. They no longer make war +on one another, for the white people oblige them to dwell in peace. So now their customs +are slowly changing. The women are gradually ceasing to hoe the lands in the old fashion, +and the men are beginning to plough with oxen; it seems as if in time they will become +tillers of the soil like men in other lands. These stories may soon be forgotten; +so we have written them down for your amusement before it is too late and no one tells +them any more. +</p> +<p class="dateline"><span class="sc">Barberton</span>, <span class="sc">Transvaal</span>,<br> +<i>April 1908</i>. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb.xiii">[<a href="#pb.xiii">xiii</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e197"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e197src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Imbula</i>—an ogre. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e197src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="toc" class="div1 contents"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">CONTENTS</h2> +<table class="tocList"> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> +</td> +<td class="tocPageNum">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">I.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch1" id="xd33e246"><span class="sc">Setuli; or, the King of the Birds</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">II.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch2" id="xd33e256"><span class="sc">The Story of the King’s Son and the Magic Song</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">18</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">III.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch3" id="xd33e266"><span class="sc">The Story of the Little Birds who lived in a Cave</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">28</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">IV.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch4" id="xd33e276"><span class="sc">The Story of the Shining Princess</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">32</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">V.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch5" id="xd33e286"><span class="sc">The Rabbit Prince</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">43</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">VI.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch6" id="xd33e296"><span class="sc">The Unnatural Mother</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">58</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">VII.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch7" id="xd33e306"><span class="sc">The Three Little Eggs</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">66</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">VIII.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch8" id="xd33e316"><span class="sc">The Serpent’s Bride—Part I.</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">78</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">IX.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch9" id="xd33e326"><span class="sc">The Serpent’s Bride—Part II.</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">99</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">X.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch10" id="xd33e336"><span class="sc">The Fairy Bird</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">115</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XI.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch11" id="xd33e347"><span class="sc">The Cock’s Kraal</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">132</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XII.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch12" id="xd33e357"><span class="sc">Baboon-Skins</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">139</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XIII.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch13" id="xd33e367"><span class="sc">The Reward of Industry</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">151</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XIV.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch14" id="xd33e377"><span class="sc">The Story of Semai-mai—Part I.</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">160</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XV.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch15" id="xd33e387"><span class="sc">The Story of Semai-mai—Part II.</span></a> <span class="pageNum" id="pb.xiv">[<a href="#pb.xiv">xiv</a>]</span></td> +<td class="tocPageNum">171</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XVI.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch16" id="xd33e398"><span class="sc">The Fairy Frog</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">187</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XVII.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch17" id="xd33e408"><span class="sc">Nya-nya Bulembu; or, the Moss-green Princess</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">198</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XVIII.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch18" id="xd33e418"><span class="sc">The Enchanted Buck</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">212</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XIX.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch19" id="xd33e428"><span class="sc">The Beauty and the Beast</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">224</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum">XX.</td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"> <a href="#ch20" id="xd33e438"><span class="sc">The White Dove</span></a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">237</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb.xv">[<a href="#pb.xv">xv</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 last-child contents"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<table class="tocList"> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#frontispiece">“The old woman continued to gaze at Setuli, and said three times in a loud voice, +‘Speak!’ ”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p017">“He turned to the mountain-side and shouted, ‘Men, appear!’ ”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum"><i>To face page</i> 17</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p049">“They climbed and climbed till they were above the clouds”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">49</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p072">“She came in sight of an enormous hut”</a> +</td> +<td class="tocPageNum">72</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p121">“She … threw them down a rocky precipice”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">121</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p137">“Such was their strength and ferocity that but two or three escaped alive out of the +whole regiment”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">137</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p183">“It was a very old woman, leaning on an immense assegai”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">183</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tocDivNum"></td> +<td class="tocDivTitle"><a href="#p204">“Suddenly a flock of rock-pigeons … seized the beautiful Princess and carried her +away”</a> </td> +<td class="tocPageNum">204</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb1">[<a href="#pb1">1</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="body"> +<div id="ch1" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e246">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">I</h2> +<h2 class="main">SETULI;<br> +OR, THE KING OF THE BIRDS</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Many, many years ago there lived a poor man, named Setuli, who was deaf and dumb. +He had never been able to speak, or understand anything but signs from his birth, +and was despised by all his brothers and sisters. +</p> +<p>Although he was the son of a powerful Chief, no one so much as looked at him, and +he could never hope to win a bride or have a home of his own. He had but one friend, +an elder brother, who gave him food and shelter, and was always kind to him. This +brother was already old, and was known as a great magician; he knew the properties +of every herb, and the wonderful powers possessed by birds and beasts. When <span class="pageNum" id="pb2">[<a href="#pb2">2</a>]</span>he went to search for magic roots he always took Setuli with him, for he found his +eyes were quicker than those of any man in the country-side, and his fingers more +deft. +</p> +<p>One day in Spring, when the first rains had fallen and green shoots were showing among +the dry grass, the two brothers went out to gather roots as usual. They travelled +far into the mountains till they reached a narrow valley full of trees just bursting +into leaf. A clear stream ran down one side among great boulders, ferns were just +uncurling their early fronds, and in sheltered nooks big scarlet daisies shone like +tiny suns. The old magician and Setuli set to work at once, for here many rare plants +flourished. They had been at work an hour or more when a swarm of beautiful black +birds with long waving tails came towards them, flying in a zigzag course. They settled +on the low bushes, swinging up and down on the branches, and balancing their long +tails. +</p> +<p>The two brothers both looked up, and in a grave voice the old magician said to the +birds, “Sakobulas,<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e516src" href="#xd33e516" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> we go to sleep and we get up as we used to do.” This was the magic greeting <span class="pageNum" id="pb3">[<a href="#pb3">3</a>]</span>they expected. I cannot tell you what it meant, but when the sakobulas heard it, they +flew away quite satisfied. The two brothers went on digging, and moved farther up +the stream. Then a great swarm of dear little rooibekkies<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e522src" href="#xd33e522" title="Go to note 2.">2</a> suddenly appeared, tiny little brown birds with pink breasts and bright red bills. +They fluttered all round, chattering gaily. +</p> +<p>The old magician again looked up. “Mantsiane,”<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e528src" href="#xd33e528" title="Go to note 3.">3</a> said he, “we go to sleep and we get up as we used to do”; and the rooibekkies flew +away quite satisfied. Then the two brothers went on digging again, and worked for +a long time. All at once there rushed upon them an immense flight of the most beautiful +birds, shining from head to foot with glorious yellow plumage. Round their necks showed +a ring of velvety black, and there were black feathers in their wings. +</p> +<p>“Follow us up! Follow us up!” they cried to the two brothers. “These are orioles,” +said the old magician; “without doubt some great adventure is before us.” He signed +to his brother to leave the roots and follow the birds. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb4">[<a href="#pb4">4</a>]</span></p> +<p>They travelled over the mountains for three days and three nights, following the golden +birds. On the morning of the fourth day the birds led them down a steep mountain-side +to a deep green valley through which ran a wide stream. The birds followed the stream +till they came to a deep clear pool under the shadow of great trees. It was very cool +and very still. Tall reeds and big white lilies grew all round the water’s edge, and +over the pool itself were hundreds of water-lilies, white and purple. +</p> +<p>The golden birds turned to the magician and said, “Bring your brother here and tell +him on no account to be afraid, no matter what may happen to him. He must wait by +the edge of the pool amongst the reeds and lilies.” +</p> +<p>The elder brother fetched Setuli and made him understand what was wanted of him. Then +he went away and left his brother alone, wondering what this new adventure would bring. +</p> +<p>Now, though Setuli had always been despised and set aside by all his relations, he +was in reality both wise and brave. He sat down at the water’s edge and remained perfectly +still. Suddenly the waters moved, and up rose a huge alligator. It came straight towards +him, lashing <span class="pageNum" id="pb5">[<a href="#pb5">5</a>]</span>its great tail and opening its huge jaws. Its teeth glistened in the sun, and as it +walked up the bank it snapped at Setuli and blinked its wicked little eyes. But Setuli +sat perfectly still and pretended not to notice. The alligator thrust its long nose +almost in his face, snapped its jaws once more, and then, seeing he showed no sign +of fear, turned tail and slipped into the pool again. +</p> +<p>Setuli remained sitting, waiting to see what would happen next. For a little while +the pool was still; then the whole of the waters moved and out came a huge ogre, far +more hideous and terrible than the alligator. He was covered with eyes and glared +with every one of them at the deaf man. Then he roared fiercely and sprang towards +him; but still Setuli did not move so much as an eyelid. The ogre shouted again, and +then disappeared, like the alligator before him. +</p> +<p>After that there was no sound or motion for many hours. Setuli sat watching by the +pool. Just as he began to think nothing more would happen, the water moved quietly +and out came a Fairy in the shape of an old woman. She stood in the waters up to her +waist and gazed <span class="pageNum" id="pb6">[<a href="#pb6">6</a>]</span>at Setuli. On her right hand there perched a beautiful black sakobula, on her left +hand a little rooibekkie, and on her head was a most wonderful oriole, bright as the +rising moon. The old woman continued to gaze at Setuli, and said three times in a +loud voice, “Speak!” +</p> +<p>When she uttered the third word Setuli felt a new power had come to him. He could +speak like other people, and he could understand all the Fairy said. +</p> +<p>“Go to your brother,” said she, “and show him you are cured. I have known both of +you long and have determined to help you. Whatever you want in the future you shall +receive; you have only to ask for it.” The Fairy vanished, and the three birds flew +away. +</p> +<p>Setuli soon found his brother, and the old man’s astonishment was great when he heard +the deaf man speak. Setuli in his turn was much surprised to find the three swarms +of birds again, just as he had left them on his journey out. They flew in three separate +companies, and at the head of each company was one more beautiful than the others, +evidently the leader. Setuli soon saw these were the very birds who had accompanied +the Fairy; no doubt she had <span class="pageNum" id="pb7">[<a href="#pb7">7</a>]</span>sent them for his use. He thought deeply for a time and then made new plans. The result +you shall soon hear. +</p> +<p>The two brothers journeyed on till they saw a great storm rising. The sky was blue-black, +and a noise could be heard like continuous thunder. +</p> +<p>“That is hail,” cried the magician; “we shall be caught here in the open. Nothing +can save us from death.” +</p> +<p>“Do not fear,” said Setuli; “wait and you shall see.” He gave a command and instantly +one thousand huts appeared. His brother gazed in astonishment and delight. Then he +said, “What do we want with so many huts? There is no one to shelter but you and me.” +</p> +<p>“I shall want huts for my soldiers and people,” said Setuli. Then he turned to the +companies of birds and changed them all with one word into warriors. The sakobulas +became his first regiment. They were great tall men clad in leopard skins, holding +in their hands assegais<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e559src" href="#xd33e559" title="Go to note 4.">4</a> and huge shields of ox-hide. But one thing remained of their former state. Each man +wore on his head a huge <span class="pageNum" id="pb8">[<a href="#pb8">8</a>]</span>cap of the long tail-feathers of the sakobula. They stood in line, saluted their Chief, +and marched to their huts. Then came the golden orioles. These were Setuli’s bodyguard, +and were even finer than the sakobulas. Their skins were of the silver jackal; round +their knees and arms were bracelets of white ox-tails, and on their heads were long +black ostrich-plumes. Before them stood the golden oriole, bright as the rising moon, +now the general in command next to Setuli himself. Last of all came the rooibekkies. +These became the little umfaans, the lads who carry all the baggage of the army and +wait on the grown men. Setuli sent them all to their huts just as the first hailstones +struck the ground. +</p> +<p>For an hour no one stirred. The sound of the storm was like continuous roaring thunder; +the hailstones were as large as great plums, jagged and sharp as crystals. Every tree +was stripped of its leaves and all birds and beasts who could not find shelter were +killed or maimed. When the storm ceased the hail lay in icy heaps in every hollow, +and the air was frosty and cold as in mid-winter on the high mountains. A raw mist +rose from the valleys, but Setuli felt no <span class="pageNum" id="pb9">[<a href="#pb9">9</a>]</span>cold. His heart was great within him, for now he had proved his powers. He called +out his troops once more and reviewed them with joy and pride. “We shall go forth +and conquer a great kingdom,” he said to his brother. “I shall yet be a rich man.” +</p> +<p>The regiments shouted “Bayeta,” the salute which is given only to the Chief, and swore +to follow wherever Setuli led. Generals were appointed for each division of the army, +the three leaders being the birds who sat on the Fairy’s hands. There was no trouble +about provisions or shelter, for Setuli had only to ask for food and there was abundance +for all. +</p> +<p>He now determined to search for a kingdom to conquer. He left the country of mountains +and wooded valleys, and went up to the great tableland to search for new people to +overcome. He travelled with his army for a year, but never saw so much as one little +hut. The land was empty; on every side was waving grass extending as far as eye could +reach, but no path appeared nor any tree. Great herds of buck sometimes came towards +them and then followed fine hunting; but no man or woman could they find though they +travelled for many months. <span class="pageNum" id="pb10">[<a href="#pb10">10</a>]</span>At last they turned back towards the low country, and at the end of a year they came +to a range of mountains overlooking an immense plain. Below they saw great cities +surrounded by fields full of mealies.<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e575src" href="#xd33e575" title="Go to note 5.">5</a> Thousands of cattle roamed on the hills; they had but to descend and seize all they +wanted. +</p> +<p>Setuli bade his men camp in a great valley which could not be seen from the plain. +Then he sent spies to find out how strong the cities were and how big was the King’s +army. But first his brother the magician gave them a wonderful potion which made them +invisible, so that no one should suspect them. In the evening they returned in great +fear. “The people,” cried they, “are all deaf and dumb; they have but one arm, and +walk on one leg only. Not only that, but as soon as we approached them we found we +were becoming deaf and dumb also, so we ran back as quickly as possible.” +</p> +<p>This troubled Setuli very much. “Don’t go near these people,” said he. “Let us get +right away from the towns and go hunting in the mountains.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb11">[<a href="#pb11">11</a>]</span></p> +<p>Now Setuli was very wise, and had besides the advice of his brother, the great magician. +He had determined to take possession of all the inhabitants of this country and drive +away all their cattle, but he felt sure some powerful monster ruled over them who +would first have to be discovered and destroyed. The only thing to do was to devise +some means of attracting him to the camp and killing him unawares. A big hunt was +arranged, and an immense number of birds were taken of all shapes and colours. Setuli +drew a feather out of the tail of every bird and made a huge many-coloured ball, which +he wore as a head-dress and as a protection for himself, for magic power was in the +feathers. Then he allowed preparations to be made for the great feast which followed +the hunt, but gave special directions to his men. +</p> +<p>“Do not eat all the birds,” he said. “Place half of those you have killed in front +of the huts. Put first a whole bird, then the head of a bird you have eaten, in long +rows all round the camp, and then put a treble row about my own hut.” +</p> +<p>The men carried out these commands carefully, and soon the whole camp was surrounded +with dead birds of every hue and shape. When <span class="pageNum" id="pb12">[<a href="#pb12">12</a>]</span>all the feasting was over and the camp quite still, Setuli crept out of his hut and +hid behind the screen which sheltered the entrance. It was full moon, and the country +shone like silver. Sharp inky black shadows showed near the river where the bushes +grew, and round each hut was a dark narrow ring in which no object was visible. Setuli +crouched behind his screen of reeds; the camp was absolutely still and deserted. Towards +midnight he heard heavy footsteps approaching. Every now and then they stopped, then +they began again. Setuli stooped lower; without doubt the monster who owned all the +cities in the plain was approaching. The footsteps were not even; they resembled some +one hopping very heavily. Presently a huge black figure came in sight, holding a long +assegai. He had but one leg and one arm, and stopped greedily at every hut to eat +the birds which lay there. As he came nearer, Setuli saw that he was of unimaginable +ugliness. His eyes were divided; one was in the middle of his forehead and the other +at the back of his head, so that whichever way he stood he saw you, and you could +not escape him. At the entrance of Setuli’s hut he stopped, gave a snarl of delight +at the <span class="pageNum" id="pb13">[<a href="#pb13">13</a>]</span>sight of so many birds, and sat down to enjoy them. +</p> +<p>He had but one arm, so he laid his assegai down just before the door-screen. Setuli +asked for no better chance; he rose quickly, seized the assegai and stabbed the monster +in the neck. He rolled over with a groan and lay quite still, apparently dead. +</p> +<p>With a joyous heart Setuli roused all his men, and at break of day led them into the +great plain. To their surprise they found the people walking on two legs and talking +as well as themselves. The death of the ogre relieved the people from the bonds of +a wicked enchantment, and they were only too glad to go with Setuli and his men, they +and all their cattle. By evening all was in order for the march, and at earliest dawn +the company started for the mountains. +</p> +<p>They had gone a whole day’s journey, and had reached a point high above the great +plain, when Setuli discovered that he had lost his ball of feathers. He did not wish +to turn his followers back, but neither could he bear to travel farther without his +head-dress, for it had magic power, and it might be long before he could get such +another. So he bade his army <span class="pageNum" id="pb14">[<a href="#pb14">14</a>]</span>go on under the leadership of his brother, and went down the mountain-paths as fast +as possible till he came to the valley in which they had camped. There he saw a sight +which made his heart stand still. The ogre whom he had left for dead was sitting up +alive and well, and round him danced and romped hundreds of little ogres, all with +one leg and one arm like their father. They tossed the magic ball of feathers from +one to another and shouted with glee. +</p> +<p>Setuli saw he must risk all and trust to his swift feet to get away. He ran in suddenly, +seized the ball of feathers, and turned quickly away up the mountain-path. As he touched +the ball, all the little ogres vanished like smoke. Only the big one remained, and +for a moment he was dazed and did not understand what had happened. Then he got up +and stamped after Setuli with astonishing speed. It was all Setuli could do to keep +the distance between them, but he was strong and knew the paths. They leapt from rock +to rock, in and out among the trees, till they came to the grassy slopes which led +to the great pass. They climbed all day till the sun began to set. Then at the very +top of the mountain range Setuli found his army camped <span class="pageNum" id="pb15">[<a href="#pb15">15</a>]</span>along the side of a deep ravine. Below was a valley many hundreds of feet deep, lined +with huge rocks and great trees. Beyond, many weary hours away, rose another mountain +with green slopes marked with the course of many streams. +</p> +<p>“Bayeta!” cried the army when they saw their Chief. “My men,” cried Setuli, “we have +not a moment to lose. Our enemy is behind us and we shall soon be in his hands. Let +every man, woman, and child fix his eyes on the mountain-side opposite and then leap +with all his might.” +</p> +<p>Setuli could hear his enemy behind him as his people leapt together into the air. +He ran forward, touched the cattle with his ball of feathers, and they too jumped +with all their might. All landed safely on the other side, and placed the great ravine +between them and the terrible ogre. Setuli jumped last, just as the monster, breathless +and exhausted, reached the edge of the precipice. +</p> +<p>Twilight set in, and when the sun rose next morning Setuli and all his people found +themselves in perfect safety, and set forth once more on their journey. They travelled +all day, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb16">[<a href="#pb16">16</a>]</span>at sunset came to the most beautiful valley they had ever beheld. It lay far below +them, wide, green, and fertile. Down its centre flowed a clear stream shaded by great +tree-ferns, and bordered with thick green bushes covered with scarlet flowers. The +valley extended as far as eye could see towards the setting sun; all the hills on +either side were closely wooded and well watered. Setuli turned to his brother and +said, “This is the finest country I have ever seen. We will settle here with all our +men.” +</p> +<p>At the end of the valley was a very large kraal wherein dwelt the Chief of the country. +Setuli determined to win him over to his side and make him his man. +</p> +<p>So he took his bodyguard and marched down the mountain-paths to the gate of the kraal. +Just as they approached the Chief’s hut he struck every one of his men on the leg +with his magic assegai. They at once began to walk every man on one leg. +</p> +<p>“Never have I seen such magic power,” said the Chief. “You shall be our King and protect +us against all our enemies.” +</p> +<p>“I will show you yet more marvels,” said Setuli. He struck his men once more and they +<span class="pageNum" id="pb17">[<a href="#pb17">17</a>]</span>all walked like ordinary human beings. While the Chief still stared in open-mouthed +wonder, he turned to the mountain-side and shouted, “Men, appear!” +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p017width" id="p017"><img src="images/p017.jpg" alt="“He turned to the mountain-side and shouted, ‘Men, appear!’”" width="500" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“He turned to the mountain-side and shouted, ‘Men, appear!’ ”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 17.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +<p>Instantly from top to bottom of the great hill stood line upon line of magnificent +warriors, clad in leopard skins and holding white shields. They lifted their right +hands and shouted “Bayeta!” so that the cry echoed like thunder from side to side +of the valley. +</p> +<p>Then Setuli shouted once more, “Men, disappear!” and at once the hillside was empty +and silent. +</p> +<p>“You see,” said Setuli, “I have men at my command whenever we need them.” +</p> +<p>“You shall certainly be our King,” cried all the people. So Setuli and his brother +and all the men and women who belonged to them stayed in the valley, and lived in +great peace and happiness all their lives long. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb18">[<a href="#pb18">18</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e516"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e516src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Sakobulas</i>—the Kafir name for the black birds just mentioned. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e516src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e522"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e522src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">2</a></span> <i>Rooibekkie</i>—Dutch for “red beak.” <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e522src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e528"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e528src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">3</a></span> <i>Mantsiane</i>—the Kafir name for the rooibekkie. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e528src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e559"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e559src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">4</a></span> <i>Assegais</i>—small light spears, of which natives usually carry several. An assegai can be thrown +as a dart or used like a spear at close quarters. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e559src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e575"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e575src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">5</a></span> <i>Mealies</i>—the name generally used in South Africa for Indian corn or maize. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e575src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch2" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e256">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">II</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE STORY OF THE KING’S SON AND THE MAGIC SONG</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Once upon a time there lived among the mountains a great King; and he had many cattle, +which he loved. Among them was a fairy ox, with horns which curled right across his +forehead, and with a voice like thunder; this ox led the herd, and at his call all +the cattle followed him. In the day-time they fed in the tall grass in the valley, +and at night they were brought home to the big kraal, round which were the huts of +the King and all his men, so that they might be safe from any harm. And the fence +of the kraal was strong and high, and the men watched so that no evil befell the cattle. +</p> +<p>Now the King loved the cattle so much that <span class="pageNum" id="pb19">[<a href="#pb19">19</a>]</span>he made one of his own sons herdsman. Every morning this boy took the cattle to graze +in the pasture, and at sunset he drove them back to the kraal. All day, in the hot +sunshine, he watched the herd to see that none strayed and were lost, and to take +care that no enemy came in to steal. And because the grass in summer grew tall, high +above his head, and thick, so that he could not see, he would climb on to one of the +great rocks that lay scattered about the valley. For the rocks were large, large as +a hut, and in the shadow beneath them it was cool and the little rock-ferns grew; +but on the top, where the sunlight fell, the little lizards lay and caught flies. +</p> +<p>Often the boy grew tired as he watched the herds, and longed to lie in the warm sun +and sleep; but he dared not, for he feared his father’s anger if he should lose him +an ox. +</p> +<p>But it happened one day that as he watched the cattle a Fairy appeared to him in the +shape of a very old woman. She came and talked to him, and he told her how he had +always watched lest the cattle strayed, and how he feared lest his father’s foes should +come and kill him and take the cattle. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb20">[<a href="#pb20">20</a>]</span></p> +<p>Then the Fairy pointed to a stone, smooth and large and round, like a hut that showed +up above the grass of the valley. The boy looked, for he had never seen the stone +before. “Come,” she said, “this is your stone. See, it is so smooth that no one can +keep his footing on it or climb it. But you shall be able. As you grow the stone will +grow, and from it you can watch all the valley, and no enemy will be able to hurt +you, for they could not climb it. But beware that you do not fall asleep on it, for +then all your cattle will be stolen.” +</p> +<p>She also taught him a magic song, “Come, cattle, come, all you cattle come to me,” +the melody of which was so enchanting that all cattle who heard it followed the singer. +Then the Fairy vanished away. +</p> +<p>So the boy became a splendid herdsman, and none of his cattle were lost, for every +evening he sang to them and they followed him to the kraal, and none strayed. Nor +could any be stolen, for on the rock he watched in safety. But at last one hot day +he fell asleep on the rock, and the enemy who were watching saw him sleeping, and +crept down from the hills and drove off all the cattle. When he woke up not <span class="pageNum" id="pb21">[<a href="#pb21">21</a>]</span>one head of cattle could he find. He sang “Come, cattle, come,” but it was in vain; +they did not hear him. He wandered about the valley looking and singing till the sun +began to set, and then in shame and fear went to the kraal alone. He went to his father +and told him all, but the old King was very angry and drove him from the kraal, saying, +“Never come back unless you bring my cattle with you.” +</p> +<p>So the poor boy wandered back sadly to the valley, and climbed upon the big stone +and lay there in the moonlight crying, for he had lost his cattle and he had lost +his home. And as he lay some one touched him, and he looked up and saw the old woman, +the Fairy, who had given him the stone and taught him the charm. “I know what has +happened,” she said; “you have slept, and what I foretold has come to pass—the cattle +are gone.” “And I am driven from the kraal till I find them,” he said, and cried again. +“Do not despair,” she said, “but go to the Chief who has your cattle and ask to be +his man.” +</p> +<p>So the boy rose, and all night long under the moon he travelled between the grey mountains, +up and down by little winding paths between <span class="pageNum" id="pb22">[<a href="#pb22">22</a>]</span>the grass and rocks, through the streams and bushes, till in the morning, when the +sun rose, he came to his enemy’s kraal, and within it he heard his father’s cattle. +</p> +<p>So he entered the kraal and went to the Chief and offered to be his man, and the Chief +made him herdsman of his own cattle. Every morning he took them out to pasture and +every evening he sang to them the magic song and brought them home, and none strayed +and were lost. Thus he served the Chief many years, till he was a man full grown. +And always he thought of his father’s kraal, and looked how he might take the cattle +and return. At last the chance came. The great festival of the first-fruits was at +hand. The women made the beer, placed the calabashes in a row outside the kraal, and +on the day appointed the men and women went out to gather the first ripe maize and +Kafir corn from the lands, and the children went to get wood for the cooking of the +feast, and no one was left in the kraal but an old woman and the King’s son, who was +in charge of the cattle. +</p> +<p>When all were gone he took some sango, the herb that intoxicates men and makes them +sleep, <span class="pageNum" id="pb23">[<a href="#pb23">23</a>]</span>and powdered it very fine. Then he went to the row of calabashes in which the beer +stood waiting for the evening’s feast, and put some into each calabash, and went away +and waited till all came back. +</p> +<p>When the Chief and his people returned there was great rejoicing. A hut of green boughs +was made for the Chief, in which he sat, and the first-fruits were all brought to +him, and a branch from each offering was tied to his arms or neck. Then his wise men +brought him a drink made of herbs and water from the sea, and gave it to all present +as a sign that the feast was to begin. Every one ate of the new corn and the fresh +nuts, and drank of the new beer. Only the King’s son drank none, and at last all fell +asleep; and when the evening came and the moon rose not a man or woman was left awake. +</p> +<p>Then the King’s son stood up and climbed on the wall of the cattle kraal, and sang +the magic song, “Come, cattle, come to me,” and opened the gate of the kraal. At once +the cattle rose up and walked straight past the huts and the sleeping men and out +into the country, following the King’s son; and as they went the fairy <span class="pageNum" id="pb24">[<a href="#pb24">24</a>]</span>ox with the crumpled horn bellowed loudly, and at his call all the cattle came from +the east and the west and the south,<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e665src" href="#xd33e665" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> and followed the King’s son. +</p> +<p>And he went towards his father’s kraal. +</p> +<p>When his enemies woke in the morning they could not find one head of cattle in their +kraal, nor yet in all the surrounding country. The old Chief felt sure when he heard +this that the King’s son had taken them away, and he bade all his men arm themselves +and follow the culprit. So his men gathered with their shields of ox-hide and their +assegais, and, finding the path of the oxen, followed it. It did not take them long +to overtake the King’s son, for the cattle moved slowly; and by the evening of the +second day they were in sight of the cattle, and rejoiced over the thought of their +capture. +</p> +<p>The King’s son, who saw his enemies moving on the mountains behind him, was in great +fear and knew not what to do, for the cattle could not travel fast. He led them down +the mountain along the banks of a little stream where the trees grew—tall thick thorns +with yellow flowers like <span class="pageNum" id="pb25">[<a href="#pb25">25</a>]</span>small pincushions, and wild figs with tiny fruit—and tall reeds covered the banks, +and from the trees the monkey ropes hung down to the rocks and water. And everywhere +grew the fern, and the clear water ran and raced between the stones, slipping from +pool to pool and playing with the leaves and rushes; and the bright flies hung over +it in the little ladders of sunlight slanting through the trees. And there the King’s +son hid his cattle amongst the bush, and sat in the grass under a big fig-tree to +think what he should do. +</p> +<p>But he could think of no way to save the cattle. And the evening drew on, and the +shadow rose over the creek<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e676src" href="#xd33e676" title="Go to note 2.">2</a> and crept up the mountain-side; and the frogs began to croak and the crickets to +sing, and everywhere was the humming of the gnats. And he sat under the fig-tree and +looked across the valley to the mountain where his enemies were; and he knew that +in the morning they would come and kill him and take his cattle. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb26">[<a href="#pb26">26</a>]</span></p> +<p>A bat flitted round him in the darkness, so near that he looked up, and there before +him he saw the Fairy. “Do not despair,” she said; “your task is nearly done. Obey +me and all shall be well. Go now and kill a white ox, skin it, and cut the hide into +ten thousand little white shields, and I will find you soldiers.” So he slew the ox +and skinned it and made of the hide ten thousand little white shields. +</p> +<p>Then the Fairy cried to the frogs who lived near the stream, sitting under all the +stones from the top of the hill to the bottom, and whose voices could be heard all +across the valley. “Frogs!” she cried, “will you take these shields and do as the +King’s son bids you?” And from all over the valley they cried, “We will!” So the King’s +son gave them the shields, and all night long he drilled them in the moonlight. When +he called “Woo-ooh,” they rose up, shouting, with their shields extended; and when +he cried “Boo-ooh,” they fell down and lay hidden. +</p> +<p>Before the dawn he placed them in a long line on the mountain-side where the enemy +would see them. +</p> +<p>As the first company of the enemy appeared <span class="pageNum" id="pb27">[<a href="#pb27">27</a>]</span>the frogs rose together, raised their shields, and croaked “Woo-ooh,” with a sound +like thunder; so great, indeed, was the sound that the enemy fell back to their Chief +in terror. “There is an impi<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e689src" href="#xd33e689" title="Go to note 3.">3</a> of many thousand men across the creek,” they said; “no one can stand against them.” +</p> +<p>The Chief then sent a larger company, but they returned with the same tale. +</p> +<p>Then he went himself with all his army; but when he saw the thousands of white shields +and heard the war-cry, fear seized his heart. “It is better to return without our +cattle than lose our lives,” he said, and ordered all to go back home again. +</p> +<p>So the King’s son was safe. He thanked the frogs, gathered his cattle together and +reached his father’s kraal. The King received him with great honour, gave him a Princess +for his wife, and made him Chief of all his sons; but every night the King’s son sang +his magic song as before, and kept the cattle in safety. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb28">[<a href="#pb28">28</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e665"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e665src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> This is the order in which Kafirs speak of the points of the compass. The north is +not mentioned in such expressions. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e665src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e676"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e676src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">2</a></span> <i>Creek.</i>—This word is used in the English-speaking districts of South Africa to denote a narrow +gorge in the mountains with a stream running down the middle. As a rule they are thickly +wooded and full of the most lovely ferns. In the Cape Colony they are called “kloofs.” <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e676src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e689"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e689src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">3</a></span> <i>Impi</i>—a regiment. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e689src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch3" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e266">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">III</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE STORY OF THE LITTLE BIRDS WHO LIVED IN A CAVE</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A ZULU NURSERY TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Once upon a time there was a big cave in a hillside, in which lived hundreds of little +birds. There were fathers and mothers and lots of little ones. Each had his little +kraal with a hut no bigger than your hand, and a fence all round beautifully woven +of tiny reeds. One day all the mothers went out to get food, and said to their little +ones, “Be very good and quiet, and make the huts clean and tidy while we hoe the lands.” +</p> +<p>Then they went out to see to their tiny fields in which they grew their food—little +mealies and tiny sugar-cane, pumpkins no larger than a nut, and nuts no bigger than +grass seeds. The little birds were very good; they swept <span class="pageNum" id="pb29">[<a href="#pb29">29</a>]</span>the huts out beautifully and tidied them up. Then they cleaned little shells ready +to cook the food, and got water in tiny leaves. When all was done they sat down and +waited for their parents to arrive. +</p> +<p>Suddenly a blackbird came to the door of the cave. He had a long sharp beak and very +long claws. He put his head in and cried, “Fir-r-r-r! Fir-r-r-r!” first to one side +and then to the other in a high clear voice. All the little birds put their heads +out of the tiny huts at once to see who the intruder might be. +</p> +<p>The big bird then said, “All you little birds must turn out at once. This cave belongs +to me.” +</p> +<p>At that the little birds were very angry. The boldest of them flew straight at the +blackbird to turn him out, but he was pecked right in the neck. A little stream of +blood appeared, as black as charcoal, and the little bird fell dead. +</p> +<p>Then the big bird attacked many others. He broke the leg of one, he picked out the +eyes of another, he broke the wing of a third. When he had frightened and scattered +them all he flew away. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb30">[<a href="#pb30">30</a>]</span></p> +<p>That evening the mother birds came home, but could not make out why the cave was so +silent. “What is wrong?” they said. “There is no twittering, no rustling of wings. +Something must have happened.” +</p> +<p>Great was their grief when they found one little bird dead and so many others crippled +and hurt. “Whoever has done all this?” they cried. Then the little birds told their +tale. +</p> +<p>“It was a wicked bird with black feathers and a long beak. There he is again at the +door.” +</p> +<p>The mothers turned round and flew in a body at the marauder. But he just cried “Fir-r-r-r! +Fir-r-r-r!” and flew straight up in the air far out of their reach. +</p> +<p>The next day the blackbird came and destroyed all their little lands. Not a blade +of mealies or sugar-cane remained. The mothers were in despair, and that evening they +said they must leave the cave and find a safer home elsewhere. +</p> +<p>Suddenly a tiny bird entered the cave, no bigger than your finger-nail. He cried “Tweet, +Tweet,” ever so sweetly, and flew straight to a <span class="pageNum" id="pb31">[<a href="#pb31">31</a>]</span>little bird who was only a hen. “You,” said he, “shall kill the blackbird.” +</p> +<p>Every one cried out that the little bird was not nearly strong enough. +</p> +<p>“You shall kill him,” said the tiny bird. “Fly straight at his head and pick out his +eyes. Then you can easily kill him.” +</p> +<p>The little hen took heart of grace and promised to be brave. +</p> +<p>Next morning the big bird, sure that this time the cave would soon be his, put his +head in at the door and called in his high wicked voice, “Fir-r-r-r! Fir-r-r-r!” +</p> +<p>Out flew the little hen straight at his head and picked out his eyes before he knew +what had happened. Then the fathers and mothers all threw themselves on him and in +a few minutes he was dead. +</p> +<p>After that all the families lived in much peace and happiness, and were never troubled +any more. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb32">[<a href="#pb32">32</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch4" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e276">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">IV</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE STORY OF THE SHINING PRINCESS</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A ’MSUTO STORY</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">In a green valley far away among the mountains there was once a most beautiful kraal. +The hut was bright green, finely thatched with grass, the floor within of red earth, +firm and beautifully polished. All the cooking-pots were of red clay, and stood in +good order round the walls, and with them were shining green calabashes full of milk +and cream. Fine green mats lay on the floor, save in one corner where there was a +little mat woven of mountain-grass the colour of gold. Round the hut was a high green +fence, also of exquisite neatness; indeed all was in perfect order, and no kraal was +kept like it in all the country round. +</p> +<p>For it was the home of a great Chief’s wife. Her husband had been dead many years, +and <span class="pageNum" id="pb33">[<a href="#pb33">33</a>]</span>had left her all alone in the world with one little girl named Maholia, who was only +three years old. The Queen had been a most beautiful woman in her day, and as the +little girl grew up she was just as lovely as her mother. The greatest care was taken +of her, and she was soon as good and obedient as she was charming. Her mother never +married again; indeed it would not have been fitting, as she had been a King’s wife. +She lived only for her child, and they loved one another dearly. Maholia was the envy +of every little girl in the country. Everything she had was the colour of the golden +moon, her necklaces, her bracelets, and the gold circle she wore round her neck. As +she grew up she became more and more noted for her beauty and charm; she was so lovely +that she dazzled the eyes of all beholders, and was known as the Shining Princess. +Time went on, and when she grew to womanhood many lovers came forward to ask her in +marriage. There was not a Chief’s son for many days’ journey who did not long to make +her his wife. But neither the Princess herself nor her mother cared for any of them, +nor would they hear of marriage. +</p> +<p>Then one day came an embassy from a very <span class="pageNum" id="pb34">[<a href="#pb34">34</a>]</span>powerful King. He was searching everywhere for a beautiful girl to be his son’s wife, +but though his wise men had travelled far and wide and many girls had been brought +to his kraal, not one had been found to his mind. He decided to seek yet farther afield, +and sent his chief Induna<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e748src" href="#xd33e748" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> with attendants in great state to see all the Princesses in far countries who were +famous for their beauty. After many months of travel the Induna began to hear talk +of the Shining Princess. He decided to visit her, though he feared to be disappointed +once more. But at the sight of the green kraal his hopes rose. At the door the Princess +met him. She was shining from head to foot in the bright sun. Round her neck were +thick bars of red-gold copper; copper and brass rings adorned her shapely arms from +wrist to elbow, and appeared again on her slender ankles, reaching almost to her knees. +Round her waist was a girdle of golden beads, twisted into a thick rope behind, and +in front hanging in a long, glistening fringe over her short apron of skin. This was +again embroidered in squares with gold and copper beads. Over her pretty shoulders +hung <span class="pageNum" id="pb35">[<a href="#pb35">35</a>]</span>her cloak, also embroidered in circles of gold and bordered with a wide band of shining +beads. Even her snuff-calabash was gold-coloured, of jackal-skin. Every movement was +full of grace, and her laughing lips and bright eyes showed the kindness of her heart. +</p> +<p>When the Induna saw this beautiful woman clad in gold and shining like the rising +moon, he said, “This is the Princess I have been seeking! This is indeed the wife +for our great King’s son!” +</p> +<p>He begged to see Maholia’s mother, and formally demanded the hand of her daughter. +Many days passed in discussion. The Queen was loth to part with her child, but the +Induna talked so wisely of his master’s power and riches, and the bravery and wisdom +of the bridegroom, that she at last consented. The embassy then returned home to the +King, and told him with great joy of the beauty and goodness of the Shining Princess. +The King bade his Chief rest while he gathered together the marriage-gift of cattle +for the Queen-mother. These consisted of one hundred beautiful animals, at the head +of which marched a fairy ox. He was magnificent, the King’s great pride, but he was +considered <span class="pageNum" id="pb36">[<a href="#pb36">36</a>]</span>only due payment for so fair a Princess. He was black as charcoal, save for two long +white horns, and between his shoulders burned a steady light, which illumined his +path by night and gave him magic power. +</p> +<p>When all was ready the wedding-party set out to fetch the bride and deliver the tribute +due to her mother. The Queen was delighted with the cattle, and especially with the +fairy ox. +</p> +<p>“Here,” said she to her daughter, “take this ox with you. He is my present to you; +your journey will be long and you will often be glad to ride him.” +</p> +<p>Then she turned to the King’s men and said, “Do not leave my daughter alone. I am +afraid of what may happen to her. If you leave her, I shall know at once, for the +corner in which she has always sat at home will crumble away.” +</p> +<p>The wedding-party promised faithfully to guard Maholia with every care. The Princess +and her mother parted with bitter tears, and she and her attendant maids set forth +with the King’s men. +</p> +<p>For two days all went well. But on the third day the men came upon hundreds of buck +<span class="pageNum" id="pb37">[<a href="#pb37">37</a>]</span>of every kind, large and small, and behind these appeared great herds of elephant +and giraffe. The country was full of game. The King’s men could not resist the temptation, +and started off to hunt; such abundance they had never seen in their lives before. +In the end even the girls joined their party, and all were soon in hot pursuit. The +Shining Princess was left all alone seated on an ant-heap, the fairy ox by her side. +That very moment, as her mother sat in the hut thinking anxiously of her absent child, +the corner on which the golden mat had lain cracked from end to end and crumbled away. +</p> +<p>In the meantime the wedding-party went on gaily hunting; the farther they went the +more fresh buck appeared. They forgot all about the bride and continued the chase +for days. The poor bride sat alone till she was discovered by a party of cannibals, +who seized her and carried her away. They endeavoured also to secure the fairy ox, +but he gave one great leap into the air out of the midst of the enemy, and flew like +the wind to the Princess’s mother. +</p> +<p>The poor Queen met him at the kraal gate, for well she knew some evil had befallen +her <span class="pageNum" id="pb38">[<a href="#pb38">38</a>]</span>daughter. The great ox stood still while she knelt before him and heard his tale. +</p> +<p>“But where is she now?” cried the Queen; “where have they taken her?” +</p> +<p>“That is all I know,” said the ox. “The cannibals took her, and so I came with all +speed to you. But do not despair; all will yet be well.” +</p> +<p>Meanwhile the King and his son waited and waited for the expected bride. Weeks and +months passed by, and they began to fear some great calamity. Then, one by one, their +men straggled in. They told their story in great shame; they had left the Princess +and forgotten her. They could not find her again, though they had travelled far and +wide. The King had them all put to death. Then he called his Chiefs together and asked +their advice. They all decided that the bridegroom himself must go with a body of +picked men and search for the bride in her mother’s home. +</p> +<p>The Queen received them with much joy, but her grief was great when she heard they +knew nothing of her daughter. She told them of the return of the fairy ox and all +his tale. +</p> +<p>“Be of good cheer,” said the Prince. “I <span class="pageNum" id="pb39">[<a href="#pb39">39</a>]</span>will take the fairy ox myself and will never return till I can bring your daughter +with me.” +</p> +<p>Then the Prince took the ox and set forth on his journey. He travelled for weeks and +months, but no trace of the Princess could he find. One day he came to a marula-tree +covered with shining yellow fruit. +</p> +<p>“This would be good to make cider,” said the Prince. “I will eat some.” +</p> +<p>He had scarcely eaten a few berries when a deep voice came out of the tree. +</p> +<p>“What do you want?” it asked. +</p> +<p>“I seek for the Shining Princess,” said the Prince. “Am I on the right way?” +</p> +<p>“Go on,” said the marula, “till you come to the big fig-tree.” +</p> +<p>The Prince journeyed yet farther among country overgrown with bush, till by the side +of a stream he came to an immense tree covered with little red figs. They even grew +on the roots, and its leaves were so thick that no sun could pierce them. He sat down +in its deep shade and said, “I seek the Shining Princess. Am I on the right way?” +</p> +<p>“Go on,” said the fig-tree, “till you come to <span class="pageNum" id="pb40">[<a href="#pb40">40</a>]</span>a big river. Beyond it lies a great forest, and in that forest you will find the Princess.” +</p> +<p>The Prince started forth full of joy, and followed the course of the stream. The next +day he found himself in full view of a deep river; it was in flood, and so wide that +he could not hope to cross it. +</p> +<p>“Climb on my back,” said the fairy ox; “I will carry you over.” +</p> +<p>The Prince did as he was told, and the ox plunged into the water, swam across, and +then flew like the wind over a huge plain. In the far distance they saw the forest. +Every hour it grew larger, till at last they reached its outskirts, when the Prince +found the trees were taller and thicker than any he had ever seen. He could find no +path at all, and the trees met over his head so that only a dim light filtered through. +High ferns grew on every side, and here and there he crossed tiny streams fringed +with maidenhair. He wandered on for hours without so much as seeing the sun, always +hoping to find some open glade. At last, far away, he saw a shining pool of water. +So he went forward, guided by the distant shimmer through the trees. As he drew nearer +he saw that the pool was <span class="pageNum" id="pb41">[<a href="#pb41">41</a>]</span>surrounded by reeds. One tall reed stood quivering in the middle. The gleam of the +water grew yet brighter and more golden, till, as he burst through the last thicket, +he found it was no pool at all, but the Shining Princess herself seated in a circle +of tall grass. +</p> +<p>The Prince hailed her with delight, for never had he hoped to find such beauty. As +for Maholia, she knew at once that this was her lover; no one else could have shown +such skill and bravery. Besides, the fairy ox was there once more, the light between +his shoulders burning bright with joy. +</p> +<p>There they sat for hours among the fern, telling one another of all their wanderings. +Maholia, it seemed, had been taken by the cannibals to the edge of the great forest, +for they were travelling towards the country of their King, which lay in that direction. +One dark night she escaped them and had lived ever since in the midst of the great +bush. When she had told her tale, the Prince had to relate his adventures, and then +he told the Princess how beautiful she was, and how well worth every danger. And that +she wanted to hear over and over again. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb42">[<a href="#pb42">42</a>]</span></p> +<p>Indeed, they might never have left the forest had not the Princess suddenly remembered +her mother and her long anxiety. +</p> +<p>“But how am I to take you home?” said the Prince. “I cannot hide you, and every one +will envy me such a beautiful woman, and try to steal you from me.” +</p> +<p>“I can help you,” said the ox, nuzzling the bride affectionately. “I will change the +Princess into an ugly old man. No one will know her then, and we will travel like +the wind.” +</p> +<p>Straightway the Princess became a little old man. She and the Prince mounted on the +back of the fairy ox, and they all flew together over forest, river, and mountain +for seven days, till they reached the very door of her mother’s home. +</p> +<p>Then at last all was safely over. The Shining Princess became a bride, and she and +her husband went to their own kingdom. They reigned in great peace and happiness, +and the fairy ox was their devoted follower and adviser all the days of his life. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb43">[<a href="#pb43">43</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e748"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e748src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Induna</i>—a head man or leader under the command of a chief. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e748src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch5" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e286">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">V</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE RABBIT PRINCE</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SHANGANI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Many, many years ago there lived a Rabbit and a Duyker who were great friends. The +Rabbit was cunning and wise beyond all animals; the Duyker was just an innocent little +antelope, who was fond of men, and so never went far from a kraal. +</p> +<p>One day the Rabbit said to the Duyker, “Why shouldn’t we have lands and grow our own +mealies and calabashes, just like the men who live in yonder kraal? I know where there +is good ground.” +</p> +<p>The Duyker agreed at once, and the two friends had soon chosen their patch of land. +They then hoed it well and set their mealies, their calabashes, and their ground-nuts, +just as they had seen them done by the wives of the <span class="pageNum" id="pb44">[<a href="#pb44">44</a>]</span>neighbouring Chief. The Duyker had the biggest patch, and his mealies were wonderfully +tall and fine. When autumn drew near the Rabbit took a bag every day and went to get +corn and nuts. But he never got them from his own field, for that still remained untouched. +One day the Duyker went to see how his crops were getting on, and found a great part +of them gone. He instantly suspected the Rabbit, and accused him of stealing. +</p> +<p>The Rabbit denied the accusation at once with great indignation, and said, “I have +not touched your lands. The King of Kings has done it, and you will never catch the +thief.” +</p> +<p>“Then where do you get your mealies? They do not come from your own lands.” +</p> +<p>“What do you suppose we live near a kraal for?” said the Rabbit cheerfully. “I eat +the Chief’s mealies.” +</p> +<p>The Duyker was much puzzled, especially when he found only a day later that his crops +had been attacked again. “I shall soon have nothing left,” said he to the Rabbit. +“Do think of something I can do.” +</p> +<p>“Let us make a trap,” said the Rabbit. “Perhaps we may catch the thief after all.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb45">[<a href="#pb45">45</a>]</span></p> +<p>He took some hairs out of a horse’s tail and tied the whole length in a succession +of slip-knots. Then he laid it on the ground, fixed it with tiny sticks, and sprinkled +earth all over, so that no one could see the line. Then a few mealies were scattered +about lightly, so that birds might be tempted to scratch and entangle their feet in +the knots, which would tighten at once when they struggled to free themselves. +</p> +<p>Next morning the Rabbit and the Duyker went together to the mealie-patch to examine +the trap. To their great joy they found a most beautiful bird held tight by the fine +black threads. It had very long wings, and was beating them ineffectually in great +distress. The Rabbit seized the knots with his teeth, while the Duyker held the bird; +but it was too quick for them. As soon as it felt the knots were loose it slipped +away from the Duyker with one stroke of its powerful wings, and soared high up into +the clouds. +</p> +<p>“Never mind,” said the Rabbit; “we will set the trap again to-night.” +</p> +<p>The next day they found the beautiful bird again caught in the long line of knots. +She was not alone, but had with her a great swarm of <span class="pageNum" id="pb46">[<a href="#pb46">46</a>]</span>birds as beautiful as herself. They circled round and round, watching the Rabbit and +the Duyker as they took the culprit and began to untie the knots. This time they were +more careful, and their prey had no chance of escape. They carried her to their hut +before removing the slip-knots, and examined her very carefully. She was very handsome, +but the most remarkable thing about her was a very long feather which was in one wing +only. The wise Rabbit instantly guessed that this was the source of her strength. +He pulled it out, but to his astonishment the bird at once disappeared, and a beautiful +Princess stood before him. He instantly hid the feather, and asked the Princess to +remain in the hut. He would treat her well and bring her food every day. +</p> +<p>So the Princess stayed in the hut, for now that she had lost her feather she could +no longer go back to her home in the clouds. The birds flew to the door of the hut +every day and asked her when she was coming home again. +</p> +<p>“Have patience,” said the Princess. “I will return in good time.” +</p> +<p>“Where is your long feather?” asked the birds. “Have you lost it?” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb47">[<a href="#pb47">47</a>]</span></p> +<p>“It is quite safe,” said the Princess; “the Rabbit has put it away.” +</p> +<p>The Princess lived thus for many days. The more she saw of the Rabbit the more she +admired his wisdom and cunning. “What a pity,” thought she, “that he is only a Rabbit! +No Chief can compare with him in the whole of my father’s dominions.” And as she was +a Fairy and had magic power, she determined he should be a Rabbit no longer. +</p> +<p>One day when the Princess and the Rabbit were alone he said to her, “Do you know who +took your feather?” +</p> +<p>“Yes,” said the Princess, “you took it.” +</p> +<p>“You are quite right,” said the Rabbit; “do you know where I put it?” +</p> +<p>“No,” said the Princess, “but I am quite sure it is safe with you. Please keep it, +but just let me see it for one moment.” +</p> +<p>The Rabbit could not resist her, she was so beautiful; so he fetched the feather. +The Princess took it in her hand but did not attempt to fly away. She just laughed +and threw it at the Rabbit. +</p> +<p>Instantly he became a handsome Prince, to the Princess’s great joy. The Rabbit Prince +<span class="pageNum" id="pb48">[<a href="#pb48">48</a>]</span>himself saw that this made a great change in his prospects. He could now woo the Princess +as an equal, but he had no lands to give her. Suddenly he remembered the beautiful +plot of ground which belonged to the Duyker. “I am a man now,” said the Rabbit. “I +will kill the Duyker and give his lands to the Princess.” He lay in wait, slew the +little antelope, and brought it home to the hut. They had buck that night for supper, +and as they sat eating he said to the Princess, “Come, will you marry me?” +</p> +<p>The Princess said, “Yes, I will indeed. But let us keep it secret. These birds who +come from my home must never hear of it, for my parents would never allow me to marry +a man from the earth.” +</p> +<p>In the meantime the birds got tired of waiting for the Princess, and said to one another, +“It is all the fault of the Rabbit Prince. We must kill him or the Princess will never +see home again.” They sought counsel with the Mouse and the Woodpecker, who were reckoned +the wisest magicians in the country, and lived near at hand. They told of a safe poison +to put in the Prince’s food. But the Princess knew her people well, and warned the +Prince in good time. <span class="pageNum" id="pb49">[<a href="#pb49">49</a>]</span>He ate nothing, and escaped in safety. The Mouse and the Woodpecker in the meantime +became so fond of him they soon refused to do him any harm, and made their home close +to his hut, so that they might see him every day. +</p> +<p>But there came a time when the Princess longed to go home again. She said to the Prince, +“Would you like to see my father and mother?” +</p> +<p>“Very much,” said the Prince. “Where are they?” +</p> +<p>“They live in the sky,” said the Princess. “Go and fetch me the feather once more.” +</p> +<p>The Rabbit Prince brought the feather again, and gave it to the Princess. She set +the feather on the ground. It instantly began to grow and became taller and taller, +till at last it reached the very clouds. +</p> +<p>Then they began to climb up. The Prince and Princess went first, and the Mouse and +the Woodpecker followed, for they said they must be with the Prince, to protect him +in case of harm. They climbed and climbed till they were above the clouds. There they +came to the mouth of an enormous cave, but it was shut by a great <span class="pageNum" id="pb50">[<a href="#pb50">50</a>]</span>big stone. The Princess was in despair. “How ever can we roll this aside?” she cried. +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p049width" id="p049"><img src="images/p049.jpg" alt="“They climbed and climbed till they were above the clouds.”" width="497" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“They climbed and climbed till they were above the clouds.”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 49.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +<p>“There is nothing I cannot nibble through,” said the Mouse. “Let me try for a few +minutes.” +</p> +<p>He nibbled hard at the corner of the stone, but had to come back, for he had made +no impression whatever. +</p> +<p>Then the Woodpecker stepped forward. “Let me try,” said she. “I make my little nest +in wood; the crevice my beak cannot enter has yet to be made.” She tapped carefully +all round the edge of the great stone, and suddenly cried: “This is the way to do +it.” She had found a tiny swivel on one side of the stone, no longer than your finger. +This she pulled, and the stone rolled back and the cave stood open. +</p> +<p>The Prince was just about to lead his bride in when a huge monster appeared. On his +head were two horns, and on each horn was the head of a human being. He had eyes all +over his body from head to foot, and every eye glared at the Prince with a green light. +But the Princess just drew out the long feather once more and dug it right into his +face; and he vanished away like smoke. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb51">[<a href="#pb51">51</a>]</span></p> +<p>“Now,” said she, “we can go forward safely.” They walked through the cave and at the +other end found an opening, which looked out on just such another world as ours. There +were wide green valleys and flowing streams, and in front was a big kraal with beautifully +woven huts. This was the Princess’s home, and she ran towards it joyfully. Her father +and mother appeared in human form to greet her, and all her friends, whom the Prince +had only seen as birds, crowded round her as men and women, each more full of rejoicing +than the other. +</p> +<p>“But where did you get this man you have brought with you?” asked her father when +the first greetings were over. +</p> +<p>“I have stolen him from below,” said the Princess, laughing merrily. +</p> +<p>Her father frowned; he had never had anything to do with the inhabitants of earth, +and was very angry at the idea of any intercourse with them. When the Princess explained +that the Rabbit Prince was her chosen husband, her parents and all her friends were +much annoyed, and said that they could never hear of any such marriage. The Princess +still pleaded hard for her lover; she told her parents of his wisdom <span class="pageNum" id="pb52">[<a href="#pb52">52</a>]</span>and power, and said that no girl ever had so clever or so noble a husband; but the +old Chief simply replied that no daughter of the clouds had ever married a man from +the earth. The Prince must be sent back home. +</p> +<p>But as the Princess still clung to the Prince and refused to dismiss him, her people +decided that he must be killed. A big feast of welcome was arranged, and many days +were spent in preparation. The Mouse was never far from the cooking-pots, and ran +in and out all day, picking up savoury morsels. No one saw him, but nothing escaped +his little black eyes. On the morning of the feast-day he saw all the food set out +in dishes ready for the guests. The Prince’s portion was placed in two little black +pots and decorated with green leaves. When no one was looking, a strangely-dressed +old woman came up, a witch for certain, and powdered it with some curious stuff, but +touched no other pot. +</p> +<p>Just as the feast was about to open the Mouse crept up to the Prince, ran up his back +and whispered in his ear: “Eat none of the food prepared for you; drink the beer—that +is the only safe thing.” +</p> +<p>The Prince obeyed, and thus escaped the first <span class="pageNum" id="pb53">[<a href="#pb53">53</a>]</span>danger. But the people of the clouds, much disappointed, assembled all their greatest +magicians and made fresh plans. “We will arrange a hailstorm,” said these wise men. +“Let the Prince go out on the great plains to-morrow. We will see he does not come +back alive.” +</p> +<p>Next morning the King of the Sky sent the Rabbit Prince on a journey to another kraal +across a wide plain. When he had travelled some three hours and was many miles from +any shelter, great clouds appeared on the horizon. They were of the deepest blue-black, +and every minute they spread farther, till the sun was blotted out. And then far away +came a distant continuous rumble of thunder. It never ceased for a moment; the sound +was ever sharper and more threatening, and grew closer and closer. “That is not thunder,” +said the Prince; “it is hail, and there is no shelter for miles. I shall never see +the Princess again.” +</p> +<p>“Do not fear,” said a voice at his ear, and he turned and saw the Woodpecker. “Lie +down on the ground. I will protect your head, for I also am a magician.” +</p> +<p>So the Prince lay down, and the little Woodpecker spread out her wings and hovered +over <span class="pageNum" id="pb54">[<a href="#pb54">54</a>]</span>his head. One great hailstone came as if shot from a gun, then another and another, +and then they came in hundreds and thousands, large as fowls’ eggs, jagged and icy-cold, +with a sound like the roar of many torrents over endless precipices. Such a storm +had never been known in cloudland. +</p> +<p>When the Prince returned unhurt and cheerful his enemies were dumbfounded and more +enraged than ever. But they still persevered. They held a big indaba<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e903src" href="#xd33e903" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> under a shady tree, attended by their chief men and all their magicians. A royal +hunt was arranged to last for many days. During their absence from the kraal the Prince +was to be killed by an assegai, as it were by an accident, for none wanted the Princess +to think her husband had been murdered. This time they thought they could not fail, +for they would be sure to have numberless opportunities in the heat of the chase. +But the Woodpecker sat unseen in the boughs of the tree and heard everything. She +was a wise bird and a great magician, and the instant she understood she flew to the +empty hut of the first wizard of cloudland and there made a charm. She took <span class="pageNum" id="pb55">[<a href="#pb55">55</a>]</span>the fat of the mamba, the most deadly of all snakes, the fat of the python, who is +the biggest of snakes, and the skin round the lungs of the tiger. These she mixed +together and placed in three little bags of python-skin, such as could easily be hidden. +Then she flew straight to the Rabbit Prince with the bags in her mouth. +</p> +<p>“Take these,” said she, “and wear them always. New dangers threaten you.” +</p> +<p>The Prince obeyed and went gaily to the hunt. He was away for many days, and every +day some Chief attempted his life, but all the assegais fell back powerless. The charms +had rendered him invulnerable. +</p> +<p>He returned home safe and sound, but that evening he told the Princess it was useless +to struggle any longer. Her people would never rest till they had killed him. +</p> +<p>The Princess listened in sorrow. Then she said, “You are quite right. I had hoped +they would see in time how clever and brave you are, but it is no use. We must steal +away quickly to earth to-night, and seek our fortune below. Call the Mouse and the +Woodpecker while I make the ladder ready.” +</p> +<p>The Princess drew out the magic feather and <span class="pageNum" id="pb56">[<a href="#pb56">56</a>]</span>held it point downwards towards the earth. It at once began to grow, and in a few +minutes the point rested close to the Rabbit Prince’s hut. Then the four friends climbed +down and left the land of clouds for ever. +</p> +<p>Next morning they held a council. “Something must be done to find men to serve under +us,” said the Prince. “I want a kingdom and cattle for the Princess; she cannot live +in a hut alone.” +</p> +<p>“Those three little bags will do all you want,” said the Woodpecker. “You have only +to wish and everything will be given you.” +</p> +<p>“Then,” said the Prince, “let me have beautiful huts, strong willing maids to wait +on the Princess, and a wise woman to advise her.” +</p> +<p>Straightway there appeared the most perfect huts you can imagine, filled with everything +they could want. Thirty strong cheerful girls stood before them, and a dear old Queen, +who knew everything a wise woman should, and had the kindest heart in the world. +</p> +<p>Then the Rabbit Prince felt his wife would be safe and well cared for, so he left +her under the special protection of the Woodpecker, and he <span class="pageNum" id="pb57">[<a href="#pb57">57</a>]</span>and the Mouse went forth to seek soldiers and cattle. +</p> +<p>Nor did they seek in vain. They soon heard of a mighty King who possessed warriors +and cattle in thousands. By the power of the little bags the Prince overcame him and +took all his warriors and cattle back to the Princess. +</p> +<p>Then he established a great kingdom, and to reward his two friends he made the Mouse +a Prince and the Woodpecker a Princess. He gave the Mouse soldiers and sent him forth +to conquer. I am afraid I have forgotten the adventures of the Mouse. All I know is +that he became a great Chief, and that to this day both he and his wife are devoted +to the Rabbit Prince. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb58">[<a href="#pb58">58</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e903"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e903src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Indaba</i>—a conference or council. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e903src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch6" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e296">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">VI</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE UNNATURAL MOTHER</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Many, many years ago there lived a bride and bridegroom. Now among the Kafir people +a newly-wedded pair always spend their first year with the bridegroom’s mother, for +there are many important ceremonies to be completed before the bride can be given +a home of her own. +</p> +<p>So the bride and bridegroom lived in a little hut close to the hut of the old mother. +Every day they all went out to hoe their land, on which they grew maize, sugar-cane, +pumpkins, and calabashes. The calabashes are good to eat when they are green, and +when they are ripe the skin becomes quite hard, and they make beautiful drinking-vessels. +The mother worked at her patch, and the young people at a <span class="pageNum" id="pb59">[<a href="#pb59">59</a>]</span>separate one of their own. And every day before they started the young wife made beautiful +food for her husband, and left it in the hut ready for his return from work, when +he would be hungry. There was green mealie-porridge flavoured with the juice of sugar-cane, +young calabash and spinach, all set out neatly in brown clay pots, and cool native +beer in a big calabash. All was made ready for the evening, when they would return +and her husband would be hungry. But the old mother saw the beautiful food and longed +to have it. So when the young people were hard at work on their patch she took off +her kilt of black ox-skins and hung it on the handle of her pick. Then she said to +the pick, “Pick, go on working till I return.” This the pick obediently did, and thus +whenever the son looked towards his mother’s patch some one appeared to be working +there. +</p> +<p>When all seemed in good order the old mother ran away back to her son’s hut, entered +in and put on his beautiful kilt of jackal and cat-skins, and all his bead ornaments, +which the bride had made for him. She took, too, his long staff carved at the head, +such as no woman uses, and hung with tails of many animals. In this way <span class="pageNum" id="pb60">[<a href="#pb60">60</a>]</span>she deceived all who passed, and sat down to her meal, singing a gleeful little song +to herself:— +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“I am the bridegroom, +</p> +<p class="line">I wear the bridegroom’s clothes, +</p> +<p class="line">All his beautiful food is for me.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">Then she sat down and ate up everything. When she had finished she went back to her +mealie-patch and hoed busily till it was time to go home. The bride was dreadfully +disappointed when she found all the beautiful food gone which she had made for her +husband, for she was anxious to show him how clever a cook she was, and so to win +the praises of all his family. +</p> +<p>So the next day she tried again, and did yet better. But in the evening the food had +disappeared once more. This happened several days in succession. So at last the bride +and bridegroom consulted together, for no one knew who the thief was. +</p> +<p>“I have a plan,” said the bridegroom. “To-morrow morning you will make the food as +usual, and we will start out together very early and say we are going to be out all +day. Then in an hour or two I will come back secretly and watch by the hut. In that +way I shall be sure to catch the thief.