The trees were great that growthere, stranger, and their leaves are so think that in certain placesthe light is as that of night when the moon is young. Here, on the edge of the forest, I rested awhile, and ate alittle food that I had brought with me in the bag, for now I mustgather up my strength to meet the ghosts, if ghosts there were. Yet I found a way up it, and by midday I came to theforest. That cliff is hardto climb, stranger when you are strong upon your feet, I will showyou the path. Now those on the bank mocked no more they stood still wondering, andI walked on till I came to the foot of the cliff. If you die, let the club be lost with you if you fail, bring it back to me but if you win the bones, then it isyours, and it shall bring you glory and you shall die a man's death atlast holding him aloft among the dead.' 'Boy, your eyes are honest,' she said, still peering at me. Below thisplace the rock sloped sharply, and was clothed with little bushes.Lower down yet was a forest, great and dense, that stretched to thetop of a cliff, and at the foot of the cliff, beyond the waters of theriver, lay the wide plains of Zululand. So Umslopogaas rose and crept through the narrow mouth of the cave.There, above him, a great grey peak towered high into the air, shapedlike a seated woman, her chin resting upon her breast, the place wherethe cave was being, as it were, on the lap of the woman. But, stranger, you are weary, andthe night wears on sleep now, and tomorrow I will end the tale. Still, I went on, singing to myself as I went, that my heart mightnot be faint with fear, and at length, towards of the secondhour, the trees grew fewer, the ground sloped upwards, and the lightpoured down from the heavens again. Twice, stranger, the currentbore me under, and those on the bank shouted that I was lost but Irose again, and in I won the farther shore. I answered nothing to their mocking, only I bound the shield upon myshoulders with a string, and the bag that I had brought I made fastabout my middle, and I held the great club in my teeth by the thong.Then I plunged into the river and swam. I am named Umslopogaas, son of Mopo," he answered, "and my tale shallbe told when yours is done let us sleep" It was in flood, and fewhad dared to cross it. I started from the kraal of the old woman, and the people of thekraal followed me to the brink of the river. Enter again, wanderer,and I will go forward with my tale, for it is long and strange. "Thus Ileave it, and though, except those to whom the secret is know, nonewould guess that a cave was here, yet it can be rolled back again witha push of the hand. Look now, I close the stone, asis my custom of a night, so,"and he grasped the rock and swung itround upon its pivot, on which it turned as a door turns. #Universe sandbox free download full#Only mark this, the stone must be pushedtoo far for, look if it came to here," and he pointed to a mark inthe mouth of the cave, "then that man need be strong who can draw itback again, though I have done it myself, who am not a man full grown.But if it pass beyond this mark, then, see, it will roll down the neckof the cave like a pebble down the neck of a gourd, and I think thattwo men, one striving from within and one dragging from without,scarcely could avail to push it clear. See this stone lying at themouth of the cave, it turns thus, shutting up the entrance holeitturns gently though it is so large, a child may move it, for it restsupon a sharp point of rock. There is a cliff rising from the plain, up which Imust climb there is the forest where dwell the Amatongo, the peopleof the ghosts there, on the hither side of the forest, runs the pathto the cave, and here is the cave itself. Yonder, stranger," said Galazi, pointing with the club Watcher of theFords far away to the plain beneath "yonder is the kraal where theaged woman dwelt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |