Books: Nada the Lily

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"I remember the words, O King," I answered. "They were ominous words,
for this was their burden: that you and your house should not sit long
in the throne of kings, but that the white men should take away your
royalty and divide your territories. Such was the prophecy of the Lion
of the Zulu, why speak of it? Once before I heard him prophecy, and
his words were fulfilled. May the omen be an egg without meat; may it
never become fledged; may that bird never perch upon your roof, O
King!"

Now Dingaan trembled with fear, for the words of Chaka were in his
mind by night and by day; then he grew angry and bit his lip,
saying:--

"Thou fool, Mopo! canst thou not hear a raven croak at the gates of a
kraal but thou must needs go tell those who dwell within that he waits
to pick their eyes? Such criers of ill to come may well find ill at
hand, Mopo." He ceased, looked on me threateningly awhile, and went
on: "I did not speak of those words rolling by chance from a tongue
half loosed by death, but of others that told of a certain Bulalio, of
a Slaughterer who rules the People of the Axe and dwells beneath the
shadow of the Ghost Mountain far away to the north yonder. Surely I
heard them all as I sat beneath the shade of the reed-fence before
ever I came to save him who was my brother from the spear of Masilo,
the murderer, whose spear stole away the life of a king?"

"I remember those words also, O King!" I said. "Is it the will of the
king that an impi should be gathered to eat up this upstart? Such was
the command of the one who is gone, given, as it were, with his last
breath."

"Nay, Mopo, that is not my will. If no impi can be found by thee to
wipe away the Halakazi and bring one whom I desire to delight my eyes,
then surely none can be found to eat up this Slaughterer and his
people. Moreover, Bulalio, chief of the People of the Axe, has not
offended against me, but against an elephant whose trumpetings are
done. Now this is my will, Mopo, my servant: that thou shouldst take
with thee a few men only and go gently to this Bulalio, and say to
him: 'A greater Elephant stalks through the land than he who has gone
to sleep, and it has come to his ears--that thou, Chief of the People
of the Axe, dost pay no tribute, and hast said that, because of the
death of a certain Mopo, thou wilt have nothing to do with him whose
shadow lies upon the land. Now one Mopo is sent to thee, Slaughterer,
to know if this tale is true, for, if it be true, then shalt thou
learn the weight of the hoof of that Elephant who trumpets in the
kraal of Umgugundhlovu. Think, then, and weigh thy words before thou
dost answer, Slaughterer.'"

Now I, Mopo, heard the commands of the king and pondered them in my
mind, for I knew well that it was the design of Dingaan to be rid of
me for a space that he might find time to plot my overthrow, and that
he cared little for this matter of a petty chief, who, living far
away, had dared to defy Chaka. Yet I wished to go, for there had
arisen in me a great desire to see this Bulalio, who spoke of
vengeance to be taken for one Mopo, and whose deeds were such as the
deeds of Umslopogaas would have been, had Umslopogaas lived to look
upon the light. Therefore I answered:--

"I hear the king. The king's word shall be done, though, O King, thou
sendest a big man upon a little errand."

"Not so, Mopo," answered Dingaan. "My heart tells me that this chicken
of a Slaughterer will grow to a great cock if his comb is not cut
presently; and thou, Mopo, art versed in cutting combs, even of the
tallest."

"I hear the king," I answered again.

So, my father, it came about that on the morrow, taking with me but
ten chosen men, I, Mopo, started on my journey towards the Ghost
Mountain, and as I journeyed I thought much of how I had trod that
path in bygone days. Then, Macropha, my wife, and Nada, my daughter,
and Umslopogaas, the son of Chaka, who was thought to be my son,
walked at my side. Now, as I imagined, all were dead and I walked
alone; doubtless I also should soon be dead. Well, people lived few
days and evil in those times, and what did it matter? At the least I
had wreaked vengeance on Chaka and satisfied my heart.

At length I came one night to that lonely spot where we had camped in
the evil hour when Umslopogaas was borne away by the lioness, and once
more I looked upon the cave whence he had dragged the cub, and upon
the awful face of the stone Witch who sits aloft upon the Ghost
Mountain forever and forever. I could sleep little that night, because
of the sorrow at my heart, but sat awake looking, in the brightness of
the moon, upon the grey face of the stone Witch, and on the depths of
the forest that grew about her knees, wondering the while if the bones
of Umslopogaas lay broken in that forest. Now as I journeyed, many
tales had been told to me of this Ghost Mountain, which all swore was
haunted, so said some, by men in the shape of wolves; and so said
some, by the Esemkofu--that is, by men who have died and who have been
brought back again by magic. They have no tongues, the Esemkofu, for
had they tongues they would cry aloud to mortals the awful secrets of
the dead, therefore, they can but utter a wailing like that of a babe.
Surely one may hear them in the forests at night as they wail "Ai!--
ah! Ai--ah!" among the silent trees!

