It was on the last evening of my stay at his house that he told the ensuing story to me and Captain Good, who was dining with him. He had eaten his dinner and drunk two or three glasses of old port, just to help Good and myself to the end of the second bottle. It was an unusual thing for him to do, for he was a most abstemious5 man, having conceived, as he used to say, a great horror of drink from observing its effects upon the class of colonists—hunters, transport-riders and others—amongst whom he had passed so many years of his life. Consequently the good wine took more effect on him than it would have done on most men, sending a little flush into his wrinkled cheeks, and making him talk more freely than usual.
Dear old man! I can see him now, as he went limping up and down the vestibule, with his gray hair sticking up in scrubbing-brush fashion, his shrivelled yellow face, and his large dark eyes, that were as keen as any hawk’s, and yet soft as a buck6’s. The whole room was hung with trophies7 of his numerous hunting expeditions, and he had some story about every one of them, if only he could be got to tell it. Generally he would not, for he was not very fond of narrating8 his own adventures, but to-night the port wine made him more communicative.
“Ah, you brute9!” he said, stopping beneath an unusually large skull10 of a lion, which was fixed11 just over the mantelpiece, beneath a long row of guns, its jaws12 distended13 to their utmost width. “Ah, you brute! you have given me a lot of trouble for the last dozen years, and will, I suppose to my dying day.”
“Tell us the yarn14, Quatermain,” said Good. “You have often promised to tell me, and you never have.”
“You had better not ask me to,” he answered, “for it is a longish one.”
“All right,” I said, “the evening is young, and there is some more port.”
Thus adjured15, he filled his pipe from a jar of coarse-cut Boer tobacco that was always standing16 on the mantelpiece, and still walking up and down the room, began:
“It was, I think, in the March of ‘69 that I was up in Sikukuni’s country. It was just after old Sequati’s time, and Sikukuni had got into power—I forget how. Anyway, I was there. I had heard that the Bapedi people had brought down an enormous quantity of ivory from the interior, and so I started with a waggon17-load of goods, and came straight away from Middelburg to try and trade some of it. It was a risky18 thing to go into the country so early, on account of the fever; but I knew that there were one or two others after that lot of ivory, so I determined19 to have a try for it, and take my chance of fever. I had become so tough from continual knocking about that I did not set it down at much. Well, I got on all right for a while. It is a wonderfully beautiful piece of bush veldt, with great ranges of mountains running through it, and round granite20 koppies starting up here and there, looking out like sentinels over the rolling waste of bush. But it is very hot,—hot as a stew-pan,—and when I was there that March, which, of course, is autumn in this part of Africa, the whole place reeked21 of fever. Every morning, as I trekked23 along down by the Oliphant River, I used to creep from the waggon at dawn and look out. But there was no river to be seen—only a long line of billows of what looked like the finest cotton-wool tossed up lightly with a pitchfork. It was the fever mist. Out from among the scrub, too, came little spirals of vapour, as though there were hundreds of tiny fires alight in it—reek rising from thousands of tons of rotting vegetation. It was a beautiful place, but the beauty was the beauty of death; and all those lines and blots24 of vapour wrote one great word across the surface of the country, and that word was ‘fever.’
“It was a dreadful year of illness that. I came, I remember, to one little kraal of knobnoses, and went up to it to see if I could get some maas (curdled butter-milk) and a few mealies. As I got near I was struck with the silence of the place. No children began to chatter25, and no dogs barked. Nor could I see any native sheep or cattle. The place, though it had evidently been recently inhabited, was as still as the bush round it, and some guinea-fowl got up out of the prickly pear bushes right at the kraal gate. I remember that I hesitated a little before going in, there was such an air of desolation about the spot. Nature never looks desolate26 when man has not yet laid his hand upon her breast; she is only lovely. But when man has been, and has passed away, then she looks desolate.
