After our escape from Agon and his pious crew we returned to ourquarters in the palace and had a very good time. The two Queens, thenobles and the people vied with each other in doing us honour andshowering gifts upon us. As for that painful little incident of thehippopotami it sank into oblivion, where we were quite content to leaveit. Every day deputations and individuals waited on us to examine ourguns and clothing, our chain shirts, and our instruments, especially ourwatches, with which they were much delighted. In short, we became quitethe rage, so much so that some of the fashionable young swells amongthe Zu-Vendi began to copy the cut of some of our clothes, notably SirHenry's shooting jacket. One day, indeed, a deputation waited on usand, as usual, Good donned his full-dress uniform for the occasion. Thisdeputation seemed somehow to be a different class to those who generallycame to visit us. They were little insignificant men of an excessivelypolite, not to say servile, demeanour; and their attention appearedto be chiefly taken up with observing the details of Good's full-dressuniform, of which they took copious notes and measurements. Good wasmuch flattered at the time, not suspecting that he had to deal with thesix leading tailors of Milosis. A fortnight afterwards, however, whenon attending court as usual he had the pleasure of seeing some sevenor eight Zu-Vendi 'mashers' arrayed in all the glory of a very fairimitation of his full-dress uniform, he changed his mind. I shall neverforget his face of astonishment and disgust. It was after this, chieflyto avoid remark, and also because our clothes were wearing out and hadto be saved up, that we resolved to adopt the native dress; and a verycomfortable one we found it, though I am bound to say that I lookedsufficiently ridiculous in it, and as for Alphonse! Only Umslopogaaswould have none of these things; when his moocha was worn out the fierceold Zulu made him a new one, and went about unconcerned, as grim andnaked as his own battleaxe.
Meanwhile we pursued our study of the language steadily and made verygood progress. On the morning following our adventure in the temple,three grave and reverend signiors presented themselves armed withmanuscript books, ink-horns and feather pens, and indicated that theyhad been sent to teach us. So, with the exception of Umslopogaas, we allbuckled to with a will, doing four hours a day. As for Umslopogaas, hewould have none of that either. He did not wish to learn that 'woman'stalk', not he; and when one of the teachers advanced on him with a bookand an ink-horn and waved them before him in a mild persuasive way, muchas a churchwarden invitingly shakes the offertory bag under the nose ofa rich but niggardly parishioner, he sprang up with a fierce oath andflashed Inkosi-kaas before the eyes of our learned friend, and there wasan end of the attempt to teach _him_ Zu-Vendi.
Thus we spent our mornings in useful occupation which grew more andmore interesting as we proceeded, and the afternoons were given up torecreation. Sometimes we made trips, notably one to the gold mines andanother to the marble quarries both of which I wish I had space and timeto describe; and sometimes we went out hunting buck with dogs trainedfor that purpose, and a very exciting sport it is, as the country isfull of agricultural enclosures and our horses were magnificent. Thisis not to be wondered at, seeing that the royal stables were at ourcommand, in addition to which we had four splendid saddle horses givento us by Nyleptha.
Sometimes, again, we went hawking, a pastime that is in great favouramong the Zu-Vendi, who generally fly their birds at a species ofpartridge which is remarkable for the swiftness and strength of itsflight. When attacked by the hawk this bird appears to lose its head,and, instead of seeking cover, flies high into the sky, thus offeringwonderful sport. I have seen one of these partridges soar up almost outof sight when followed by the hawk. Still better sport is offered by avariety of solitary snipe as big as a small woodcock, which is plentifulin this country, and which is flown at with a very small, agile, andhighly-trained hawk with an almost red tail. The zigzagging of the greatsnipe and the lightning rapidity of the flight and movements of thered-tailed hawk make the pastime a delightful one. Another variety ofthe same amusement is the hunting of a very small species of antelopewith trained eagles; and it certainly is a marvellous sight to see thegreat bird soar and soar till he is nothing but a black speck in thesunlight, and then suddenly come dashing down like a cannon-ball uponsome cowering buck that is hidden in a patch of grass from everythingbut that piercing eye. Still finer is the spectacle when the eagle takesthe buck running.