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb61">[<a href="#pb61">61</a>]</span></p> +<p>So the next morning the bridegroom returned secretly and sat near his hut to see what +would happen. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw his own mother come running +back from the field. When he saw her enter the hut, put on his dress, and begin to +eat his food, his horror was such that he could hardly speak. He rose immediately, +went into the hut, and accused her of being the thief. +</p> +<p>“Alas, it is true,” moaned the old mother. “The food was good, and I was tempted. +What can I do to be forgiven?” +</p> +<p>“For this crime,” said the son, “you deserve to die, for you have sinned against nature. +But I will not kill you. Only you must go far away from here and travel into strange +countries, and you must never come back till you have found the water in which there +are no frogs, no fishes, and no animals of any kind. When you have found it, fill +this calabash with it and bring it back to me.” +</p> +<p>So the mother took the calabash and set forth on her journey. She walked for many +days over dry and barren country. At last she came to a beautiful clear pool. She +went down to the edge of the water and struck it with her staff, crying <span class="pageNum" id="pb62">[<a href="#pb62">62</a>]</span>out, “I have been bidden by my son to find water in which there are no frogs, no fish, +and no animals of any kind.” +</p> +<p>Instantly she heard a loud croaking all round the pool, and hundreds of frogs came +out to look at her. So then she knew that this was not the promised water. She took +up her staff and calabash and journeyed on once more. +</p> +<p>And after many more days she came to another pool. This was beautifully clear, and +shone bright blue, like the sky itself. But directly she came to the edge and struck +it with her staff, hundreds of little silver fishes put their heads out and told her +this was not the pool she was seeking. +</p> +<p>Then she was very sad, and thought she would never see home any more. But she took +up her calabash and started again. And after many days of travel in a dry sandy country +she came to a big forest. Here the trees were very tall, with big glossy green leaves, +and underneath were thick bushes all covered with thorns. But the forest was full +of little paths, which crossed and recrossed one another, and up and down them passed +all kinds of animals. On one side of the forest lay a mountain, and towards this <span class="pageNum" id="pb63">[<a href="#pb63">63</a>]</span>she journeyed. After a long tramp through the bush she reached its foot. There at +last she saw the most beautiful water. It fell in a cascade right down the mountain-side, +and it glittered like the moon. Below it formed a pool clear as crystal, and when +the old mother struck it with her staff there was no sound or ripple. +</p> +<p>Then she knew she had reached her journey’s end. So she sat down to rest under a big +tree close to the pool, and took snuff. Then she began to observe the animals who +went and came busily by many paths. Presently they approached and sniffed at her, +and at last they said, “Do you know where you are? This forest and this water belong +to a great King. He allows no one even to set foot in it, and if he finds you here +you will die.” +</p> +<p>Then the old mother tried to rise and get away quickly. But she found she could not +do it. While she had been sitting down the limbs of the tree had grown round her and +held her fast. She knew then nothing could save her, and burst into tears. +</p> +<p>In the meantime the animals consulted together as to what could be done for the old +woman. The Lion, their King, was absent in <span class="pageNum" id="pb64">[<a href="#pb64">64</a>]</span>the depths of the forest, so the Elephant spoke first. +</p> +<p>“We must choose wisely,” said he, “for she may help us all. Let the Giraffe protect +her; his neck is so long that he can see through the trees easily.” +</p> +<p>But the Giraffe refused, and suggested that the Tiger was better. He was so strong +and his claws so sharp that no one under his care would be touched. +</p> +<p>“That is quite true at night,” said the Tiger, “but in the day I sit with my eyes +half-closed and see nothing. No! let the Rabbit be sent; his eyes are large and bright, +and no one in all the forest is half so clever as he.” +</p> +<p>The Rabbit consented, and went up to the old mother, saying, “Dear old mother, why +are you crying?” +</p> +<p>“I am crying,” she answered, “because I shall never see my home again. I stole my +child’s food, and can never be forgiven till I have found water in which are no frogs, +no fish, and no animals of any kind. Here I have found the water, but the tree has +grown round me and I cannot move.” +</p> +<p>“I will help you,” said the Rabbit. He set <span class="pageNum" id="pb65">[<a href="#pb65">65</a>]</span>to work at once with his pretty little teeth, and soon he had nibbled through the +branches which grew round her, and she stood upright again. Then he filled her calabash +from the pool and said, “Get out of the forest as fast as ever you can, before the +King sees you, and go straight home. Do not stop to thank me; your escape will bring +us great good fortune.” +</p> +<p>The old mother took the water and hastened away. After many days she reached home, +and gave the water to her son. At that very moment the forest behind her disappeared, +and all the animals in it. Instead appeared a big, big town full of people. All the +little paths became winding streets, and the trees became beautiful round huts, woven +with great skill. The animals became men and women, who lived happily together in +peace and plenty. Many years before a wicked enchanter had bewitched them, and they +had been freed by the old mother who had carried the water to her son. +</p> +<p>As for her, she was forgiven, and awarded every honour in her own home. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb66">[<a href="#pb66">66</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch7" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e306">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">VII</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE THREE LITTLE EGGS</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">It was very early morning in mid-winter. The sun was just rising over the great plains +in a silver haze which melted into pale gold as the wide stretches of veld came into +view, burnt dry with the summer heats. The rains had long ago been over. The sun shone +every day and all day, with a pleasant temperate heat in a clear heaven. The whole +country appeared golden, save where the water-courses ran, and a few great evergreen +trees stood up in vivid contrast to the bleached summer grasses. +</p> +<p>By the side of a great fig-tree there was one poor little hut surrounded by a plaited +fence. Close to it was a little patch of cultivated ground, where a few dried mealie-stalks +were still standing. The air was very cold and raw, <span class="pageNum" id="pb67">[<a href="#pb67">67</a>]</span>and chilled you through and through, but the sun had barely touched the top of the +great tree when a woman came out hurriedly from the hut and passed through the kraal +gate. You could see she was a married woman by her full kilt of black ox-skins and +her curious peaked headdress. Besides, she carried on her back the dearest little +baby girl, wrapt in a goat-skin and half asleep, and by her side ran a merry little +boy. The mother herself was still young and pretty, but her face was worn and thin, +and if you had looked close you would have seen that her arms were covered with scars +and burns, as if she had been badly used. +</p> +<p>She stood for a few minutes and looked first towards the wide plains. Then she turned +to the other side, where great hills rose up, ruddy and golden in the early sun. She +seemed to hesitate; then she turned to the mountains, and was soon on a tiny pathway, +which led by many windings to a wooded gorge hundreds of feet above the plains. She +did not sing as she went, and often cast frightened looks behind her. But no one followed, +and after a time, as the hut disappeared from view and the sun made all things warm +and pleasant, she <span class="pageNum" id="pb68">[<a href="#pb68">68</a>]</span>grew less anxious and went on her way more quietly. +</p> +<p>For she was running away from her husband. She had been married now four years, and +every year he had been more unkind. He not only worked her very hard, and gave her +scarcely anything to eat, but also often beat her, and had even branded her with hot +irons till she screamed with pain. She was good and obedient, and tried hard to please +him, but he only became more and more cruel to her and her children. Two days before +he had gone off to a big dance in a far-away kraal. The poor woman so dreaded his +return that she decided to run away and beg her living as best she could. She knew +there were great Chiefs on the other side of the mountains, and big cities; she was +a good worker, doubtless they would give her food. +</p> +<p>She walked on and on, and the baby girl woke up and began to laugh and play. They +were now following the course of a stream, but only a tiny trickle of water remained, +and the ferns were withered, and the thick bushes dry and leafless. All at once the +mother saw a fluffy white nest hanging on a long bough. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb69">[<a href="#pb69">69</a>]</span></p> +<p>“How pretty!” said she. “That will be the very thing to amuse baby.” +</p> +<p>She went to the bough and detached the soft white nest, while her little son looked +on with much interest. To her great surprise, for it was yet many months to spring-time, +she found it contained three little eggs. +</p> +<p>“Hold it fast,” said she to her little one, “and do not smash the little eggs on any +account.” +</p> +<p>Then she journeyed on once more. The sun was sinking fast, and the air grew colder +and colder, for on the hill-tops there is sharp frost every night. No hut was in sight, +though they were now on more level ground, and the poor mother had no covering but +her one goat-skin, and no food. “Where shall I rest to-night?” said she to herself. +“There is nothing to be seen but the open country.” +</p> +<p>Then she heard a tiny voice at her ear, “Take the road to the right; it will lead +you to a safe place.” +</p> +<p>She turned and looked, and found it was one of the little eggs in the fluffy white +nest. In very truth she saw there was a tiny pathway to the right, which she had not +noticed before. She <span class="pageNum" id="pb70">[<a href="#pb70">70</a>]</span>took it at once, and just as the sun disappeared and the white frost began to show, +she found a beautiful hut under the side of a great rock. No one seemed to live there, +but it was warm and cosy, and all ready for her use. Beautiful karosses<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1017src" href="#xd33e1017" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> of ox-skin and goat-skin hung on the walls; food was there all ready prepared in +little red pots, crushed mealies and monkey-nuts; and in the calabashes was abundance +of delicious thick milk.<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1021src" href="#xd33e1021" title="Go to note 2.">2</a> The little boy and baby girl cried with delight, and you can imagine how pleased +the poor mother was. The little nest was first carefully laid aside. Then both mother +and children ate a good meal, for they were very hungry. The little boy fell asleep +at once, covered with the warm skins, but his sister cried and would not lie down +quietly. So her mother tied her on her back once more and sang the Kafir cradle-song, +which is as pretty a thing as you will hear. She swung gently to and fro, moving her +arms as well in time to the low chant:— +<span class="pageNum" id="pb71">[<a href="#pb71">71</a>]</span></p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<div lang="zu" class="lg"> +<p class="line xd33e1032">“Tula, mtwana +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">Binda, mtwana +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">U nina u fulela +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">U nina u fulela +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1040">Tula, mtwana.” +</p> +</div> +<div class="lg"> +<p class="line xd33e1032">“Be quiet, my baby; +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">Be still, my child; +</p> +<p class="line">Your mother has gone to get green mealies, +</p> +<p class="line">Your sisters are all gone gathering wood, +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1040">So be quiet, baby, be still. +</p> +<p class="line">Your father has gone a-walking, +</p> +<p class="line">He has gone to drink good beer, +</p> +<p class="line">Your mother is working with a will, +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1040">So be quiet, baby, be still.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<p class="first">Soon the tiny black head leaned forward, the little round arms relaxed, and baby girl +was fast asleep. The tired mother laid her down, and in a few moments was dreaming +by her children’s side. +</p> +<p>The next morning they set forth again, much refreshed; they continued on the same +path, and baby girl carried the little eggs as before. Towards mid-day they came to +a place where two ways met. The mother stood looking at the two paths for a long while, +uncertain which to take. Then a tiny voice spoke in her ear. It was the second little +egg this time. “Take the road to the left,” said he. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb72">[<a href="#pb72">72</a>]</span></p> +<p>So she turned and followed the left-hand path till she came in sight of an enormous +hut, three times as big as any she had ever seen before. She went straight up to it +and looked in at the door, full of curiosity. It was like no hut she had ever seen. +The calabashes and pots were all blood-red in colour, and very thin; as the breeze +came in at the door they swayed like bubbles and nearly fell, for they were as light +as air. One big pot was blown right across the room, and as the poor mother’s eyes +followed it she all but screamed aloud. For, on the other side, lay a huge monster, +fast asleep. He was immensely tall and very stout, his body was covered with tufts +of brick-red hair, on his head were two horns, and his long tail lay curled across +his knees. He was an Inzimu,<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1062src" href="#xd33e1062" title="Go to note 3.">3</a> without any doubt, and if he awoke he would kill the mother and both her babies and +eat them up. +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p072width" id="p072"><img src="images/p072.jpg" alt="“She came in sight of an enormous hut.”" width="504" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“She came in sight of an enormous hut.”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 72.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +<p>“Whatever shall I do?” cried the mother, as she ran from the door. “My little ones +will both be killed.” +</p> +<p>Then the third little egg spoke up. “Do <span class="pageNum" id="pb73">[<a href="#pb73">73</a>]</span>you see that big stone? Carry it with you, and climb on top of the hut.” +</p> +<p>The mother looked around, for many rocks were near. She soon saw a round white stone, +just of a size to drop through the thatched roof of the hut and kill any one it fell +on. But it was far beyond her power to lift it. +</p> +<p>“However can I pick it up?” said the poor woman. “It is so heavy.” +</p> +<p>“Do as I bid you,” said the egg. +</p> +<p>So she stooped down and tried to lift the stone. To her great surprise she found it +quite light, and took it to the back of the hut. Then she lifted her babies on to +the roof, and climbed up herself afterwards, with the stone in her hand. +</p> +<p>“Now let the stone drop on top of the monster,” said the egg. +</p> +<p>The mother was just peering through the thatch to find the exact spot under which +the monster lay, when the door opened and in came a second ogre, dragging after him +several dead bodies. +</p> +<p>“Now we shall certainly be seen,” said the mother; “all is over.” But she kept quiet, +and did not move. The second Inzimu began <span class="pageNum" id="pb74">[<a href="#pb74">74</a>]</span>to chop up one of his victims for the evening meal. Once he stopped, sniffed the air, +and said, “There is something good hidden in this hut, but I can’t make out where +it is.” +</p> +<p>He looked all round carefully, but never thought of the roof, and presently put his +supper on to boil, and sat down to watch it. Soon both Inzimus were fast asleep. The +mother then looked at her stone, and said, “Here are two Inzimus. I cannot kill both. +What am I to do next?” +</p> +<p>“Come down as quietly as you can,” said all the little eggs at once, “and run with +the babies as fast as possible.” +</p> +<p>She slipped quietly down, for the hut was round, and the little boy helped her with +the baby. In a few minutes they were away, trembling in every limb, but the Inzimus +did not wake up, and soon the big hut was out of sight. +</p> +<p>The poor mother breathed again, and hoped that now at last she would find a kraal +and human beings to talk to. The path wound in and out among bushes. They grew ever +thicker and more thorny, great trees began to appear, and it was soon impossible to +walk save in the <span class="pageNum" id="pb75">[<a href="#pb75">75</a>]</span>one direction. The path gave a sudden turn, and there, under a huge evergreen tree, +was a horrible ogress. She lay right across the path, fast asleep, for the afternoon +sun was warm. No doubt she was on her way home to the big hut. She was even uglier +than the Inzimus, for she had a hideous snout like a wolf’s, and one little horn just +between her eyes. She snored most terribly, so that the branches of the tree shook. +</p> +<p>Then the mother thought her last hour had really come, for she could not return, and +the bush was too thick on either side for her to escape. But the little eggs did not +desert her. Two little voices sounded together. +</p> +<p>“Look on your right: there lies a big axe.” +</p> +<p>She looked, and sure enough a great axe lay winking in the sun. It was so large that +it must have belonged to the ogress, but the mother seized it quickly. +</p> +<p>“Now,” said the little eggs again, “take that in your hand, go softly to the tree +and lift your babies into the low branches. When they are safe, climb up yourself +and creep along the great arm which is over the monster’s head.” +</p> +<p>The mother crept softly to the tree and lifted her little son up into the branches. +The trunk <span class="pageNum" id="pb76">[<a href="#pb76">76</a>]</span>was smooth and round like that of a beech at home, and the branches were many and +not far from the ground. So the little boy was able to hold his baby sister when they +were safe among the leaves; the mother mounted herself and crept forward right over +the monster’s head, the axe in her hand. She nearly fell off with fright, but the +little eggs spoke again. +</p> +<p>“Aim the axe at the monster’s head.” +</p> +<p>She threw it with all her force and hit the ogress just above her horn; but she was +only stunned, not killed. +</p> +<p>“Slip down from the tree,” said the third little egg, “and chop off the monster’s +head quickly before she revives.” +</p> +<p>The mother was down in a moment, ran forward with desperate courage, and in a few +minutes she had severed the monster’s head from its body. +</p> +<p>When it was done she stood back to recover herself, but could scarcely believe her +eyes as she looked. For out of the monster came men, women, and children, cattle and +goats, one after another, till they filled the path and had to pass along to open +ground. Many hundreds appeared, for the ogress had eaten every kind of animal <span class="pageNum" id="pb77">[<a href="#pb77">77</a>]</span>and whole families of men in her wicked life. When all had come there were enough +to people a great kraal. Each one on his arrival turned to thank the poor mother and +her children, and when all were there the leaders came forward to ask her to be their +Queen. +</p> +<p>“But I should never have done it without the three little eggs,” said she, and turned +to show them the little white nest. She barely touched it with her hands when it vanished +away, and instead appeared three handsome Princes. The eldest took her hand and said, +“You have freed us from a wicked enchantress by your courage. Your cruel husband is +dead; he was killed in a quarrel the day you fled from home. Be my wife, and we will +rule over these people for ever.” +</p> +<p>So the poor mother and her children found a happy home and much honour. And all the +people shouted for joy because they had now both a King and a Queen. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb78">[<a href="#pb78">78</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1017"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1017src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Karosses</i>—rugs made of skins or of bark, beautifully sewn together. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1017src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1021"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1021src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">2</a></span> <i>Thick milk.</i> This is <i>maas</i> or <i>mase</i>, a preparation of sour milk. Kafirs never drink fresh milk, but let it stand in special +pots till curds have formed. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1021src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1062"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1062src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">3</a></span> An <i>Inzimu</i>, or <i>Imbula</i>, answers most nearly to the ogre of European fairy tales. He is semi-human, and prefers +the flesh of man to any other. An ogress is called <i>Nzuluqumbi</i>. Both have light-coloured skins and red hair. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1062src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch8" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e316">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">VIII</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE SERPENT’S BRIDE</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SHANGANI STORY</h2> +<h2 class="sub"><span class="sc">Part I</span></h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">In the great wooded plains which lie between the mountains and the sea there was once +a most wonderful river. It was broad and deep, filling its banks from side to side; +great fig-trees and white-flowering thorns marked its course; and both winter and +summer you could tell it afar off by the masses of evergreen foliage which followed +its many windings. The land through which it flowed was fertile, and vast herds of +goat and sheep fed on the neighbouring hills, for the grass was sweet and good. +</p> +<p>A powerful tribe had settled in these regions and had built themselves a big city +on the side of a hill which sloped up from the river-banks. <span class="pageNum" id="pb79">[<a href="#pb79">79</a>]</span>There was abundance of wood and good water, and the city was well drained and faced +the morning sun. Below the great kraal the mealie-fields extended almost to the river-side. +The people had plenty of cattle, and their King was the richest and most powerful +in the whole country. He was also a great hunter, for in the wide plains big game +abounded, and his lion and tiger skins were wonderful to behold. Indeed, he had but +one trouble. He and his people depended on the river for their daily supply of water, +and every now and then it would suddenly cease to flow. The whole body of the river +would dry up, sometimes in winter, but quite as often in the height of summer, when +rain fell daily and the great white clouds rose from the horizon every noon. No one +knew why this strange thing should happen; sometimes no water would appear for many +days together, and all the women had to walk long hours through the forest to get +fresh water from a distant stream. +</p> +<p>Only one Princess could always fill her calabash, no matter how dry the river-bed. +She was the most beautiful of all the King’s daughters, tall and graceful, with a +skin like satin and eyes that danced like sun upon the water. But she <span class="pageNum" id="pb80">[<a href="#pb80">80</a>]</span>never went with her sisters to the river, and no one knew the source of her supply; +they supposed she had found some hidden pool which never quite dried up, and did not +wish to share her secret. +</p> +<p>Now the river had flowed steadily for many months; spring had come and then summer; +the cornfields were in full ear, and the great tasselled mealies stood higher than +a man’s head. Every day all the Princesses went down to the river to fetch water and +bathe in the great Red Pool. Only Timba still went alone, but her sisters had long +ceased to notice her love of solitude. +</p> +<p>Then one day a strange thing happened. The morning was cool and fresh after a heavy +thunderstorm, the tall grass was drenched with rain, and all the maidens from the +neighbouring kraals came down to the river singing and laughing. There were tall, +well-grown women, and slender girls, and even little maids of five and six, each with +a calabash on her head. They walked in single file, for the paths were narrow, and +they shouted gaily to one another across the mealie-fields. Only Timba was silent +and walked last of the line behind her sisters. +</p> +<p>At the river-side they all stopped, and cries of <span class="pageNum" id="pb81">[<a href="#pb81">81</a>]</span>dismay broke from every mouth. The bed of the stream was all but empty, and rocks +that were only visible at the end of winter stood high and dry. A tiny trickle of +water still ran in the great Red Pool, but its banks of crimson earth were bare, and +the waving reeds and bulrushes on the margin showed their mud-stained roots. In a +few hours the little water still remaining would have disappeared in the heat of the +summer sun. With heavy hearts the girls ascended the course of the stream to see if +clear water still remained, but none could be found. Even the little water-courses +lined with fern, which fed the great river, were dry. +</p> +<p>“It is no use,” cried they. “We must take what water we can to-day, and to-morrow +we must seek fresh streams.” +</p> +<p>They returned home, their calabashes half full of muddy water, and told the bad news +to the King. Only Timba’s water was clear as crystal, and her jar was so full that +she had placed branches of the white-flowering thorn round the brim to prevent its +spilling over as she walked. +</p> +<p>The King was much disturbed to find that the river had failed once more. He set all +his greatest magicians to work, and promised unheard-of <span class="pageNum" id="pb82">[<a href="#pb82">82</a>]</span>rewards to those who would bring water into the river-bed; but no incantations were +of any avail. Rain-doctors came from far away and cast their magic spells; but though +great storms arose and passed over the land, the river-bed remained empty, and even +the deepest water-holes dried up. But Timba could still get water from the river, +and every day she went down alone as often as she wished and returned with her brimming +calabash crowned with green leaves, her eyes brighter than ever and full of mysterious +joy. +</p> +<p>Then her sisters asked at last: “Where do you get your water from?” +</p> +<p>And Timba made answer: “I get it from the great King of the Waters. He commands the +whole river and all the streams which run into it, even the tiniest creeks. He is +angry now, and that is why the river is empty.” +</p> +<p>Her sisters were still puzzled, for none of them had heard of any such King. +</p> +<p>In the meantime winter approached with its unclouded skies. The crops were gathered +in; the nights grew cold, and the air all day was fresh and crisp. No rain would fall +now for many months, and the King and all his wise men <span class="pageNum" id="pb83">[<a href="#pb83">83</a>]</span>knew that the river must remain empty till the spring. They were in great trouble, +for they did not know how they would keep their cattle alive during the winter, and +they even feared for themselves. +</p> +<p>Judge then of their amazement when they found one morning that the river was full +to overflowing as if in the height of the summer floods. No rain had fallen in the +whole of the country; the people could only rejoice and wonder. That same day the +beautiful Princess came running up from the river laughing and singing, and called +her sisters together. +</p> +<p>“What is it? Tell us the news,” said they, for they saw that something exciting had +happened. +</p> +<p>“I am going to be married,” said Timba joyfully. +</p> +<p>“But to whom? No suitor has been here for many months.” +</p> +<p>“To the great King of the Waters,” said she with pride. +</p> +<p>“Who is he?” cried her sisters, “and where does he live? It must be far from here, +for no one else has ever spoken of him.” +</p> +<p>But Timba would not tell them. To all their <span class="pageNum" id="pb84">[<a href="#pb84">84</a>]</span>questions she only nodded her head mysteriously, and said, “I know.” +</p> +<p>That evening as the sun went down she slipped out of the kraal and went to the river-bank. +The mealies were long since gathered, and the little path was beaten down hard and +firm as the floor of a hut, for no rain had fallen this long while. She passed the +Red Pool, now full from end to end, and followed the course of the river for half +an hour or more till she came to a great white thorn-tree surrounded by a tangle of +creepers and flowering shrubs. There she stopped and pushed through the overhanging +branches till she reached the water’s edge. She stood there, knee-deep among green +lily leaves, and looked out on a wide expanse of water. It was still and dark and +very deep, and the current was barely visible on its smooth surface. The banks enclosing +it were of black earth, and at the water’s edge grew great clumps of arum lilies forming +a thick belt of green. In summer the Black Pool was a place of wonderful beauty; now +there were no lilies, and scarcely a blossom lingered on the bushes. A tiny crescent +moon was sinking in the west, and the reflection of its silver horns quivered in mid-stream. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb85">[<a href="#pb85">85</a>]</span></p> +<p>As Timba waited and watched a tiny ripple broke towards the bank and the head of a +great serpent arose. He was velvety black, save for two red circles round his glittering +eyes, and his neck rose many feet out of the water. He swam straight to the Princess, +who did not scream and run away but rose to greet him eagerly. +</p> +<p>The serpent coiled himself beside her on the bank, and his eyes shone with joy. +</p> +<p>“Do not let us wait any longer,” said he. “Make all preparations for our marriage. +As mid-winter approaches I will cause the river to rise twice in full flood. Then +you will know I am waiting for you, so lose no time.” +</p> +<p>They sat and talked till the little moon sank down and all the stars came out. Then +the serpent rose up and swam away down stream, his head held high and his huge length +extending far behind it. +</p> +<p>This was the King of the Waters, who ruled the whole length of the great river, and +it was he who had courted the Princess night and morning as she came to fetch water. +Timba watched him out of sight; then she went home. +</p> +<p>The next day she and all her companions began to get ready for the marriage. Some +of <span class="pageNum" id="pb86">[<a href="#pb86">86</a>]</span>them wove mats out of the golden-coloured grasses, fine and soft enough to roll up +into a tiny space. There were small mats to grind corn on, so that no meal should +fall on the ground and be wasted, and there were other little mats to cut up meat +on. Then there were long mats for sleeping on; these were made of bulrushes, and were +to be put away all day and brought out only at night. The girls also took lengths +of thin cloth, bought from far-away traders along the coast in exchange for ivory +and horn, and fringed them with strings of many-coloured beads. These were cloaks +for the bride, and were as graceful and pretty garments as you could wish to see. +Then there were girdles to be made of coloured beads; and many necklaces and all sorts +of dainty ornaments fashioned with twisted wire. For Timba was a Princess, and she +was going to marry a King. +</p> +<p>All this took much time. Timba was at work all day, for in winter the sun sets early, +and for some weeks she never went to the river at all, nor did she see her strange +lover once. But one morning towards the shortest day a young man came running in from +rabbit-hunting in the hills shouting that the river was in full <span class="pageNum" id="pb87">[<a href="#pb87">87</a>]</span>flood. Timba’s heart leapt, for this was the first of the promised signs. She worked +still harder and hurried her maidens, for now only a few days could remain before +the appointed time. +</p> +<p>At last all was ready, and she went down to walk by the river. The flood had passed, +and only a tiny sluggish stream trickled in the midst of a wide stony water-course. +The Princess walked slowly and looked up the river to see if there were any signs +of the second flood. Suddenly she heard a whistling call from a clump of bushes. +</p> +<p>“Ping! Ping! Ping!” +</p> +<p>It was the call of her bridegroom, but he was nowhere to be seen. She then looked +up the river once more and noticed for the first time that the stream was widening. +Every moment it became fuller; great boulders which a minute ago were high and dry +were already half covered, and a dull roar could be heard far away. The high reaches +were already in flood, and the King of the Waters was waiting for his bride. +</p> +<p>Timba ran home and sought out her bridesmaids. +</p> +<p>“Come quickly,” said she, “and bring everything <span class="pageNum" id="pb88">[<a href="#pb88">88</a>]</span>we have made, but do not let any one see us. The great King of the Waters is waiting +for me at the river.” +</p> +<p>The bridesmaids ran hither and thither collecting all the pretty things they had made, +while the bride arrayed herself for the marriage. In the Shangani country no one wears +the kilt of black ox-skins. So Timba put on a kilt of cotton cloth, striped in red +and blue, which reached to her knees, and a beautiful girdle of beads. Then she knotted +on her left shoulder a cloak of dark blue cloth heavily fringed in red and white. +The cloth was very thin and hung in folds about her graceful form. Then she put the +most beautiful bead necklaces about her neck, and covered her arms with bracelets +cunningly woven of shining brass and copper wire. When all was done it would have +been difficult to find a prettier or more pleasing sight. +</p> +<p>Then the girls met again and ran by hidden paths to the river without speaking a word +to any one. There the bridesmaids stopped and called to one another in astonishment. +For the river was in full flood and was now over half-a-mile wide. Great trunks of +trees swept past in wild disorder, their branches tossing on the yellow <span class="pageNum" id="pb89">[<a href="#pb89">89</a>]</span>waters; now and then a dead buck floated by, and at every moment huge boulders swept +past amid a deafening roar. The girls hurried on to the Black Pool. There the great +thorn-tree still stood out, but the water had already reached its lower branches. +Overhead the sky was clear and cloudless, and the parched veld, dotted with grey mimosa +and leafless shrub, extended for endless miles to the transparent horizon. +</p> +<p>“Never have I seen such a flood,” said one; “surely the river is bewitched.” +</p> +<p>“There has been no rain these three months,” cried another; “where can the waters +have come from?” +</p> +<p>“Go home quickly,” commanded the Princess. “Leave everything here and say nothing +about me at the kraal.” +</p> +<p>The bridesmaids were no sooner out of sight than the Serpent King raised his great +flat head out of the water. As the Princess watched him he grew taller and taller, +till at length he stood upon his tail and towered above her. His head reached to the +top of the high trees, and his body was like a black shining pillar. Then he fixed +his bright eyes upon her and said, “Never be afraid of me, no matter what I do.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb90">[<a href="#pb90">90</a>]</span></p> +<p>“I will never be afraid of you,” said the Princess. +</p> +<p>“Are you quite sure?” said the serpent. +</p> +<p>“Quite sure,” answered the Princess. +</p> +<p>Then the serpent descended again and coiled himself beside her. +</p> +<p>“And now,” said he, “what of the lobola?