Books: Nada the Lily

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Look now, my father! There on the plain far away is a place of the
white men--it is called Stanger. There, where is the white man's town,
stood the great kraal Duguza. I cannot see, for my eyes are dark; but
you can see. Where the gate of the kraal was built there is a house;
it is the place where the white man gives out justice; that is the
place of the gate of the kraal, through which Justice never walked.
Behind is another house, where the white men who have sinned against
Him pray to the King of Heaven for forgiveness; there on that spot
have I seen many a one who had done no wrong pray to a king of men for
mercy, but I have never seen but one who found it. Ou! the words of
Chaka have come true: I will tell them to you presently, my father.
The white man holds the land, he goes to and fro about his business of
peace where impis ran forth to kill; his children laugh and gather
flowers where men died in blood by hundreds; they bathe in the waters
of the Imbozamo, where once the crocodiles were fed daily with human
flesh; his young men woo the maidens where other maids have kissed the
assegai. It is changed, nothing is the same, and of Chaka are left
only a grave yonder and a name of fear.

Now, after Chaka had come to the Duguza kraal, for a while he sat
quiet, then the old thirst of blood came on him, and he sent his impis
against the people of the Pondos, and they destroyed that people, and
brought back their cattle. But the warriors might not rest; again they
were doctored for war, and sent out by tens of thousands to conquer
Sotyangana, chief of the people who live north of the Limpopo. They
went singing, after the king had looked upon them and bidden them
return victorious or not at all. Their number was so great that from
the hour of dawn till the sun was high in the heavens they passed the
gates of the kraal like countless herds of cattle--they the
unconquered. Little did they know that victory smiled on them no more;
that they must die by thousands of hunger and fever in the marshes of
the Limpopo, and that those of them who returned should come with
their shields in their bellies, having devoured their shields because
of their ravenous hunger! But what of them? They were nothing. "Dust"
was the name of one of the great regiments that went out against
Sotyangana, and dust they were--dust to be driven to death by the
breath of Chaka, Lion of the Zulu.

Now few men remained in the kraal Duguza, for nearly all had gone with
the impi, and only women and aged people were left. Dingaan and
Umhlangana, brothers of the king, were there, for Chaka would not
suffer them to depart, fearing lest they should plot against him, and
he looked on them always with an angry eye, so that they trembled for
their lives, though they dared not show their fear lest fate should
follow fear. But I guessed it, and like a snake I wound myself into
their secrets, and we talked together darkly and in hints. But of that
presently, my father, for I must tell of the coming of Masilo, he who
would have wed Zinita, and whom Umslopogaas the Slaughterer had driven
out from the kraals of the People of the Axe.

It was on the day after the impi had left that Masilo came to the
kraal Duguza, craving leave to speak with the king. Chaka sat before
his hut, and with him were Dingaan and Umhlangana, his royal brothers.
I was there also, and certain of the indunas, councillors of the king.
Chaka was weary that morning, for he had slept badly, as now he always
did. Therefore, when one told him that a certain wanderer named Masilo
would speak with him, he did not command that the man should be
killed, but bade them bring him before him. Presently there was a
sound of praising, and I saw a fat man, much worn with travel, who
crawled through the dust towards us giving the sibonga, that is,
naming the king by his royal names. Chaka bade him cease from praising
and tell his business. Then the man sat up and told all that tale
which you have heard, my father, of how a young man, great and strong,
came to the place of the People of the Axe and conquered Jikiza, the
holder of the axe, and become chief of that people, and of how he had
taken the cattle of Masilo and driven him away. Now Chaka knew nothing
of this People of the Axe, for the land was great in those days, my
father, and there were many little tribes in it, living far away, of
whom the king had not even heard; so he questioned Masilo about them,
and of the number of their fighting-men, of their wealth in cattle, of
the name of the young man who ruled them, and especially as to the
tribute which they paid to the king.

Masilo answered, saying that the number of their fighting-men was
perhaps the half of a full regiment, that their cattle were many, for
they were rich, that they paid no tribute, and that the name of the
young man was Bulalio the Slaughterer--at the least, he was known by
that name, and he had heard no other.

Then the king grew wroth. "Arise, Masilo," he said, "and run to this
people, and speak in the ear of the people, and of him who is named
the Slaughterer, saying: 'There is another Slaughterer, who sits in a
kraal that is named Duguza, and this is his word to you, O People of
the Axe, and to thee, thou who holdest the axe. Rise up with all the
people, and with all the cattle of your people, and come before him
who sits in the kraal Duguza, and lay in his hands the great axe
Groan-Maker. Rise up swiftly and do this bidding, lest ye sit down
shortly and for the last time of all.'"[1]

[1] The Zulu are buried sitting.

Masilo heard, and said that it should be so, though the way was far,
and he feared greatly to appear before him who was called the
Slaughterer, and who sat twenty days' journey to the north, beneath
the shadow of the Witch Mountain.

"Begone," said the king, "and stand before me on the thirtieth day
from now with the answer of this boy with an axe! If thou standest not
before me, then some shall come to seek thee and the boy with an axe
also."

So Masilo turned and fled swiftly to do the bidding of the king, and
Chaka spoke no more of that matter. But I wondered in my heart who
this young man with an axe might be; for I thought that he had dealt
with Jikiza and with the sons of Jikiza as Umslopogaas would have
dealt with them had he come to the years of his manhood. But I also
said nothing of the matter.

Now on this day also there came to me news that my wife Macropha and
my daughter Nada were dead among their people in Swaziland. It was
said that the men of the chief of the Halakazi tribe had fallen on
their kraal and put all in it to the assegai, and among them Macropha
and Nada. I heard the news, but I wept no tear, for, my father, I was
so lost in sorrows that nothing could move me any more.

CHAPTER XX

MOPO BARGAINS WITH THE PRINCES

Eight-and-twenty days went by, my father, and on the nine-and-
twentieth it befell that Chaka, having dreamed a dream in his troubled
sleep, summoned before him certain women of the kraal, to the number
of a hundred or more. Some of these were his women, whom he named his
"sisters," and some were maidens not yet given in marriage; but all
were young and fair. Now what this dream of Chaka may have been I do
not know, or have forgotten, for in those days he dreamed many dreams,
and all his dreams led to one end, the death of men. He sat in front
of his hut scowling, and I was with him. To the left of him were
gathered the girls and women, and their knees were weak with fear. One
by one they were led before him, and stood before him with bowed
heads. Then he would bid them be of good cheer, and speak softly to
them, and in the end would ask them this question: "Hast thou, my
sister, a cat in thy hut?"

Now, some would say that they had a cat, and some would say that they
had none, and some would stand still and make no answer, being dumb
with fear. But, whatever they said, the end was the same, for the king
would sigh gently and say: "Fare thee well, my sister; it is
unfortunate for thee that there is a cat in thy hut," or "that there
is no cat in thy hut," or "that thou canst not tell me whether there
be a cat in thy hut or no."

Then the woman would be taken by the slayers, dragged without the
kraal, and their end was swift. So it went on for the most part of
that day, till sixty-and-two women and girls had been slaughtered. But
at last a maiden was brought before the king, and to this one her
snake had given a ready wit; for when Chaka asked her whether or no
there was a cat in her hut, she answered, saying that she did not
know, "but that there was a half a cat upon her," and she pointed to a
cat's-skin which was bound about her loins.

Then the king laughed, and clapped his hands, saying that at length
his dream was answered; and he killed no more that day nor ever again
--save once only.

That evening my heart was heavy within me, and I cried in my heart,
"How long?"--nor might I rest. So I wandered out from the kraal that
was named Duguza to the great cleft in the mountains yonder, and sat
down upon a rock high up in the cleft, so that I could see the wide
lands rolling to the north and the south, to my right and to my left.
Now, the day was drawing towards the night, and the air was very
still, for the heat was great and a tempest was gathering, as I, who
am a Heaven-Herd, knew well. The sun sank redly, flooding the land
with blood; it was as though all the blood that Chaka had shed flowed
about the land which Chaka ruled. Then from the womb of the night
great shapes of cloud rose up and stood before the sun, and he crowned
them with his glory, and in their hearts the lightning quivered like a
blood of fire. The shadow of their wings fell upon the mountain and
the plains, and beneath their wings was silence. Slowly the sun sank,
and the shapes of cloud gathered together like a host at the word of
its captain, and the flicker of the lightning was as the flash of the
spears of a host. I looked, and my heart grew afraid. The lightning
died away, the silence deepened and deepened till I could hear it, no
leaf moved, no bird called, the world seemed dead--I alone lived in
the dead world.

Now, of a sudden, my father, a bright star fell from the height of
heaven and lit upon the crest of the storm, and as it lit the storm
burst. The grey air shivered, a moan ran about the rocks and died
away, then an icy breath burst from the lips of the tempest and rushed
across the earth. It caught the falling star and drove it on towards
me, a rushing globe of fire, and as it came the star grew and took
shape, and the shape it took was the shape of a woman. I knew her now,
my father; while she was yet far off I knew her--the Inkosazana who
came as she had promised, riding down the storm. On she swept, borne
forward by the blast, and oh! she was terrible to see, for her garment
was the lightning, lightnings shone from her wide eyes and lightnings
were in her streaming hair, while in her hand was a spear of fire, and
she shook it as she came. Now she was at the mouth of the pass; before
her was stillness, behind her beat the wings of the storm, the thunder
roared, the rain hissed like snakes; she rushed on past me, and as she
passed she turned her awful eyes upon me, withering me. She was there!
she was gone! but she spoke no word, only shook her flaming spear. Yet
it seemed to me that the storm spoke, that the rocks cried aloud, that
the rain hissed out a word in my ear, and the word was:--

"Smite, Mopo!"

I heard it in my heart, or with my ears, what does it matter? Then I
turned to look; through the rush of the tempest and the reek of the
rain, still I could see her sweeping forward high in air. Now the
kraal Duguza was beneath her feet, and the flaming spear fell from her
hand upon the kraal and fire leaped up in answer.

Then she passed on over the edge of the world, seeking her own place.
Thus, my father, for the third and last time did my eyes see the
Inkosazana-y-Zulu, or mayhap my heart dreamed that I saw her. Soon I
shall see her again, but it will not be here.

For a while I sat there in the cleft, then I rose and fought my way
through the fury of the storm back to the kraal Duguza. As I drew near
the kraal I heard cries of fear coming through the roaring of the wind
and the hiss of the rain. I entered and asked one of the matter, and
it was told me that fire from above had fallen on the hut of the king
as he lay sleeping, and all the roof of the hut was burned away, but
that the rain had put out the fire.

Then I went on till I came to the front of the great hut, and I saw by
the light of the moon, which now shone out in the heavens, that there
before it stood Chaka, shaking with fear, and the water of the rain
was running down him, while he stared at the great hut, of which all
the thatch was burned.

I saluted the king, asking him what evil thing had happened. Seeing
me, he seized me by the arm, and clung to me as, when the slayers are
at hand, a child clings to his father, drawing me after him into a
small hut that was near.

"What evil thing has befallen, O King?" I said again, when light had
been made.

"Little have I known of fear, Mopo," said Chaka, "yet I am afraid now;
ay, as much afraid as when once on a bygone night the dead hand of
Baleka summoned something that walked upon the faces of the dead."

"And what fearest thou, O King, who art the lord of all the earth?"

Now Chaka leaned forward and whispered to me: "Hearken, Mopo, I have
dreamed a dream. When the judgment of those witches was done with, I
went and laid me down to sleep while it was yet light, for I can
scarcely sleep at all when darkness has swallowed up the world. My
sleep has gone from me--that sister of thine, Baleka, took my sleep
with her to the place of death. I laid me down and I slept, but a
dream arose and sat by me with a hooded face, and showed me a picture.
It seemed to me that the wall of my hut fell down, and I saw an open
place, and in the centre of the place I lay dead, covered with many
wounds, while round my corpse my brothers Dingaan and Umhlangana
stalked in pride like lions. On the shoulders of Umhlangana was my
royal kaross, and there was blood on the kaross; and in the hand of
Dingaan was my royal spear, and there was blood upon the spear. Then,
in the vision of my dream, Mopo, thou didst draw near, and, lifting
thy hand, didst give the royal salute of Bayete to these brothers of
mine, and with thy foot didst spurn the carcase of me, thy king. Then
the hooded Dream pointed upwards and was gone, and I awoke, and lo!
fire burned in the roof of my hut. Thus I dreamed, Mopo, and now, my
servant, say thou, wherefore should I not slay thee, thou who wouldst
serve other kings than I, thou who wouldst give my royal salute to the
princes, my brothers?" and he glared upon me fiercely.

"As thou wilt, O King!" I answered gently. "Doubtless thy dream was
evil, and yet more evil was the omen of the fire that fell upon thy
hut. And yet--" and I ceased.

"And yet--Mopo, thou faithless servant?"

"And yet, O King, it seems to me in my folly that it were well to
strike the head of the snake and not its tail, for without the tail
the head may live, but not the tail without the head."

"Thou wouldst say, Mopo, that if these princes die never canst thou or
any other man give them the royal names. Do I hear aright, Mopo?"

"Who am I that I should lift up my voice asking for the blood of
princes?" I answered. "Judge thou, O King!"