“Well, I passed into the kraal, and went up to the principal hut. In front of the hut was something with an old sheepskin kaross (rug) thrown over it. I stooped down and drew off the rug, and then shrank back amazed, for under it was the body of a young woman recently dead. For a moment I thought of turning back, but my curiosity overcame me; so going past the dead woman, I went down on my hands and knees and crept into the hut. It was so dark that I could not see anything, though I could smell a great deal, so I lit a match. It was a ‘tandstickor’ match, and burnt slowly and dimly, and as the light gradually increased I made out what I took to be a family of people, men, women, and children, fast asleep. Presently it burnt up brightly, and I saw that they too, five of them altogether, were quite dead. One was a baby. I dropped the match in a hurry, and was making my way out of the hut as hard as I could go, when I caught sight of two bright eyes staring out of a corner. Thinking it was a wild cat, or some such animal, I redoubled my haste, when suddenly a voice near the eyes began first to mutter, and then to send up a succession of awful yells. Hastily I lit another match, and perceived that the eyes belonged to an old woman, wrapped up in a greasy27 leather garment. Taking her by the arm, I dragged her out, for she could not, or would not, come by herself, and the stench was overpowering me. Such a sight as she was—a bag of bones, covered over with black, shrivelled parchment. The only white thing about her was her wool, and she seemed to be pretty well dead except for her eyes and her voice. She thought that I was a devil come to take her, and that is why she yelled so. Well, I got her down to the waggon, and gave her a ‘tot’ of Cape28 smoke, and then, as soon as it was ready, poured about a pint29 of beef-tea down her throat, made from the flesh of a blue vilder-beeste I had killed the day before, and after that she brightened up wonderfully. She could talk Zulu,—indeed, it turned out that she had run away from Zululand in T’Chaka’s time,—and she told me that all the people whom I had seen had died of fever. When they had died the other inhabitants of the kraal had taken the cattle and gone away, leaving the poor old woman, who was helpless from age and infirmity, to perish of starvation or disease, as the case might be. She had been sitting there for three days among the bodies when I found her. I took her on to the next kraal, and gave the headman a blanket to look after her, promising30 him another if I found her well when I came back. I remember that he was much astonished at my parting with two blankets for the sake of such a worthless old creature. ‘Why did I not leave her in the bush?’ he asked. Those people carry the doctrine31 of the survival of the fittest to its extreme, you see.
“It was the night after I had got rid of the old woman that I made my first acquaintance with my friend yonder,” and he nodded toward the skull that seemed to be grinning down at us in the shadow of the wide mantel-shelf. “I had trekked from dawn till eleven o’clock,—a long trek22,—but I wanted to get on; and then had turned the oxen out to graze, sending the voorlooper to look after them, meaning to inspan again about six o’clock, and trek with the moon till ten. Then I got into the waggon and had a good sleep till half-past two or so in the afternoon, when I rose and cooked some meat, and had my dinner, washing it down with a pannikin of black coffee; for it was difficult to get preserved milk in those days. Just as I had finished, and the driver, a man called Tom, was washing up the things, in comes the young scoundrel of a voorlooper driving one ox before him.
“‘Where are the other oxen?’ I asked.
“‘Koos!’ he said, ‘Koos! (chief) the other oxen have gone away. I turned my back for a minute, and when I looked round again they were all gone except Kaptein, here, who was rubbing his back against a tree.’
“‘You mean that you have been asleep, and let them stray, you villain32. I will rub your back against a stick,’ I answered, feeling very angry, for it was not a pleasant prospect33 to be stuck up in that fever-trap for a week or so while we were hunting for the oxen. ‘Off you go, and you too, Tom, and mind you don’t come back till you have found them. They have trekked back along the Middelburg Road, and are a dozen miles off by now, I’ll be bound. Now, no words; go, both of you.’
“Tom, the driver, swore and caught the lad a hearty34 kick, which he richly deserved, and then, having tied old Kaptein up to the disselboom with a riem, they took their assegais and sticks, and started. I would have gone too, only I knew that somebody must look after the waggon, and I did not like to leave either of the boys with it at night. I was in a very bad temper, indeed, although I was pretty well used to these sort of occurrences, and soothed35 myself by taking a rifle and going to kill something. For a couple of hours I poked36 about without seeing anything that I could get a shot at, but at last, just as I was again within seventy yards of the waggon, I put up an old Impala ram37 from behind a mimosa-thorn. He ran straight for the waggon, and it was not till he was passing within a few feet of it that I could get a decent shot at him. Then I pulled, and caught him half-way down the spine38; over he went, dead as a door-nail, and a pretty shot it was, though I ought not to say it. This little incident put me into rather a better temper, especially as the buck had rolled right against the after part of the waggon, so I had only to gut39 him, fix a riem round his legs, and haul him up. By the time I had done this the sun was down, and the full moon was up, and a beautiful moon it was. And then there came that wonderful hush40 which sometimes falls over the African bush in the early hours of the night. No beast was moving, and no bird called. Not a breath of air stirred the quiet trees, and the shadows did not even quiver, they only grew. It was very oppressive and very lonely, for there was not a sign of the cattle or the boys. I was quite thankful for the society of old Kaptein, who was lying down contentedly41 against the disselboom, chewing the cud with a good conscience.
“Presently, however, Kaptein began to get restless. First he snorted, then he got up and snorted again. I could not make it out, so like a fool I got down off the waggon-box to have a look round, thinking it might be the lost oxen coming.
