Presently he turned, and perceiving that I was sitting up advanced to me, and with the utmost courtesy said that he trusted that I felt better. I answered that at present I scarcely knew how I felt, except that I ached all over.
Then he bent12 down and examined Leo’s wound.
“It is an evil cut,” he said, “but the spear has not pierced the entrails. He will recover.”
“Thanks to thy arrival, my father,” I answered. “In another minute we should all have been beyond the reach of recovery, for those devils of thine would have slain13 us as they would have slain our servant,” and I pointed14 towards Mahomed.
The old man ground his teeth, and I saw an extraordinary expression of malignity15 light up his eyes.
“Fear not, my son,” he answered. “Vengeance16 shall be taken on them such as would make the flesh twist upon the bones merely to hear of it. To She shall they go, and her vengeance shall be worthy17 of her greatness. That man,” pointing to Mahomed, “I tell thee that man would have died a merciful death to the death these hyæna-men shall die. Tell me, I pray of thee, how it came about.”
In a few words I sketched18 what had happened.
“Ah, so,” he answered. “Thou seest, my son, here there is a custom that if a stranger comes into this country he may be slain by ‘the pot,’ and eaten.”
“It is hospitality turned upside down,” I answered feebly. “In our country we entertain a stranger, and give him food to eat. Here ye eat him, and are entertained.”
“It is a custom,” he answered, with a shrug19. “Myself I think it an evil one; but then,” he added by an afterthought, “I do not like the taste of strangers, especially after they have wandered through the swamps and lived on wild-fowl. When She-who-must-be-obeyed sent orders that ye were to be saved alive she said naught20 of the black man, therefore, being hyænas, these men lusted21 after his flesh, and the woman it was, whom thou didst rightly slay22, who put it into their evil hearts to hot-pot him. Well, they will have their reward. Better for them would it be if they had never seen the light than that they should stand before She in her terrible anger. Happy are those of them who died by your hands.”
“Ah,” he went on, “it was a gallant23 fight that ye fought. Knowest thou that, long-armed old baboon24 that thou art, thou hast crushed in the ribs25 of those two who are laid out there as though they were but as the shell on an egg? And the young one, the lion, it was a beautiful stand that he made—one against so many—three did he slay outright26, and that one there”—and he pointed to a body that was still moving a little—“will die anon, for his head is cracked across, and others of those who are bound are hurt. It was a gallant fight, and thou and he have made a friend of me by it, for I love to see a well-fought fray27. But tell me, my son, the baboon—and now I think of it thy face, too, is hairy, and altogether like a baboon’s—how was it that ye slew28 those with a hole in them?—Ye made a noise, they say, and slew them—they fell down on the faces at the noise?”
I explained to him as well as I could, but very shortly—for I was terribly wearied, and only persuaded to talk at all through fear of offending one so powerful if I refused to do so—what were the properties of gunpowder29, and he instantly suggested that I should illustrate30 what I said by operating on the person of one of the prisoners. One, he said, never would be counted, and it would not only be very interesting to him, but would give me the opportunity of an instalment of revenge. He was greatly astounded31 when I told him that it was not our custom to avenge32 ourselves in cold blood, and that we left vengeance to the law and a higher power, of which he knew nothing. I added, however, that when I recovered I would take him out shooting with us, and he should kill an animal for himself, and at this he was as pleased as a child at the promise of a new toy.
Just then Leo opened his eyes beneath the stimulus33 of some brandy (of which we still had a little) that Job had poured down his throat, and our conversation came to an end.
After this we managed to get Leo, who was in a very poor way indeed, and only half conscious, safely off to bed, supported by Job and that brave girl Ustane, to whom, had I not been afraid that she might resent it, I would certainly have given a kiss for her splendid behaviour in saving my boy’s life at the risk of her own. But Ustane was not the sort of young person with whom one would care to take liberties unless one were perfectly34 certain that they would not be misunderstood, so I repressed my inclinations35. Then, bruised and battered36, but with a sense of safety in my breast to which I had for some days been a stranger, I crept off to my own little sepulchre, not forgetting before I laid down in it to thank Providence37 from the bottom of my heart that it was not a sepulchre indeed, as, save for a merciful combination of events that I can only attribute to its protection, it would certainly have been for me that night. Few men have been nearer their end and yet escaped it than we were on that dreadful day.