On other days we would pay visits to the country seats at some of thegreat lords' beautiful fortified places, and the villages clusteringbeneath their walls. Here we saw vineyards and corn-fields and well-keptpark-like grounds, with such timber in them as filled me with delight,for I do love a good tree. There it stands so strong and sturdy, and yetso beautiful, a very type of the best sort of man. How proudly itlifts its bare head to the winter storms, and with what a full heart itrejoices when the spring has come again! How grand its voice is, too,when it talks with the wind: a thousand aeolian harps cannot equal thebeauty of the sighing of a great tree in leaf. All day it points to thesunshine and all night to the stars, and thus passionless, and yetfull of life, it endures through the centuries, come storm, come shine,drawing its sustenance from the cool bosom of its mother earth, and asthe slow years roll by, learning the great mysteries of growth and ofdecay. And so on and on through generations, outliving individuals,customs, dynasties--all save the landscape it adorns and humannature--till the appointed day when the wind wins the long battle andrejoices over a reclaimed space, or decay puts the last stroke to hisfungus-fingered work.
Ah, one should always think twice before one cuts down a tree!
In the evenings it was customary for Sir Henry, Good, and myself todine, or rather sup, with their Majesties--not every night, indeed, butabout three or four times a week, whenever they had not much company, orthe affairs of state would allow of it. And I am bound to say that thoselittle suppers were quite the most charming things of their sort thatI ever had to do with. How true is the saying that the very highestin rank are always the most simple and kindly. It is from yourhalf-and-half sort of people that you get pomposity and vulgarity, thedifference between the two being very much what one sees every day inEngland between the old, out-at-elbows, broken-down county family, andthe overbearing, purse-proud people who come and 'take the place'. Ireally think that Nyleptha's greatest charm is her sweet simplicity, andher kindly genuine interest even in little things. She is the simplestwoman I ever knew, and where her passions are not involved, one of thesweetest; but she can look queenly enough when she likes, and be asfierce as any savage too.
For instance, never shall I forget that scene when I for the first timewas sure that she was really in love with Curtis. It came about in thisway--all through Good's weakness for ladies' society. When we had beenemployed for some three months in learning Zu-Vendi, it struck MasterGood that he was getting rather tired of the old gentlemen who did usthe honour to lead us in the way that we should go, so he proceeded,without saying a word to anybody else, to inform them that it was apeculiar fact, but that we could not make any real progress in thedeeper intricacies of a foreign language unless we were taught byladies--young ladies, he was careful to explain. In his own country, hepointed out, it was habitual to choose the very best-looking and mostcharming girls who could be found to instruct any strangers who happenedto come that way, etc.
All of this the old gentlemen swallowed open-mouthed. There was,they admitted, reason in what he said, since the contemplation of thebeautiful, as their philosophy taught, induced a certain porosity ofmind similar to that produced upon the physical body by the healthfulinfluences of sun and air. Consequently it was probable that we mightabsorb the Zu-Vendi tongue a little faster if suitable teachers couldbe found. Another thing was that, as the female sex was naturallyloquacious, good practice would be gained in the viva voce department ofour studies.
To all of this Good gravely assented, and the learned gentlemendeparted, assuring him that their orders were to fall in with our wishesin every way, and that, if possible, our views should be met
.
Imagine, therefore the surprise and disgust of myself, and I trust andbelieve Sir Henry, when, on entering the room where we were accustomedto carry on our studies the following morning, we found, instead ofour usual venerable tutors, three of the best-looking young women whomMilosis could produce--and that is saying a good deal--who blushed andsmiled and curtseyed, and gave us to understand that they were thereto carry on our instruction. Then Good, as we gazed at one another inbewilderment, thought fit to explain, saying that it had slipped hismemory before--but the old gentlemen had told him, on the previousevening, that it was absolutely necessary that our further educationshould be carried on by the other sex. I was overwhelmed, and appealedto Sir Henry for advice in such a crisis.
'Well,' he said, 'you see the ladies are here, ain't they? If we sentthem away, don't you think it might hurt their feelings, eh? One doesn'tlike to be rough, you see; and they look regular _blues_, don't they,eh?'
By this time Good had already begun his lessons with the handsomest ofthe three, and so with a sigh I yielded. That day everything went verywell: the young ladies were certainly very clever, and they only smiledwhen we blundered. I never saw Good so attentive to his books before,and even Sir Henry appeared to tackle Zu-Vendi with a renewed zest.'Ah,' thought I, 'will it always be thus?'