You laugh, my father, but I did not laugh as I thought of these tales;
for, if men have spirits, where do the spirits go when the body is
dead? They must go somewhere, and would it be strange that they should
return to look upon the lands where they were born? Yet I never
thought much of such matters, though I am a doctor, and know something
of the ways of the Amatongo, the people of the ghosts. To speak truth,
my father, I have had so much to do with the loosing of the spirits of
men that I never troubled myself overmuch with them after they were
loosed; there will be time to do this when I myself am of their
number.

So I sat and gazed on the mountain and the forest that grew over it
like hair on the head of a woman, and as I gazed I heard a sound that
came from far away, out of the heart of the forest as it seemed. At
first it was faint and far off, a distant thing like the cry of
children in a kraal across a valley; then it grew louder, but still I
could not say what it might be; now it swelled and swelled, and I knew
it--it was the sound of wild beats at chase. Nearer came the music,
the rocks rang with it, and its voice set the blood beating but to
hearken to it. That pack was great which ran a-hunting through the
silent night; and now it was night, on the other side of the slope
only, and the sound swelled so loud that those who were with me awoke
also and looked forth. Now of a sudden a great koodoo bull appeared
for an instant standing out against the sky on the crest of the ridge,
then vanished in the shadow. He was running towards us; presently we
saw him again speeding on his path with great bounds. We saw this also
--forms grey and gaunt and galloping, in number countless, that leaped
along his path, appearing on the crest of the rise, disappearing into
the shadow, seen again on the slope, lost in the valley; and with them
two other shapes, the shapes of men.

Now the big buck bounded past us not half a spear's throw away, and
behind him streamed the countless wolves, and from the throats of the
wolves went up that awful music. And who were these two that came with
the wolves, shapes of men great and strong? They ran silently and
swift, wolves' teeth gleamed upon their heads, wolves' hides hung
about their shoulders. In the hands of one was an axe--the moonlight
shone upon it--in the hand of the other a heavy club. Neck and neck
they ran; never before had we seen men travel so fast. See! they sped
down the slope towards us; the wolves were left behind, all except
four of them; we heard the beating of their feet; they came, they
passed, they were gone, and with them their unnumbered company. The
music grew faint, it died, it was dead; the hunt was far away, and the
night was still again!

"Now, my brethren," I asked of those who were with me, "what is this
that we have seen?"

Then one answered, "We have seen the Ghosts who live in the lap of the
old Witch, and those men are the Wolf-Brethren, the wizards who are
kings of the Ghosts."

CHAPTER XXIII

MOPO REVEALS HIMSELF TO THE SLAUGHTERER

All that night we watched, but we neither saw nor heard any more of
the wolves, nor of the men who hunted with them. On the morrow, at
dawn, I sent a runner to Bulalio, chief of the People of the Axe,
saying that a messenger came to him from Dingaan, the king, who
desired to speak with him in peace within the gates of his kraal. I
charged the messenger, however, that he should not tell my name, but
should say only that it was "Mouth of Dingaan." Then I and those with
me followed slowly on the path of the man whom I sent forward, for the
way was still far, and I had bidden him return and meet me bearing the
words of the Slaughterer, Holder of the Axe.

All that day till the sun grew low we talked round the base of the
great Ghost Mountain, following the line of the river. We met no one,
but once we came to the ruins of a kraal, and in it lay the broken
bones of many men, and with the bones rusty assegais and the remains
of ox-hide shields, black and white in colour. Now I examined the
shields, and knew from their colour that they had been carried in the
hands of those soldiers who, years ago, were sent out by Chaka to seek
for Umslopogaas, but who had returned no more.

"Now," I said, "it has fared ill with those soldiers of the Black One
who is gone, for I think that these are the shields they bore, and
that their eyes once looked upon the world through the holes in yonder
skulls."

"These are the shields they bore, and those are the skulls they wore,"
answered one. "See, Mopo, son of Makedama, this is no man's work that
has brought them to their death. Men do not break the bones of their
foes in pieces as these bones are broken. Wow! men do not break them,
but wolves do, and last night we saw wolves a-hunting; nor did they
hunt alone, Mopo. Wow! this is a haunted land!"