<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1213src" href="#xd33e1213" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> I must send that to your father, or our marriage is not complete.” +</p> +<p>“There is plenty of room in the great cattle-kraal,” said Timba. “They will understand +when they see the oxen that my marriage-gift is come.” +</p> +<p>“Wait here,” said the serpent; “I will return at moonrise.” +</p> +<p>That night he sent the cattle, and at daybreak there was great commotion in the city. +The Princess had disappeared and the air was full of strange bellowings, which came +from the cattle-kraal in the centre of the town. One hundred splendid oxen were discovered +there, finer than any one had ever seen before. No one had seen them enter, and no +herdsman was <span class="pageNum" id="pb91">[<a href="#pb91">91</a>]</span>with them; for many a long day the mystery remained unsolved. +</p> +<p>In the meantime the Princess waited. Darkness fell early, and for a long while only +the stars could be seen in the clear sky. Then the long line of the eastern plains +grew clearer and sharper, and slowly the wonderful winter moon arose. +</p> +<p>At that very moment the King of the Waters raised his head from the pool and darted +towards his bride. +</p> +<p>“The lobola is paid,” he cried. “Come, let us go.” +</p> +<p>Then Timba rose and the serpent lifted her on his back. She put her arms round his +neck and they started to swim down the river under the great white moon. They passed +the silent kraals and the empty fields, and then they came to wide silvery plains +stretching as far as eye could see. The river flowed without sound. And all the time +the King of the Waters never spoke nor turned his head. +</p> +<p>As the dawn appeared they reached the borders of a forest. For many an hour they had +seen no kraal nor any human being, and here the bush was so thick that no one could +<span class="pageNum" id="pb92">[<a href="#pb92">92</a>]</span>hope to get through it. The great serpent took his bride to the bank and set her down. +</p> +<p>“Now remember,” said he, “never be afraid.” +</p> +<p>Then he disappeared without another word. All that day Timba waited alone. As night +approached she expected to see the King once more, but no sign of him appeared. She +shuddered as she heard the cries of the wild beasts searching for their prey. First, +just after sundown, came the laughing cry of the jackal; then later the mournful howling +of wolves; and as the night went on she heard lions roaring close at hand. Once she +heard a tiger grunting a few paces away, and it was all she could do not to scream +aloud. But nothing hurt her, and at dawn all the strange sounds ceased. The next day +she spent alone, thinking with terror of the approaching night. You can imagine her +relief when, at moonrise, her bridegroom appeared once more. +</p> +<p>He took the Princess again on his back and once more they swam down the river, the +dark forest on either side. They journeyed thus in silence for many hours. At dawn +they were still in the heart of the forest. The trees were the tallest Timba had ever +seen; great festoons <span class="pageNum" id="pb93">[<a href="#pb93">93</a>]</span>of creepers hung from their boughs, while below was a tangle of ferns and many strange +plants. Then suddenly just as the sun rose they entered a marvellous place. For the +river opened out into a wide, still pool, surrounded by walls of dazzling white. The +banks were of shining white sand and the cliffs above of glittering mica, and in every +nook and cranny grew the loveliest ferns. There were tree-ferns all along the water’s +edge, with wide shady fronds and trunks like those of an Eastern palm. There were +smaller ferns in endless variety, and at the very edge of the pool grew the most beautiful +maidenhair. A wide belt of green lily-leaves stretched out from the shore, framing +the centre of the pool, which lay clear and placid as a mirror, reflecting the dazzling +blue of the winter sky. Timba had never seen such a sight before. She longed to alight +and rest among the ferns in the bright sunshine, but the King swam forward to the +centre of the pool. There one could see far below to the white sanded bottom, for +the water was like crystal. +</p> +<p>Here the serpent turned his head. “Follow me,” he said. +</p> +<p>He glided under the water, and the Princess <span class="pageNum" id="pb94">[<a href="#pb94">94</a>]</span>followed. When she opened her eyes she found they were far below in the depths of +the water. The light was dim, and at first she could see nothing but the waving stems +of the water-lilies. Then she found they were standing before a group of most beautiful +huts. The King took her to the largest and bade her enter. Strange to say, it was +quite dry and very comfortable. In it she found all the pretty things which she had +brought with her sisters to the river-bank, and all was in perfect order. She was +very hungry and wanted to ask for food, but she did not dare say anything. The great +serpent turned away and left her, saying: “I will return in the evening. Shut the +door, but leave a little hole in the side of the hut for me to creep through. Food +will appear whenever you desire it.” +</p> +<p>And Timba found a delicious meal prepared in beautiful little pots. She enjoyed it +after her long night’s journey, but it was very dull and lonely, and there was nothing +to do. The day passed, and as night drew on it became very dark and cold. Timba lit +a fire in the hut and shut the door, but remembered to leave a little opening as she +had promised. Then she lay down to rest, tired and puzzled at her bridegroom’s <span class="pageNum" id="pb95">[<a href="#pb95">95</a>]</span>strange conduct. She was just about to sleep when she heard a snake’s scales rustling +against the thatch without. For the first time she was afraid as she heard him come. +A moment later his head appeared at the little hole. His eyes flamed in the light +of the dying fire, as he entered and glided towards her. First he touched her feet, +then her knees, and then passed right over her head, always in absolute silence. Then +he turned round and slipped out once more by the way he had come. +</p> +<p>The Princess spent the next day alone, and at night lay down again. But this time +she could not think of sleep, and for hours she lay awake, tending her fire and watching +the dark hole in the wall. At midnight she heard the rustling against the reeds outside. +She began to tremble, but lay quite still and did not speak. The serpent entered as +before, laid his head on her feet and her knees, and again glided over her and left +the hut without a word. +</p> +<p>When he had gone the Princess breathed once more, and composed herself to sleep; but +as the next day advanced towards evening she became more and more troubled. +</p> +<p>“Must I spend the end of my days here?” <span class="pageNum" id="pb96">[<a href="#pb96">96</a>]</span>thought she. “Must I always live in this cold dark place, away from the sun? I shall +soon die and never see my sisters again, or run with them through the mealie-fields.” +</p> +<p>Then she began to think of her former life, and remembered the many times she had +met her lover among the tall lilies, and all the kindness he had shown her. +</p> +<p>“No,” she said; “I must not despair. He will do me no harm; I must keep my promise +and be brave.” +</p> +<p>That night she lay in the hut by her wood fire and watched the hole in the wall. Hour +after hour she listened for the familiar rustling, but no sound came. She could not +sleep; her head ached and she was almost sick with fear. +</p> +<p>She threw her last bundle of sticks on the little fire. It was very cold; in the world +above the dawn must be at hand. The flames leapt up for the last time, and at that +very moment a faint sound could be heard outside the hut. The King of the Waters was +there. He entered, his huge flat head erect and his eyes flaming. The Princess nearly +screamed, but clenched her hands to keep herself quiet. The serpent touched her feet, +then her knees, and last of all her head. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb97">[<a href="#pb97">97</a>]</span></p> +<p>Timba closed her eyes and lay exhausted. All at once a light breeze seemed to blow +on her face, and she looked up again to see what it might be. To her amazement she +found she was again in the world above. The door of the hut was open, and before her +stretched the enchanted pool, radiant and dazzling in the early morning sun. She turned +to look for the serpent, but he was gone. In his place stood a magnificent man in +the prime of life. He was very powerful, and so tall that his head nearly touched +the roof. Glossy leopard-skins hung from his broad shoulders, and round his waist +were jackal-skins fringed with tails of the mountain-cat. On his arms and at his knees +were bracelets of white ox-tails, and in his hand he held a great staff beautifully +carved. At one end a man’s head was represented, and below it were tails of black +and white cat-skin. He was a very great Chief indeed; Timba had never seen any one +so handsome before. Only his eyes seemed familiar; they were very bright and piercing. +</p> +<p>The Princess gazed in wonder. Then the Chief smiled. +</p> +<p>“Do not be astonished,” said he. “I am the <span class="pageNum" id="pb98">[<a href="#pb98">98</a>]</span>serpent, the great King of the Waters. Years ago I was deprived of human form by a +wicked magician. He belonged to a king who hated my father, but was never able to +harm him because he was too powerful. One day this wizard met me walking alone by +this river. By his black arts he turned me into a serpent. My only kingdom should +be in the waters, and I was never to become a man again till I should find a bride +without fear. At last I met you; now I am a man once more. My father has long been +dead and my name is forgotten, so we must seek men and cattle and make a new kingdom +for ourselves. Take this staff; it will give you the power of a magician. You have +only to hold it firmly in your hand and you will gain the victory over the most powerful +enemy. We will rest here awhile and then go forth together and make great conquests.” +</p> +<p>Thus Timba obtained the reward of her courage, and became renowned and much beloved. +I will tell you in the next story how she and her husband won their kingdom, and how +at last she saw her home once more. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb99">[<a href="#pb99">99</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1213"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1213src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Lobola</i>—the marriage-gift presented by the bridegroom to the bride’s father. This gift, consisting +of cattle, gives him his legal claim to his wife. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1213src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch9" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e326">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">IX</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE SERPENT’S BRIDE</h2> +<h2 class="sub"><span class="sc">Part II</span></h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">The King of the Waters and his bride rested by the White Pool for many weeks, making +plans for the future and talking much together. They waited till the spring came, +and then as the early summer advanced they set forth on their travels. For there were +no tribes near them for many a day’s journey, and the King needed great numbers of +men and women to people his kingdom. It was no longer enough for him to command the +wide river and reign alone at the White Pool. +</p> +<p>The wicked king whose magician had transformed him into a serpent was long dead and +his nation dispersed, so that there was no one left on whom he might avenge himself. +So the King and Queen journeyed for days and days <span class="pageNum" id="pb100">[<a href="#pb100">100</a>]</span>through the great forest, and then beyond through open flat country, till, after many +weeks, they came to a new kingdom and people who did not know them. They travelled +alone like ordinary folk, for they did not wish to be noticed. +</p> +<p>The first city they reached was small, but beautifully built on the side of a hill. +Here they entered and talked with the Chief. +</p> +<p>“Whose kingdom is this?” asked the King of the Waters. +</p> +<p>“This is the kingdom of Volha-Volha,” said the Induna. “He is a great King and powerful.” +</p> +<p>“Does he live near here?” asked the King. +</p> +<p>“Volha-Volha lives two days’ journey from here,” said the Induna. “You follow the +path over the hill and across two valleys. Then you come to our greatest city. But +let me warn you; our King does not love strangers.” +</p> +<p>The King of the Waters smiled and thanked the Induna, and then turned to his wife. +Timba meanwhile had been talking with the women, and as soon as they were alone she +said: “There is something curious about this city. The women seem sad and frightened; +they would hardly speak to me at all, and made excuses to <span class="pageNum" id="pb101">[<a href="#pb101">101</a>]</span>get away. Did you notice how few children there are? There is some mystery here.” +</p> +<p>“We will go on to-morrow towards the King’s city,” said her husband. “We shall discover +what is amiss before long.” +</p> +<p>The next morning they set out by the narrow path which led to the King’s kraal. They +left very early in the morning: it was cool and bright, for autumn was at hand, and +the crops were already ripe in the valleys. They walked till mid-day, the King in +front, spear in hand, casting his bright eyes here and there, so as to be ready for +any enemy, and the Queen behind, holding the magic staff, her blue mantle waving in +the wind. +</p> +<p>At noon they came upon a second city, much larger than the first. The huts were neat +and strong, and set in little circles surrounded by a fence. Little paths ran from +one group of huts to another, for there were no wide roads at all, and a strong palisade +encircled the whole town. Many people were moving to and fro, and one could see they +were rich and prosperous, for the cattle-kraal was very large and excellently built. +The King and Queen decided to wait here and ask more <span class="pageNum" id="pb102">[<a href="#pb102">102</a>]</span>about the kingdom of Volha-Volha. They came to the chief entrance and looked about +them. Instantly every one began to move towards their huts, more especially the women, +as if they suspected strangers and were anxious to avoid them. +</p> +<p>“Why do the people look at us in this way?” said the Queen. “We are alone and cannot +harm them.” +</p> +<p>At last a man came forward hurriedly, with every mark of fear, and led them to the +Induna. There they again asked if they were on the road to Volha-Volha’s kraal. +</p> +<p>“Yes, you are on the right road,” said the Induna briefly. Then he added: “You have +never seen our country?” +</p> +<p>“We are strangers, my wife and I,” said the Serpent King. “Our home is many days’ +journey from here.” +</p> +<p>The Induna asked many more questions, and when he was satisfied that Timba and her +husband really knew nothing of the country, he offered them food and rest. But he +did not seem to wish to talk, and the King and Queen soon continued their journey, +for they wanted to reach the second valley before nightfall. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb103">[<a href="#pb103">103</a>]</span></p> +<p>“It is strange,” said Timba. “In that city also I noticed but few children, and they +were all copper-coloured, none were black. Yet these people are Shanganis like ourselves, +and have dark skins.” +</p> +<p>“We shall know soon,” said the King. +</p> +<p>The afternoon was very hot; the morning freshness had gone, and there was a heavy +feeling in the air. The narrow path mounted up and up towards a great red cliff, which +crowned the hill and extended for more than a mile. The King and Queen followed its +windings till they reached the foot of the crags. There the path turned and continued +under the precipitous wall. +</p> +<p>Suddenly Timba cried out in horror. +</p> +<p>“What do you see?” said the King. +</p> +<p>“I saw white bones in the grass,” said Timba. “Look! There are still more. What can +they be? They are not like the bones of animals.” +</p> +<p>The husband and wife peered among the tall dry grass and the great boulders. Then +they saw that all the ground at the foot of the cliffs was covered with little white +bones. They looked like splintered wood, for they had <span class="pageNum" id="pb104">[<a href="#pb104">104</a>]</span>lain there many months. Before long they understood the horror of their discovery, +for Timba suddenly saw a tiny skull under a thorn-bush. +</p> +<p>“Now I know!” she cried. “These are the bones of tiny children, and that is why we +saw so few in the cities. What can it all mean? Some dreadful monster must dwell in +this land.” +</p> +<p>“We will soon find out,” said the King. “Let us move on quickly, for there is thunder +in the air.” +</p> +<p>They hurried forward, the King erect and gloomy, Timba in fear and sorrow, but grasping +her staff firmly, for she felt it might soon be needed. The clouds rose higher and +higher, and lightning began to play on the horizon like the flash of spears. They +reached the top of the pass, and saw a wide valley and, many miles away, a great city +set on the ridge of a hill. Farther away to the right the hill broke up into a succession +of kopjes<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1319src" href="#xd33e1319" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> so steep and rough that it was impossible to climb them. The storm drew nearer, and +great drops of rain splashed on the red dust. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb105">[<a href="#pb105">105</a>]</span></p> +<p>“We cannot reach the city to-night,” said the King. “Let us seek shelter near at hand.” +</p> +<p>They hurried on down the mountain-side till they came to a gentle slope on which stood +a tiny kraal. It contained but three huts and a small enclosure for cattle, but all +was very strong and neat. On one side was a kind of platform supported by poles, and +on this stood six immense baskets made of grass rope. These were waiting to be filled +with grain at the coming harvest; indeed some were already full, for a young woman +was anxiously arranging the cone-shaped lids while glancing every now and then at +the coming rain. As soon as she saw the strangers she ran to a hut and crept in quickly, +as if to avoid them. But Timba and the King were not surprised; they understood by +now that some terror ruled the country, and that the people feared its coming at any +moment. They went straight forward and begged for shelter. +</p> +<p>The young woman admitted them as if she dared not refuse. She was nearly as tall as +Timba herself, and very beautiful, though her skin was as black as ebony. She was +quite <span class="pageNum" id="pb106">[<a href="#pb106">106</a>]</span>young, too, but very grave and anxious, and started whenever the Queen spoke to her. +</p> +<p>The storm was already upon them; the rain descended in torrents, and soon the entire +hillside was seamed with little noisy streams. There was no question of going on till +the next day, and presently the King and Queen begged to stay the night at the kraal. +The young woman, whose name was Siapi, took them to her hut. Her husband, she said, +was away hunting and she was in charge of the kraal. When the evening meal was over, +she brought some sleeping-mats for her guests; they were very strong and well woven, +indeed all about the hut showed great neatness and order, and was a credit to its +mistress. Then she spread her own mat on the floor, the door was closed, and presently +all were asleep. +</p> +<p>At midnight Timba woke suddenly to find the door ajar, and the cold night wind blowing +in. The fire in the centre of the hut was nearly out, but there was enough glow from +the dying embers to show that the corner in which the young wife slept was empty. +Timba was much puzzled, and listened to hear if any one was moving about. Suddenly +she <span class="pageNum" id="pb107">[<a href="#pb107">107</a>]</span>heard a baby’s cry, followed by quick hushing and many caresses. Then she remembered +again the ghastly red cliff and the frightened women she had seen the day before. +Without doubt the young wife had a baby and was hiding it from some danger. Timba +arose quickly, determined to know all. +</p> +<p>The clouds had not all dispersed, but the moon shone fitfully, and it was easy to +see anything near at hand. Timba looked all round the little kraal, and presently, +to her great surprise, she saw the young mother standing on the grain store and lifting +out of one of the big baskets a beautiful little baby. +</p> +<p>Timba ran towards her and poor Siapi screamed. +</p> +<p>“Oh!” she cried, “do not betray me, do not tell them about my little girl!” +</p> +<p>“I will tell no one,” said Timba. “But why are you afraid? What is the matter?” +</p> +<p>“Do you not know then?” said the poor mother with wide-open eyes. +</p> +<p>“How should I? We are strangers.” +</p> +<p>“Every year Volha-Volha, our King, kills every baby born in this country who is black. +Only copper-coloured babies may live, for he is <span class="pageNum" id="pb108">[<a href="#pb108">108</a>]</span>determined his people shall be black no longer. The time approaches for his spies +to come and seize our little ones. Then his impis kill them with assegais and knobkerries, +and throw them over the great red cliff. We have no helper or defender. Volha-Volha +is all-powerful. Every year he does bad deeds, but this is the most cruel of all. +My little girl was born three months ago; she is as black as can be. I hid her here, +for no spy climbs up to the grain stores; but if they find her I will not live; we +will die together.” +</p> +<p>“Do not fear any more,” said the Queen. “I will help you.” +</p> +<p>Then she stamped on the ground with her magic staff, and instantly there appeared +the kindest old woman you ever saw. +</p> +<p>“Here,” said the Queen, “is a very wise Fairy. Give her your baby and she will fly +like the wind over hills and dales, and take her wherever you wish, to a place where +kings do not kill babies.” +</p> +<p>Siapi looked up in wonder and delight. “Take her to my sister,” she said; “she will +care for her, and I shall have nothing more to fear.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb109">[<a href="#pb109">109</a>]</span></p> +<p>So the old Fairy took the baby, who cooed with delight in her arms. A moment later +they were gone. +</p> +<p>“And now,” said Timba, “we will rest, and to-morrow we will tell the King, my husband.” +</p> +<p>The next day Siapi told the Serpent King of her sad lot and that of all her people; +how they lived in hourly terror of spies, and thus dreaded the sight of any stranger; +and how, no matter what they did, Volha-Volha was too clever and too cruel to allow +them to escape. +</p> +<p>Then the King of the Waters burst into great wrath. “Such a man should die,” cried +he. “He shall pay with his own life for the tears of all these mothers.” +</p> +<p>That evening, as the sun went down, he called Timba and Siapi, and bade them follow +him to a lonely spot out of sight of the kraal. Then he turned towards the Queen and +said, “Hold your staff firmly while I summon my armies.” +</p> +<p>He looked towards the mountain and shouted in a terrific voice: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<div lang="ts" class="lg"> +<p class="line">“Vuka panzi, mabutu, +</p> +<p class="line">Si bulale Volha-Volha.” +</p> +</div> +<div class="lg"> +<p class="line">“Rise, soldiers, +</p> +<p class="line">Let us kill Volha-Volha; +<span class="pageNum" id="pb110">[<a href="#pb110">110</a>]</span></p> +<p class="line">He has slain every black baby. +</p> +<p class="line">Rise, impis, rise, +</p> +<p class="line">The pot is boiling over.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<p class="first">And instantly there sprang from the ground a splendid impi of a thousand men with +flashing spears. Three times did the King repeat the charm, and each time fresh men +appeared. Then he placed them in order, and bade them march upon Volha-Volha’s city. +He then told the Queen to stay at the kraal with Siapi, and to hold the magic staff +in her hand day and night till he returned in triumph. +</p> +<p>As darkness fell he and all his army disappeared like shadows down the mountain-side. +No one in all the country had seen them; they crossed the valley and climbed the great +hill with amazing swiftness. At cock-crow they surrounded the city, and fell on it +with a sudden shout like thunder. Volha-Volha had no time to place his men in order, +and fled in panic to his rocky stronghold, calling on his magicians to follow him. +In an hour the King of the Waters held the whole of the chief city; but he had by +no means obtained all he wanted. For his enemy was now hidden in the caves and inaccessible +rocks which crowned the hill. <span class="pageNum" id="pb111">[<a href="#pb111">111</a>]</span>There he had stored grain sufficient for many months, and with him were his magicians +and the most wicked of his soldiers. They had long feared attack, and their stronghold +was well prepared. +</p> +<p>Then followed a long, tedious fight, which lasted for many a day. Inch by inch the +King of the Waters advanced into the stronghold, and one by one he killed all Volha-Volha’s +men. The wicked magicians, driven desperate, cast every spell they knew, but Timba +sat with her staff in her hand day and night and thwarted all their plans. At last +the Serpent King reached the inmost defence of all, and there among the thorns Volha-Volha +was discovered crouching at the back of a dark cave. His magicians had all been killed, +and he was powerless to do any more evil. +</p> +<p>“Die like a dog!” cried the warriors of the Serpent King. “Die, you who have killed +all the black children!” +</p> +<p>And they assegaied him at once. His body was thrown over the cliffs and his name wiped +out. +</p> +<p>Then the King of the Waters returned to his wife with great rejoicing, and told her +they were <span class="pageNum" id="pb112">[<a href="#pb112">112</a>]</span>now rich and powerful beyond belief. He sent orders to every city formerly held by +Volha-Volha, bidding the inhabitants come with him and live in a new country. They +all rose up with one accord and thus they journeyed, men, women and children, to the +land near the great river. Many thousands of cattle went with them, and also large +numbers of sheep and goats; such wealth had never been seen before in the country. +</p> +<p>Now, as soon as the news came that Volha-Volha was really dead and his people free, +the Queen sent a messenger to fetch the little baby girl she had rescued. The messenger +had far to go, and when he returned with the little maiden the King’s new subjects +were already beginning to build their kraals. The baby was given to the happy mother +alive and well, but the messenger had gathered bad news as he travelled. For he heard +that the people who lived about the Red Pool were coming in armed force to attack +the King of the Waters. The river had been dry now for nearly a year; the rains had +begun, and still the water did not rise, so that they feared starvation and ruin. +</p> +<p>When the King of the Waters heard this he <span class="pageNum" id="pb113">[<a href="#pb113">113</a>]</span>said to the Queen, “Come, let us go to the White Pool and give them water.” +</p> +<p>So they both rose up and left their people and travelled through the forest till they +came to the White Pool. It was now early summer, the ferns were renewing themselves +in tints of tenderest green, the white sand and the glittering cliffs shone in the +sun. But most beautiful of all were the water-lilies. They covered the pool in thousands, +silvery-white and pale blue, with buds of delicate mauve. Above them hovered myriads +of shining flies with wings of rainbow gauze. The air was warm and still, the water +clear as could be. For the White Pool was never empty, no matter how long the rains +stayed away. +</p> +<p>“Now,” said the King to Timba, “lift your staff and command the waters to rise, and +let us return to your people.” +</p> +<p>So Timba lifted her staff, and she and the King turned towards the upper streams. +Everywhere they met little rivulets of water, which seemed to spring from the ground +as they advanced. Soon the river was in full flood; and the King of the Waters and +his bride swam together till they came to the Black Pool. <span class="pageNum" id="pb114">[<a href="#pb114">114</a>]</span>There the lilies stood in thousands, creamy-white and glorious to behold, and there +the King and Queen came to shore. +</p> +<p>“And now,” said the King, “we will visit your father and make peace. And because of +all I owe to you the river shall flow for ever, summer and winter, and shall never +be empty again.” +</p> +<p>Then Timba and her husband went to the kraal and were received with much rejoicing. +And when the old father saw the wonderful power of the King of the Waters, he said +that he and all his people wished to live under the protection of such a mighty Chief +and thus be free of all anxiety. So the two peoples became one, and the King and Queen +of the Waters lived in joy and honour all their lives long. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb115">[<a href="#pb115">115</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1319"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1319src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Kopje</i>—a small hill (pronounced “koppie”). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1319src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch10" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e336">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">X</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE FAIRY BIRD</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Ever so many years ago there lived a little boy and girl called Duma and Dumasane. +They were brother and sister and lived happily together in a tiny kraal at the foot +of a great mountain. Duma was four years older than Dumasane, but both were born in +summer in the midst of a great storm, so they were called alike children of Duma, +the thunder. Their father and mother were poor, and had but one hut surrounded by +a fence, and possessed no herds nor cattle of any kind. Their only food came from +the fields which they worked themselves, and often at the end of the day the father +and mother would long for a good calabash of thick milk. But they were too poor to +<span class="pageNum" id="pb116">[<a href="#pb116">116</a>]</span>buy even a goat, and could only sigh and shake their heads over their misfortune. +</p> +<p>One morning they all went forth to hoe their lands, for the sun was growing warmer +every day and the spring rains would soon arrive. “We will try new ground,” said the +father, “the old lands are getting worn out, and there is plenty of good soil farther +down the valley.” +</p> +<p>He walked first along the narrow path, then came the mother, and then Duma and Dumasane, +each with their pick. Presently they reached a beautiful piece of land, smooth and +level and free from stones, and soon all were hard at work turning the first sods. +At sundown they went home, well satisfied with their day’s work. You can imagine how +puzzled they were the next morning when they found all the sods turned back in their +old places, and the ground as smooth as if no one had set foot on it. +</p> +<p>They set to work once more, and again prepared a big piece of land for sowing. But +the following morning the same thing happened again: not a sign remained of yesterday’s +labour. They persevered for many days, but every night their work was made of no avail. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb117">[<a href="#pb117">117</a>]</span></p> +<p>“There must be some reason for this,” said the father at last. “I will stay behind +to-day, and see what happens.” +</p> +<p>So when Duma and Dumasane and their mother went home the father slipped behind a great +rock, and watched the newly-turned lands. He had not been there long when he saw the +most beautiful bird come out of the bushes and alight on the fresh sods. It was like +no bird he had ever seen, for its feathers were of every colour; its wings were of +vivid scarlet, its tail a metallic blue, and its head a bright gold, which shaded +into a bronze-green on its breast. It shone like a jewel in the sun, and seemed to +laugh with joy. It flew to the very stone behind which the father lay hidden, and +alighted on the highest point. Then it flapped its wings and said in a high clear +voice: “Chanchasa! Chanchasa! Kilhisa!” +</p> +<p>At that very moment every sod in the field turned over; you would have said no one +had ever been near the valley. The father kept very quiet and waited till the bird +was within arm’s reach. Then he caught it suddenly. +</p> +<p>“Now,” said he, “I have got you! You are clever enough to take my food, so it is only +fair <span class="pageNum" id="pb118">[<a href="#pb118">118</a>]</span>you should now provide me with a meal.” And he prepared to wring its neck. +</p> +<p>“No, no! Spare me!” cried the bird. “If you will only give me my life I will provide +you with cream, fresh milk, and curds and whey all your days.” +</p> +<p>The father opened his eyes at this. “I can see you are a fairy bird,” said he, “and +if what you say is true I will keep you alive.” +</p> +<p>He went straight home, holding the bird in his hand. At the kraal gate he bade his +wife send the children out while she prepared the evening meal. He then shut the door +of the hut and showed her the bird. +</p> +<p>“Of what use is the bird to us?” said she. +</p> +<p>“You will soon see,” said her husband. He took the sack of woven grass through which +they strained their beer, placed the bird in it, and hung it in the middle of the +hut. Then he took a great calabash and held it up—for only a man may have anything +to do with dairy work—and called on the bird to fulfil its promise. +</p> +<p>“Chanchasa! Chanchasa! Kilhisa!” called the bird in its high voice, flapping its wings. +</p> +<p>First the calabash was filled with cream, then with sweet milk, and then with thick +milk, as <span class="pageNum" id="pb119">[<a href="#pb119">119</a>]</span>much as ever they could use in one day. The wife was delighted, for the cream would +keep their karosses in the most beautiful condition, and the milk would make the children +big and strong. +</p> +<p>“Do not let us tell any one about this bird,” said she, “he is far too wonderful. +He must live here, but we will say nothing about him, and not let the children know +how we get the milk and cream.” +</p> +<p>That night they feasted well. The next day they went out to hoe their lands with a +light heart, and sang merry songs: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Now we have cream and milk, +</p> +<p class="line">Fresh milk, and curds and whey; +</p> +<p class="line">Now we go a-working +</p> +<p class="line">Singing merrily every day.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">But Duma and Dumasane were much puzzled at the big basin of curds which they had every +night. Where did it come from? There was neither flock nor herd within many miles, +and yet there was cream, fresh milk, and thick milk every day. +</p> +<p>“I know,” said Dumasane to her brother one day. “They get it in the evening when they +sit alone in the hut and will not let us in.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb120">[<a href="#pb120">120</a>]</span></p> +<p>“Suppose we look through the thatch,” said Duma. “I know where there is a chink.” +</p> +<p>That evening they both watched; they saw the bird come out of his sack, flap his wings, +and fill each calabash to the brim. The next morning their parents left them alone +in the kraal, for they had far to go. They started merrily enough, singing songs of +rejoicing over their wonderful prosperity: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Now we have cream and milk, +</p> +<p class="line">Fresh milk, and curds and whey.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">The wife sang even louder than her husband, for now she was as rich as any of her +neighbours and her heart was full of pride. Little did they think of the misfortune +which awaited their return. +</p> +<p>They came back at dusk, tired, but eager for their welcome meal. A most dreadful sight +met their eyes. The whole kraal was swimming in milk and cream, and the sack was empty. +The little boy and girl were crying at the outer gate, and presently made confession. +</p> +<p>“It is our fault,” they said. “We always wondered what you did in the hut alone, and +one day we looked through a chink and saw <span class="pageNum" id="pb121">[<a href="#pb121">121</a>]</span>everything. So we took the bird down this morning and told him to say ‘Chanchasa.’ +But the milk and cream came so fast that we thought we should be drowned, and in our +fright we let the bird go and he flew away.” +</p> +<p>At this the parents were very, very angry. “You have brought starvation upon us,” +cried the mother. “We can no longer keep you; you must die.” +</p> +<p>She carried them away there and then to a big ravine in the mountain-side and threw +them down a rocky precipice. The little girl was nearly killed, but the boy was not +so much hurt, for a tree broke his fall and he was only bruised. He soon came to himself +and found they were in a deep narrow valley or creek, which penetrated into the heart +of the mountains. Great trees in full leaf almost shut out the sun, and a clear stream +ran down the bottom of the valley among tall ferns and flowering bushes. Duma lay +there two days; then he was able to walk to the mouth of the creek and search for +food. He found some delicious berries and great elephant leaves, which he filled with +water and carried to his sister; and thus he fed her every day till she also recovered. +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p121width" id="p121"><img src="images/p121.jpg" alt="“She ... threw them down a rocky precipice.”" width="497" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“She … threw them down a rocky precipice.”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 121.</i></p> +</div><p> +<span class="pageNum" id="pb122">[<a href="#pb122">122</a>]</span></p> +<p>“Now,” said he, for he was the elder, “we must seek a new home. Our parents are wicked, +and we dare not go back to them. Let us walk right up this valley; perhaps we shall +find a kraal among the mountains where we can get food.” +</p> +<p>Dumasane agreed, and they set forth up the creek, following the bed of the stream +and singing as they went: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“We are the foolish children, +</p> +<p class="line">Who lost the fairy bird +</p> +<p class="line">Which gave our father cream, +</p> +<p class="line">Fresh milk, and curds and whey. +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1040">Alack-a-day.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">The words went to a sad little tune, and the little girl wept bitterly to think of +the pleasant home she had lost. They mounted higher and higher till they came to the +top of the creek. There they saw a great tree covered with black-berries. They stopped +singing and ran to pick them, but they had scarcely eaten one when all the berries +turned into a flock of tiny blackbirds, who flew out of the tree with shrill cries. +Among them, bright as a flower and gay as ever, was the fairy bird himself. +</p> +<p>Directly he saw the children he stopped and perched on a bough to talk to them. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb123">[<a href="#pb123">123</a>]</span></p> +<p>“I see you are in trouble,” said he, “because you gave me my liberty.” Here he snapped +a twig off the tree and gave it to them. “Take this,” said he, “and go straight on +till you come to a huge rock. Walk round it, striking it with this stick, and say: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">‘My father’s and mother’s cattle were killed. +</p> +<p class="line">They say we have done great wrong, +</p> +<p class="line">For we have lost the fairy bird +</p> +<p class="line">Which gave us cream and milk, +</p> +<p class="line">Fresh milk, and curds and whey. +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">Stone, Stone, open in two, +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">So that we can go in. +</p> +<p class="line">Father and mother have cast us out, +</p> +<p class="line">There is no milk, no curds and whey. +</p> +<p class="line">We have done wrong, we have done wrong. +</p> +<p class="line xd33e1032">Stone, Stone, open in two. +</p> +<p lang="zu" class="line xd33e1040">Vula, Etye.’</p> +</div> +<p class="first">At the end, cry ‘<span lang="zu">Chanchasa! Chanchasa! Kilhisa!</span>’ with every blow till you come to the right spot. There a door will fly open, and +you will find a home in which you can live till you are grown up. Everything is there +which you can possibly want to eat, but remember one thing. Never leave a morsel of +fat on the fire, or evil will come of it.” +</p> +<p>The children took the stick with sparkling eyes. Duma held it and Dumasane followed +<span class="pageNum" id="pb124">[<a href="#pb124">124</a>]</span>him, her tears all forgotten. Soon they came in sight of an immense rock standing +by itself in the tall green grass, the biggest they had ever seen. They walked round +it, singing the appointed song and striking it with the fairy stick. All at once a +door flew open, and they looked inside into a huge cave. It was more beautifully furnished +than any hut they had ever seen; a king might have lived in it. There were finely +plaited mats to sleep on, little wooden pillows most daintily carved, and great fur +rugs or karosses to keep the cold away. There were beautiful bead necklaces and girdles +for Dumasane, and for each of them a skin cloak worked with beads, while for Duma +there was a bow and arrows, the bow strung with python-skin, a long curly koodoo<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1507src" href="#xd33e1507" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> horn to blow on, and the most perfect little assegais. And all round the walls stood +pots and calabashes in shining red and black, containing cream, fresh milk and thick +milk, and delicious porridge already cooked. There were besides three great baskets, +one full of corn, another full of nuts, and the third full of maize. There was abundance +of food for months to come. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb125">[<a href="#pb125">125</a>]</span></p> +<p>The two children both said at once: “This is the most lovely place we have ever seen. +Now we shall be quite happy.” +</p> +<p>And there they lived for many years, till at last Duma had become a fine young man +and Dumasane the prettiest girl you can imagine. There was always plenty to eat, for +every day the calabashes and baskets were filled as fast as Dumasane emptied them. +They had no troubles and led a free and happy life. Dumasane learnt to cook and keep +house, and Duma practised daily with bow and arrow till he became an expert huntsman. +Then one day they found that their stores of food were no longer being replenished. +The baskets were gradually growing empty. +</p> +<p>“It is time we worked for ourselves,” said Dumasane to her brother. “I will see to +the house while you go out hunting and bring me some meat to cook.” +</p> +<p>“Very well,” he said. “But if I bring you meat remember not to leave any fat on the +fire, for the fairy bird said if we left any fat burning harm would certainly come +of it.” +</p> +<p>The first day Dumasane was very careful, and the second day. But the third day a little +tiny <span class="pageNum" id="pb126">[<a href="#pb126">126</a>]</span>piece of fat was left smouldering on the flames. Duma went out to hunt and she was +left alone. She set to work to arrange the cave, and was just placing the cooking-pots +in order when she heard heavy footsteps coming along the path and two voices saying +“Hum, hoom! Hum, hoom!” in deep bass notes. Her heart was filled with terror at the +sound. Next minute the door flew open and there stood an Inzimu and his wife. They +were monsters dreadful to behold. They stood upright, and had hands and feet like +a human being, but their flesh was covered with big lumps and they had long scanty +red hair all over their bodies. Their eyes were tiny and close-set, and their mouths +extended from ear to ear, and were filled with sharp, pointed teeth set wide apart. +Their hands had very short fat fingers, and their feet resembled their hands exactly. +The woman was even uglier than the man, for while he had two horns growing out of +his head she had one in the middle of her forehead, and a long snout just like that +of a wolf. Each of them had a long tail like an elephant’s trunk, which had the power +of sucking up all they wanted. +</p> +<p>Dumasane was terribly frightened when she <span class="pageNum" id="pb127">[<a href="#pb127">127</a>]</span>saw them, for she knew they were cannibals. The monsters walked straight into the +cave, twinkling their little eyes and grunting at every step. +</p> +<p>“Take everything in the cave,” said Dumasane, “but leave me here.” +</p> +<p>“No, no,” said they, “if we have you we shall be able to get all these things as often +as we want them, for you have magic power.” +</p> +<p>And in spite of her entreaties they carried her away. In the afternoon her brother +returned and found everything gone, the cave empty and no sign of his sister. He sat +down in despair, for he thought she was dead. +</p> +<p>Suddenly, gorgeous in gold and scarlet, in flew the fairy bird holding a stick in +his mouth. +</p> +<p>“Do not despair,” said he. “Take this stick and a big bag and go into the bush. Wave +the stick before you as you walk and every reptile and every stinging insect you meet +will instantly enter the bag. When it is full come back here and hang the bag in the +middle of the cave.” +</p> +<p>Duma sallied forth bravely, bag in hand, and sang a fairy song as he walked into the +forest. Instantly every deadly thing within call came <span class="pageNum" id="pb128">[<a href="#pb128">128</a>]</span>and took its place in the sack. There were two great black mambas, there were scorpions +and big hairy spiders, fierce little black bees, great yellow wasps and hornets, and +clouds of poisonous mosquitoes, newly hatched and venomous as could be. When the bag +was quite full Duma returned and hung it in the middle of the cave. Then he sat down +to await events. +</p> +<p>Presently he heard the Inzimus singing “Hum, hoom! Hum, hoom!” and trampling heavily. +The door flew open and they walked in. +</p> +<p>“Ah, we will take the boy,” said the Inzimu, “he will be useful to us.” +</p> +<p>“Let us take the bag too,” said the wife. “No doubt it is full of good things.” +</p> +<p>So they took the bag and opened it to see what was inside. The animals all came out +at once and attacked them unmercifully. The snakes and scorpions ran along the ground, +the bees and mosquitoes circled round their heads, joined by the wasps, and deafened +them with their angry cries. The two monsters fled screaming and ran away down the +ravine, stumbling over thorny bushes and great rocks. They did not stop till they +came to a deep pool in the river. <span class="pageNum" id="pb129">[<a href="#pb129">129</a>]</span>There they plunged in to escape from the stings and bites of the insects, but no sooner +did they put their heads out of the water than they were attacked again. In the end +they both were drowned and Duma was safe. +</p> +<p>“Now,” said the fairy bird, “go straight to your father’s kraal, and you will find +your sister. These two Inzimus were your father and mother. They were changed into +monsters as a punishment for their wicked conduct. Now they are dead, and you are +both free.” +</p> +<p>Duma went in haste to his old home, and on the threshold he met his sister crying. +He took her to the forest, and there they met the fairy bird for the last time. +</p> +<p>“I will change you both into royal birds,” said he. “In that way you will both find +a better home than I can give you, for you are now no longer children.” +</p> +<p>Then he flew away, flashing in the sun, and they never saw him again. But they themselves +became two beautiful green lorys, with scarlet and black wings, and a great green +crest on their heads edged with white. They were almost as lovely as the fairy bird +himself; no one but a King had the right to own them. They lived in <span class="pageNum" id="pb130">[<a href="#pb130">130</a>]</span>the trees on nuts and fruit, and bathed in the clear river-pools morning and evening. +</p> +<p>Now there was a great King who reigned over all that country. One day his Queen sent +out an Induna to cut wood in the forest. The Chief was chopping at the foot of a tree +when he heard human voices singing in the higher branches. He stopped to listen. The +voices sang: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“We were once a boy and girl; +</p> +<p class="line">We let our father’s bird go free +</p> +<p class="line">Which gave us both cream and milk, +</p> +<p class="line">Fresh milk, and curds and whey. +</p> +<p class="line">Now we live alone in the trees.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">The Chief looked up and saw that the voices belonged to two beautiful green lorys, +and that no human beings were near. “Those are royal birds,” said he; “some great +witchcraft is at work here.” +</p> +<p>He went straight to the King’s kraal and told the whole story. +</p> +<p>“Such a thing is impossible,” said the Queen, “but we will go and see for ourselves.” +</p> +<p>So the Chief took the Queen and all the Princesses into the forest and placed them +at the foot of the tree. Then he started chopping once <span class="pageNum" id="pb131">[<a href="#pb131">131</a>]</span>more. Presently the birds began to sing, and the Queen was soon convinced that these +were enchanted creatures. She told the Chief to catch them and bring them to her. +</p> +<p>The Chief climbed up the tree and held his hands out under the broad green leaves, +waiting for the birds to come near. As soon as they were within reach he seized both +and brought them to the Queen. +</p> +<p>But directly the Queen touched them they were changed, and became a most beautiful +young man and woman. They were taken to the King, who heard all their adventures. +“This is wonderful,” said he. “I will bring you to your uncle, who is a great Chief +and lives near here.” +</p> +<p>So Duma and Dumasane found a beautiful home and many friends. The Queen was especially +fond of Dumasane, and married her to her own son, while Duma married one of her daughters, +and became a great Chief. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb132">[<a href="#pb132">132</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1507"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1507src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Koodoo</i>—a kind of antelope with fine horns. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1507src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch11" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e347">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XI</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE COCK’S KRAAL</h2> +<h2 class="label">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Once upon a time there lived a great Chief who ruled over many thousands of men. The +city in which he dwelt was so large that it would have taken you many hours to walk +round it, and no one had yet counted the multitude of his cattle. But in spite of +his great wealth he was of so grasping a disposition that he never seemed to have +enough, nor did he care whether he gained his ends justly. You shall hear the story +of the misfortunes he incurred through this same passion of greed. +</p> +<p>One day he sent out a party of men headed by his chief Induna to hunt for otter-skins +for the royal body-guard. This regiment was the finest of his army, and he prided +himself on its perfect equipment. To show how highly he <span class="pageNum" id="pb133">[<a href="#pb133">133</a>]</span>esteemed the men belonging to it, he allowed them to wear otter-skins, the royal fur, +and long waving head-dresses of ostrich feathers. His bravest son was their commander; +no soldiers equalled them in all the land. +</p> +<p>The hunting-party had good sport, travelling for many miles down the river, and attacking +the otters by night, when they assemble under the great rocks. The nights were warm +and pleasant, and day after day they followed their quarry till they were far from +home and found themselves in a new country. Then in a few hours the weather changed. +Clouds came up and covered the hills; and then followed a cold misty rain. It grew +colder and colder, and they had no shelter and were drenched to the bone. They tried +to light a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, but the wood was damp and +no spark came. They tried flint-stones, but the rain had spoilt their tinder. They +then thought of going to a neighbouring kraal and there obtaining fire, but the country +round was bare and empty, not a soul was to be seen. And the rain continued to fall +heavily. +</p> +<p>At last they decided to mount a hill and see if any habitation could be found. They +ascended <span class="pageNum" id="pb134">[<a href="#pb134">134</a>]</span>the highest point within reach, and far away, in the middle of a great plain on the +other side, they saw a single column of smoke. They all set out at once in the new +direction, and at the end of some hours arrived at the gate of a big kraal. Many hundreds +of huts stood round the cattle-pen, and there were oxen in plenty and large herds +of goats and sheep, but not a single human being could they see. The men walked round +the whole city, but the only occupants of the huts were fowls of every size and colour. +They walked in and out of the doors, and seemed busy and occupied on important affairs. +The Induna grew more and more puzzled. At last they reached the great entrance of +the cattle-kraal, and there a magnificent golden Cock stood on the fence, whence he +could survey the whole city. He did not move at their approach, but surveyed them +boldly with his bright yellow eyes. +</p> +<p>“What do you want?” he asked in the tones of a man. +</p> +<p>The Induna and his warriors were so surprised that they could not answer for a moment. +</p> +<p>“Do you seek shelter?” repeated the Cock. “If so, my people will help you.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb135">[<a href="#pb135">135</a>]</span></p> +<p>“We thank you,” said the Induna; “we only want fire. We are far from home, and have +no means of warming ourselves or cooking food.” +</p> +<p>“You shall have all you want,” said the Cock. “I am a man like yourselves, but a wicked +King who was stronger than I has bewitched me and all my people. He was a cannibal, +and actually asked for the hand of my daughters in marriage for his sons. I refused +to allow them to have anything to do with such a wicked race, whereupon his magicians +changed me and all my subjects into cocks and hens.” +</p> +<p>“Can you not win back your old form?” asked the Induna. +</p> +<p>“Only if I overcome a more powerful Chief than myself, and that I shall find difficult +in my present shape,” said the Cock sadly. +</p> +<p>Then he took the Induna and his men to two beautiful huts, gave them food and drink +of the best, and when they departed provided them with a thin stick lighted in the +fire, which would smoulder for many hours. The hunting-party went back to their otter-skins, +lighted a fire, and presently returned home with their booty. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb136">[<a href="#pb136">136</a>]</span></p> +<p>They related all their adventures to the King, and gave him a full account of the +enchanted Cock, his beautiful kraal, and his great flocks and herds. The King’s greed +awoke at once, and he cried, “What fools serve me! Why did not you take the cattle +and come back with them at once? Could you not overcome a few cocks and hens?” +</p> +<p>“Great King,” said the Induna, “there was no order to conquer. Why should we steal +from the Cock, who gave us all we wanted freely?” +</p> +<p>“How could you possibly miss such a chance?” said the King. “I will see to the matter +myself at once.” +</p> +<p>Then he ordered one of his regiments to start for the Cock’s kraal forthwith, and +waited at home for the expected spoil. +</p> +<p>His men soon found the path, and after a few days’ travelling arrived within sight +of the enchanted city. +</p> +<p>The golden Cock was at his usual post at the gate of the cattle-kraal. As he saw the +regiment approach in battle array he called all his sheep and cattle, and sent them +into the kraal. Then he flew to the chief hut and called to all the fowls who lived +in the city: +<span class="pageNum" id="pb137">[<a href="#pb137">137</a>]</span></p> +<p>“Come out, come out! Here are warriors who have come to take your cattle. Come out, +come out, and defend your homes.” +</p> +<p>The fowls flew in from their lands in hundreds and thousands, and stood each at the +door of his hut. Directly the regiment set foot in the city each picked out his man +and flew towards him, flapping his wings around his enemy’s head. In a few minutes +each bird had pecked out the eyes of his opponent, and such was their strength and +ferocity that but two or three escaped alive out of the whole regiment. +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p137width" id="p137"><img src="images/p137.jpg" alt="“Such was their strength and ferocity that but two or three escaped alive out of the whole regiment.”" width="500" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“Such was their strength and ferocity that but two or three escaped alive out of the +whole regiment.”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 137.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +<p>The King was greatly incensed when he heard the news. His blood was up, and he instantly +sent forth his royal body-guard, the flower of his army, under the command of his +favourite son. They set out, clad in rich otter-skins and crowned with long black +feathers, each man a perfect warrior. +</p> +<p>Many long days passed. Every evening at sundown the King looked for the victorious +army driving before them great herds of lowing cattle, themselves scarcely visible +in the clouds of golden dust. But no one came, and the days grew into weeks. At length +one night at dusk a wretched fugitive arrived, footsore and scarcely <span class="pageNum" id="pb138">[<a href="#pb138">138</a>]</span>able to drag himself along. His plumes were gone, a fragment of otter-skin was still +about his loins. +</p> +<p>“Great King,” said he with many groans, “I am all that remains of the royal body-guard.” +</p> +<p>“Is my son also dead?” cried the King in horror. +</p> +<p>“Great King, the Prince is dead and all our men; no one can stand against the assault +of the enchanted fowls. The golden Cock spared me alone so that the fate of our warriors +might be known. He bade me say he is still ready for you.” +</p> +<p>But the King owned himself beaten. “How can I fight any more?” he said. “My body-guard +is destroyed and my bravest son killed. Let the Cock keep his city and his cattle.” +</p> +<p>As the words fell from his lips the golden Cock and all his men regained once more +their rightful shape. They had conquered in fair fight, and now ruled over a great +land in happiness and peace. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb139">[<a href="#pb139">139</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch12" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e357">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XII</h2> +<h2 class="main">BABOON-SKINS</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Now in this story there is neither Fairy nor Inzimu, nor does any one win a kingdom +by secret spells. Some little bags of python-skin are indeed just mentioned, but you +will see that they have no effect on any one. The only magic used in this story is +a woman’s wit and kindness of heart, the oldest charms in the world. +</p> +<p>Long years ago there lived a Chief who had many wives. Two of these were more distinguished +than the others, for each had a most beautiful daughter. Indeed their families were +exactly alike, for each had a son and two daughters, one very pretty and the other +plain. I cannot tell you what became of the plain daughters. No doubt they each had +a history, but this tale concerns only the two beauties. <span class="pageNum" id="pb140">[<a href="#pb140">140</a>]</span>The name of one was Inkosesana, which means “the Young Lady.” Her mother was very +proud of her from the first, and expected her to marry a very great Chief, and Inkosesana +was as conceited as possible in consequence. The name of the other was Lalhiwe, which +only means “Thrown Away.” As you may suppose from her name, she was a much quieter +and more modest girl than Inkosesana. But as time went on and both girls grew up to +womanhood suitors began to arrive, and each mother hoped for great things for her +daughter. The rivalry between the two families became more and more bitter, till at +last it was all they could do to keep the constant quarrels from coming to the ear +of the Chief. +</p> +<p>One morning Lalhiwe’s mother awoke and went to see about the Kafir corn for the day’s +provisions. To her horror she found under the grinding-stone the blood of some animal +and several little bags of python-skin filled with charms. +</p> +<p>“Lalhiwe!” cried the mother, “come and look at these!” +</p> +<p>Lalhiwe nearly fainted with fright. “It is witchcraft,” said she, “it must be some +wickedness <span class="pageNum" id="pb141">[<a href="#pb141">141</a>]</span>devised by Inkosesana and her mother. They will never rest till we are ruined. Those +charms are meant to cast a spell over us, so that we may fall ill and die.” +</p> +<p>Lalhiwe then ran quickly to a neighbour who was a Wise Woman, and begged her to come +and give charms to counteract the evil influence of her rivals. When all was done +she sat down and said, “Dear mother, I am tired of all this. What do I care about +beauty? It has only brought us endless quarrels and wretched jealousy. Give me some +baboon-skins. They are the ugliest disguise of all, and I will wrap myself up in them +and retire from life till Inkosesana is married. In that way we shall all have peace.” +</p> +<p>That very day she asked her brother to get two baboon-skins for her, and to bring +them with the heads and limbs still on them. As soon as they were ready she made herself +a complete disguise. She joined the two skins at the shoulders and again at the heads. +Then she slipped them on so that the two baboons’ heads covered her face and hair +before and behind. Her bright eyes peeped through the two eye-holes, but her face +was completely <span class="pageNum" id="pb142">[<a href="#pb142">142</a>]</span>hidden. All that was visible was the mask of a grinning ape. The two skins hung from +her shoulder to her knee, back and front. One could still see that her limbs were +pretty and well turned, but her laughing face and ivory teeth were hidden completely, +and so were her graceful shoulders. In fact she looked like a girl afflicted with +some great deformity, who is obliged to hide herself from the gaze of men. +</p> +<p>As soon as her rival’s mother heard of her decision, she laughed heartily and said, +“This is the best news I have heard for many a long day. What a fool that girl is, +to be sure! She must be mad.” +</p> +<p>All the women in the kraal were of the same opinion. They had never heard of any one +hiding a pretty face before, and could not believe that Lalhiwe did it all to have +peace and save her family from calamity. In spite of all the remarks that were made +she never faltered, but wore her ugly baboon-skins every day, and never once showed +her face even to her girl friends. Great peace reigned in the kraal after the first +few days; there were no more quarrels, every one was quite happy, and Inkosesana remained +the undisputed beauty of the country-side. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb143">[<a href="#pb143">143</a>]</span></p> +<p>But one day, when Lalhiwe had worn the baboon-skins many months, there was a great +stir in the kraal. Two councillors had arrived from a very mighty Chief, seeking not +one bride but two for their master. Both must be beautiful; the Chief was very rich, +and would make a magnificent marriage-gift to the father of a really lovely maiden. +The two councillors sat long in conversation with the head of the kraal, while the +women stood in little knots and talked excitedly. Presently they were asked to come +forward and the demand of the great Chief was made known. The mother of Inkosesana +at once advanced with an air of triumph. “Here,” said she, “is the bride you are looking +for,” and she showed them Inkosesana, who did indeed look charming. She had thrown +aside her cloak and appeared decked in all her prettiest beads, which set off her +beautiful skin and graceful figure to full advantage. The councillors both said at +once: “This is the most beautiful girl we have yet seen. We accept her with pleasure; +our King could not wish for a more lovely woman.” Then turning to the father they +said, “Have you another pretty daughter, so that we may see her?” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb144">[<a href="#pb144">144</a>]</span></p> +<p>The father said nothing, but the mother of Inkosesana, mad with gratified pride and +longing to triumph yet further, called out, “Yes, there is another daughter, but she +is always wrapped in baboon-skins, and is of no consequence at all.” +</p> +<p>“Let us see her,” said the councillors, who felt curious at once. +</p> +<p>Lalhiwe stepped forward very reluctantly, holding her skins tightly round her. But +nothing could take away from the grace of her pretty limbs, and the councillors walked +round her and longed to see her face. +</p> +<p>“What are you hiding under those skins?” said they. “You have very pretty limbs and +you walk gracefully. What is wrong with you? We beg you to show us your face.” +</p> +<p>“No,” said Lalhiwe. “He who marries me must marry me for myself alone, not for my +beauty.” +</p> +<p>“Are you deformed, then? Or are you very ugly?” +</p> +<p>“I did not say so,” answered Lalhiwe quietly. “All I said was that he who marries +me must marry me for myself alone.” +</p> +<p>“But why do you do this strange thing?” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb145">[<a href="#pb145">145</a>]</span></p> +<p>“To please myself,” said Lalhiwe. +</p> +<p>“You must be deformed,” said one councillor, hoping to make her angry. +</p> +<p>“I did not say so,” answered the girl; and although the councillors did all they could +to provoke her and make her throw off her skins, she did not get angry or speak rudely +to them. +</p> +<p>They confessed themselves beaten, and held a long consultation. Should they take Lalhiwe +as well as the beautiful Inkosesana and risk it? Both of them admired her wit and +her good temper, and at last they decided to ask for her also, in the hope that all +would be well. Before they went back to their master they saw the brothers from the +two families. They told the brother of Inkosesana to make a big kraal to receive the +cattle in payment for his sister, as there was no doubt their master would be delighted +with her. To Lalhiwe’s brother they said nothing; and he, fearing his sister would +not be welcomed, made only a little kraal, sufficient for some twenty cattle. +</p> +<p>The councillors then returned to the King. He was pleased with the reports they brought +of Inkosesana, but when he heard the tale of the <span class="pageNum" id="pb146">[<a href="#pb146">146</a>]</span>second bride who wore baboon-skins, he was very angry indeed. “No girl,” said he, +“who had a pretty face would hide it. Without doubt she is absolutely hideous; and +remember, if that is the case, you pay the penalty of death. To think that I should +have sent such fools!” +</p> +<p>The councillors were very sad, and awaited the coming of the brides with much fear, +for they could not be sure they had guessed rightly, and the King always kept his +word. As a precaution the King only sent twenty cattle for each bride. “We can easily +send more if both are acceptable,” said he; “and if there is trouble (for I will not +have an ugly wife on any account), then we need not ask for a return of the marriage-gift. +These forty cattle will then be the due payment for Inkosesana.” +</p> +<p>At the appointed time the two brides said farewell to the kraal, and set out on their +long journey. They walked for many days, each attended by her bridesmaids. At length +they reached their future home and appeared before the great Chief. He was pleased +at once with Inkosesana, but looked with puzzled eyes on Lalhiwe, who still remained +muffled in her <span class="pageNum" id="pb147">[<a href="#pb147">147</a>]</span>baboon-skins. He admired her graceful bearing, and longed the more to know her secret. +</p> +<p>“I beg of you,” said he, “let me see your face.” +</p> +<p>“No, great King,” said Lalhiwe in her usual quiet voice; “I show my face to no one +until the wedding morning.” +</p> +<p>The two brides then retired with their maids, each to her own hut, until the preparations +for the wedding-feast were made. You can imagine how eagerly they were discussed among +the women of the kraal. Inkosesana was much admired, but Lalhiwe found no supporters. +“She must certainly be hideous,” they said, “or she would show her face.” +</p> +<p>When the great day arrived the brides each left her hut and went down to the river +to bathe. They went to separate pools, and neither saw the other. +</p> +<p>Lalhiwe descended with her maids to a deep pool under a great rock. The sun just touched +the top of the highest tree, tall white lilies grew on the banks, and in every cranny +and nook were great clusters of green fern, fresh with dew. Lalhiwe slipped off her +skins, rolled them in a tight bundle and buried them deep in a great <span class="pageNum" id="pb148">[<a href="#pb148">148</a>]</span>ant-bear hole. Then she and her maidens bathed in the clear pool, laughing and chattering, +till it was time to array themselves for the great day. The bridesmaids decked themselves +out in all their most wonderful bead-work, but Lalhiwe, as befitted a bride on her +wedding-morning, wore the deep black kilt of ox-skins which is the dress of married +women only, and for ornament just a girdle of white beads round her waist and an assegai +in her hand. But when she stood in the sun, surrounded by her maids, they all cried, +“Lalhiwe, you are more beautiful than ever! You are far more lovely than Inkosesana!” +</p> +<p>And indeed it was true. All these months Lalhiwe had been hidden from the sun she +had grown in beauty, her skin was as smooth and soft as satin, and every movement +was a joy to behold. +</p> +<p>The bridesmaids placed her at their head, and all together they ascended the path +towards the kraal. They sang a song as they went, but the song was sad. It was their +farewell to a friend who would play with them no more in the old home, and who had +come to a strange life in a distant land. +</p> +<p>At the gate of the kraal they met Inkosesana, <span class="pageNum" id="pb149">[<a href="#pb149">149</a>]</span>who proudly stepped before them and was the first to meet the glances of the wedding-guests. +All clapped and greeted her with great approval, but their eager eyes looked beyond +her to the mysterious sister. When Lalhiwe appeared in all her perfect grace, shouts +of joy and surprise were heard on all sides. +</p> +<p>“She is lovely!” cried all the guests. “There is no one so beautiful in all our land!” +</p> +<p>When the two brides appeared before the King and danced in the great cattle-kraal +according to custom, he was struck dumb with amazement, and never took his eyes from +Lalhiwe. When the wedding was over he called the two councillors and gave them each +twenty beautiful oxen. “You have shown yourselves wise and trusty councillors,” said +he. “Lalhiwe is beautiful beyond belief. Choose all my finest cattle, let them all +be young, and send them as a marriage-gift to her father’s kraal. Let the first herd +be the marriage-gift for Inkosesana, but let Lalhiwe have such a dowry as has never +been seen before in our land.” +</p> +<p>The King’s commands were carried out. Great was the rejoicing and wonder of Lalhiwe’s +mother when the marvellous herd of cattle <span class="pageNum" id="pb150">[<a href="#pb150">150</a>]</span>arrived. She had never expected such honour to come upon her child. But her rival +hid herself in her hut, filled with bitter disappointment. She sulked alone for months, +nor did she ever recover her old position in the kraal. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb151">[<a href="#pb151">151</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch13" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e367">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XIII</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE REWARD OF INDUSTRY</h2> +<h2 class="main">A ZULU TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">At the foot of the great hills which lie on the borders of Swaziland a river flows +among wide grassy plains. Trees line its banks throughout its course, and great herds +of buck come down to the water to drink at night. It is a rich and beautiful country, +and there, long years ago, lived a young Chief and his wife. They were very happy, +and had everything they wanted. Two lovely little girls were born to them, and then, +one sad day, the father died, and his wife was left all alone. Her husband had no +brother who would take her to his kraal and provide for her, so she was thrown on +her own resources, and had nothing but what she could find herself. For a while she +worked hard, and tilled her lands with the help of the two little girls, but when +<span class="pageNum" id="pb152">[<a href="#pb152">152</a>]</span>autumn came her crops were poor. There was not enough grain to last till the next +harvest. +</p> +<p>So when the spring rains fell and the seed was set, she turned to her children and +said, “There will soon be no more corn for us to eat. We must leave the kraal and +go to grandmother. She will give us corn and mealies to last till harvest-time.” +</p> +<p>The little girls were delighted, for they loved a journey, and all set forth along +the path which led towards the mountains. It was very narrow, so they went one behind +another, the mother leading the way. +</p> +<p>It was a beautiful spring morning. Great white clouds shone in the blue sky, the grass +was getting greener every day, and the plain was carpeted with clusters of the most +lovely flowers. First came whole companies of scarlet lynx-ear, then followed great +patches of a tiny bright blue flower, and then again nothing but white blossoms, which +turned inky-black as they faded. The little girls laughed and chattered, and sometimes +sang a song of travel, for it was a holiday, and they were happy. +</p> +<p>Then they left the flat plains and began to ascend the course of a tiny stream which +came <span class="pageNum" id="pb153">[<a href="#pb153">153</a>]</span>down from the hills. The path led in and out among huge rocks and tall trees hung +with creepers. Little ferns were beginning to show their fronds, and here and there +nodded a brilliant scarlet daisy. The mother still walked first, and the bushes grew +thicker and thicker. +</p> +<p>The path gave a sharp turn, and there, right before them, lay an enormous snake. He +was coiled in the very middle of the narrow road, and his wicked head was poised ready +to attack them. In truth, he was an ogre in disguise, for he looked at the mother +and said at once in a deep voice, “Where are you going to?” +</p> +<p>The poor mother fled shrieking into the thorny bush, but the snake was much quicker +than she. He threw himself round her in great folds, and in a few minutes he had eaten +her up. The two little girls ran on as hard as ever they could and plunged in among +the bushes till they came to a great rock. There they hid themselves, shaking in every +limb, and not daring even to look for food. +</p> +<p>Many hours passed by and the sun was getting low. The children were faint with hunger, +and began to cry bitterly at the thought of their mother. Then they heard footsteps +<span class="pageNum" id="pb154">[<a href="#pb154">154</a>]</span>coming through the grass. They sat up and listened; this was no snake. Presently an +old woman came in sight carrying a little pot of food on her head. She had a kind +face, and directly she saw the little girls she stopped and said, “Why do you hide +right under the rock, and why are you crying?” +</p> +<p>“Our father and mother are both dead,” said the little girls, “and we don’t know where +our grandmother lives.” +</p> +<p>“Wipe away your tears,” said the old woman. “I will be your grandmother.” +</p> +<p>Then she sat down and spoke kindly to them till they felt comforted and happy. “Now,” +said she, “I will provide for you. I will change both you and myself into beautiful +birds. We will live in the forest, and no one shall have any power to harm us.” +</p> +<p>And immediately all happened as the old woman said, for she was a great and powerful +Fairy and no old woman at all. And they flew far away into a big forest where no man +ever came. There they lived in perfect ease, twittering gaily all day long, bathing +in the clear streams, and flying in and out among green ferns and many-coloured lilies. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb155">[<a href="#pb155">155</a>]</span></p> +<p>But one day the Fairy said to the girls, “You are grown up now, and can no longer +live carelessly like birds. Now we must travel and seek our fortune.” +</p> +<p>So they left the forest and flew for many days till they came to a big city, where +a famous Chief ruled. There they stopped. The Fairy became an old woman once more, +and she changed the two girls back into their original form. Only now they were women +grown, and as pretty as they could be. +</p> +<p>The next morning she asked to see the King’s chief councillor. As soon as she entered +the hut she saluted him respectfully, saying: +</p> +<p>“I see you, Chief.” +</p> +<p>“I see you,” answered the Induna. +</p> +<p>“I am come here to ask if I and my two grand-daughters may live here under the protection +of the great King.” +</p> +<p>“Why do you want to come?” asked the Induna. “Have you no kindred to whom you belong?” +</p> +<p>“The girls have lost both father and mother by witchcraft,” said the old Fairy. “I +am their only living relation, and I want to find them a home, for I am old.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb156">[<a href="#pb156">156</a>]</span></p> +<p>“They are beautiful girls,” said the Induna. “I will give you lands which you may +cultivate, and space within the city on which to build your hut.” +</p> +<p>The Induna then appointed men who should show them the land for their hut and help +them to set the framework. A Kafir hut, you know, is round and thatched with grass, +very like an old-fashioned bee-hive. Men set the framework with strong supple boughs; +then the women come and thatch from top to bottom with their clever fingers. As soon +as the King’s men had gone, the old Fairy and the two girls set to work. It often +takes many days to complete a hut, but so well did they work that by sundown the hut +was finished, even to a beautiful little screen before the door to keep off the wind. +Not only had they been quicker than any women before known, but the thatch was also +finer than any in the whole city. The marvel of their neighbours may be imagined. +The next day they cleared away the grass before the entrance and put up the neatest +and most beautiful fence in the whole country-side. +</p> +<p>Then when their home was ready, they set out to hoe their lands. These lay at some +<span class="pageNum" id="pb157">[<a href="#pb157">157</a>]</span>distance from the kraal, at the outermost border of the lands already tilled. +</p> +<p>“Now,” said the Fairy, “I am too old to wield a hoe, but you, my daughters, are strong. +Each of you must take your pick and work straight ahead without looking behind you. +I will follow behind, gather the weeds, and clear everything up.” +</p> +<p>It was early morning, and the mists had barely risen from the hills. The wide veld +lay before them, and stretched in long golden lines to the sharp blue mountain peaks +on the horizon. The girls did as they were bid. They worked steadily till mid-day, +singing gaily all the while; nor did they once look behind them. When the sun was +at its height they stopped to rest. They were amazed to see the extent of ground they +had cleared, and could not believe it possible. The old Fairy smiled and said, “We +will come again to-morrow and do yet better.” +</p> +<p>They came the next day, and yet many days. Their lands grew and grew till at length +they had hoed more land than the King himself, who could have as many workers as he +wished. Their neighbours began to notice them. “These girls are not only beautiful,” +said they, “they are <span class="pageNum" id="pb158">[<a href="#pb158">158</a>]</span>strong and willing, and work like no one we have ever seen. Their lands are better +than those of the King himself.” +</p> +<p>That year the rains came early. The golden hues of winter changed as the young grass +sprang up, and hundreds of flowers appeared to delight the eye. Every one had good +crops that summer, but the Fairy’s mealies were taller and greener than those of any +one in the King’s dominions. +</p> +<p>It was not long before the King was told of these wonderful strangers. “I must see +for myself,” said the King. “No doubt it is not so wonderful as they say. People talk +so much.” +</p> +<p>But when he walked out himself and saw the land hoed by the Fairy and her maidens, +he was astonished beyond belief; the field was far larger even than he had heard, +and the mealies taller than himself or any of his men. The next day he commanded the +old woman and her grand-daughters to appear before him. An Induna brought them into +the King’s presence. +</p> +<p>“How is it,” said the King, “that you have been able to hoe such enormous lands? Your +mealies and corn are better than mine, though I can have hundreds of men to work for +me.” +</p> +<p>“King of Kings,” said the wise old Fairy, <span class="pageNum" id="pb159">[<a href="#pb159">159</a>]</span>“I am the daughter of a very mighty King, and these girls are my daughter’s children. +A mighty King, as you know, has great power, and can do more than other men.” +</p> +<p>“I am indeed pleased,” said the King, “to see that your daughters are such beautiful +girls. I am too old to marry them myself, but I have two fine young Princes who are +just of an age to wed. I should not like your daughters to marry any one else, for +such maidens are the ones who should marry great Chiefs. They are not only beautiful, +but industrious and strong beyond all other women.” +</p> +<p>So the marriages were arranged, and the two maidens, who had lost both father and +mother, became the wives of the bravest and finest of all the King’s sons. Many hundreds +of cattle were given to the Fairy grandmother in exchange for her daughters, and great +were the rejoicings throughout the whole city. +</p> +<p>The Fairy stayed till she saw that both her adopted children were happy and well-beloved. +Then one day she divided her cattle between them, kissed them farewell, and disappeared. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb160">[<a href="#pb160">160</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch14" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e377">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XIV</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE STORY OF SEMAI-MAI</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="sc">Part I</span> +</p> +<p>SEMAI-MAI THE CANNIBAL KING +</p> +<p>Among all the people of the Kafirs there was never a King more feared and hated than +Semai-mai. He was known for his bad deeds far and wide, and was the terror of every +tribe within many days’ journey of his kingdom. It is true he was a splendid warrior +and had never once suffered defeat, but he was unjust and cruel beyond belief. His +people were numerous and powerful, for Semai-mai ruled over many great kraals, and +had thousands of warriors at his command. Though their Chief was wicked they were +a kind and just people, and often hated their lord’s deeds. But what could they do? +The <span class="pageNum" id="pb161">[<a href="#pb161">161</a>]</span>first duty of every man is to be loyal to his ruler, and as yet no one had dared to +disobey. Semai-mai was known far and wide as the “Wicked King,” and every day he grew +in iniquity. +</p> +<p>You shall hear how at last he destroyed himself by his own lawlessness, and lost his +human form. +</p> +<p>One day he called his greatest magicians together and said, “Make strong potions and +magic draughts for my army, so that they may be able to conquer any enemy. I go to +fight a great King who lives in a very distant country.” +</p> +<p>The potions were prepared and the impis called out; the wizards treated every man +with magic spells used only in time of war, and gave him the wonderful drink which +confers bravery and turns away the weapons of the enemy. Then they told Semai-mai +that all was ready. The impis stood in line, each company in its place, every man +complete with shield and assegai, and magnificently adorned with the velvety-brown +otter-skin or the golden leopard. They waited in silence for their orders, but no +orders came. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb162">[<a href="#pb162">162</a>]</span></p> +<p>Semai-mai sent word by his chief general that he intended to lead them himself, but +no mention was made of the enemy’s name, and their destination remained secret. The +next day he appeared, gloomier and fiercer than ever before, and placed himself at +the head of his body-guard, who marched behind their Chief in silent terror. +</p> +<p>He led them right up the mountains into a wide desolate valley. Two pillars of rock +guarded the entrance; within were huge red boulders interspersed with trees. On either +side rose tall cliffs, which glowed in the mid-day sun. The men knew the valley well, +and never willingly entered it. A great and powerful Fairy was said to live there +whom it was well not to offend. Many men had entered it when hunting, and had never +returned or been seen again. At the gate of the valley strange spirits answered if +one spoke in the merest whisper; it was a place better avoided by all right-thinking +men, and every warrior had a feeling of vague discomfort as he passed the mighty pillars +and knew he was on haunted ground. +</p> +<p>Semai-mai went forward to a clear space among the great boulders, and there ordered +his regiments to stand in ranks before him. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb163">[<a href="#pb163">163</a>]</span></p> +<p>He was an immense man, a head and shoulders above any warrior in his army, deep in +the chest, with an arm so strong he could fell an ox with a blow of his knobkerrie.<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1798src" href="#xd33e1798" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> He stood in the fierce sunlight, sullen and magnificent, and surveyed his men. Then +he spoke. +</p> +<p>“You have not yet had your orders for this raid,” said he. “Now, hear them! From henceforth +I have resolved to live on human flesh. Those that join me shall see glorious fighting +and great conquests. As for those that refuse, they shall die, and their carcases +shall be embalmed by my magicians. I shall expose them on these great rocks, and all +men shall see the wretches who dared to disobey their King.” +</p> +<p>The whole army held their breath with amazement and horror. They had never supposed +that their King would thus dare to cast off all restraint. No one spoke. The King +looked around with gloomy fierceness. Then, raising his spear and speaking in an immense +voice, he shouted: +</p> +<p>“Let those that love me stand on one side. Those that hate me may sit down.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb164">[<a href="#pb164">164</a>]</span></p> +<p>More than half the men sat down. Semai-mai scowled yet more deeply, but continued +firm in his wicked purpose, though he saw it would cost him more than half his army. +He turned to his remaining followers and said: +</p> +<p>“Our motto shall be henceforth, ‘We live on human flesh and belong to the alligators.’ +Kill these disobedient dogs, and set their bodies on the rocks.” +</p> +<p>His men at once fell on the rebels, who did not resist them. Each man died where he +sat, for the King was great, and his orders must be obeyed. Then the wizards prepared +strange potions and ointments, and every body was embalmed, so that time should not +destroy it, but that it should remain a witness for ever. Last of all, the dead warriors +were taken and placed on every great rock and along the ledges in the tall red cliffs. +The sun blazed down on them; in the quivering air every man could be seen, deep brown +against the glowing rocks. +</p> +<p>When all was done Semai-mai marshalled his forces, looked on the dead with joy, and +bade his men go forward. They ranged themselves in the accustomed order, but as they +filed up the mountain-path each man noticed for the first <span class="pageNum" id="pb165">[<a href="#pb165">165</a>]</span>time that his neighbour’s hair was brick-red. They instantly feared witchcraft, and +remembered the tales of the great Fairy who ruled over the valley. But Semai-mai laughed +at their fears, and bade them show courage. He gave orders that they were to kill +and spare none, neither women nor children. Only cattle and sheep might be brought +away. +</p> +<p>They travelled across the mountains till they came to a wide fertile valley, in which +was a great city. Semai-mai sent spies to view the land. They reported that the people +were peaceful and unsuspecting, and that great success might be expected from an attack. +They were ruled by a King named Sobuso, who appeared to be much beloved. One strange +thing they had observed; all the women were beautiful, but the men were absolutely +hideous. +</p> +<p>“Well, we shall kill them all, so it is of no consequence,” said Semai-mai, and he +bade an impi attack the very next day. The men crept up to the city in the early dawn, +rushed in at the gate, and began killing all they could see. But to their amazement, +no sooner had they felled a man to the ground than he rose to his feet again. As fast +as they killed one man <span class="pageNum" id="pb166">[<a href="#pb166">166</a>]</span>another came to life. Not only that, but they found that they themselves were becoming +as thin as reeds and as light as dust; their blows carried no weight, and they were +as ghosts beating the air ineffectually. +</p> +<p>Great fear came into their hearts, and they wavered and turned to fly. “You cowards!” +shouted Semai-mai, appearing at the gate. “Let me come and kill.” He rushed forward +and attacked the foremost of the enemy. But as his assegai pierced the foe he found +his own huge form shrinking into nothing, his arm was weak and nerveless, and as his +opponent rose again to attack him, he fled shrieking, followed by all his men. +</p> +<p>The enemy rushed after them, brandishing their assegais, and shouting hoarse war-cries: +“<span lang="ss">Shi-sha-she! Si-me-pe! Si-ko-mo! Si! Pe!</span> The Cattle! Where are they? The Cattle!” +</p> +<p>With every hissing cry a man fell, and the mountain-side was strewn with their bodies. +On and on they fled, till all were killed but Semai-mai. Only he still held out, and +ran, panting but alive, to the very gates of the great valley where the dead men sat +in the sunshine. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb167">[<a href="#pb167">167</a>]</span></p> +<p>There both he and his pursuers stopped, for before them stood a most beautiful woman. +</p> +<p>With one look of command she bade them all follow her, for this was the Fairy of the +valley. “I have been waiting for you,” said she. “Come and see what this wicked King +has done.” +</p> +<p>Then she led them down among the great rocks, King Sobuso and all his men, but Semai-mai +she bound by invisible power on the top of a huge boulder, where he must see all and +could not move. +</p> +<p>Slowly she led the warriors into the very centre of the great valley. There she bade +them look up. In the red glow of the setting sun they saw the black forms of the men +who refused to follow the cannibal King. Each sat propped against his ledge of glowing +stone; they looked still as if they were sitting in council. +</p> +<p>“Night will soon be here,” said the Fairy. “You shall see what I can do.” +</p> +<p>Then she bade the warriors sit down and wait, and began to brew a magic potion. And +Semai-mai sat too and waited on the rocks above, for he could not stir hand or foot. +Cold <span class="pageNum" id="pb168">[<a href="#pb168">168</a>]</span>fear came into his soul as he saw the fires lit in the valley below, and watched the +wonderful woman at work. She was still busy when night fell and the stars came out +in the purple sky. Then she got torches ready, sprinkled them with her wonderful liquid, +and lit them at the fire. She gave one to Sobuso, and then to all his generals in +turn. Lastly she took one herself, and signed to the men to follow. They leapt from +rock to rock throughout the valley, carrying the torches along every ledge, till every +man was visible. As the magic fire approached him, each dead warrior sprang to life, +and in a few moments a living army filled the valley. Then the Fairy bade them all +descend to the open space below, and tell their story to Sobuso. The chief Induna +spoke, and all listened in silence. +</p> +<p>“You did right,” said Sobuso at length. “Your wicked King is powerless now. Come to +me; I will give you wives and lands, for such men are those I want.” +</p> +<p>Great was the joy of every man when he heard these words, for Sobuso was known as +the best and wisest King in all the mountain country. They were about to depart when +the Fairy stopped them once more. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb169">[<a href="#pb169">169</a>]</span></p> +<p>“And now,” said she, in a high clear voice, which echoed many times in the darkness, +“let Semai-mai, the cannibal King, descend and see his men.” +</p> +<p>And Semai-mai found his chains loosed, but a power he could not resist drew him down +till he stood in the very centre, in the full light of the blazing fires. His former +subjects closed in round him; at one end stood Sobuso and his generals, at the other +the Fairy of the valley. +</p> +<p>“You see here,” said the Fairy, “Semai-mai, the wicked King. Because he has done injustice +all his life and rejoiced in cruelty, I judge him no longer worthy to remain a man. +He shall become a dog and live as a dog lives. Only, as he was a great King and a +brave warrior, I give him magic powers and one powerful weapon. He shall have a long +nail on one foot, bright and sharp as a sword. And if he is a faithful dog and true +to his master he may one day become a man again. But if he continues cruel and unjust +a still greater curse shall fall on him.” +</p> +<p>Even as she spoke the horror-stricken army saw their great Chief fall forward and +touch the ground with his hands. In the red firelight his form changed, and in a minute +a great brown <span class="pageNum" id="pb170">[<a href="#pb170">170</a>]</span>dog stood in the place of the superb Semai-mai. It looked round with a furtive air, +and then turned in silence. The men all sprang aside to let it through, and a moment +later it trotted into the darkness. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb171">[<a href="#pb171">171</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1798"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1798src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Knobkerrie</i>—a staff about the length and thickness of a policeman’s truncheon, with a round knob +at the end. It can be thrown some distance or wielded in the hand, and is a very useful +weapon. Native policemen under British rule always carry one. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1798src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch15" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e387">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XV</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE STORY OF SEMAI-MAI</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="sc">Part II</span> +</p> +<p>THE FAIRY DOG +</p> +<p>All that night and the whole of the next day Semai-mai trotted steadily up and down +the mountain-paths. No man saw him, for he avoided every valley which seemed to be +inhabited. He was determined to get as far as possible from the scene of his defeat, +into a country where the name of Semai-mai had never been heard. He travelled for +three days, and had then covered as much ground as a man would traverse in seven. +He began to feel safer and more himself again, and turned over the situation in his +mind. His shame and rage had at first been great, but he now saw that all was not +lost. It is true he was but a dog, but the wonderful nail on his foot was all that +the <span class="pageNum" id="pb172">[<a href="#pb172">172</a>]</span>Fairy had promised. It was three feet long and six inches broad, and cut far better +than any axe or hunting-knife he had ever possessed. Not only this, but he found that +he only had to express a wish for food and it instantly appeared. Most excellent food +it was, too; never had he tasted better. He also found that he could call down a mist +at any moment in which to hide himself from an enemy, and he felt sure that time would +show him yet greater marvels. Life still held enjoyments, and with patience and care +he might regain much of his former power. +</p> +<p>He cocked his ears, curled his bushy tail with an air of assurance, and went forward, +determined to find a home in the kraal of the nearest Chief. Before long he came to +the end of the mountain country. A great plain lay before him, well wooded, and watered +by a broad river. Not many miles below was an immense kraal; the tiny brown huts could +be seen distinctly in the clear air, and the green mealie-fields which surrounded +the town. The cattle enclosure was very large; evidently the Chief was rich. +</p> +<p>“I will descend and see what sort of a King <span class="pageNum" id="pb173">[<a href="#pb173">173</a>]</span>this is,” said Semai-mai, and in an hour he was standing at the chief gate. Every +one saw at once that he was no ordinary dog, and before many days were over he was +in attendance on the King and was fed from his table. Now this was unfortunate, for +the King was a cannibal, and Semai-mai was encouraged in his wicked tastes instead +of learning to forget them. The King kept all his prisoners-of-war and fattened them +up, and when a great feast arrived the best were killed and eaten with much rejoicing. +</p> +<p>One day, a few months after Semai-mai’s arrival, the most lovely little boy was brought +to the kraal. He had been stolen by a band of robbers while sleeping out in the fields, +and they had carried him many days, hoping he would be a dainty morsel acceptable +to the King. But the boy was so beautiful and his bearing so unusual that the King +had him examined by his magicians. They unanimously declared him to be of royal blood, +and as the King did not usually eat his equals, he said that the young Prince should +be kept alive and brought up with his own sons. He also gave him Semai-mai, the fairy +dog, as his servant, and treated him with much kindness. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb174">[<a href="#pb174">174</a>]</span></p> +<p>Semai-mai liked the little boy; he ran his errands, went out hunting with him, chopped +the wood for his fire, and slept in his hut at nights. The little Prince loved him +in return, and they ate together from the King’s own dishes. By and by the Prince +told him all he knew about himself. He was the only son of his father, who was a big +Chief, and they lived up among the mountains. His mother would look for him everywhere; +she was directing her maidens in the fields when he was carried away; some day she +would be sure to come for him. +</p> +<p>Semai-mai soon felt certain that the little boy came from some kingdom near his own, +and he also looked eagerly for the boy’s mother when any woman arrived at the kraal, +but no news ever came. Years went by. The Prince was now a well-grown youth, and Semai-mai +continued his faithful friend. But while the Prince always avoided the cannibal repasts +which came at the great festivals, Semai-mai enjoyed them, for his heart was unchanged. +</p> +<p>One day an old woman came to the kraal to beg the King’s protection. She was poorly +dressed and footsore, and her eyes had a wild <span class="pageNum" id="pb175">[<a href="#pb175">175</a>]</span>look. The Prince and Semai-mai came to see her, more by habit than because they now +expected any one. But the instant the Prince heard her speak he recognised his mother’s +voice. +</p> +<p>“Say nothing now,” was Semai-mai’s advice when he heard the news. “The King will doubtless +put her in a hut to be fattened with the other prisoners, for she is old and useless. +Watch your opportunity, and we will all escape and live in wealth elsewhere.” +</p> +<p>A few nights later the Prince went to the hut where his old mother was. She nearly +died of joy and surprise when she heard his name. +</p> +<p>“Your father told me never to appear in his presence till I could bring you with me,” +said she. “For years I have wandered in search of you. Your father had no other son; +you were the pride of his heart and I his favourite wife till I lost you in the mealie-fields. +I had given up all hopes of ever seeing home again, and believed you long since dead.” +</p> +<p>“We will go home again and rule as before,” said the Prince, smiling gaily. “I had +forgotten the way to my father’s kingdom, but you will <span class="pageNum" id="pb176">[<a href="#pb176">176</a>]</span>show me. Say no word of our relationship; I must think over a plan of escape.” +</p> +<p>Every day a man came to look at the old Queen and see if she was fattening well. Presently +he announced to the King that the prisoners were all in excellent condition, and a +feast-day might be appointed when it pleased the great Chief. The King then went to +inspect the prisoners himself, declared them to be ready, and chose a day for the +rejoicings. +</p> +<p>Immediately every one in the kraal, man, woman, and child, went out to collect wood +at early dawn, for great fires would be needed. As soon as the city was deserted the +Prince and Semai-mai released the old Queen, collected all the cattle they could find +in the fields, and started hot-foot for the mountains. +</p> +<p>That evening the whole company returned and found the Prince and the old woman gone. +They tracked them by the footprints of the cattle, and sent warriors after them. But +as soon as they began to overtake the fugitives—for the cattle were slow—Semai-mai +threw a beautiful rainbow mist all round himself and his friends, so that they could +never be seen. After many vain attempts the cannibals retired <span class="pageNum" id="pb177">[<a href="#pb177">177</a>]</span>baffled, and gave up the chase in despair. All along the road Semai-mai had only to +bark when food was wanted, and a plentiful meal instantly appeared. When they had +all had enough he barked again, and not a trace of the food remained. +</p> +<p>At the end of many days they came to the outskirts of the Prince’s own country. But +here Semai-mai said, “We will not make ourselves known as yet; we will live alone.” +For he was afraid the Prince might hear by some unlucky chance who he really was, +and his power would be gone. +</p> +<p>So for a long while the three lived together in a fertile valley by the side of a +clear stream. Their cattle grew and increased till they became a noble herd. The Prince +was now a man, and both rich and handsome. All went happily till one day he went out +hunting and met a party of very pretty girls. They came, they said, from a kingdom +among the mountains. The men of their people were ugly, but not a woman among them +was plain, and many were far prettier than themselves. +</p> +<p>The Prince longed to see this kingdom, and remembered he was now of an age to marry, +and <span class="pageNum" id="pb178">[<a href="#pb178">178</a>]</span>had besides many cattle and a beautiful home. So he sat by his mother that evening +and said, “It is time I looked for a nice little wife. You want help in the house, +and would like some one to grind the corn and carry water and wood.” The mother was +pleased at the idea, but the dog sat still in sullen silence. Who might this wife +be? Hitherto he had ruled both the Prince and his mother, but this new woman might +spoil all. +</p> +<p>The next day the Prince set out for the kingdom where all the men were ugly and all +the women beautiful; you can guess it was the kingdom of Sobuso. Before long he had +won the heart of a lovely girl, the daughter of a great Chief, and niece of the King +himself. All arrangements were made for the wedding, and the Prince departed joyously +for home, to tell his mother of his success. +</p> +<p>All was got into order for the bride, and the appointed number of cattle were sent +to her father, in accordance with custom. Every day Semai-mai grew more and more gloomy. +The Prince and his mother thought little of it, and never once imagined that he disapproved +of the marriage. But now that Semai-mai knew that <span class="pageNum" id="pb179">[<a href="#pb179">179</a>]</span>the bride came from Sobuso’s kingdom, he determined to make an end of everything. +As soon as he knew that the wedding-party was in sight he killed both the Prince and +his mother with his long bright nail, and ate them right up. +</p> +<p>Then he sat down in the sun before the door of the hut, looking very big and important. +The Princess came up to the gate with her attendant maids, in all her bravest attire, +and looked for the bridegroom and his mother. She waited a long time, then ventured +forward and looked all round the kraal. Not a living thing could be seen save this +huge brown dog. Presently Semai-mai came up to them and said, “The Prince is waiting +in the big hut, let me show you in.” +</p> +<p>The Princess and her maids followed him, much astonished to find a talking dog. Semai-mai +took them into the biggest hut and made them sit round. Then he killed and ate them +all in turn, beginning at the bride and finishing with the youngest bridesmaid. When +all was over he went out and sat in the sun once more. Only now he was larger than +any dog that ever was seen, for after every meal he grew bigger and bigger. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb180">[<a href="#pb180">180</a>]</span></p> +<p>Many weeks passed by, and the bridal party never returned to give news of the wedding. +The Princess’s father grew anxious, for no one appeared, nor was there any message. +At last he sent a party of men to find out what had happened. Semai-mai saw them coming, +and caught them all in the big hut, just as he had caught the bridal party. He ate +them all but one, who slipped out by a lucky chance. Semai-mai was now bigger than +an elephant, and the man who escaped ran home and said the enemy was an enormous dog, +who was a cannibal. +</p> +<p>The Chief cried out, “What fools and cowards serve me! I will go and kill the monster +myself.” So he took a shield and assegais and some picked men and set out for the +dog’s kraal. When he saw him and realised how huge he was, his surprise was very great. +For Semai-mai was now taller and bigger than the largest hut, and could be seen from +the entrance of the valley. The Chief advanced bravely, and he and his men let fly +their assegais, but not one touched Semai-mai. He simply shook himself, sprang on +the Chief and ate him, and then killed nearly all his men. Only a very few escaped, +and they ran back to the kingdom of Sobuso <span class="pageNum" id="pb181">[<a href="#pb181">181</a>]</span>in wild terror, declaring that no one could hope to conquer the fairy dog. +</p> +<p>Semai-mai in the meantime gathered all his master’s cattle together and set out for +his former kingdom. Before many days were over he had reached the great plain in which +his people lived. But now he saw nothing but a huge forest extending for many miles; +not a single habitation was to be seen where formerly great cities flourished. His +heart failed him for a moment; then he lifted his head and barked three times. +</p> +<p>Instantly the forest disappeared; then great cities rose in its place, and thousands +of warriors came out in warlike array to greet him. Semai-mai had released his people +from enchantment. But he himself still remained an enormous dog; nor, in spite of +his great powers, did he find it possible to make any change. +</p> +<p>For a long time no friend of the Princess or her father dared to venture within reach +of the fairy dog. But the dead Chief was a very great man, and brother to Sobuso himself, +so it was not long before the story came to the latter’s ears. At first he could hardly +believe it, but when he found the tale was true, and his relatives <span class="pageNum" id="pb182">[<a href="#pb182">182</a>]</span>had really been destroyed by a cannibal dog, he determined to rid the country of such +a monster. So he called out all his army and bade his magicians treat them with every +charm they knew. Then he assembled them together. “Whatever happens,” said he, “this +dog must die. I myself will be the first to attack him.” +</p> +<p>It was not long before they found out Semai-mai’s new home. After a journey of many +weeks across the mountains they came in sight of the three great cities. From the +heights above they could see Semai-mai’s hut in the middle of the city, close to the +cattle-kraal. It was impossible to mistake it, for it was four times as big as any +hut they had ever seen. Sobuso sent out spies, and then waited all day for their report. +At night they returned, but they brought bad news. “You have no idea how mighty the +enemy is,” said they. “No assegai is big enough to kill him, and no man tall enough +to throw it. We must return home and make special weapons, or our cause is hopeless.” +</p> +<p>Sobuso was much depressed. “Leave me alone,” he said. “I must think out fresh plans.” +</p> +<p>So he sat alone for many hours. Night came suddenly and quietly, and every man was +soon <span class="pageNum" id="pb183">[<a href="#pb183">183</a>]</span>asleep. It was very very still, and the air was warm. Only the frogs could be heard +croaking far away along the river-banks. Sobuso thought and thought, but could see +no way out save retreat. He remembered now his fight long ago with Semai-mai; if this +dog were no other than that famous Chief only magic could help him, for no one had +beaten Semai-mai by his own strength. +</p> +<p>Before him lay the great plain and the dim outlines of his enemy’s kraals, scarcely +to be distinguished in the warm darkness. Then suddenly, at the very outer edge of +the world, appeared a line of amethyst. The line widened and gradually moved forward. +A wide circle of faint blue mountains then came into view, beneath them great plains +of silvery green, and last of all the three cities, every hut distinct and clear. +The moon was rising behind the mountains. A moment later its rays touched Sobuso himself. +A strange shadow lay on the grass before him. He turned quickly and saw before him +a most extraordinary creature. +</p> +<p>It was a very old woman, leaning on an immense assegai, much taller than herself. +In her hand she held two calabashes. She had not <span class="pageNum" id="pb184">[<a href="#pb184">184</a>]</span>a tooth in her mouth, and her head was covered with long hair, so that you could only +see her eyes. She had no feet, only two long toes. She stood with her back to the +moon; Sobuso felt her gaze on him, but could distinguish no features. +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p183width" id="p183"><img src="images/p183.jpg" alt="“It was a very old woman, leaning on an immense assegai.”" width="492" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“It was a very old woman, leaning on an immense assegai.”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 183.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +<p>“Great King,” she cried, “you shall kill Semai-mai.” +</p> +<p>“It is impossible; I have no assegai big enough.” +</p> +<p>“King of Kings,” said the old woman, “take these two calabashes of medicine and this +assegai. They come to you from the Fairy of the valley; Semai-mai shall now be rendered +powerless for ever. In the early morning, when all your men are still asleep, rise +up and sprinkle the contents of this first calabash on them. Stand so that the wind +blows from you towards them and carries the magic drops. Sprinkle it then on yourself, +and you and all your army will be invisible. Never let this assegai go out of your +hand. Go up to Semai-mai. He will not see you, stab him with the assegai and then +throw the contents of the second calabash over him. You must cut off his big nail, +and strike him with it three times; he will then be powerless to harm you.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb185">[<a href="#pb185">185</a>]</span></p> +<p>A cloud came over the moon, and when it passed away Sobuso found the old woman was +gone. But the assegai and two calabashes were on the ground, and he picked them up +and went to a spot above his sleeping men. He waited till a tiny breeze sprang up +before daybreak. Then he sprinkled them with the magic drops, and at dawn he set them +in order and all marched down to the gates of Semai-mai’s royal city. The sun was +fully up, and the huge dog could be seen moving about the kraal like a big house. +He had hundreds of wives and many thousands of cattle, and he walked about, gloating +over his possessions. Sobuso sent in a few of his men to make sure that the potion +had worked well. They returned, saying that they had moved everywhere freely, and +had even gone up to the royal hut, but no one had paid them the least attention. +</p> +<p>Sobuso and his men then entered the gate and marched straight up the chief road. No +one regarded them, so they were soon within reach of Semai-mai. Sobuso took his assegai +and aimed it right at the dog’s head. He fell down stunned, with an immense thud. +Sobuso rushed forward, cut off the long nail at one blow, <span class="pageNum" id="pb186">[<a href="#pb186">186</a>]</span>and threw the second calabash over the monster. Then he struck him three times with +the shining nail. +</p> +<p>Straightway the dog’s side opened and out came first the bridegroom, then his mother, +then the bride and her maids, and last of all Sobuso’s brother and all his men. As +each appeared in turn Semai-mai grew smaller and smaller, till at last he was no bigger +than an ordinary dog. +</p> +<p>There was great rejoicing, as you may imagine, and when all were united they held +a council as to what they should do with Semai-mai’s possessions. Finally, they divided +all his property and people into three parts. One part went to the Prince, another +to the Princess’s father, and the third to Sobuso himself, who had rescued them from +such great peril. +</p> +<p>As for Semai-mai, when all was over he revived and sprang to his feet again. But the +Fairy’s curse had been carried out. He was now just an ordinary dog. He could not +kill his enemy or speak like a man, nor had he any magic power. No one would be in +any danger from him again. He ran far away to the cannibal King who first befriended +him, and was fed from his table for the rest of his life. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb187">[<a href="#pb187">187</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch16" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e398">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XVI</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE FAIRY FROG</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Tombi-ende was the most beautiful girl in her father’s kingdom. She had milk-white +teeth and sparkling eyes, her figure was perfect and very gracefully turned, and no +one could lead the dance half so well as she. Besides, you could not help noticing +her the moment she appeared, for she was taller than all her sisters, and carried +her head like a true Princess. Her parents looked on her daily with joy and pride. +They called her Tombi-ende, “the Tall Maiden,” and expected she would one day be a +mighty Queen. +</p> +<p>But no one has an altogether happy lot. And though Tombi-ende was tall and beautiful, +and had the gayest and most wonderful handkerchiefs with which to deck herself, and +more <span class="pageNum" id="pb188">[<a href="#pb188">188</a>]</span>beads and bracelets than any other girl in the country-side, this only gave her the +more trouble. For none of her sisters were as pretty as she, or as much admired, and +as time went on they grew more and more jealous. At last they decided that Tombi-ende +must die, or no one would ever notice them at all. +</p> +<p>So they made a plan to kill their sister as if by accident. One day they all came +to her and said, “Let us go and get red ochre<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e1965src" href="#xd33e1965" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> out of the great pit; there is none left in the kraal at all.” +</p> +<p>So every maiden shouldered her pick, and they walked together, singing and laughing, +for many miles. At last they reached a great red pit, many feet deep, surrounded by +tall grass on every side. There they stopped; each girl leapt down in turn, dug out +a lump of the precious red earth, and then jumped up again. They all stood round the +pit waiting for one another. But directly Tombi-ende jumped down, every one of those +wicked girls seized her pick and threw earth upon her as fast as she could, till poor +Tombi-ende was buried alive. Then they <span class="pageNum" id="pb189">[<a href="#pb189">189</a>]</span>ran away, leaving her for dead, for the red earth is very heavy. +</p> +<p>But Tombi-ende was not dead. The people who passed heard screams coming from the pit, +and sometimes a voice calling: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“I am Tombi-ende, +</p> +<p class="line">I am not dead, +</p> +<p class="line">I am like one of yourselves.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">Two men turned out of the path and looked down into the great hole, but all they could +see was the red earth glistening in the sun, so they turned away and walked on. +</p> +<p>The wicked sisters meanwhile went back to their father’s kraal and told all whom they +met, “Tombi-ende is dead. She fell down into the red ochre pit and was smothered.” +But when the King came to question them they grew confused, and could not tell their +tale. So he chopped off their heads there and then with a great battle-axe, and gave +their bodies to the vultures. And that would have been the end of them had not a dear +good old Fairy come along who knew that Tombi-ende was not dead, and was sorry to +see her sisters so severely punished. She went to the bodies and sprinkled them with +medicine from her magic calabash. <span class="pageNum" id="pb190">[<a href="#pb190">190</a>]</span>The sisters sat up at once, alive and well, rubbing their eyes. “Take the girls away +and keep them out of the King’s sight till Tombi-ende returns,” said the Fairy, and +every one was only too glad to obey her. +</p> +<p>Tombi-ende lay in the red ochre pit for many hours, and thought no one would ever +rescue her. But at evening she heard a great croaking above her. Looking up she saw +an enormous frog blinking his little eyes at the edge of the pit. +</p> +<p>“Beautiful Princess,” said he, “what are you doing here?” +</p> +<p>“Alas!” said Tombi-ende, “my sisters are jealous of me and hate me, and they have +left me here and thrown earth upon me, so that I cannot get out.” +</p> +<p>“I will help you,” said the frog. He jumped into the pit, opened his big mouth and +swallowed the Princess entirely. Then he jumped up again, and landed safely on the +path above, the Princess still inside him. +</p> +<p>Forthwith the frog set out on his travels. He hopped all night, carefully avoiding +any kraals by the way, for a frog brings bad luck, and is not welcome in human dwellings. +Whenever he passed a bird he sang: +<span class="pageNum" id="pb191">[<a href="#pb191">191</a>]</span></p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Do not swallow me, +</p> +<p class="line">I carry the Princess Tombi-ende,”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">and no creature touched him. The next morning they narrowly escaped a great danger, +for they met a horrible ogress. She had heard that Tombi-ende was still alive and +defenceless, and had already been to the red ochre pit and found it empty. Now she +was searching for her everywhere in savage haste, but luckily she paid no attention +to a big frog, and went her way without heeding its appearance. +</p> +<p>At mid-day the frog stopped, opened his mouth, and let the Princess walk out. Then +he said, “Wait here and rest. By and by we will go on again.” He also provided food; +he merely croaked, and delicious porridge appeared in a little brown pot, all ready +for the Princess to eat. +</p> +<p>Tombi-ende ate and then slept under the bushes, for she was very tired. Towards evening +the frog swallowed her again, and they set forth once more on their journey. They +had decided not to go back to her father’s kraal, for fear of her jealous sisters, +but journeyed towards the home of her grandmother, where she was sure of every welcome. +They travelled for days, <span class="pageNum" id="pb192">[<a href="#pb192">192</a>]</span>resting in the heat, but never stopping all night long, and one morning they arrived +at the grandmother’s kraal. +</p> +<p>The frog went up to the door of the chief hut and sang loudly: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“I am carrying Tombi-ende, +</p> +<p class="line">The Beautiful Princess, +</p> +<p class="line">Whom they killed in the red pit.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">The old grandmother came out, saying, “Who is this speaking? Who knows what has become +of my darling Tombi-ende?” +</p> +<p>“I know all about her,” said the frog. “Bring clean mats, spread them before me, and +you will see.” +</p> +<p>All the women brought fine new mats and put them before the frog. When all was ready +the frog just said, “Woo-oo-oh!” and in a moment Tombi-ende herself was before them, +as tall and beautiful as ever. +</p> +<p>Great was the joy of all, and no one could hear her tale often enough, or her praises +of the wonderful frog. +</p> +<p>“What can we do for you as a reward for your kindness?” said the grandmother to the +frog. “Is there nothing we can give you?<span class="corr" id="xd33e2012" title="Source: ’">”</span> +<span class="pageNum" id="pb193">[<a href="#pb193">193</a>]</span></p> +<p>“I only ask you to kill two oxen and two bulls,” said the frog, “and let us have a +feast.” +</p> +<p>So a great feast was held, and the frog sat by the Princess’s side and had great honour. +Next morning he had disappeared, and though the Princess searched for him all round +the kraal he could nowhere be found. +</p> +<p>The grandmother knew that Tombi-ende was now in no danger at home, so she sent a message +to her father to tell him of his daughter’s safety. The King was much delighted, and +at once despatched Tombi-ende’s brother to fetch her home. He rested a few days at +the kraal, for the journey was long, and then they both set out on their return. +</p> +<p>Now the rains had been short that year, and many streams were dry. The sun was very +hot, and after hours of walking the Princess and her brother were very thirsty. Nowhere +could they find the accustomed springs, for the ground was harder than brick dried +in an oven, and the water-courses were dry. They went on and on till they were fainting +with the heat. Suddenly they met a stranger, an immensely big man, who stood right +across the path. Except for <span class="pageNum" id="pb194">[<a href="#pb194">194</a>]</span>his size he was like other men, and they did not at first distrust him. +</p> +<p>“What do you want?” said he in a deep bass voice, which rumbled like thunder. +</p> +<p>“We are looking for water,” said the Prince; “all the springs are dried up, and we +are yet many days from home.” +</p> +<p>“If I give you water,” said the giant, “what will you give me in return?” +</p> +<p>“Ask for anything in my father’s kingdom,” said the Prince. +</p> +<p>“Give me this beautiful Princess,” said the giant, with a wicked smile. “If not, you +will die of thirst. All the springs are dry within three days’ journey.” +</p> +<p>The brother and sister were in dismay, but although the Prince hated the idea of giving +his sister to a stranger, they were both so helpless that he could only consent. +</p> +<p>The giant chuckled, and led the way to a great fig-tree by the side of the dry water-course. +He struck his stick upon the ground, and out of the very roots of the tree sprang +a fountain clear as the moon and cool as the depths of the forest. They all drank +eagerly and long, and it was only after some minutes that the Princess lifted her +<span class="pageNum" id="pb195">[<a href="#pb195">195</a>]</span>head and looked towards the giant. She shrieked long and loud, for the giant had turned +to a most terrible Inzimu, monstrous and misshapen, covered with red hair, and glaring +at her with his little wild eyes. His long tail lay behind him on the grass, and his +white pointed teeth showed between his thick lips. +</p> +<p>The Prince looked up at once, and he also saw in what great peril his sister lay. +The ogre was terribly strong, and no fighting could save them. He simply glared at +them, his eyes full of evil pleasure. +</p> +<p>Suddenly the Princess heard a well-known croak, and right out of the water sprang +a great frog. +</p> +<p>“There is my preserver,” said Tombi-ende. “Help us, frog! No one is so clever and +wise as you!” +</p> +<p>The frog advanced right in front of the ogre, who looked at him with disdain. He just +opened his mouth and said “Boo-oh! Boo-oh!” In one minute he had swallowed the ogre +right up, tail and all, and then he disappeared into the fountain. There he stayed +till the ogre was drowned. When he came out again the water <span class="pageNum" id="pb196">[<a href="#pb196">196</a>]</span>had dried up, and the ogre lay buried among the roots of the great fig-tree. +</p> +<p>“Ah, frog, how can I thank you enough?” said the Princess. “This time you must not +disappear, you must come home with us.” +</p> +<p>In three days they reached her father’s kraal. The King’s guard stood in order to +greet them, gloriously arrayed in otter-skins, with shields and assegais. Her father +stood at their head, and hailed them both with joy. +</p> +<p>“But what,” said her father, “is that horrible frog at your side? I must have the +wretch killed.” +</p> +<p>“Do not kill him, father,” said Tombi-ende, “he saved my life twice.” +</p> +<p>And at those very words the frog suddenly grew into a handsome man, taller than Tombi-ende +herself. He was in full war-like array, with shield and assegai, and a great plume +of white ostrich feathers on his head. Any one could see at once that he was a Prince. +</p> +<p>All greeted him with loud shouts; only Tombi-ende was not so very much surprised. +</p> +<p>“I am no frog,” said the Prince, “my father is a great Chief. The ogre from whom I +rescued the Princess overcame me by witchcraft in former <span class="pageNum" id="pb197">[<a href="#pb197">197</a>]</span>days, but now that I have won the love of a maiden I am once more free. Give me the +hand of your daughter in marriage, and one hundred cattle shall be yours.” +</p> +<p>A few days later Tombi-ende married the fairy frog, and all will acknowledge that +it was a reward he well deserved. As for the wicked sisters, the King forgave them +in his great joy, and Tombi-ende forgot all her troubles in a new home. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb198">[<a href="#pb198">198</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e1965"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e1965src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Red ochre</i> is much prized among Kafirs as a dressing for the hair and skin. It is said to protect +them from the heat of the sun, and is also thought very becoming. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e1965src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch17" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e408">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XVII</h2> +<h2 class="main">NYA-NYA BULEMBU;<br> +OR, THE MOSS-GREEN PRINCESS</h2> +<h2 class="label">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">There was once a little Princess named Kitila, the prettiest and nicest child you +could possibly find. She was her mother’s one delight, and her father was a very great +Chief indeed. But for all that many little girls were far happier than she, for her +father hated her mother and did everything he could to show how much he despised her +and her child. He did not allow Kitila so much as one necklace of beads, and her little +skin cloak was shabby and poor. He had another daughter, Mapindane, whose mother was +his favourite Queen. He loved her dearly, and delighted in her beauty and pretty ways, +for she also was a charming child. But so much did he dislike Kitila that he was quite +annoyed to see <span class="pageNum" id="pb199">[<a href="#pb199">199</a>]</span>that she was pretty and likely to be admired. At last he determined to humiliate her +and her mother for ever by dressing her in the skin of the Nya-nya Bulembu, so that +every one might be frightened of her and no Prince might ever love her. +</p> +<p>Now the Nya-nya Bulembu is a strange beast who lives in the water. He has long teeth +and claws, and his skin is covered with bright green moss. No one has anything to +do with him who can help it, and his very name means “the Despised One covered with +Moss.” The King thus hoped that his little girl would be taken for the monster himself, +and would be hated by all as much as he himself disliked her. You will see, however, +that he would have done much better to be kind to his little daughter, for the Nya-nya +Bulembu is a fairy beast, and it is not wise to meddle with him. +</p> +<p>One day the King called his Chief Councillors and his people together and told them +of his intentions. “The little Princess Kitila,” he said, “is to be dressed in the +skin of the Nya-nya Bulembu. Fetch me an animal which is young, with regular teeth, +long claws, and a perfect skin well covered with green moss.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb200">[<a href="#pb200">200</a>]</span></p> +<p>The King also gave orders for plenty of green mealie-bread to be made with which to +entice the animal out of the water. A party of picked men then went out together and +came down to the river. They followed its course till they came to a deep pool, where +the water was quite black. The huntsmen stood round in a ring and sang the song of +the Nya-nya Bulembu: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Nya-nya Bulembu, Nya-nya Bulembu, +</p> +<p class="line">Come out of the water and eat me! +</p> +<p class="line">The King has sent us for the great Nya-nya Bulembu! +</p> +<p class="line">Come and let us see you! +</p> +<p class="line">Laugh and show us your teeth!”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">Out came a huge old monster, with only two or three teeth left, and no moss on his +skin at all. +</p> +<p>“No,” said the huntsmen at once, “we don’t want you.” +</p> +<p>They journeyed on again in a great storm of wind and rain. When it had passed away, +and the sun shone once more, they found themselves at a second big pool, which was +blue as the sky. Here they stopped and sang the song of the Bulembu once more. Out +came a vicious-looking creature, with but little moss on his coat, and only one tooth +three feet long. +</p> +<p>“No, we don’t want you either,” said the <span class="pageNum" id="pb201">[<a href="#pb201">201</a>]</span>huntsmen, and they travelled on again till they came to a third pool, which was bright +green. Round it grew a most beautiful fringe of green moss, and the water itself was +vivid green, like the grass in spring. +</p> +<p>Once more the huntsmen sang the magic song, and out came a nice green Bulembu, beautifully +covered with moss, and showing all his long white teeth. They set big pieces of mealie-bread +for him, and as he came out to eat they caught him alive. Then they travelled like +the wind to the King’s kraal. As they drew near home they sang: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Have all your assegais ready! +</p> +<p class="line">The Nya-nya Bulembu is coming!”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">All the men in the kraal seized their assegais and hurried to the gate by which the +Bulembu must enter. They stood in line in front of the entrance, and as the green +monster rushed upon them he fell on their spears and died. Then they took the body +to the hut of the despised Queen, and began to prepare the skin for use. +</p> +<p>First they cut the body open, and to their great surprise out came the most lovely +bead-work. There were necklaces, bracelets, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb202">[<a href="#pb202">202</a>]</span>girdles of every colour and pattern, the most lovely little embroidered bags, and +the most beautifully woven mats. Nothing that a King’s daughter could want was missing, +and everything was of the finest workmanship. It seemed as if the supply would never +come to an end, for the more beads they pulled out the more appeared, till there were +enough to last the Princess her life long. But the moment they began to remove the +skin no more appeared. They stripped the Bulembu most carefully, preserving the nails +and all the teeth, and when the skin was quite complete they wrapped the little Princess +in it. The instant it touched her it fitted as if it were a part of her; indeed, she +could not get it off again, for it was the skin of a fairy beast, as the old King +knew well. You could no longer see that she was a little girl at all, she looked just +like a hideous green monster. +</p> +<p>Kitila and her mother cried most bitterly at this undeserved disgrace, but the Chief +Councillor could only say, “It is the King’s order; we must obey him.” +</p> +<p>The two little Princesses were never allowed to play with the other children. They +sat by themselves every day in the middle of the huts <span class="pageNum" id="pb203">[<a href="#pb203">203</a>]</span>near the cattle-kraal, the one in her green skin with long white teeth, the other +in all the prettiest beads imaginable and a lovely little cloak of leopard-skin, the +finest the King could procure. The two little girls were great friends, and as they +played and ate their food hundreds of little birds came every day and picked up the +fragments. +</p> +<p>Many years passed by, and the girls grew into womanhood. Mapindane was now very lovely, +and was a joy to behold as she sat in the sun, but poor Kitila was still clothed in +her hideous green skin, and looked the same as ever. The feast of the first-fruits +was now at hand. The King’s wise men had been absent a month travelling to the coast +to fetch water from the great sea, for no other may be used for the potion which cleanses +the land from all evil. They set their calabashes in the sand at low tide, and when +they are filled by the magic power of the ocean they return home joyfully. Every day +they were expected, and when at last they arrived the King gave orders that all preparations +should be made. +</p> +<p>The day before the feast every one went out to gather the first-fruits in the fields, +and no <span class="pageNum" id="pb204">[<a href="#pb204">204</a>]</span>one remained in the kraal but one old Queen to watch over the two Princesses. The +two girls sat in their usual place, and the birds flew round them as they ate and +picked up all they could. Suddenly a flock of rock-pigeons swooped down upon them, +and in a moment they had seized the beautiful Princess and carried her away, but the +green monster they left alone. +</p> +<p></p> +<div class="figure p204width" id="p204"><img src="images/p204.jpg" alt="“Suddenly a flock of rock-pigeons ... seized the beautiful Princess and carried her away.”" width="504" height="720"><p class="figureHead">“Suddenly a flock of rock-pigeons … seized the beautiful Princess and carried her +away.”</p> +<p class="first"><i>To face page 204.</i></p> +</div><p> +</p> +<p>The old Queen looked up and shrieked, “There goes the lovely Princess! There goes +the King’s favourite child!” She called out all the people from the fields and sent +them after the pigeons. But the birds rose high into the air, and then headed straight +for the North. They carried Mapindane far far away to a new country, and placed her +in the kraal of a very great King. There she stayed till the King saw her, and made +her his wife, and there she lived in great happiness. But she could never send a message +home, for no one had even heard the name of her people, or knew the way through the +thick forests which lay between them. +</p> +<p>So her father and mother never knew of her good fortune, and always believed that +the birds had eaten her. Poor Kitila in her green skin was worse off than ever, for +the bereaved Queen was <span class="pageNum" id="pb205">[<a href="#pb205">205</a>]</span>very jealous and angry, and as she was all-powerful, Kitila was no longer allowed +to live as a Princess, but was set to do all sorts of degrading work. At last the +King said to her, “You are no good at all; you must go and scare birds. You are so +ugly that every bird who sees you will fly away at once.” +</p> +<p>From that day the Princess was no longer called Kitila, but Nya-nya Bulembu. She often +said to her mother, “How hard my life is! Why was I born to all this?” +</p> +<p>But her mother always remembered the Bulembu’s magic gifts, and said, “Do not despair; +all will come right presently.” +</p> +<p>And so it did; for the first time the Princess went to the fields she met a Fairy +in the shape of a very old man. He took pity on her, and gave her a stick, saying, +“When you come to the fields just wave this, and call aloud. All the birds will fall +down dead at once. When you go bathing take the stick with you into the water; it +will give you your true shape again. But remember never to leave go of it, or your +power will depart.” +</p> +<p>Kitila took the stick, and found it quite as powerful as the Fairy declared. She had +no <span class="pageNum" id="pb206">[<a href="#pb206">206</a>]</span>trouble with the birds, but kept the crops in safety as easily as possible. Every +day in the hot, still afternoon, when all creatures are asleep, she went down to the +river. As her foot touched the water the green skin floated away, and hundreds of +pretty girls came to play with her at her call. +</p> +<p>She stood in the water and sang: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Nya-nya Bulembu, Nya-nya Bulembu, +</p> +<p class="line">Here I am! +</p> +<p class="line">I was dressed like a monster, +</p> +<p class="line">But I am like any girl. +</p> +<p class="line">To-day they fed me with the dogs.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">Then she called for food, and instantly a feast appeared, and she and all the Fairies +ate and laughed together. But when she came out of the river her green skin reappeared, +and she was once more Nya-nya Bulembu. +</p> +<p>The other little boys and girls who were also scaring birds were dreadfully afraid +of the monster, and never went near her. They never asked her to join them in the +afternoons when they played together in the water, but they often wondered what she +looked like when she bathed by herself in a lonely pool. One day they went down to +see, but they hid behind the <span class="pageNum" id="pb207">[<a href="#pb207">207</a>]</span>trees, so that the Princess never knew. When a beautiful girl appeared instead of +the ugly monster, they were so astonished that they ran straight home and told the +whole story to the Princess’s mother. The despised Queen was very pleased, but she +told the children not to say a word to any one. So the moss-green Princess continued +to scare the birds. +</p> +<p>Some months later a great Prince came to visit the King. He was young and handsome, +but he was noted above all for his wisdom and good judgment. His father had sent him +to seek a bride; she was to be the most beautiful woman he could find, and every one +was anxious to see the girl chosen by so wise a Prince. The young man travelled far +and wide, but found no maiden whom he could love. At last he came to the kraal in +which lived the moss-green Princess. He went straight to the King and asked him if +he had any daughters. +</p> +<p>“Yes,” said the King, “but I have only one. You shall see her with pleasure.” +</p> +<p>“Let the Prince see the monster,” said Mapindane’s mother, with a bitter laugh. So +the Prince was taken to the fields where Kitila was scaring birds. When he got there +the little <span class="pageNum" id="pb208">[<a href="#pb208">208</a>]</span>boys and girls who were at work came to him and said, “Do you want to see Nya-nya +Bulembu? She is bathing just now, we will take you to the pool she always visits.” +</p> +<p>They took the Prince, and placed him where he could see the moss-green Princess enter +the water without being seen by her. When he first saw the green monster appear he +held his breath with horror, and thought some trick had been played upon him. But +directly this hideous creature touched the water the green skin fell away, and there +stood the loveliest maiden he had ever beheld. He instantly fell in love with her, +and vowed to make her his wife, no matter what spell might have fallen on her. He +watched her all the afternoon playing with the Fairies in the cool green shadows, +and longed to join them, but did not dare. He heard Kitila sing the story of her life. +Then he went straight back to the kraal and asked to see the King. +</p> +<p>“I will marry your monster,” he said. +</p> +<p>The King was surprised beyond measure, but he consented, and all preparations were +made for the wedding. The wonderful presents the green monster had brought years before +were now <span class="pageNum" id="pb209">[<a href="#pb209">209</a>]</span>gathered together and made a royal outfit for the young Princess. The Prince returned +to his father, and sent a present of one hundred cows to the King, to show in what +consideration he held the bride, and also a fine head of cattle for her mother. +</p> +<p>Then he waited for the moss-green Princess to come to him, for in Kafir-land the marriage +always takes place in the bridegroom’s home. All his people waited, too, in great +expectation, for the Prince was known to have chosen the most beautiful girl he could +find. Their horror was great when they saw a strange green monster arrive, with long +white teeth and claws, attended by four bridesmaids. +</p> +<p>“What!” said they. “Is this the peerless beauty chosen by so wise a Prince? How can +he marry such a monster?” +</p> +<p>The poor Princess sat at the door of the chief hut, trembling lest she should be refused +admittance, and the Prince repent of so bad a bargain. But he kept faith with her +in spite of her green skin, and received her kindly. She was taken to a beautiful +hut, and the next day was fixed for the wedding. +</p> +<p>Very early in the morning the Princess and <span class="pageNum" id="pb210">[<a href="#pb210">210</a>]</span>her maids went down to a deep pool in the river to bathe. The sun had barely risen, +the air was fresh and cool. Nya-nya Bulembu took the stick in her hand and stepped +into the water. As she touched it the green skin fell away, but instead of floating +on the water it flew straight up into the air, and was carried many miles, till it +fell down right at the door of her mother’s hut. Then the despised Queen knew that +all was well, and her daughter happy at last. +</p> +<p>The Princess came out of the water in her true form—no longer Nya-nya Bulembu, but +Kitila, the King’s daughter. She returned to the kraal with her bridesmaids, all in +their wedding array, and was met by the women who were to be her friends in her new +home, for they were to take her to the Prince. Great was their joy and astonishment +when they saw so lovely a Princess. They declared that such beauty had never been +seen among them before, and praised the wisdom of the Prince who had chosen her. +</p> +<p>The marriage ceremony then took place, and the Princess lived among them ever after +in much happiness and honour. The fame of her beauty was such that people came from +<span class="pageNum" id="pb211">[<a href="#pb211">211</a>]</span>South, East, and West to see so lovely a woman. +</p> +<p>But the old King was well punished, for while he often heard of the happiness of Nya-nya +Bulembu, he never saw his favourite daughter again, and always believed her dead. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb212">[<a href="#pb212">212</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch18" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e418">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XVIII</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE ENCHANTED BUCK</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Lungile sat in the sunshine watching her mother put the finishing stitches in her +sedwaba. It was a great occasion. The sedwaba, you know, is the name of the full kilt +of black ox-skins which no girl wears till her bridal morning. It takes a long time +to make. Lungile’s father had prepared the skins many months ago. He had brayed them +on the inner side and dyed them inky-black with charcoal, till they looked quite like +velvet. And then Lungile’s mother, who sewed better than any one for miles around, +cut out the kilt so that it should fit tightly round the waist but fall into cunning +folds at the knee, and stitched all the pieces together most beautifully. Now the +kilt was ready and Lungile <span class="pageNum" id="pb213">[<a href="#pb213">213</a>]</span>might set out for the home of her betrothed as soon as ever she pleased. +</p> +<p>That evening she saw all the maids who were to accompany her to the wedding, and arranged +the day of departure. It was kept a dead secret; Lungile’s father and mother would +not expect to know, for every Kafir bride loves to slip away in the early morning +without farewells. Two days later, at the first flush of day, Lungile and her maids +set out on their journey. It was early summer; the first rains were over and the valleys +and hills were covered with thousands of flowers, vivid scarlet or blue like the sky, +while here and there were great patches of delicate yellow, the very hue of the English +primrose. The air was fresh and crystal-clear, and the girls laughed and sang songs +of travel. Lungile was full of joy, for her bridegroom was a Chief’s son, and she +had chosen him out of many wooers. For she was not only beautiful; she was just as +good and industrious as she was lovely, and many suitors had asked her in marriage. +She hoed all her father’s lands, and the beer she made was the best for many miles, +so that there was no kraal where she would not have been welcome. +</p> +<p>The girls journeyed together for some days, <span class="pageNum" id="pb214">[<a href="#pb214">214</a>]</span>till at length they reached the bridegroom’s lands, and went straight to his father’s +kraal. His mother greeted them with every kindness, and showed them a beautiful hut +in which they might live till all the preparations for the wedding were made. They +had been expected for some time, and now that they had arrived every man and woman +in the kraal was kept busy. +</p> +<p>While the women ground corn or went out to gather wood, the bridegroom and his father +considered what oxen should be killed for the feast. +</p> +<p>“We will take two of those the Chief Maginde sent as your sister’s marriage-gift,” +said the father. “They are the finest in the herd, but you are my eldest son, and +deserve the best we can do.” The first ox was driven up and killed with much ceremony; +the bride was delighted to see what fine beasts her father-in-law was giving for her +pleasure. All the women in the kraal were now busy getting water and preparing the +fires; only Lungile and her maidens sat in their hut, thinking of the wedding which +was so soon approaching. +</p> +<p>When all was ready for cooking and the guests already nearing the kraal, the meat +was cut into long strips and set on the fire to roast. <span class="pageNum" id="pb215">[<a href="#pb215">215</a>]</span>To the horror of the bridegroom’s mother, who was watching it, the meat began to jump +about on the fire. It simply would not keep quiet, and after attempting to make it +lie still twice, she became frightened. +</p> +<p>“There must be witchcraft here,” said she, and called her husband to see this strange +thing. She left the strips of meat on the fire, but when she returned with all the +wedding party at her heels not a vestige of the meat remained. All had disappeared, +nobody knew where. +</p> +<p>“The animal was undoubtedly bewitched,” said the father. Every one looked at the bride’s +hut; she was a stranger, and they already expected all was not well with her. +</p> +<p>“Bring the white bull,” said the father. “He is the finest we have; perhaps if we +kill him it may break the spell.” +</p> +<p>The white bull was brought forward. He was the chief of all the cattle the bridegroom’s +father had received on his daughter’s marriage two years before, and because of his +colour he was held to be a harbinger of peace and good fortune. He was snow-white +from head to tail, save for two long black horns of great beauty. All praised the +Chief’s kindness and generosity in <span class="pageNum" id="pb216">[<a href="#pb216">216</a>]</span>giving him, and felt sure all would now be well. +</p> +<p>The young men soon killed the bull and the meat was cut up. This time it was placed +in large pots to boil. All stood by and watched; even the bride had heard of the trouble +and waited anxiously in her hut, for witchcraft at her wedding was indeed a misfortune. +</p> +<p>For a while all seemed quiet. Then the water began to boil in the pot in which the +bull’s head had been placed. Instantly there leaped out of the pot a beautiful young +man, with a bearing like that of a great Chief. He ran away with incredible speed, +and even as he ran changed into a handsome buck with glancing horns. In a moment he +was out of sight. +</p> +<p>The whole company broke up in horror. “Bring the bride here,” said the Chief; “without +doubt she is a witch, and has brought trouble on us all.” +</p> +<p>In a few minutes poor Lungile was brought out of her hut with her attendant maids, +trembling and weeping. +</p> +<p>“Go back home,” shouted the Chief, “and never let us see your face again. You are +no wife for my son, nor would any decent family <span class="pageNum" id="pb217">[<a href="#pb217">217</a>]</span>ever receive you. I send you back to your father and demand my marriage-gift of cattle; +he may deal with you as he thinks fit.” +</p> +<p>“I am innocent of all harm,” cried Lungile. “I have cast no spells and wish no evil +to any one. I will work hard and be a good daughter to you.” +</p> +<p>“Go, go back to your father,” said all the women together. “You have brought witchcraft +here, and are accursed.” +</p> +<p>Then they drove her out quickly, nor did she attempt any more to prove her innocence, +but travelled home with her bridesmaids in bitter tears. +</p> +<p>Her father and mother received her back, and were horrified when they heard of her +treatment. They did not for a moment believe their daughter was a witch, and they +were very sorry to send back the cattle; but what could they do? The marriage-gift +was returned, and Lungile took her old place in the kraal again and worked as hard +and as well as ever. Only no more suitors came for her hand, for no one quite liked +the story of the white ox with the black horns. It looked as if the kilt of black +ox-skins might never be worn. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb218">[<a href="#pb218">218</a>]</span></p> +<p>More than a whole year went by; Lungile gradually forgot her troubles and her bridegroom +that was to have been. She went out one day in autumn; the air was cool, the sun shone +brightly over the great plains. She had been told to gather dried mealie-stalks from +her father’s lands, and sang gaily as she walked along the narrow path. Just as she +was about to turn off towards the fields a beautiful buck came in sight. To her great +surprise it did not run away, but circled round her, running across the path and slipping +in and out of the bushes. As she watched it she seemed to recognise its form. +</p> +<p>“Where have I seen this beautiful animal before?” said she, and thought a minute. +“Why, it is the very same buck that jumped out of the pot at my wedding-feast!” +</p> +<p>The recollection made her very sad for a moment, but she soon threw back her head +and laughed. “Now he shall really be killed,” said she; “it is many days since we +had meat. I will see if I can catch him as he passes.” +</p> +<p>The buck continued to dance around her, coming nearer and nearer, but always just +slipping out of her hands. They had now left her <span class="pageNum" id="pb219">[<a href="#pb219">219</a>]</span>father’s lands behind, and were drawing nearer and nearer to the mountains. Once she +touched the buck with her hands, but he jumped away. She followed till they came to +a stream which flowed down a green valley. There the buck stooped to drink by a great +bush covered with heart-shaped leaves, on which still lingered a few scarlet blossoms. +Lungile jumped forward and seized him by the horns. He did not seem to mind, but shook +his head and made her follow him by a tiny path which ran up the valley, following +the course of the stream. Lungile found the buck was far stronger than she thought. +She could not turn him back, and kept looking from left to right to see if any one +was coming who would kill her game for her. +</p> +<p>But the valley was empty and wild. High waving grass surrounded her on either side, +extending to the foot of great rocky cliffs; before her lay a long narrow valley, +closed at the end by a great round mountain. As they went on a huge forest came into +view, which clothed the lower slopes of the mountain. A blue shadow began to creep +across the valley. Lungile saw it, and thought, “No one is in sight, I shall hardly +reach home before dark. <span class="pageNum" id="pb220">[<a href="#pb220">220</a>]</span>The buck is too strong for me; I must give him up.” +</p> +<p>She let him go with a sigh, and hurried back so as to reach the plains again before +sundown. She had not gone far when she turned her head out of curiosity to see if +the buck were still in sight. To her intense surprise he was following her, walking +in a cloud of mist which shone gloriously in the sun. She stood still, and in a few +minutes the buck was at her side. +</p> +<p>“What do you want?” said Lungile. +</p> +<p>The buck only looked at her with his great brown eyes, and said nothing. Lungile spoke +again. She was sorry for the buck, and felt sure that he was in trouble. +</p> +<p>This time the buck answered in a soft, low voice, “Follow me to the forest yonder.” +</p> +<p>“I will come,” said Lungile, and turned once more to the great mountain and the forest +at its foot. +</p> +<p>Before long they reached the first great trees, and there at the very entrance they +saw a sight which made Lungile cry out in terror. A huge ogre seated on a wolf was +staring at them. Round his forehead he wore a string of animals’ eyes, which made +him look yet more horrible. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb221">[<a href="#pb221">221</a>]</span></p> +<p>Lungile turned to run, but the buck said to her calmly, “Come, and you will see what +I can do,” and walked straight towards the ogre. The girl followed, but shivered as +she heard the ogre say to the buck, “Ha, you will do splendidly for the wolf’s supper, +and that fine young girl for mine!” +</p> +<p>Then he opened his huge mouth, stretched out his long arms, and darted forward to +catch the buck, who did not move. But the instant his arms touched him the buck changed, +and became a most beautiful young man. The wolf, scared to death, ran trembling into +the bush, and the ogre, taken at a disadvantage, was strangled forthwith. +</p> +<p>When he lay dead the young man took the crown of animals’ eyes from the monster’s +head and threw them on the ground. Instantly they became living bucks. They all looked +at the man with great affection, and followed his every movement. +</p> +<p>The young man then turned to Lungile and said, “Be kind to these animals, and help +them. Remember I also was a buck. Stay here a few days, and do this for me. Gather +spinach every morning, and sing this fairy song: +<span class="pageNum" id="pb222">[<a href="#pb222">222</a>]</span></p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line"><span class="corr" id="xd33e2237" title="Not in source">“</span>‘Once my true love was a buck, +</p> +<p class="line">Once my true love was a buck; +</p> +<p class="line">Now he is changed into a fine, strong young man. +</p> +<p class="line">Now, bucks—Oh, bucks, +</p> +<p class="line">Change yourselves, and become young men.’ ”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">“I will do so,” said Lungile, with love and admiration in her eyes. “But tell me, +are you not the white ox who was killed at the wedding feast? And who are these bucks +who are all to be transformed?” +</p> +<p>“I am indeed that very white ox,” said the young man. “I am a great Chief, and because +my lands were better than the Chief Maginde’s, and I had finer cattle and stronger +people, he hated me. One day he bewitched me, and turned me into a white ox, and all +my people, he said, should be bucks. None should be free till I could change my form +and become once more a man. Then he sent me as a marriage-gift to the father of your +betrothed, and so I came to be killed. Through me you lost your first lover, but do +not grieve. Now I am once more a great Chief, I can give you all you want if you will +be my bride.” +</p> +<p>Lungile consented with great joy, for the fairy buck was handsomer and more gallant +than any youth she had ever beheld. She <span class="pageNum" id="pb223">[<a href="#pb223">223</a>]</span>stayed in the forest for many days. Every morning at sunrise she rose when the dew +was still heavy and sang the fairy song, gathering spinach up and down the hillside. +And every day more and more bucks came in from the mountains, and assembled in the +forest. They brought with them their does and their little ones. In seven days many +thousands had assembled. Then one morning as she sang the magic song they all changed, +and at sunrise they were men, women, and children. +</p> +<p>Thus the enchanted buck regained his people, and won a most kind and beautiful bride. +He took Lungile back to her father, gave a marriage-gift such as no one had ever seen +before, and then made her his wife amid great rejoicing. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb224">[<a href="#pb224">224</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch19" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e428">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XIX</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST</h2> +<h2 class="sub">A SWAZI TALE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Once, ever so many years ago, there lived a very pretty maiden whose name was Mulha, +“the Fair One.” She dwelt with her father and mother and two little sisters in a lonely +kraal among the mountains. They seldom saw any one, for the land around them was poor +and very few cared to settle there. Indeed Mulha’s mother grew all her crops in a +fertile valley some miles away, and was often obliged to be absent many days. +</p> +<p>As spring approached every year she took her hoe, left the kraal in charge of Mulha, +and went away to set the new corn. Now it happened once that the father was away on +a hunting expedition when the time of sowing arrived, and not likely to be back for +a long time. So the <span class="pageNum" id="pb225">[<a href="#pb225">225</a>]</span>mother had to leave all three children alone; but as Mulha was a big girl and would +soon <span class="corr" id="xd33e2263" title="Source: beg rown">be grown</span> up, she did not fear for their safety. She gave all three plenty of corn and many +kinds of beans to cook for their daily food. +</p> +<p>When she had finished providing for them, she called them to a big pot which lay on +one side of the hut. +</p> +<p>“Children,” she said, “never open this pot. You have plenty to eat and will need nothing. +Promise me faithfully to obey. If you are good I will give you all a little feast +when I return; we will kill a goat and make beer, and each of you shall ask your little +friends.” +</p> +<p>The children promised to be good and not to touch the pot. Then the mother bade them +farewell and started on her journey. The girls were quite happy for a few days. They +cooked their food and kept house, and the kraal had not looked so neat and tidy for +a long time. Then they grew weary of being alone, and the two younger children said +to their sister, “We are tired; our mother stays away too long.” +</p> +<p>Mulha then got up and said, “Do you know what I am going to do?” +</p> +<p>“No,” said they. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb226">[<a href="#pb226">226</a>]</span></p> +<p>“I am going to open the big pot.” +</p> +<p>“Oh no, you mustn’t,” said the other two; “we all promised faithfully not to touch +it.” +</p> +<p>“I am going to see what is inside,” said Mulha with determination. She went straight +to the pot and opened it, but instead of the store of food she expected to see out +came a huge ogre, who instantly filled all the hut. There was no room left for any +one else, and the little girls fled in terror. But the ogre called after them and +spoke so nicely that they soon came back. +</p> +<p>“I will do you no harm,” said he; “you two elder girls must go out to get water while +I keep your youngest sister here to cook the food.” +</p> +<p>But while they were away he killed the little girl, and put her into the big pot to +be cooked for dinner. When the two sisters returned they found the pot already boiling, +though they could see no fire. +</p> +<p>“Come,” said the ogre, “and sit down. I have a nice little dish ready for you. Your +sister has not returned yet.” +</p> +<p>But just at that moment a huge bee came in at the door and buzzed all round their +ears. Soon they distinguished words. “Do not eat <span class="pageNum" id="pb227">[<a href="#pb227">227</a>]</span>anything,” it said. “It is your own little sister who has been killed in your absence.” +</p> +<p>So they answered that they were not hungry and sat still. After that Mulha made constant +plans to escape with her sister, but the ogre always knew of them at once and followed +her everywhere. Once they thought that they were quite safe and well away when the +ogre suddenly appeared right in their path and said, “Where are you going to?” +</p> +<p>“Oh,” said they, “we are not going far; we are going to play by the river a little +while.” +</p> +<p>They ran on a little farther, and though the ogre followed them suspiciously the younger +sister managed to slip away through the bushes and swim down the river to the bottom +of the valley. Thence she made her way to the fields in which her mother was at work. +There she besought her to come and help Mulha, and rescue her from the horrible Inzimu. +</p> +<p>But the mother shook her head. “You are punished,” said she, “for your disobedience. +I can do nothing till the proper time comes; we must wait for your father.” +</p> +<p>In the meantime the ogre kept Mulha alive, for he did not like to eat her, as Inzimus +always <span class="pageNum" id="pb228">[<a href="#pb228">228</a>]</span>have a stock of provision in reserve, and do not use the last of the store. One day +he left her in the hut while he went out to search for fresh prey. She took the opportunity +to escape, and this time she was successful. She ran on and on by many winding paths, +keeping always to the trees which followed the water-courses, till at last she had +left her own valley behind and could run straight forward to her mother’s lands. There +at last she found both her mother and sister, and very glad they were to see her. +</p> +<p>She begged her mother to kill the ogre, but her mother only shook her head once more +and said, “What can we do? Your father is not back yet.” +</p> +<p>But while they were still talking, their father came in sight, to their great relief +and joy. He was told the whole story of their troubles, and in great anger and indignation +he seized his shield and assegai and started forth to find the monster and kill him. +</p> +<p>The next day he returned with a sad face. “We cannot go home any more,” said he to +his wife. “We must build a new hut here. I threw my assegais at the monster with all +possible force and skill, but they simply fell powerless on the <span class="pageNum" id="pb229">[<a href="#pb229">229</a>]</span>ground. It is useless to think of revenging ourselves, the monster is a magician.” +</p> +<p>At this news the mother called the two girls and told them the Inzimu was not dead, +and it would no longer be safe for them to return home. As he would be sure to search, +especially for Mulha, who had last escaped him, she had decided to send her right +away. +</p> +<p>“You shall go to your married sister. She is in a good position and will look after +you, and presently, no doubt, some one will want you for his wife. But remember to +go straight along the road, and on no account to touch the manumbela<a class="noteRef" id="xd33e2302src" href="#xd33e2302" title="Go to note 1.">1</a> which grows by the way.” +</p> +<p>Then Mulha put on all her prettiest beads and dressed herself in a length of black +stuff gaily striped with green and blue, which she knotted round her waist. No girl +in all Swaziland was prettier than she, or walked with a freer air. Her mother watched +her go with pride, and had little doubt that she would soon marry a Chief’s son. +</p> +<p>Now you would have expected Mulha to be <span class="pageNum" id="pb230">[<a href="#pb230">230</a>]</span>very careful and obedient after her last sad experience, and for a long time she travelled +very soberly. But the afternoon was very hot, for it was full summer, and she gradually +became very thirsty. There was no water near, and at a turn of the path she came in +sight of beautiful manumbela covered with rich ripe berries. The manumbela is, you +know, the Forbidden Fruit. +</p> +<p>Mulha looked at it longingly, and at last she said, “Oh! I am going to eat it!” and +climbed straight up the tree. +</p> +<p>Directly she got up and picked a berry a deep bass voice called out of the trunk: +“Dear good girl, give me some ripe fruit.” +</p> +<p>The voice was so deep that the whole tree shook. Mulha gathered the fruit and came +down in a fright. Immediately the tree opened and out came a big ogress, an Imbula, +with an ugly snout like a wolf, and long red hair all over her body. The ogress took +the fruit and said, “You are not safe travelling alone, a pretty girl like you. Give +me all your things and I will give you mine, then no one will know you.” +</p> +<p>Mulha gave her the striped cottons, but did not want to part with all her beautiful +beads. <span class="pageNum" id="pb231">[<a href="#pb231">231</a>]</span>However, the Imbula insisted on having them, and promised to give all back when they +approached the married sister’s kraal. She then gave Mulha her own skin to wear as +a disguise. To her horror the poor girl found that the skin clung to her as tightly +as if it grew on her. Nothing would remove it. The Imbula, without her horrid lumpy +skin covered with red hair, looked like a pretty girl; her wolf’s snout had disappeared, +and she had the whitest and most even teeth that ever were seen. It was she who was +now Mulha, “the Fair One,” while the real beauty had become a loathsome monster. +</p> +<p>Just outside the sister’s kraal Mulha tried to make the ogress give her back her dress +and ornaments, but the monster absolutely refused. They soon came to the gate; the +Imbula went right in, asked for her sister, and was welcomed by all and given great +honour. +</p> +<p>“What are we to do with your companion?” asked the married sister, with a glance of +disgust at Mulha. +</p> +<p>“Oh, just put her anywhere,” said the Imbula. “She can feed quite well with the dogs +in some old hut.” +</p> +<p>“Very well,” said the married sister. “She <span class="pageNum" id="pb232">[<a href="#pb232">232</a>]</span>can live with the old woman over there; no one will see her or be troubled by her.” +</p> +<p>So the ogress passed as a beautiful Princess, and great attention was paid her. She +looked exactly like a very pretty girl, but she had one great difficulty. All Imbulas +have a tail, just like Inzimus, and this tail she could not get rid of. She coiled +it round her waist and hid it under her girdle, but every day she feared discovery. +However, no one dreamt of such a possibility, and for a long time all went well. +</p> +<p>Meanwhile the real beauty lived in the hut with the old woman. She was deeply hurt +at being treated thus by her own sister, but presently she discovered that her skin +gave her magic powers, so she began to use them. +</p> +<p>“Tell me,” she said to the old woman, “would you like to be made young again?” +</p> +<p>“Yes, indeed,” said the old woman. +</p> +<p>“Very well, you shall,” said Mulha. And the next morning every one was wondering what +had happened to the old woman, for she once more looked like a girl. But Mulha bound +her to silence, for she was far too indignant to let her sister have any hint of the +truth. So the two lived together quietly but in much comfort, <span class="pageNum" id="pb233">[<a href="#pb233">233</a>]</span>for Mulha found that she was able to obtain excellent food for them both by a mere +command, and they never touched the scraps which were thrown to them. +</p> +<p>Now the real monster soon had ever so many lovers, for the fame of her beauty spread +far and wide. At last she announced her engagement to a very wealthy and handsome +Prince. Her behaviour, however, puzzled every one very much. She would never allow +him so much as to kiss her, and declared that she was far too modest to allow him +even to sit by her. The real beauty knew quite well why this was, but every one else +thought it very strange. +</p> +<p>Soon after the engagement was announced Mulha told the old woman that she was going +down to bathe. The married sister heard of this. She said to herself, “I should much +like to see this strange creature in the water,” and followed the supposed monster +to the river. +</p> +<p>There she saw a most wonderful sight. Directly the misshapen being touched the river +her skin floated away, and she stood in the sparkling water, the most beautiful maiden +that ever was seen. Then she stretched out her arms and sang: +<span class="pageNum" id="pb234">[<a href="#pb234">234</a>]</span></p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“Come, maidens, come, +</p> +<p class="line">Come and play with me, +</p> +<p class="line">Come and play in the water.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">And at once beautiful girls came from all sides and played and laughed with her as +their Princess. When Mulha had played long enough she got out of the water. The skin +fitted on her again as tightly as ever, and she became a hateful beast once more. +</p> +<p>The married sister went home certain that something was wrong, and consulted an aged +Princess noted for her wisdom. The next time that the supposed monster bathed they +went down to the river together and caught her just before she left the water. She +soon told them she was the true Mulha, who had been overcome by an Imbula, but she +did not wish to change her condition. +</p> +<p>“Why do you bother me? I have everything I want and do not care to be troubled. You +took the Imbula in as your sister; now you can keep her.” +</p> +<p>“It is not right that men should be deceived by a monster,” said her sister. “I will +speak to the King about it.<span class="corr" id="xd33e2349" title="Source: ’">”</span> +</p> +<p>The two women laid the whole story before <span class="pageNum" id="pb235">[<a href="#pb235">235</a>]</span>the King, who soon devised a method of settling which was the beauty and which the +beast. +</p> +<p>“Dig a big hole in the middle of the kraal, and place in it all kinds of food and +plenty of fresh milk in a calabash. Then make every woman in the kraal walk round +the hole alone, and we shall soon see who is the Imbula.” +</p> +<p>All was done as the King commanded, and all the women in the kraal, young and old, +walked round the hole. At last it came to the turn of the supposed Princess. +</p> +<p>“There is no need for me to walk round the hole,” said she. “Every one knows that +I am a pretty girl. Besides, I am far too shy to show myself off before everybody.” +</p> +<p>She twisted and turned, and spoke in a tiny voice, just as she had done whenever the +Prince approached her. But the King would have none of it, and commanded her to walk +round the hole on pain of death. +</p> +<p>So the Imbula was obliged to come, and started to walk round the hole. But at the +sight of the milk all her instincts awoke, and she forgot everything. Her tail instantly +uncoiled, and leapt down into the hole to suck up the <span class="pageNum" id="pb236">[<a href="#pb236">236</a>]</span>milk. No Inzimu, male or female, can control their tail when milk is on the ground. +This the King had counted on when he laid the trap. +</p> +<p>Directly the King saw that the real monster was discovered he sent his men to kill +her. When all was over, Mulha came out to see the last of her rival. But she was now +in her true form, and so radiantly beautiful that the Prince who had been deceived +by the Imbula fell in love with her at once. The marriage was soon arranged. One hundred +cows were paid to Mulha’s father at the wedding. He thus became a rich man, and so +after many adventures all were made happy. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb237">[<a href="#pb237">237</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<div class="footnote-body"> +<div class="fndiv" id="xd33e2302"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd33e2302src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">1</a></span> <i>Manumbela</i>—a bush with bright glossy leaves and silvery stem. The fruit is bright red and grows +closely round the stem in great quantities, a little like the English holly. The berries +are the size of a small plum and are considered very good to eat. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd33e2302src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ch20" class="div1 last-child chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#xd33e438">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XX</h2> +<h2 class="main">THE WHITE DOVE</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Once, long ago, there lived a Prince named Sanfu, who was a great hunter. It was the +sport he loved above all others, and every day during the season he set out from home +very early, and hunted till dusk. He was young and handsome, and as yet he had no +wife, but engaged in adventures at every opportunity. +</p> +<p>One day in <span class="corr" id="xd33e2375" title="Source: midwinter">mid-winter</span> he collected his weapons, called his dogs, and set out to hunt. He carried assegais, +which he could use either as spears or as darts, and knobkerries to knock down the +smaller game. The air was clear and bright, the country full of wild creatures, yet +look as he might he could find nothing. He hated to return home empty-handed, so he +hurried on from bush to bush till he came into a strange country, which he had never +before visited. He looked across <span class="pageNum" id="pb238">[<a href="#pb238">238</a>]</span>the valley and saw in the distance two great mountains, whose twin peaks stood out +against the cloudless sky in glorious tints of ruddy-gold. The right-hand mountain +was clothed in bush almost to the summit, only the topmost crags being bare. There +was no sign of man anywhere; surely this forest at least must abound in game. +</p> +<p>So Sanfu took up his assegais and kerries and set out to explore the new land. He +followed the course of a tiny stream, leaping from rock to rock in the dim green light +of the forest. The trees were so thick overhead that the sun never came through, but +below one could walk freely on a carpet of long green moss. Every now and then a cave-rat +darted out at the Prince’s very feet, but his knobkerrie always missed it; a few minutes +later he would see a magnificent buck, with head thrown back, standing in front of +a thicket. But the moment he came within striking distance his prey was gone. So he +toiled on, always disappointed, but always seeing something worth his pursuit, till +at length the trees grew thinner and farther apart. Gradually they dwindled down to +mere bushes, and Sanfu found himself on the high grass slopes above the forest. <span class="pageNum" id="pb239">[<a href="#pb239">239</a>]</span>He left the stream and made straight for the pass between the two mountain peaks, +determined to see what lay beyond. +</p> +<p>The highest point once gained, he looked down into a beautiful wooded valley with +several fine streams, the very place for game. Sanfu straightway began the descent, +but at closer view he found that the slopes were covered with huge boulders, and the +grass was so high that it would be impossible to see any game. He persevered for some +time, then he decided to turn back and try his luck once more in the forest. +</p> +<p>But when he looked round to retrace his steps he found it was impossible. For the +twin peaks had suddenly become a precipitous wall without break or opening, and the +grassy slopes had turned to hard granite cliffs without so much as a foot-hold. Sanfu +looked once more at the valley. Then he found that he was in a sort of basin surrounded +on every side by steep hills crowned with inaccessible rocks. Puzzled and weary he +went forward, hoping at least to find water and a place to rest for the night. For +it was now not far from sundown, the air was growing cold, and it was useless to think +of going much farther. But the rocks only seemed to grow higher and <span class="pageNum" id="pb240">[<a href="#pb240">240</a>]</span>higher; he could see no open space, nor was there any sound of water. The whole valley +was absolutely silent. +</p> +<p>Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head, and was astonished to +see a human being. It was an old old woman leaning on a black wand, on the top of +which perched two black birds. +</p> +<p>“Tell me, old woman,” said the Prince, “am I near a kraal?” +</p> +<p>But the old woman said nothing. He repeated the question. The old woman only touched +her ears and her mouth with one hand, and shook her head. Then Sanfu knew that she +was deaf and dumb. So he turned and continued to thread his way in and out of the +tall boulders, the old woman following on behind. Presently he heard in the far distance +the cooing of a dove. +</p> +<p>“Where there are doves,” thought the Prince, “there are trees and perhaps water.” +</p> +<p>He pursued his way, guided by the soft melancholy cry. Soon he could distinguish words, +for the dove was singing the lament that all the doves have sung from the beginning +of things: +<span class="pageNum" id="pb241">[<a href="#pb241">241</a>]</span></p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<div lang="zu" class="lg"> +<p class="line">“Ku waffa baba +</p> +<p class="line">Ku waffa mama +</p> +<p class="line">Ku waffa imfo wetu +</p> +<p class="line">Ku waffa dado wetu +</p> +<p class="line">’Ngi hlala etwe +</p> +<p class="line">Inhleziwe s’ame’ tshon, tshon, tshon, tshon, tshon.” +</p> +</div> +<div class="lg"> +<p class="line">“My father is dead; +</p> +<p class="line">My mother is dead; +</p> +<p class="line">My brethren are dead; +</p> +<p class="line">My sisters are dead; +</p> +<p class="line">I sit here alone. +</p> +<p class="line">My heart is sinking, sinking, sinking, sinking, sinking.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<p class="first">“Not much farther now,” thought the Prince, as the singing grew clearer, and a minute +later he found himself in an open space. Here a most curious sight met his eyes. No +trees were to be seen, but on his left hand there rose up an enormous black cliff. +You can imagine how strange it looked, for all the boulders and the crags above were +red, but this rock was jet black. Below on his right flowed a wide, black river. It +was deep and silent; not so much as a speck of foam appeared on its waters. +</p> +<p>At the base of the cliff were three huge caves, and in one of these, right in the +middle, sat a pure white dove of exquisite beauty. Two ravens stood one on either +side of her, and the moment they saw the Prince they began to <span class="pageNum" id="pb242">[<a href="#pb242">242</a>]</span>dance. They danced faster and faster till at last they lay down exhausted at the feet +of the White Dove. Then the beautiful bird spoke. +</p> +<p>“Welcome, Prince,” said she. “We are so glad to see you, we have been waiting here +for years.” +</p> +<p>“Why are you glad to see me?” replied Sanfu, who knew at once that he had met with +a great adventure. “What can I possibly do for you?” +</p> +<p>“You can do us the greatest imaginable service,” said the Dove. “Look at this cave +and repeat the following words three times: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“River, river, wonderful river, mighty river, +</p> +<p class="line">Loose your might and change us into human beings; +</p> +<p class="line">You it was who bewitched us, +</p> +<p class="line">Now change us again.”</p> +</div> +<p class="first">The Prince obeyed, and a marvellous thing happened. The cave seemed to open out, and +suddenly the whole valley was filled with a burst of most wonderful song. For within +were thousands of beautiful birds of every kind there is in the world. They flashed +and shone in the sunlight—golden orioles and many-coloured lorys, the emerald cuckoo +and all the exquisite finches. <span class="pageNum" id="pb243">[<a href="#pb243">243</a>]</span>Then there were dainty little black honey-suckers, whose lustre is like mother-of-pearl, +and graceful doves of every hue. And beyond all these were gorgeous birds from the +great forests of the far north such as Sanfu had never seen. He gazed in wonder and +delight for a long time. Then he turned to the White Dove and said, “What do you want +me to do now?” +</p> +<p>“Repeat these words once more,” said the White Dove. +</p> +<p>He repeated them again. To his astonishment the second cave opened out and thousands +of animals appeared—great herds of buck with beautiful horns, both small and great, +noble elephants and tall giraffes, and lions and tigers with glossy skins. Their cries +almost drowned the call of the birds, but they appeared to live in peace and did one +another no harm. +</p> +<p>“Do you see those animals?” said the Dove to the amazed Prince. “Those are my father’s +men.” +</p> +<p>“Who then are the birds?” asked Sanfu. +</p> +<p>“They are the beautiful women and the girls who live in his kingdom.” +</p> +<p>“And the third cave? What does that contain?” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb244">[<a href="#pb244">244</a>]</span></p> +<p>“Ah!” said the Dove. “That is the greatest wonder of all. But it cannot be opened +yet.” +</p> +<p>“Is there nothing else I can do to help you?” said the Prince. “For you appear to +be under some terrible enchantment.” +</p> +<p>“You can do everything,” cried the White Dove. “Do not leave this valley. Stay here +for one year and we shall be delivered.” +</p> +<p>“That I cannot possibly do,” said the Prince, “for no one will know what has become +of me.” +</p> +<p>“If you refuse,” said the Dove, with a determination you would never have expected +of her, “you yourself will be changed into an enormous hairy spider and dwell in a +house of dried leaves and moss. Every one who sees you will run away, and you will +live a life of loneliness and misery.” +</p> +<p>“You have no consideration for my mother’s tears,” replied Sanfu. “I am the only son +of my father. They will both think I am killed.” +</p> +<p>“You shall be fully rewarded,” said the Dove; “if you do this for us you will never +regret it. But if you refuse you become a <span class="pageNum" id="pb245">[<a href="#pb245">245</a>]</span>horrible spider, and neither your mother nor your father will ever recognise you again.” +</p> +<p>“Very well,” said the Prince. “I promise to stay with you and help you.” +</p> +<p>“Give me your wand,” said the Dove to the Mute Woman. “The Prince must be hungry.” +</p> +<p>The old woman gave the wand, and as it left her hand she herself disappeared. The +Dove took it and threw it on the ground, but curiously enough the two black birds +perched on the top did not stir and were thrown down with the staff. +</p> +<p>Directly the wand touched the ground there appeared an excellent meal, bowls of porridge +and thick milk, and strips of meat served on a fine mat, and to crown all a big calabash +full of good beer. Sanfu was very hungry and thirsty. He ate and drank well, and then +lay down to sleep under a rock. +</p> +<p>He kept his word and never attempted to leave the valley. The Mute Woman did not appear +again, and the White Dove sat in front of the cave and sang her former melancholy +song. She never spoke at all, and might have been nothing more than an ordinary bird. +Every day food appeared, and although it was <span class="pageNum" id="pb246">[<a href="#pb246">246</a>]</span>winter and the nights bitterly cold, Sanfu never so much as shivered in spite of having +neither a roof to cover him nor karosses in which to wrap himself. +</p> +<p>“So far I have done well,” thought he, “but what shall I do when the rains come and +the heavy thunderstorms? I shall be washed away or killed by the hail.” +</p> +<p>Clouds began to appear every day, and the weather grew oppressively hot. At last one +evening a tremendous thunderstorm arose, and Sanfu thought that his last hour had +come. To his astonishment not a drop of rain touched him, and the ground on which +he slept remained quite dry. After that he troubled himself no more, but passed his +time as best he could in solitude and weariness till the summer was past and the winter +once more appeared. At last the year was complete, and on the morning of the happy +day he went to the Dove. +</p> +<p>“The year is over,” said he, “and now at last I can return to my parents. How glad +I am to think I can see home once more!” +</p> +<p>“You cannot be more glad than I,” said the Dove, “for now I too shall be free. Repeat +the charm once more.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb247">[<a href="#pb247">247</a>]</span></p> +<p>Then the Prince repeated the words: +</p> +<div class="lgouter"> +<p class="line">“River, river, wonderful river, mighty river, +</p> +<p class="line">Loose your might and change us into human beings; +</p> +<p class="line">You it was who bewitched us, +</p> +<p class="line">Now change us again”—</p> +</div> +<p class="first">and the cave which had never opened before suddenly began to expand. The whole of +the rocky basin melted away and instead appeared open country, well-wooded and full +of good pasture. Great herds of cattle roamed on the hills, and countless goats and +sheep. The high, inaccessible cliffs were gone, and instead appeared the twin mountain +peaks just as Sanfu had seen them a year ago. +</p> +<p>“Now repeat the charm again,” said the Dove. +</p> +<p>At the magic words the other two caves opened and the beautiful birds flew out all +over the meadows, while the animals came and ranged themselves in ranks. The second +time the words were repeated every creature suddenly assumed the head and arms of +human beings, and at the third repetition they stood complete men and women. The animals +became magnificent warriors in serried ranks, at whose head stood a splendid man in +leopard-skins, their King. By his side marched two fine <span class="pageNum" id="pb248">[<a href="#pb248">248</a>]</span>Princes, and an old and wise magician with a long black wand. They were the two ravens +and the Mute Woman, as you have no doubt guessed already. But the birds had changed +to hundreds and thousands of beautiful girls, laughing and singing. They came down +the hillside running towards the Prince, and at their head was the loveliest woman +he had ever beheld. +</p> +<p>“I am the White Dove,” said she. “See what you have done for me! Now repeat the charm +for the last time.” +</p> +<p>And at the wonderful words the Black River and the Black Rock both disappeared. In +their place were seen ripe fields of mealies and Kafir corn. Big orange-coloured pumpkins +and shining green calabashes lay among the corn, and there were well-grown patches +of beans and ground-nuts. All was ready for gathering, the joyous harvest was at hand, +and the men and women had only to reap. +</p> +<p>Then every one greeted the Prince with cries of welcome. +</p> +<p>“We owe you everything,” said the King. “I will give you a hundred fine cattle, and +goats and sheep without end.” +<span class="pageNum" id="pb249">[<a href="#pb249">249</a>]</span></p> +<p>But Sanfu was silent and did not reply. +</p> +<p>“You do not seem pleased,” said the King. “Is there anything else we can give you? +You have only to ask.” +</p> +<p>“All I want,” answered Sanfu, looking at the White Dove, “is the Princess. I want +no cattle, for I am a rich man, and my father a very great Chief. But I will give +hundreds of oxen for the Princess if only I may have her for my wife.” +</p> +<p>The Princess looked at him with delight, but the King hesitated and said he must confer +with his chief men. He consulted with them day after day for many weeks—not, I think, +because he did not care for Sanfu, but simply to show that he was a great King, and +his daughter not to be had for the mere asking. +</p> +<p>At last, when poor Sanfu was worn out with anxiety, for he loved the Princess dearly, +the King said he was ready to receive him. +</p> +<p>“The Princess is yours,” he said, “on condition that you stay here and live in our +country. Go home first, and bring what men you will as your followers, but do not +leave us altogether.” +</p> +<p>The Prince willingly promised for the sake of the White Dove. He went home, told all +his <span class="pageNum" id="pb250">[<a href="#pb250">250</a>]</span>adventures to his father and mother, and in the end all his people rose up and came +with him. The wedding of Sanfu the hunter and the White Dove was celebrated with great +festivities, and, as you may well believe, was soon followed by many more between +his men and the beautiful girls who once were many-coloured birds. +</p> +<p class="trailer center">THE END</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="back"> +<div class="div1 imprint"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> +<p class="first center small"><i>Printed by</i> <span class="sc">R & R. Clark, Limited</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb251">[<a href="#pb251">251</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 advertisement"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">THE GOLDEN SERIES OF<br> +ILLUSTRATED JUVENILE BOOKS.</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first center">Crown 8vo. Gilt edges. 3s. 6d. each. +</p> +<p class="center">With special Cover design printed in gold. +</p> +<p class="center large bold">NEW BOOK BY MRS. MOLESWORTH. +</p> +<p><b>FAIRIES—OF SORTS.</b> By Mrs. <span class="sc">Molesworth</span>. With Illustrations by <span class="sc">Gertrude Demain Hammond</span>. +</p> +<p><b>FAIRY TALES FROM SOUTH AFRICA.</b> Collected from original Native Sources and arranged by Mrs. <span class="sc">E. J. Bourhill</span> and Mrs. <span class="sc">J. B. Drake</span>. Illustrated by <span class="sc">W. Herbert Holloway</span>. +</p> +<p class="center large bold">By Sir SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. +</p> +<p><b>CAST UP BY THE SEA.</b> With Illustrations by <span class="sc">Huard</span>. +</p> +<p><b>TRUE TALES FOR MY GRANDSONS.</b> With Illustrations by <span class="sc">W. J. Hennessy</span>. +</p> +<p class="center large bold">By MRS. MOLESWORTH. +</p> +<p class="center">With Illustrations by <span class="sc">Walter Crane</span>. +</p> +<p><b>ROSY.</b> +</p> +<p><b>THE RECTORY CHILDREN.</b> +</p> +<p><b>TWO LITTLE WAIFS.</b> +</p> +<p>MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class="sc">Ltd.</span>, LONDON. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb252">[<a href="#pb252">252</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 advertisement"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">MINIATURE EDITIONS.</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. By <span class="sc">Lewis Carroll</span>. With the original Illustrations by <span class="sc">Tenniel</span>. Cloth gilt. Pott 8vo. 1s. net. +</p> +<p>THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. By <span class="sc">Lewis Carroll</span>. With the Original Illustrations by <span class="sc">Tenniel</span>. Cloth gilt. Pott 8vo. 1s. net. +</p> +<p>THE ROSE AND THE RING. By <span class="sc">W. M. Thackeray</span>. With Reproductions of the Original Illustrations. Cloth gilt. Pott 8vo. 1s. net. +</p> +<p class="center large bold">By LEWIS CARROLL. +</p> +<p>ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. With 42 Illustrations by <span class="sc">John Tenniel</span>. Extra Crown 8vo. 6s. net. <i>People’s Edition.</i> With all the original Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. <i>Pocket Classics.</i> Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 2s. net. Leather, 3s. net. <i>Little Folk’s Edition.</i> With coloured Illustrations. 16mo. 1s. net. 8vo. Sewed, 6d. Cloth, 1s. 8vo. Sewed, +6d. (“Supplementary Readers”). +</p> +<p>ALICE’S ADVENTURES UNDER GROUND. Being a facsimile of the original MS. book afterwards +developed into “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” With 27 Illustrations by the Author. +Crown 8vo. 4s. net. +</p> +<p>THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. With 50 Illustrations by <span class="sc">John Tenniel</span>. Extra Crown 8vo. 6s. net. <i>People’s Edition.</i> With all the original Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. <i>Pocket Classics.</i> Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 2s. net. Leather, 3s. net. <i>Little Folk’s Edition.</i> With coloured Illustrations. 16mo. 1s. 6d. net. 8vo. Sewed, 6d. Cloth, 1s. 8vo. Sewed, +6d. (“Supplementary Readers”). +</p> +<p>ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, AND THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND +THERE. With 92 Illustrations by <span class="sc">John Tenniel</span>. <i>People’s Edition.</i> Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. net. +</p> +<p>THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK: An Agony in Eight Fits. With 9 Illustrations by <span class="sc">Henry Holiday</span>. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. net. +</p> +<p>RHYME? AND REASON? With 65 Illustrations by <span class="sc">Arthur B. Frost</span>, and 9 by <span class="sc">Henry Holiday</span>. Crown 8vo. 6s. net. +</p> +<p>SYLVIE AND BRUNO, Concluded. With Illustrations by <span class="sc">Harry Furniss</span>. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. <i>People’s Edition.</i> Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. +</p> +<p>SYLVIE AND BRUNO. In One Volume. With Illustrations by <span class="sc">Harry Furniss</span>. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. net. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb253">[<a href="#pb253">253</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1 advertisement"><span class="pageNum">[<a title="Go to the table of contents" href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Macmillan’s Prize Library</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first center large">A CAREFULLY SELECTED SERIES OF +</p> +<p class="center xl">Illustrated Books<br> +Suitable for Presentation +</p> +<p>In Ornamental Bindings. Crown 8vo. Price 2s. 6d. each Cloth Elegant. Gilt Edges. 3s. +6d. each (<i>except vols. marked</i> *) +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Rev. J. C. Atkinson +</p> +<p>WALKS, TALKS, TRAVELS AND EXPLOITS OF TWO SCHOOLBOYS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>PLAY-HOURS AND HALF-HOLIDAYS. Illustrated by <span class="sc">Coleman</span> +</p> +<p>SCENES IN FAIRYLAND. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE LAST OF THE GIANT-KILLERS. Illus. +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Jane Austen +</p> +<p>PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Illustrated +</p> +<p>SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>EMMA. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By L. N. Badenoch +</p> +<p>THE ROMANCE OF THE INSECT WORLD. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Rev. R. H. Barham +</p> +<p>THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Edward Bertz +</p> +<p>THE FRENCH PRISONERS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Sir Walter Besant +</p> +<p>THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN COOK. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By A. G. Bradley +</p> +<p>THE LIFE OF WOLFE. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Frank Buckland +</p> +<p>CURIOSITIES OF NATURAL HISTORY. In four volumes. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Sir W. Butler +</p> +<p>THE LIFE OF GORDON. With Portrait +</p> +<p class="center bold">By J. Fenimore Cooper +</p> +<p>THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE DEERSLAYER. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE PATHFINDER. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE PIONEERS. Illus. +</p> +<p>THE PRAIRIE. Illus. +<span class="pageNum" id="pb254">[<a href="#pb254">254</a>]</span></p> +<p class="center bold">By Julian Corbett +</p> +<p>LIFE OF DRAKE. With Portrait +</p> +<p>FOR GOD AND GOLD. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Mrs. Craik +</p> +<p>OLIVE. Illustrated by <span class="sc">G. Bowers</span> +</p> +<p>THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>AGATHA’S HUSBAND. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Sir Edward Creasy +</p> +<p>THE FIFTEEN DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE WORLD +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Daniel Defoe +</p> +<p>ROBINSON CRUSOE. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Charles Dickens +</p> +<p>OLIVER TWIST. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP. Illustrated +</p> +<p>CHRISTMAS BOOKS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>* BARNABY RUDGE. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Maria Edgeworth +</p> +<p>POPULAR TALES. Illustrated +</p> +<p>LAZY LAWRENCE, AND OTHER STORIES. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By J. H. Fabre +</p> +<p>INSECT LIFE: SOUVENIRS OF A NATURALIST. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Violet G. Finny +</p> +<p>THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG <span class="sc">MacCORMACKS</span>. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By W. Warde Fowler +</p> +<p>TALES OF THE BIRDS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Mrs. Hugh Fraser +</p> +<p>THE BROWN AMBASSADOR +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Rev. E. Gilliat +</p> +<p>* GOD SAVE KING ALFRED. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By J. Gilmore +</p> +<p>STORM WARRIORS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By George Hooper +</p> +<p>LIFE OF WELLINGTON. With Portrait +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Professor Herbert A. Howe +</p> +<p>* A STUDY OF THE SKY. Illustrated +<span class="pageNum" id="pb255">[<a href="#pb255">255</a>]</span></p> +<p class="center bold">By Thomas Hughes +</p> +<p>LIFE OF LIVINGSTONE. With Portrait +</p> +<p>TOM BROWN’S SCHOOL DAYS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Raymond Jacberns +</p> +<p>* THE THREE RASCALS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>* THE NEW PUPIL. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By A. and E. Keary +</p> +<p>HEROES OF ASGARD. Illustrated by <span class="sc">Huard</span> +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Wardlaw Kennedy +</p> +<p>BEASTS: THUMB-NAIL STUDIES IN PETS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Charles Kingsley +</p> +<p>WESTWARD HO! Illustrated by <span class="sc">C. E. Brock</span> +</p> +<p>HEREWARD THE WAKE. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE HEROES. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE WATER BABIES. Illustrated +</p> +<p>MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>GLAUCUS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>AT LAST. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Henry Kingsley +</p> +<p>TALES OF OLD TRAVEL. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Rudyard Kipling +</p> +<p>* THE KIPLING READER +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Sir J. K. Laughton +</p> +<p>LIFE OF NELSON. With Portrait +</p> +<p class="center bold">By S. Lover +</p> +<p>HANDY ANDY. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Captain Marryat +</p> +<p>POOR JACK. Illustrated +</p> +<p>MASTERMAN READY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>NEWTON FORSTER. Illustrated +</p> +<p>PIRATE AND THREE CUTTERS. Illustrated +</p> +<p>SNARLEYYOW. Illus. +</p> +<p>PETER SIMPLE. Illus. +</p> +<p>MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>JAPHET IN SEARCH OF A FATHER. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By S. Weir Mitchell +</p> +<p>* THE ADVENTURES OF FRANÇOIS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Mrs. Molesworth +</p> +<p>CARROTS. Illustrated by <span class="sc">Walter Crane</span> +</p> +<p>THE TAPESTRY ROOM. Illustrated +</p> +<p>A CHRISTMAS CHILD. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE CUCKOO CLOCK. Illustrated +<span class="pageNum" id="pb256">[<a href="#pb256">256</a>]</span></p> +<p>GRANDMOTHER DEAR. Illus. +</p> +<p>US. Illus. +</p> +<p>THE ADVENTURES OF HERR BABY. Illus. +</p> +<p>TELL ME A STORY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>LITTLE MISS PEGGY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>* CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND. Illustrated +</p> +<p>* THE RECTORY CHILDREN. +</p> +<p>* ROSY. +</p> +<p>* TWO LITTLE WAIFS +</p> +<p class="center bold">By J. Morier +</p> +<p>HAJJI BABA OF ISPAHAN. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Mowbray Morris +</p> +<p>* TALES OF THE SPANISH MAIN. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By H. E. Norton +</p> +<p>A BOOK OF COURTESY. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Mrs. Oliphant +</p> +<p>AGNES HOPETOUN. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By C. W. C. Oman +</p> +<p>WARWICK THE KING-MAKER. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Major Gambier Parry +</p> +<p>THE STORY OF DICK. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Eleanor C. Price +</p> +<p>IN THE LION’S MOUTH<span class="corr" id="xd33e2893" title="Not in source">.</span> Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Sir Walter Scott +</p> +<p>* KENILWORTH. Illustrated +</p> +<p>* THE TALISMAN. Illustrated +</p> +<p>* COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center bold">By W. M. Thackeray +</p> +<p>* THE HISTORY OF HENRY ESMOND +</p> +<p class="center bold">By Charlotte M. Yonge +</p> +<p>THE LITTLE DUKE. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE LANCES OF LYNWOOD. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE PRINCE AND THE PAGE. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE ARMOURER’S ’PRENTICES. Illustrated +</p> +<p>P’S AND Q’S AND LITTLE LUCY’S WONDERFUL GLOBE. Illustrated +</p> +<p>UNKNOWN TO HISTORY. Illustrated +</p> +<p>THE DOVE IN THE EAGLE’S NEST. Illustrated +</p> +<p class="center"><i>Further volumes will be added from time to time</i> +</p> +<p class="center large">MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="transcriberNote"> +<h2 class="main">Colophon</h2> +<p>The new cover art included with this eBook is hereby granted to the public domain.</p> +<h3 class="main">Revision History</h3> +<ul> +<li>2025-03-21 Started. +</li> +</ul> +<h3 class="main">Corrections</h3> +<p>The following 6 corrections have been applied to the text:</p> +<table class="correctionTable"> +<tr> +<th>Page</th> +<th>Source</th> +<th>Correction</th> +<th>Edit distance</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd33e2012">192</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd33e2349">234</a></td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">’</td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">”</td> +<td class="bottom">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd33e2237">222</a></td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en"> +[<i>Not in source</i>] +</td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">“</td> +<td class="bottom">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd33e2263">225</a></td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">beg rown</td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">be grown</td> +<td class="bottom">2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd33e2375">237</a></td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">midwinter</td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">mid-winter</td> +<td class="bottom">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd33e2893">256</a></td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en"> +[<i>Not in source</i>] +</td> +<td class="width40 bottom" lang="en">.</td> +<td class="bottom">1</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75833 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75833-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/75833-h/images/frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d47bc0b --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/logo.png b/75833-h/images/logo.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef0662e --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/logo.png diff --git a/75833-h/images/new-cover.jpg b/75833-h/images/new-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b75820b --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/new-cover.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p017.jpg b/75833-h/images/p017.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a57e6e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p017.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p049.jpg b/75833-h/images/p049.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8fc8066 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p049.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p072.jpg b/75833-h/images/p072.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..39dece4 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p072.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p121.jpg b/75833-h/images/p121.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4abf95 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p121.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p137.jpg b/75833-h/images/p137.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ed671b --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p137.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p183.jpg b/75833-h/images/p183.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb804b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p183.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/p204.jpg b/75833-h/images/p204.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20cb582 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/p204.jpg diff --git a/75833-h/images/titlepage.png b/75833-h/images/titlepage.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8778734 --- /dev/null +++ b/75833-h/images/titlepage.png |