Next day we were much more lively, our work was pleasingly interspersedwith questions about our native country, what the ladies were likethere, etc., all of which we answered as best as we could in Zu-Vendi,and I heard Good assuring his teacher that her loveliness was to thebeauties of Europe as the sun to the moon, to which she replied with alittle toss of the head, that she was a plain teaching woman and nothingelse, and that it was not kind 'to deceive a poor girl so'. Then we hada little singing that was really charming, so natural and unaffected.The Zu-Vendi love-songs are most touching. On the third day we were allquite intimate. Good narrated some of his previous love affairs to hisfair teacher, and so moved was she that her sighs mingled with his own.I discoursed with mine, a merry blue-eyed girl, upon Zu-Vendian art, andnever saw that she was waiting for an opportunity to drop a specimen ofthe cockroach tribe down my back, whilst in the corner Sir Henry andhis governess appeared, so far as I could judge, to be going through alesson framed on the great educational principles laid down by WackfordSqueers Esq., though in a very modified or rather spiritualized form.The lady softly repeated the Zu-Vendi word for 'hand', and he took hers;'eyes', and he gazed deep into her brown orbs; 'lips', and--but just atthat moment _my_ young lady dropped the cockroach down my back and ranaway laughing. Now if there is one thing I loathe more than another itis cockroaches, and moved quite beyond myself, and yet laughing at herimpudence, I took up the cushion she had been sitting on and threw itafter her. Imagine then my shame--my horror, and my distress--when thedoor opened, and, attended by two guards only, in walked _Nyleptha_.The cushion could not be recalled (it missed the girl and hit one of theguards on the head), but I instantly and ineffectually tried to look asthough I had not thrown it. Good ceased his sighing, and began to murderZu-Vendi at the top of his voice, and Sir Henry whistled and lookedsilly. As for the poor girls, they were utterly dumbfounded.
And Nyleptha! she drew herself up till her frame seemed to tower evenabove that of the tall guards, and her face went first red, and thenpale as death.
'Guards,' she said in a quiet choked voice, and pointing at the fair butunconscious disciple of Wackford Squeers, 'slay me that woman.'
The men hesitated, as well they might.
'Will ye do my bidding,' she said again in the same voice, 'or will yenot?'
Then they advanced upon the girl with uplifted spears. By this time SirHenry had recovered himself, and saw that the comedy was likely to turninto a tragedy.
'Stand back,' he said in a voice of thunder, at the same time getting infront of the terrified girl. 'Shame on thee, Nyleptha--shame! Thou shaltnot kill her.'
'Doubtless thou hast good reason to try to protect her. Thou couldsthardly do less in honour,' answered the infuriated Queen; 'but she shalldie--she shall die,' and she stamped her little foot.
'It is well,' he answered; 'then will I die with her. I am thy servant,oh Queen; do with me even as thou wilt.' And he bowed towards her, andfixed his clear eyes contemptuously on her face.
'I could wish to slay thee too,' she answered; 'for thou dost make amock of me;' and then feeling that she was mastered, and I suppose notknowing what else to do, she burst into such a storm of tears and lookedso royally lovely in her passionate distress, that, old as I am, I mustsay I envied Curtis his task of supporting her. It was rather odd to seehim holding her in his arms considering what had just passed--a thoughtthat seemed to occur to herself, for presently she wrenched herself freeand went, leaving us all much disturbed.
Presently, however, one of the guards returned with a message to thegirls that they were, on pain of death, to leave the city and return totheir homes in the country, and that no further harm would come to them;and accordingly they went, one of them remarking philosophically thatit could not be helped, and that it was a satisfaction to know that theyhad taught us a little serviceable Zu-Vendi. Mine was an exceedinglynice girl, and, overlooking the cockroach, I made her a present of myfavourite lucky sixpence with a hole in it when she went away. Afterthat our former masters resumed their course of instruction, needless tosay to my great relief.
That night, when in fear and trembling we attended the royal suppertable, we found that Nyleptha was laid up with a bad headache. Thatheadache lasted for three whole days; but on the fourth she was presentat supper as usual, and with the most gracious and sweet smile gave SirHenry her hand to lead her to the table. No allusion was made to thelittle affair described above beyond her saying, with a charming air ofinnocence, that when she came to see us at our studies the other day shehad been seized with a giddiness from which she had only now recovered.She supposed, she added with a touch of the humour that was common toher, that it was the sight of people working so hard which had affectedher.
