MOPO IS IN TROUBLE
Now, I must tell how my mother did what the boy Chaka had told her, and
died quickly. For where his stick had struck her on the forehead there
came a sore that would not be healed, and in the sore grew an abscess,
and the abscess ate inwards till it came to the brain. Then my mother
fell down and died, and I cried very much, for I loved her, and it was
dreadful to see her cold and stiff, with not a word to say however
loudly I called to her. Well, they buried my mother, and she was soon
forgotten. I only remembered her, nobody else did—not even Baleka, for
she was too little—and as for my father he took another young wife and
was content. After that I was unhappy, for my brothers did not love me,
because I was much cleverer than they, and had greater skill with the
assegai, and was swifter in running; so they poisoned the mind of my
father against me and he treated me badly. But Baleka and I loved each
other, for we were both lonely, and she clung to me like a creeper to
the only tree in a plain, and though I was young, I learned this: that
to be wise is to be strong, for though he who holds the assegai kills,
yet he whose mind directs the battle is greater than he who kills. Now
I saw that the witch-finders and the medicine-men were feared in the
land, and that everybody looked up to them, so that, even when they had
only a stick in their hands, ten men armed with spears would fly before
them. Therefore I determined that I should be a witch-doctor, for they
alone can kill those whom they hate with a word. So I learned the arts
of the medicine-men. I made sacrifices, I fasted in the veldt alone, I
did all those things of which you have heard, and I learned much; for
there is wisdom in our magic as well as lies—and you know it, my
father, else you had not come here to ask me about your lost oxen.
So things went on till I was twenty years of age—a man full grown. By
now I had mastered all I could learn by myself, so I joined myself on
to the chief medicine-man of our tribe, who was named Noma. He was old,
had one eye only, and was very clever. Of him I learned some tricks and
more wisdom, but at last he grew jealous of me and set a trap to catch
me. As it chanced, a rich man of a neighbouring tribe had lost some
cattle, and came with gifts to Noma praying him to smell them out. Noma
tried and could not find them; his vision failed him. Then the headman
grew angry and demanded back his gifts; but Noma would not give up that
which he once had held, and hot words passed. The headman said that he
would kill Noma; Noma said that he would bewitch the headman.
“Peace,” I said, for I feared that blood would be shed. “Peace, and let
me see if my snake will tell me where the cattle are.”
“You are nothing but a boy,” answered the headman. “Can a boy have
wisdom?”
“That shall soon be known,” I said, taking the bones in my hand.[1]
[1] The Kafir witch-doctors use the knuckle-bones of animals in their
magic rites, throwing them something as we throw dice.—ED.
“Leave the bones alone!” screamed Noma. “We will ask nothing more of
our snakes for the good of this son of a dog.”
“He shall throw the bones,” answered the headman. “If you try to stop
him, I will let sunshine through you with my assegai.” And he lifted
his spear.
Then I made haste to begin; I threw the bones. The headman sat on the
ground before me and answered my questions. You know of these matters,
my father—how sometimes the witch-doctor has knowledge of where the
lost things are, for our ears are long, and sometimes his _Ehlosé_
tells him, as but the other day it told me of your oxen. Well, in this
case, my snake stood up. I knew nothing of the man’s cattle, but my
Spirit was with me and soon I saw them all, and told them to him one by
one, their colour, their age—everything. I told him, too, where they
were, and how one of them had fallen into a stream and lay there on its
back drowned, with its forefoot caught in a forked root. As my _Ehlosé_
told me so I told the headman.
Now, the man was pleased, and said that if my sight was good, and he
found the cattle, the gifts should be taken from Noma and given to me;
and he asked the people who were sitting round, and there were many, if
this was not just. “Yes, yes,” they said, it was just, and they would
see that it was done. But Noma sat still and looked at me evilly. He
knew that I had made a true divination, and he was very angry. It was a
big matter: the herd of cattle were many, and, if they were found where
I had said, then all men would think me the greater wizard. Now it was
late, and the moon had not yet risen, therefore the headman said that
he would sleep that night in our kraal, and at the first light would go
with me to the spot where I said the cattle were. After that he went
away.
I too went into my hut and lay down to sleep. Suddenly I awoke, feeling
a weight upon my breast. I tried to start up, but something cold
pricked my throat. I fell back again and looked. The door of the hut
was open, the moon lay low on the sky like a ball of fire far away. I
could see it through the door, and its light crept into the hut. It
fell upon the face of Noma the witch-doctor. He was seated across me,
glaring at me with his one eye, and in his hand was a knife. It was
that which I had felt prick my throat.
“You whelp whom I have bred up to tear me!” he hissed into my ear, “you
dared to divine where I failed, did you? Very well, now I will show you
how I serve such puppies. First, I will pierce through the root of your
tongue, so that you cannot squeal, then I will cut you to pieces
slowly, bit by bit, and in the morning I will tell the people that the
spirits did it because you lied. Next, I will take off your arms and
legs. Yes, yes, I will make you like a stick! Then I will”—and he began
driving in the knife under my chin.