Now, Chaka brooded awhile, then he spoke: "Say, Mopo, can it be done
this night?"

"There are but few men in the kraal, O King. All are gone out to war;
and of those few many are the servants of the princes, and perhaps
they might give blow for blow."

"How then, Mopo?"

"Nay, I know not, O King; yet at the great kraal beyond the river sits
that regiment which is named the Slayers. By midday to-morrow they
might be here, and then--"

"Thou speakest wisely, my child Mopo; it shall be for to-morrow. Go
summon the regiment of the Slayers, and, Mopo, see that thou fail me
not."

"If I fail thee, O King, then I fail myself, for it seems that my life
hangs on this matter."

"If all the words that ever passed thy lips are lies, yet is that word
true, Mopo," said Chaka: "moreover, know this, my servant: if aught
miscarries thou shalt die no common death. Begone!"

"I hear the king," I answered, and went out.

Now, my father, I knew well that Chaka had doomed me to die, though
first he would use me to destroy the princes. But I feared nothing,
for I knew this also, that the hour of Chaka was come at last.

For a while I sat in my hut pondering, then when all men slept I arose
and crept like a snake by many paths to the hut of Dingaan the prince,
who awaited me on that night. Following the shadow of the hut, I came
to the door and scratched upon it after a certain fashion. Presently
it was opened, and I crawled in, and the door was shut again. Now
there was a little light in the hut, and by its flame I saw the two
princes sitting side by side, wrapped about with blankets which hung
before their brows.

"Who is this that comes?" said the Prince Dingaan.

Then I lifted the blanket from my head so that they might see my face,
and they also drew the blankets from their brows. I spoke, saying:
"Hail to you, Princes, who to-morrow shall be dust! Hail to you, sons
of Senzangacona, who to-morrow shall be spirits!" and I pointed
towards them with my withered hand.

Now the princes were troubled, and shook with fear.

"What meanest thou, thou dog, that thou dost speak to us words of such
ill-omen?" said the Prince Dingaan in a low voice.

"Where dost thou point at us with that white and withered hand of
thine, Wizard?" hissed the Prince Umhlangana.

"Have I not told you, O ye Princes!" I whispered, "that ye must strike
or die, and has not your heart failed you? Now hearken! Chaka has
dreamed another dream; now it is Chaka who strikes, and ye are already
dead, ye children of Senzangacona."

"If the slayers of the king be without the gates, at least thou shalt
die first, thou who hast betrayed us!" quoth the Prince Dingaan, and
drew an assegai from under his kaross.

"First hear the king's dream, O Prince," I said; "then, if thou wilt,
kill me, and die. Chaka the king slept and dreamed that he lay dead,
and that one of you, the princes, wore his royal kaross."

"Who wore the royal kaross?" asked Dingaan, eagerly; and both looked
up, waiting on my words.

"The Prince Umhlangana wore it--in the dream of Chaka--O Dingaan,
shoot of a royal stock!" I answered slowly, taking snuff as I spoke,
and watching the two of them over the edge of my snuff-spoon.

Now Dingaan scowled heavily at Umhlangana; but the face of Umhlangana
was as the morning sky.

"Chaka dreamed this also," I went on: "that one of you, the princes,
held his royal spear."

"Who held the royal spear?" asked Umhlangana.

"The Prince Dingaan held it--in the dream of Chaka--O Umhlangana,
sprung from the root of kings!--and it dripped blood."

Now the face of Umhlangana grew dark as night, but that of Dingaan
brightened like the dawn.

"Chaka dreamed this also: that I, Mopo, your dog, who am not worthy
to be mentioned with such names, came up and gave the royal salute,
even the Bayete."

"To whom didst thou give the Bayete, O Mopo, son of Makedama?" asked
both of the princes as with one breath, waiting on my words.

"I gave it to both of you, O twin stars of the morning, princes of the
Zulu--in the dream of Chaka I gave it to both of you."

Now the princes looked this way and that, and were silent, not knowing
what to say, for these princes hated each other, though adversity and
fear had brought them to one bed.

"But what avails it to talk thus, ye lords of the land," I went on,
"seeing that, both of you, ye are already as dead men, and that
vultures which are hungry to-night to-morrow shall be filled with meat
of the best? Chaka the king is now a Doctor of Dreams, and to clear
away such a dream as this he has a purging medicine."

Now the brows of these brothers grew black indeed, for they saw that
their fate was on them.