In reply Sir Henry said, dryly, that he had thought she did not lookquite herself on that day, whereat she flashed one of those quickglances of hers at him, which if he had the feelings of a man must havegone through him like a knife, and the subject dropped entirely.Indeed, after supper was over Nyleptha condescended to put us throughan examination to see what we had learnt, and to express herself wellsatisfied with the results. Indeed, she proceeded to give us, especiallySir Henry, a lesson on her own account, and very interesting we foundit.
And all the while that we talked, or rather tried to talk, and laughed,Sorais would sit there in her carven ivory chair, and look at us andread us all like a book, only from time to time saying a few words, andsmiling that quick ominous smile of hers which was more like a flash ofsummer lightning on a dark cloud than anything else. And as near to heras he dared would sit Good, worshipping through his eyeglass, for hereally was getting seriously devoted to this sombre beauty, of whom,speaking personally, I felt terribly afraid. I watched her keenly, andsoon I found out that for all her apparent impassibility she was atheart bitterly jealous of Nyleptha. Another thing I found out, andthe discovery filled me with dismay, and that was, that she _also_ wasgrowing devoted to Sir Henry Curtis. Of course I could not be sure; itis not easy to read so cold and haughty a woman; but I noticed one ortwo little things, and, as elephant hunters know, dried grass showswhich way the wind has set.
And so another three months passed over us, by which time we had allattained to a very considerable mastery of the Zu-Vendi language,which is an easy one to learn. And as the time went on we became greatfavourites with the people, and even with the courtiers, gaining anenormous reputation for cleverness, because, as I think I have said,Sir Henry was able to show them how to make glass, which was a nationalwant, and also, by the help of a twenty-year almanac that we hadwith us, to predict various heavenly combinations which werequite unsuspected by the native astronomers. We even succeeded indemonstrating the p
rinciple of the steam-engine to a gathering of thelearned men, who were filled with amazement; and several other things ofthe same sort we did. And so it came about that the people made up theirminds that we must on no account be allowed to go out of the country(which indeed was an apparent impossibility even if we had wished it),and we were advanced to great honour and made officers to the bodyguardsof the sister Queens while permanent quarters were assigned to us in thepalace, and our opinion was asked upon questions of national policy.
But blue as the sky seemed, there was a cloud, and a big one, on thehorizon. We had indeed heard no more of those confounded hippopotami,but it is not on that account to be supposed that our sacrilege wasforgotten, or the enmity of the great and powerful priesthood headed byAgon appeased. On the contrary, it was burning the more fiercely becauseit was necessarily suppressed, and what had perhaps begun in bigotrywas ending in downright direct hatred born of jealousy. Hitherto, thepriests had been the wise men of the land, and were on this account, aswell as from superstitious causes, looked on with peculiar veneration.But our arrival, with our outlandish wisdom and our strange inventionsand hints of unimagined things, dealt a serious blow to this state ofaffairs, and, among the educated Zu-Vendi, went far towards destroyingthe priestly prestige. A still worse affront to them, however, was thefavour with which we were regarded, and the trust that was reposed inus. All these things tended to make us excessively obnoxious to thegreat sacerdotal clan, the most powerful because the most united factionin the kingdom.
Another source of imminent danger to us was the rising envy of some ofthe great lords headed by Nasta, whose antagonism to us had at bestbeen but thinly veiled, and which now threatened to break out into openflame. Nasta had for some years been a candidate for Nyleptha's hand inmarriage, and when we appeared on the scene I fancy, from all I couldgather, that though there were still many obstacles in his path, successwas by no means out of his reach. But now all this had changed; the coyNyleptha smiled no more in his direction, and he was not slow to guessthe cause. Infuriated and alarmed, he turned his attention to Sorais,only to find that he might as well try to woo a mountain side. With abitter jest or two about his fickleness, that door was closed on him forever. So Nasta bethought himself of the thirty thousand wild swordsmenwho would pour down at his bidding through the northern mountain passes,and no doubt vowed to adorn the gates of Milosis with our heads.
But first he determined, as I learned, to make one more attempt and todemand the hand of Nyleptha in the open Court after the formal annualceremony of the signing of the laws that had been proclaimed by theQueens during the year.
Of this astounding fact Nyleptha heard with simulated nonchalance, andwith a little trembling of the voice herself informed us of it as we satat supper on the night preceding the great ceremony of the law-giving.