I am a bad sleeper38 at the best of times, and my dreams that night when at last I got to rest were not of the pleasantest. The awful vision of poor Mahomed struggling to escape the red-hot pot would haunt them, and then in the background, as it were, a veiled form was always hovering39, which, from time to time, seemed to draw the coverings from its body, revealing now the perfect shape of a lovely blooming woman, and now again the white bones of a grinning skeleton, and which, as it veiled and unveiled, uttered the mysterious and apparently meaningless sentence:—
“That which is alive and hath known death, and that which is dead yet can never die, for in the Circle of the Spirit life is naught and death is naught. Yea, all things live for ever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten.”
The morning came at last, but when it came I found that I was too stiff and sore to rise. About seven Job arrived, limping terribly, and with his face the colour of a rotten apple, and told me that Leo had slept fairly, but was very weak. Two hours afterwards Billali (Job called him “Billy-goat,” to which, indeed, his white beard gave him some resemblance, or more familiarly, “Billy”) came too, bearing a lamp in his hand, his towering form reaching nearly to the roof of the little chamber40. I pretended to be asleep, and through the cracks of my eyelids41 watched his sardonic42 but handsome old face. He fixed43 his hawk-like eyes upon me, and stroked his glorious white beard, which, by the way, would have been worthy a hundred a year to any London barber as an advertisement.
“Ah!” I heard him mutter (Billali had a habit of muttering to himself), “he is ugly—ugly as the other is beautiful—a very Baboon, it was a good name. But I like the man. Strange now, at my age, that I should like a man. What says the proverb—’Mistrust all men, and slay him whom thou mistrustest overmuch; and as for women, flee from them, for they are evil, and in the end will destroy thee.’ It is a good proverb, especially the last part of it: I think that it must have come down from the ancients. Nevertheless I like this Baboon, and I wonder where they taught him his tricks, and I trust that She will not bewitch him. Poor Baboon! he must be wearied after that fight. I will go lest I should awake him.”
I waited till he had turned and was nearly through the entrance, walking softly on tiptoe, and then I called after him.
“My father,” I said, “is it thou?”
“Yes, my son, it is I; but let me not disturb thee. I did but come to see how thou didst fare, and to tell thee that those who would have slain thee, my Baboon, are by now far on their road to She. She said that ye also were to come at once, but I fear ye cannot yet.”
“Nay,” I said, “not till we have recovered a little; but have me borne out into the daylight, I pray thee, my father. I love not this place.”
“Ah, no,” he answered, “it hath a sad air. I remember when I was a boy I found the body of a fair woman lying where thou liest now, yes, on that very bench. She was so beautiful that I was wont44 to creep in hither with a lamp and gaze upon her. Had it not been for her cold hands, almost could I think that she slept and would one day awake, so fair and peaceful was she in her robes of white. White was she, too, and her hair was yellow and lay down her almost to the feet. There are many such still in the tombs at the place where She is, for those who set them there had a way I know naught of, whereby to keep their beloved out of the crumbling45 hand of Decay, even when Death had slain them. Ay, day by day I came hither, and gazed on her till at last—laugh not at me, stranger, for I was but a silly lad—I learned to love that dead form, that shell which once had held a life that no more is. I would creep up to her and kiss her cold face, and wonder how many men had lived and died since she was, and who had loved her and embraced her in the days that long had passed away. And, my Baboon, I think I learned wisdom from that dead one, for of a truth it taught me of the littleness of life, and the length of Death, and how all things that are under the sun go down one path, and are for ever forgotten. And so I mused46, and it seemed to me that wisdom flowed into me from the dead, till one day my mother, a watchful47 woman, but hasty-minded, seeing I was changed, followed me, and saw the beautiful white one, and feared that I was bewitched, as, indeed, I was. So half in dread1, and half in anger, she took up the lamp, and standing48 the dead woman up against the wall even there, set fire to her hair, and she burnt fiercely, even down to the feet, for those who are thus kept burn excellently well.
“See, my son, there on the roof is yet the smoke of her burning.”