Then we went on in silence, and all the way the stone face of the
Witch who sits aloft forever stared down on us from the mountain top.
At length, an hour before sundown, we came to the open lands, and
there, on the crest of a rise beyond the river, we saw the kraal of
the People of the Axe. It was a great kraal and well built, and their
cattle were spread about the plains like to herds of game for number.
We went to the river and passed it by the ford, then sat down and
waited, till presently I saw the man whom I had sent forward returning
towards us. He came and saluted me, and I asked him for news.

"This is my news, Mopo," he said: "I have seen him who is named
Bulalio, and he is a great man--long and lean, with a fierce face, and
carrying a mighty axe, such an axe as he bore last night who hunted
with the wolves. When I had been led before the chief I saluted him
and spoke to him--the words you laid upon my tongue I told to him. He
listened, then laughed aloud, and said: 'Tell him who sent you that
the mouth of Dingaan shall be welcome, and shall speak the words of
Dingaan in peace; yet I would that it were the head of Dingaan that
came and not his mouth only, for then Axe Groan-Maker would join in
our talk--ay, because of one Mopo, whom his brother Chaka murdered, it
would also speak with Dingaan. Still, the mouth is not the head, so
the mouth may come in peace.'"

Now I started when for the second time I heard talk of one Mopo, whose
name had been on the lips of Bulalio the Slaughterer. Who was there
that would thus have loved Mopo except one who was long dead? And yet,
perhaps the chief spoke of some other Mopo, for the name was not my
own only--in truth, Chaka had killed a chief of that name at the great
mourning, because he said that two Mopos in the land were one too
many, and that though this Mopo wept sorely when the tears of others
were dry. So I said only that this Bulalio had a high stomach, and we
went on to the gates of the kraal.

There were none to meet us at the gates, and none stood by the doors
of the huts within them, but beyond, from the cattle kraal that was in
the centre of the huts, rose a dust and a din as of men gathering for
war. Now some of those were with me were afraid, and would have turned
back, fearing treachery, and they were yet more afraid when, on coming
to the inner entrance of the cattle kraal, we saw some five hundred
soldiers being mustered there company by company, by two great men,
who ran up and down the ranks shouting.

But I cried, "Nay! nay! Turn not back! Bold looks melt the hearts of
foes. Moreover, if this Bulalio would have murdered us, there was no
need for him to call up so many of his warriors. He is a proud chief,
and would show his might, not knowing that the king we serve can
muster a company for every man he has. Let us go on boldly."

So we walked forward towards the impi that was gathered on the further
side of the kraal. Now the two great men who were marshalling the
soldiers saw us, and came to meet us, one following the other. He who
came first bore the axe upon his shoulder, and he who followed swung a
huge club. I looked upon the foremost of them, and ah! my father, my
heart grew faint with joy, for I knew him across the years. It was
Umslopogaas! my fosterling, Umslopogaas! and none other, now grown
into manhood--ay, into such a man as was not to be found beside him in
Zululand. He was great and fierce, somewhat spare in frame, but wide
shouldered and shallow flanked. His arms were long and not over big,
but the muscles stood out on them like knots in a rope; his legs were
long also, and very thick beneath the knee. His eye was like an
eagle's, his nose somewhat hooked, and he held his head a little
forward, as a man who searches continually for a hidden foe. He seemed
to walk slowly, and yet he came swiftly, but with a gliding movement
like that of a wolf or a lion, and always his fingers played round the
horn handle of the axe Groan-Maker. As for him who followed, he was
great also, shorter than Umslopogaas by the half of a head, but of a
sturdier build. His eyes were small, and twinkled unceasingly like
little stars, and his look was very wild, for now and again he
grinned, showing his white teeth.

When I saw Umslopogaas, my father, my bowels melted within me, and I
longed to run to him and throw myself upon his neck. Yet I took
council with myself and did not--nay, I dropped the corner of the
kaross I wrote over my eyes, hiding my face lest he should know me.
Presently he stood before me, searching me out with his keen eyes, for
I drew forward to greet him.

"Greeting, Mouth of Dingaan!" he said in a loud voice. "You are a
little man to be the mouth of so big a chief."

"The mouth is a little member, even of the body of a great king, O
Chief Bulalio, ruler of the People of the Axe, wizard of the wolves
that are upon the Ghost Mountain, who aforetime was named Umslopogaas,
son of Mopo, son of Makedama."

Now when Umslopogaas heard these words he started like a child at a
rustling in the dark and stared hard at me.

"You are well instructed," he said.

"The ears of the king are large, if his mouth be small, O Chief
Bulalio," I answered, "and I, who am but the mouth, speak what the
ears have heard."

"How know you that I have dwelt with the wolves upon the Ghost
Mountain, O Mouth?" he asked.

"The eyes of the king see far, O Chief Bulalio. Thus last night they
saw a great chase and a merry. It seems that they saw a koodoo bull
running at speed, and after him countless wolves making their music,
and with the wolves two men clad in wolves' skins, such men as you,
Bulalio, and he with the club who follows you."

Now Umslopogaas lifted the axe Groan-Maker as though he would cut me
down, then let it fall again, while Galazi the Wolf glared at me with
wide-opened eyes.

"How know you that once I was named Umslopogaas, who have lost that
name these many days? Speak, O Mouth, lest I kill you."

"Slay if you will, Umslopogaas," I answered, "but know that when the
brains are scattered the mouth is dumb. He who scatters brains loses
wisdom."

"Answer!" he said.

"I answer not. Who are you that I should answer you? I know; it is
enough. To my business."

Now Umslopogaas ground his teeth in anger. "I am not wont to be
thwarted here in my own kraal," he said; "but do your business. Speak
it, little Mouth."

"This is my business, little Chief. When the Black One who is gone yet
lived, you sent him a message by one Masilo--such a message as his
ears had never heard, and that had been your death, O fool puffed up
with pride, but death came first upon the Black One, and his hand was
stayed. Now Dingaan, whose shadow lies upon the land, the king whom I
serve, and who sits in the place of the Black One who is gone, speaks
to you by me, his mouth. He would know this: if it is true that you
refuse to own his sovereignty, to pay tribute to him in men and maids
and cattle, and to serve him in his wars? Answer, you little headman!
--answer in few words and short!"

Now Umslopogaas gasped for breath in his rage, and again he fingered
the great axe. "It is well for you, O Mouth," he said, "that I swore
safe conduct to you, else you had not gone hence--else you had been
served as I served certain soldiers who in bygone years were sent to
search out one Umslopogaas. Yet I answer you in few words and short.
Look on those spears--they are but a fourth part of the number I can
muster: that is my answer. Look now on yonder mountain, the mountain
of ghosts and wolves--unknown, impassable, save to me and one other:
that is my answer. Spears and mountains shall come together--the
mountain shall be alive with spears and with the fangs of beasts. Let
Dingaan seek his tribute there! I have spoken!"

Now I laughed shrilly, desiring to try the heart of Umslopogaas, my
fosterling, yet further.

"Fool!" I said. "Boy with the brain of a monkey, for every spear you
have Dingaan, whom I serve, can send a hundred, and your mountain
shall be stamped flat; and for your ghosts and wolves, see, with the
mouth of Dingaan I spit upon them!" and I spat upon the ground.

Now Umslopogaas shook in his rage, and the great axe glimmered as he
shook. He turned to the captain who was behind him, and said: "Say,
Galazi the Wolf, shall we kill this man and those with him?"

"Nay," answered the Wolf, grinning, "do not kill them; you have given
them safe conduct. Moreover, let them go back to their dog of a king,
that he may send out his puppies to do battle with our wolves. It will
be a pretty fight."

"Get you gone, O Mouth," said Umslopogaas; "get you gone swiftly, lest
mischief befall you! Without my gates you shall find food to satisfy
your hunger. Eat of it and begone, for if to-morrow at the noon you
are found within a spear's throw of this kraal, you and those with you
shall bide there forever, O Mouth of Dingaan the king!"

Now I made as though I would depart, then, turning suddenly, I spoke
once more, saying:--

"There were words in your message to the Black One who is dead of a
certain man--nay, how was he named?--of a certain Mopo."

Now Umslopogaas started as one starts who is wounded by a spear, and
stared at me.

"Mopo! What of Mopo, O Mouth, whose eyes are veiled? Mopo is dead,
whose son I was!"

"Ah!" I said, "yes, Mopo is dead--that is, the Black One who is gone
killed a certain Mopo. How came it, O Bulalio, that you were his son?"

"Mopo is dead," quoth Umslopogaas again; "he is dead with all his
house, his kraal is stamped flat, and that is why I hated the Black
One, and therefore I hate Dingaan, his brother, and will be as are
Mopo and the house of Mopo before I pay him tribute of a single ox."

All this while I had spoken to Umslopogaas in a feigned voice, my
father, but now I spoke again and in my own voice, saying:--

"So! Now you speak from your heart, young man, and by digging I have
reached the root of the matter. It is because of this dead dog of a
Mopo that you defy the king."