"These are the words of Chaka the king, O ye bulls who lead the herd!
All are doomed, ye twain and I, and many another man who loves us. In
the great kraal beyond the river there sits a regiment: it is summoned
--and then--good-night! Have ye any words to say to those yet left
upon the earth? Perhaps it will be given to me to live a little while
after ye are gone, and I may bring them to their ears."

"Can we not rise up now and fall upon Chaka?" asked Dingaan.

"It is not possible," I said; "the king is guarded."

"Hast thou no plan, Mopo?" groaned Umhlangana. "Methinks thou hast a
plan to save us."

"And if I have a plan, ye Princes, what shall be my reward? It must be
great, for I am weary of life, and I will not use my wisdom for a
little thing."

Now both the princes offered me good things, each of them promising
more than the other, as two young men who are rivals promise to the
father of a girl whom both would wed. I listened, saying always that
it was not enough, till in the end both of them swore by their heads,
and by the bones of Senzangacona, their father, and by many other
things, that I should be the first man in the land, after them, its
kings, and should command the impis of the land, if I would but show
them a way to kill Chaka and become kings. Then, when they had done
swearing, I spoke, weighing my words:--

"In the great kraal beyond the river, O ye Princes, there sit, not one
regiment but two. One is named the Slayers and loves Chaka the king,
who has done well by them, giving them cattle and wives. The other is
named the Bees, and that regiment is hungry and longs for cattle and
girls; moreover, of that regiment the Prince Umhlangana is the
general, and it loves him. Now this is my plan--to summon the Bees in
the name of Umhlangana, not the Slayers in the name of Chaka. Bend
forward, O Princes, that I may whisper in your ears."

So they bent forward, and I whispered awhile of the death of a king,
and the sons of Senzangacona nodded their heads as one man in answer.
Then I rose up, and crept from the hut as I had entered it, and
rousing certain trusty messengers, I dispatched them, running swiftly
through the night.

CHAPTER XXI

THE DEATH OF CHAKA

Now, on the morrow, two hours before midday, Chaka came from the hut
where he had sat through the night, and moved to a little kraal
surrounded by a fence that was some fifty paces distant from the hut.
For it was my duty, day by day, to choose that place where the king
should sit to hear the counsel of his indunas, and give judgment on
those whom he would kill, and to-day I had chosen this place. Chaka
went alone from his hut to the kraal, and, for my own reasons, I
accompanied him, walking after him. As we went the king glanced back
at me over his shoulder, and said in a low voice:--

"Is all prepared, Mopo?"

"All is prepared, Black One," I answered. "The regiment of the Slayers
will be here by noon."

"Where are the princes, Mopo?" asked the king again.

"The princes sit with their wives in the houses of their women, O
King," I answered; "they drink beer and sleep in the laps of their
wives."

Chaka smiled grimly, "For the last time, Mopo!"

"For the last time, O King."

We came to the kraal, and Chaka sat down in the shade of the reed
fence, upon an ox-hide that was brayed soft. Near to him stood a girl
holding a gourd of beer; there were also present the old chief
Inguazonca, brother of Unandi, Mother of the Heavens, and the chief
Umxamama, whom Chaka loved. When we had sat a little while in the
kraal, certain men came in bearing cranes' feathers, which the king
had sent them to gather a month's journey from the kraal Duguza, and
they were admitted before the king. These men had been away long upon
their errand, and Chaka was angry with them. Now the leader of the men
was an old captain of Chaka's, who had fought under him in many
battles, but whose service was done, because his right hand had been
shorn away by the blow of an axe. He was a great man and very brave.

Chaka asked the man why he had been so long in finding the feathers,
and he answered that the birds had flown from that part of the country
whither he was sent, and he must wait there till they returned, that
he might snare them.

"Thou shouldst have followed the cranes, yes, if they flew through the
sunset, thou disobedient dog!" said the king. "Let him be taken away,
and all those who were with him."

Now some of the men prayed a little for mercy, but the captain did but
salute the king, calling him "Father," and craving a boon before he
died.

"What wouldst thou?" asked Chaka.

"My father," said the man, "I would ask thee two things. I have fought
many times at thy side in battle while we both were young; nor did I
ever turn my back upon the foe. The blow that shore the hand from off
this arm was aimed at thy head, O King; I stayed it with my naked arm.
It is nothing; at thy will I live, and at thy will I die. Who am I
that I should question the word of the king? Yet I would ask this,
that thou wilt withdraw the kaross from about thee, O King, that for
the last time my eyes may feast themselves upon the body of him whom,
above all men, I love."

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