I looked up doubtfully, and there, sure enough, on the roof of the sepulchre, was a peculiarly unctuous49 and sooty mark, three feet or more across. Doubtless it had in the course of years been rubbed off the sides of the little cave, but on the roof it remained, and there was no mistaking its appearance.
“She burnt,” he went on in a meditative50 way, “even to the feet, but the feet I came back and saved, cutting the burnt bone from them, and hid them under the stone bench there, wrapped up in a piece of linen. Surely, I remember it as though it were but yesterday. Perchance they are there, if none have found them, even to this hour. Of a truth I have not entered this chamber from that time to this very day. Stay, I will look,” and, kneeling down, he groped about with his long arm in the recess51 under the stone bench. Presently his face brightened, and with an exclamation52 he pulled something forth53 which was caked in dust; which he shook on to the floor. It was covered with the remains54 of a rotting rag, which he undid55, and revealed to my astonished gaze a beautifully shaped and almost white woman’s foot, looking as fresh and firm as though it had but now been placed there.
“Thou seest, my son, the Baboon,” he said, in a sad voice, “I spake the truth to thee, for here is yet one foot remaining. Take it, my son, and gaze upon it.”
I took this cold fragment of mortality in my hand and looked at it in the light of the lamp with feelings which I cannot describe, so mixed up were they between astonishment56, fear, and fascination57. It was light, much lighter58 I should say than it had been in the living state, and the flesh to all appearance was still flesh, though about it there clung a faintly aromatic59 odour. For the rest it was not shrunk or shrivelled, or even black and unsightly, like the flesh of Egyptian mummies, but plump and fair, and, except where it had been slightly burnt, perfect as on the day of death—a very triumph of embalming60.
Poor little foot! I set it down upon the stone bench where it had lain for so many thousand years, and wondered whose was the beauty that it had upborne through the pomp and pageantry of a forgotten civilisation—first as a merry child’s, then as a blushing maid’s, and lastly as a perfect woman’s. Through what halls of Life had its soft step echoed, and in the end, with what courage had it trodden down the dusty ways of Death! To whose side had it stolen in the hush61 of night when the black slave slept upon the marble floor, and who had listened for its stealing? Shapely little foot! Well might it have been set upon the proud neck of a conqueror62 bent at last to woman’s beauty, and well might the lips of nobles and of kings have been pressed upon its jewelled whiteness.
I wrapped up this relic63 of the past in the remnants of the old linen rag which had evidently formed a portion of its owner’s grave-clothes, for it was partially64 burnt, and put it away in my Gladstone bag—a strange combination, I thought. Then with Billali’s help I staggered off to see Leo. I found him dreadfully bruised, worse even than myself, perhaps owing to the excessive whiteness of his skin, and faint and weak with the loss of blood from the flesh wound in his side, but for all that cheerful as a cricket, and asking for some breakfast. Job and Ustane got him on to the bottom, or rather the sacking of a litter, which was removed from its pole for that purpose, and with the aid of old Billali carried him out into the shade at the mouth of the cave, from which, by the way, every trace of the slaughter65 of the previous night had now been removed, and there we all breakfasted, and indeed spent that day, and most of the two following ones.
On the third morning Job and myself were practically recovered. Leo also was so much better that I yielded to Billali’s often expressed entreaty66, and agreed to start at once upon our journey to Kôr, which we were told was the name of the place where the mysterious She lived, though I still feared for its effect upon Leo, and especially lest the motion should cause his wound, which was scarcely skinned over, to break open again. Indeed, had it not been for Billali’s evident anxiety to get off, which led us to suspect that some difficulty or danger might threaten us if we did not comply with it, I would not have consented to go.
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1
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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2
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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7
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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8
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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9
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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10
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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11
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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12
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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13
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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14
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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18
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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19
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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20
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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21
lusted
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| 贪求（lust的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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22
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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23
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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24
baboon
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| n.狒狒 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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26
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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27
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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28
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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29
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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30
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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32
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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33
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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34
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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36
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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38
sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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39
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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40
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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41
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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42
sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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43
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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44
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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45
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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46
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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47
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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48
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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49
unctuous
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| adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的 | |
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50
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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51
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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52
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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53
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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54
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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55
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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56
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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57
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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58
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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59
aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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60
embalming
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| v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的现在分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
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61
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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62
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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63
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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64
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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65
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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66
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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