Sir Henry bit his lip, and do what he could to prevent it plainly showedhis agitation.
'And what answer will the Queen be pleased to give to the great Lord?'asked I, in a jesting manner.
'Answer, Macumazahn' (for we had elected to pass by our Zulu names inZu-Vendis), she said, with a pretty shrug of her ivory shoulder. 'Nay, Iknow not; what is a poor woman to do, when the wooer has thirty thousandswords wherewith to urge his love?' And from under her long lashes sheglanced at Curtis.
Just then we rose from the table to adjourn into another room.'Quatermain, a word, quick,' said Sir Henry to me. 'Listen. I have neverspoken about it, but surely you have guessed: I love Nyleptha. What am Ito do?'
Fortunately, I had more or less already taken the question intoconsideration, and was therefore able to give such answer as seemed thewisest to me.
'You must speak to Nyleptha tonight,' I said. 'Now is your time, now ornever. Listen. In the sitting-chamber get near to her, and whisper toher to meet you at midnight by the Rademas statue at the end of thegreat hall. I will keep watch for you there. Now or never, Curtis.'
We passed on into the other room. Nyleptha was sitting, her hands beforeher, and a sad anxious look upon her lovely face. A little way off wasSorais talking to Good in her slow measured tones.
The time went on; in another quarter of an hour I knew that, accordingto their habit, the Queens would retire. As yet, Sir Henry had had nochance of saying a word in private: indeed, though we saw much of theroyal sisters, it was by no means easy to see them alone. I racked mybrains, and at last an idea came to me.
'Will the Queen be pleased,' I said, bowing low before Sorais, 'to singto her servants? Our hearts are heavy this night; sing to us, oh Lady ofthe Night' (Sorais' favourite name among the people).
'My songs, Macumazahn, are not such as to lighten the heavy heart, yetwill I sing if it pleases thee,' she answered; and she rose and went afew paces to a table whereon lay an instrument not unlike a zither, andstruck a few wandering chords.
Then suddenly, like the notes of some deep-throated bird, her roundedvoice rang out in song so wildly sweet, and yet with so eerie and sada refrain, that it made the very blood stand still. Up, up soared thegolden notes, that seemed to melt far away, and then to grow again andtravel on, laden with all the sorrow of the world and all the despair ofthe lost. It was a marvellous song, but I had not time to listen toit properly. However, I got the words of it afterwards, and here is atranslation of its burden, so far as it admits of being translated atall.
SORAIS' SONG
As a desolate bird that through darkness its lost way is winging, As a hand that is helplessly raised when Death's sickle is swinging, So is life! ay, the life that lends passion and breath to my singing.
As the nightingale's song that is full of a sweetness unspoken, As a spirit unbarring the gates of the skies for a token, So is love! ay, the love that shall fall when his pinion is broken.
As the tramp of the legions when trumpets their challenge are sending, As the shout of the Storm-god when lightnings the black sky are rending, So is power! ay, the power that shall lie in the dust at its ending.
So short is our life; yet with space for all things to forsake us, A bitter delusion, a dream from which nought can awake us, Till Death's dogging footsteps at morn or at eve shall o'ertake us.
Refrain
Oh, the world is fair at the dawning--dawning--dawning,But the red sun sinks in blood--the red sun sinks in blood.
I only wish that I could write down the music too.
'Now, Curtis, now,' I whispered, when she began the second verse, andturned my back.
'Nyleptha,' he said--for my nerves were so much on the stretch that Icould hear every word, low as it was spoken, even through Sorais' divinenotes--'Nyleptha, I must speak with thee this night, upon my life Imust. Say me not nay; oh, say me not nay!'
'How can I speak with thee?' she answered, looking fixedly before her;'Queens are not like other people. I am surrounded and watched.'
'Listen, Nyleptha, thus. I will be before the statue of Rademas inthe great hall at midnight. I have the countersign and can pass in.Macumazahn will be there to keep guard, and with him the Zulu. Oh come,my Queen, deny me not.'
'It is not seemly,' she murmured, 'and tomorrow--'
Just then the music began to die in the last wail of the refrain, andSorais slowly turned her round.
'I will be there,' said Nyleptha, hurriedly; 'on thy life see that thoufail me not.'
CHAPTER XVI BEFORE THE STATUE
Allan Quatermain Page 16