“Mercy, my uncle,” I said, for I was frightened and the knife hurt.
“Have mercy, and I will do whatever you wish!”
“Will you do this?” he asked, still pricking me with the knife. “Will
you get up, go to find the dog’s cattle and drive them to a certain
place, and hide them there?” And he named a secret valley that was
known to very few. “If you do that, I will spare you and give you three
of the cows. If you refuse or play me false, then, by my father’s
spirit, I will find a way to kill you!”
“Certainly I will do it, my uncle,” I answered. “Why did you not trust
me before? Had I known that you wanted to keep the cattle, I would
never have smelt them out. I only did so fearing lest you should lose
the presents.”
“You are not so wicked as I thought,” he growled. “Get up, then, and do
my bidding. You can be back here two hours after dawn.”
So I got up, thinking all the while whether I should try to spring on
him. But I was without arms, and he had the knife; also if, by chance,
I prevailed and killed him, it would have been thought that I had
murdered him, and I should have tasted the assegai. So I made another
plan. I would go and find the cattle in the valley where I had smelt
them out, but I would not bring them to the secret hiding-place. No; I
would drive them straight to the kraal, and denounce Noma before the
chief, my father, and all the people. But I was young in those days,
and did not know the heart of Noma. He had not been a witch-doctor till
he grew old for nothing. Oh! he was evil!—he was cunning as a jackal,
and fierce like a lion. He had planted me by him like a tree, but he
meant to keep me clipped like a bush. Now I had grown tall and
overshadowed him; therefore he would root me up.
I went to the corner of my hut, Noma watching me all the while, and
took a kerrie and my small shield. Then I started through the
moonlight. Till I was past the kraal I glided along quietly as a
shadow. After that, I began to run, singing to myself as I went, to
frighten away the ghosts, my father.
For an hour I travelled swiftly over the plain, till I came to the
hillside where the bush began. Here it was very dark under the shade of
the trees, and I sang louder than ever. At last I found the little
buffalo path I sought, and turned along it. Presently I came to an open
place, where the moonlight crept in between the trees. I knelt down and
looked. Yes! my snake had not lied to me; there was the spoor of the
cattle. Then I went on gladly till I reached a dell through which the
water ran softly, sometimes whispering and sometimes talking out loud.
Here the trail of the cattle was broad: they had broken down the ferns
with their feet and trampled the grass. Presently I came to a pool. I
knew it—it was the pool my snake had shown me. And there at the edge of
the pool floated the drowned ox, its foot caught in a forked root. All
was just as I had seen it in my heart.
I stepped forward and looked round. My eye caught something; it was the
faint grey light of the dawn glinted on the cattle’s horns. As I
looked, one of them snorted, rose and shook the dew from his hide. He
seemed big as an elephant in the mist and twilight.
Then I collected them all—there were seventeen—and drove them before me
down the narrow path back towards the kraal. Now the daylight came
quickly, and the sun had been up an hour when I reached the spot where
I must turn if I wished to hide the cattle in the secret place, as Noma
had bid me. But I would not do this. No, I would go on to the kraal
with them, and tell all men that Noma was a thief. Still, I sat down
and rested awhile, for I was tired. As I sat, I heard a noise, and
looked up. There, over the slope of the rise, came a crowd of men, and
leading them was Noma, and by his side the headman who owned the
cattle. I rose and stood still, wondering; but as I stood, they ran
towards me shouting and waving sticks and spears.
“There he is!” screamed Noma. “There he is!—the clever boy whom I have
brought up to bring shame on me. What did I tell you? Did I not tell
you that he was a thief? Yes—yes! I know your tricks, Mopo, my child!
See! he is stealing the cattle! He knew where they were all the time,
and now he is taking them away to hide them. They would be useful to
buy a wife with, would they not, my clever boy?” And he made a rush at
me, with his stick lifted, and after him came the headman, grunting
with rage.
I understood now, my father. My heart went mad in me, everything began
to swim round, a red cloth seemed to lift itself up and down before my
eyes. I have always seen it thus when I was forced to fight. I screamed
out one word only, “Liar!” and ran to meet him. On came Noma. He struck
at me with his stick, but I caught the blow upon my little shield, and
hit back. Wow! I did hit! The skull of Noma met my kerrie, and down he
fell dead at my feet. I yelled again, and rushed on at the headman. He
threw an assegai, but it missed me, and next second I hit him too. He
got up his shield, but I knocked it down upon his head, and over he
rolled senseless. Whether he lived or died I do not know, my father;
but his head being of the thickest, I think it likely that he lived.
Then, while the people stood astonished, I turned and fled like the
wind. They turned too, and ran after me, throwing spears at me and
trying to cut me off. But none of them could catch me—no, not one. I
went like the wind; I went like a buck when the dogs wake it from
sleep; and presently the sound of their chase grew fainter and fainter,
till at last I was out of sight and alone.