Umslopogaas heard the voice, and trembled no more with anger, but
rather with fear and wonder. He looked at me hard, answering nothing.

"Have you a hut near by, O Chief Bulalio, foe of Dingaan the king,
where I, the mouth of the king, may speak with you a while apart, for
I would learn your message word by word that I may deliver it without
fault. Fear not, Slaughterer, to sit alone with me in an empty hut! I
am unarmed and old, and there is that in your hand which I should
fear," and I pointed to the axe.

Now Umslopogaas, still shaking in his limbs, answered "Follow me, O
Mouth, and you, Galazi, stay with these men."

So I followed Umslopogaas, and presently we came to a large hut. He
pointed to the doorway, and I crept through it and he followed after
me. Now for a while it seemed dark in the hut, for the sun was sinking
without and the place was full of shadow; so I waited while a man
might count fifty, till our eyes could search the darkness. Then of a
sudden I threw the blanket from my face and looked into the yes of
Umslopogaas.

"Look on me now, O Chief Bulalio, O Slaughterer, who once was named
Umslopogaas--look on me and say who am I?" Then he looked at me and
his jaw fell.

"Either you are Mopo my father grown old--Mopo, who is dead, or the
Ghost of Mopo," he answered in a low voice.

"I am Mopo, your father, Umslopogaas," I said. "You have been long in
knowing me, who knew you from the first."

Then Umslopogaas cried aloud, but yet softly, and letting fall the axe
Groan-Maker, he flung himself upon my breast and wept there. And I
wept also.

"Oh! my father," he said, "I thought that you were dead with the
others, and now you have come back to me, and I, I would have lifted
the axe against you in my folly. Oh, it is well that I have lived, and
not died, since once more I look upon your face--the face that I
thought dead, but which yet lives, though it be sorely changed, as
though by grief and years."

"Peace, Umslopogaas, my son," I said. "I also deemed you dead in the
lion's mouth, though in truth it seemed strange to me that any other
man than Umslopogaas could have wrought the deeds which I have heard
of as done by Bulalio, Chief of the People of the Axe--ay, and thrown
defiance in the teeth of Chaka. But you are not dead, and I, I am not
dead. It was another Mopo whom Chaka killed; I slew Chaka, Chaka did
not slay me."

"And of Nada, what of Nada, my sister?" he said.

"Macropha, your mother, and Nada, your sister, are dead, Umslopogaas.
They are dead at the hands of the people of the Halakazi, who dwell in
Swaziland."

"I have heard of that people," he answered presently, "and so has
Galazi the Wolf, yonder. He has a hate to satisfy against them--they
murdered his father; now I have two, for they have murdered my mother
and my sister. Ah, Nada, my sister! Nada, my sister!" and the great
man covered his face with his hands, and rocked himself to and fro in
his grief.

Now, my father, it came into my thoughts to make the truth plain to
Umslopogaas, and tell him that Nada was no sister of his, and that he
was no son of mine, but rather of that Chaka whom my hand had
finished. And yet I did not, though now I would that I had done so.
For I saw well how great was the pride and how high was the heart of
Umslopogaas, and I saw also that if once he should learn that the
throne of Zululand was his by right, nothing could hold him back, for
he would swiftly break into open rebellion against Dingaan the king,
and in my judgment the time was not ripe for that. Had I known,
indeed, but one short year before that Umslopogaas still lived, he had
sat where Dingaan sat this day; but I did not know it, and the chance
had gone by for a while. Now Dingaan was king and mustered many
regiments about him, for I had held him back from war, as in the case
of the raid that he wished to make upon the Swazis. The chance had
gone by, but it would come again, and till it came I must say nothing.
I would do this rather, I would bring Dingaan and Umslopogaas
together, that Umslopogaas might become known in the land as a great
chief and the first of warriors. Then I would cause him to be advanced
to be an induna, and a general ready to lead the impis of the king,
for he who leads the impis is already half a king.

So I held my peace upon this matter, but till the dawn was grey
Umslopogaas and I sat together and talked, each telling the tale of
those years that had gone since he was borne from me in the lion's
mouth. I told him how all my wives and children had been killed, how I
had been put to the torment, and showed him my white and withered
hand. I told him also of the death of Baleka, my sister, and of all my
people of the Langeni, and of how I had revenged my wrongs upon Chaka,
and made Dingaan to be king in his place, and was now the first man in
the land under the king, though the king feared me much and loved me
little. But I did not tell him that Baleka, my sister, was his own
mother.

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