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第46章

nada the lily(百合娜达)-第46章

小说: nada the lily(百合娜达) 字数: 每页4000字

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gates of the kraal singing。 Then of a sudden they ceased their singing
and rushed towards the hut in front of which we stood。

Then I ran to meet them; uttering cries of woe; holding in my hand the
little assegai of the king red with the king's blood; and spoke with
the captain's in the gate; saying:

〃Lament; ye captains and ye soldiers; weep and lament; for your father
is no more! He who nursed you is no more! The king is dead! now earth
and heaven will come together; for the king is dead!〃

〃How so; Mopo?〃 cried the leader of the Bees。 〃How is our father
dead?〃

〃He is dead by the hand of a wicked wanderer named Masilo; who; when
he was doomed to die by the king; snatched this assegai from the
king's hand and stabbed him; and afterwards; before he could be cut
down himself by us three; the princes and myself; he killed the chiefs
Inguazonca and Umxamama also。 Draw near and look on him who was the
king; it is the command of Dingaan and Umhlangana; the kings; that you
draw near and look on him who was the king; that his death at the hand
of Masilo may be told through all the land。〃

〃You are better at making of kings; Mopo; than at the saving of one
who was your king from the stroke of a wanderer;〃 said the leader of
the Bees; looking at me doubtfully。

But his words passed unheeded; for some of the captains went forward
to look on the Great One who was dead; and some; together with most of
the soldiers; ran this way and that; crying in their fear that now the
heaven and earth would come together; and the race of man would cease
to be; because Chaka; the king; was dead。

Now; my father; how shall I; whose days are few; tell you of all the
matters that happened after the dead of Chaka? Were I to speak of them
all they would fill many books of the white men; and; perhaps; some of
them are written down there。 For this reason it is; that I may be
brief; I have only spoken of a few of those events which befell in the
reign of Chaka; for my tale is not of the reign of Chaka; but of the
lives of a handful of people who lived in those days; and of whom I
and Umslopogaas alone are left aliveif; indeed; Umslopogaas; the son
of Chaka; is still living on the earth。 Therefore; in a few words I
will pass over all that came about after the fall of Chaka and till I
was sent down by Dingaan; the king; to summon him to surrender to the
king who was called the Slaughterer and who ruled the People of the
Axe。 Ah! would that I had known for certain that this was none other
than Umslopogaas; for then had Dingaan gone the way that Chaka went
and which Umhlangana followed; and Umslopogaas ruled the people of the
Zulus as their king。 But; alas! my wisdom failed me。 I paid no heed to
the voice of my heart which told me that this was Umslopogaas who sent
the message to Chaka threatening vengeance for one Mopo; and I knew
nothing till too late; surely; I thought; the man spoke of some other
Mopo。 For thus; my father; does destiny make fools of us men。 We think
that we can shape our fate; but it is fate that shapes us; and nothing
befalls except fate will it。 All things are a great pattern; my
father; drawn by the hand of the Umkulunkulu upon the cup whence he
drinks the water of his wisdom; and our lives; and what we do; and
what we do not do; are but a little bit of the pattern; which is so
big that only the eyes of Him who is above; the Umkulunkulu; can see
it all。 Even Chaka; the slayer of men; and all those he slew; are but
as a tiny grain of dust in the greatness of that pattern。 How; then;
can we be wise; my father; who are but the tools of wisdom? how can be
build who are but pebbles in a wall? how can we give life who are
babes in the womb of fate? or how can we slay who are but spears in
the hands of the slayer?

This came about; my father。 Matters were made straight in the land
after the death of Chaka。 At first people said that Masilo; the
stranger; had stabbed the king; then it was known that Mopo; the wise
man; the doctor and the body…servant of the king; had slain the king;
and that the two great bulls; his brothers Umhlangana and Dingaan;
children of Senzangacona; had also lifted spears against him。 But he
was dead; and earth and heaven had not come together; so what did it
matter? Moreover; the two new kings promised to deal gently with the
people; and to lighten the heavy yoke of Chaka; and men in a bad case
are always ready to home for a better。 So it came about that the only
enemies the princes found were each other and Engwade; the son of
Unandi; Chaka's half…brother。 But I; Mopo; who was now the first man
in the land after the kings; ceasing to be a doctor and becoming a
general; went up against Engwade with the regiment of the Bees and the
regiment of the Slayers and smote him in his kraals。 It was a hard
fight; but in the end I destroyed him and all his people: Engwade
killed eight men with his own hand before I slew him。 Then I came back
to the kraal with the few that were left alive of the two regiments。

After that the two kings quarrelled more and more; and I weighed them
both in my balance; for I would know which was the most favourable to
me。 In the end I found that both feared me; but that Umhlangana would
certainly put me to death if he gained the upper hand; whereas this
was not yet in the mind of Dingaan。 So I pressed down the balance of
Umhlangana and raised that of Dingaan; sending the fears of Umhlangana
to sleep till I could cause his hut to be surrounded。 Then Umhlangana
followed upon the road of Chaka his brother; the road of the assegai;
and Dingaan ruled alone for awhile。 Such are the things that befall
princes of this earth; my father。 See; I am but a little man; and my
lot is humble at the last; yet I have brought about the death of three
of them; and of these two died by my hand。

It was fourteen days after the passing away of the Prince Umhlangana
that the great army came back in a sorry plight from the marshes of
the Limpopo; for half of them were left dead of fever and the might of
the foe; and the rest were starving。 It was well for them who yet
lived that Chaka was no more; else they had joined their brethren who
were dead on the way; since never before for many years had a Zulu
impi returned unvictorious and without a single head of cattle。 Thus
it came about that they were glad enough to welcome a king who spared
their lives; and thenceforth; till his fate found him; Dingaan reigned
unquestioned。

Now; Dingaan wa a prince of the blood of Chaka indeed; for; like
Chaka; he was great in presence and cruel at heart; but he had not the
might and the mind of Chaka。 Moreover; he was treacherous and a liar;
and these Chaka was not。 Also; he loved women much; and spent with
them the time that he should have given to matters of the State。 Yet
he reigned awhile in the land。 I must tell this also; that Dingaan
would have killed Panda; his half…brother; so that the house of
Senzangacona; his father; might be swept out clean。 Now Panda was a
man of gentle heart; who did not love war; and therefore it was
thought that he was half…witted; and; because I loved Panda; when the
question of his slaying came on; I and the chief Mapita spoke against
it; and pleaded for him; saying that there was nothing to be feared at
his hands who was a fool。 So in the end Dingaan gave way; saying;
〃Well; you ask me to spare this dog; and I will spare him; but one day
he will bite me。〃

So Panda was made governor of the king's cattle。 Yet in the end the
words of Dingaan came true; for it was the grip of Panda's teeth that
pulled him from the throne; only; if Panda was the dog that bit; I;
Mopo; was the man who set him on the hunt。



CHAPTER XXII

MOPO GOES TO SEEK THE SLAUGHTERER

Now Dingaan; deserting the kraal Duguza; moved back to Zululand; and
built a great kraal by the Mahlabatine; which he named 〃Umgugundhlovu〃
that is; 〃the rumbling of the elephant。〃 Also; he caused all the
fairest girls in the land to be sought out as his wives; and though
many were found yet he craved for more。 And at this time a rumour came
to the ears of the King Dingaan that there lived in Swaziland among
the Halakazi tribe a g

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