“Next instant I regretted it, for all of a sudden I heard a roar and saw something yellow flash past me and light on poor Kaptein. Then came a bellow42 of agony from the ox, and a crunch43 as the lion put his teeth through the poor brute’s neck, and I began to understand what had happened. My rifle was in the waggon, and my first thought was to get hold of it, and I turned and made a bolt for it. I got my foot on the wheel and flung my body forward on to the waggon, and there I stopped as if I were frozen, and no wonder, for as I was about to spring up I heard the lion behind me, and next second I felt the brute, ay, as plainly as I can feel this table. I felt him, I say, sniffing44 at my left leg that was hanging down.
“My word! I did feel queer; I don’t think that I ever felt so queer before. I dared not move for the life of me, and the odd thing was that I seemed to lose power over my leg, which developed an insane sort of inclination45 to kick out of its own mere46 motion—just as hysterical47 people want to laugh when they ought to be particularly solemn. Well, the lion sniffed48 and sniffed, beginning at my ankle and slowly nosing away up to my thigh49. I thought that he was going to get hold then, but he did not. He only growled51 softly, and went back to the ox. Shifting my head a little I got a full view of him. He was about the biggest lion I ever saw,—and I have seen a great many, and he had a most tremendous black mane. What his teeth were like you can see—look there, pretty big ones, ain’t they? Altogether he was a magnificent animal, and as I lay sprawling52 on the fore4 tongue of the waggon, it occurred to me that he would look uncommonly53 well in a cage. He stood there by the carcass of poor Kaptein, and deliberately54 disembowelled him as neatly55 as a butcher could have done. All this while I dared not move, for he kept lifting his head and keeping an eye on me as he licked his bloody56 chops. When he had cleaned Kaptein out he opened his mouth and roared, and I am not exaggerating when I say that the sound shook the waggon. Instantly there came back an answering roar.
“‘Heavens!’ I thought, ‘there is his mate.’
“Hardly was the thought out of my head when I caught sight in the moonlight of the lioness bounding along through the long grass, and after her a couple of cubs58 about the size of mastiffs. She stopped within a few feet of my head, and stood, and waved her tail, and fixed me with her glowing yellow eyes; but just as I thought that it was all over she turned and began to feed on Kaptein, and so did the cubs. There were the four of them within eight feet of me, growling59 and quarrelling, rending60 and tearing, and crunching61 poor Kaptein’s bones; and there I lay shaking with terror, and the cold perspiration62 pouring out of me, feeling like another Daniel come to judgment63 in a new sense of the phrase. Presently the cubs had eaten their fill, and began to get restless. One went round to the back of the waggon and pulled at the Impala buck that hung there, and the other came round my way and commenced the sniffing game at my leg. Indeed, he did more than that, for, my trouser being hitched64 up a little, he began to lick the bare skin with his rough tongue. The more he licked the more he liked it, to judge from his increased vigour65 and the loud purring noise he made. Then I knew that the end had come, for in another second his file-like tongue would have rasped through the skin of my leg—which was luckily pretty tough—and have drawn66 the blood, and then there would be no chance for me. So I just lay there and thought of my sins, and prayed to the Almighty67, and thought that, after all, life was a very enjoyable thing.
“And then all of a sudden I heard a crashing of bushes and the shouting and whistling of men, and there were the two boys coming back with the cattle, which they had found trekking69 along all together. The lions lifted their heads and listened, then without a sound bounded off—and I fainted.
“The lions came back no more that night, and by the next morning my nerves had got pretty straight again; but I was full of wrath70 when I thought of all that I had gone through at the hands, or rather noses, of those four lions, and of the fate of my after-ox Kaptein. He was a splendid ox, and I was very fond of him. So wroth was I that, like a fool, I determined to attack the whole family of them. It was worthy71 of a greenhorn out on his first hunting-trip; but I did it nevertheless. Accordingly after breakfast, having rubbed some oil upon my leg, which was very sore from the cub57’s tongue, I took the driver, Tom, who did not half like the job, and having armed myself with an ordinary double No. 12 smooth-bore, the first breech-loader I ever had, I started. I took the smooth-bore because it shot a bullet very well; and my experience has been that a round ball from a smooth-bore is quite as effective against a lion as an express bullet. The lion is soft, and not a difficult animal to finish if you hit him anywhere in the body. A buck takes far more killing72.
“Well, I started, and the first thing I set to work to do was to try to make out whereabouts the brutes73 lay up for the day. About three hundred yards from the waggon was the crest74 of a rise covered with single mimosa-trees, dotted about in a park-like fashion, and beyond this was a stretch of open plain running down to a dry pan, or water-hole, which covered about an acre of ground, and was densely75 clothed with reeds, now in the sear and yellow leaf. From the farther edge of this pan the ground sloped up again to a great cleft77, or nullah, which had been cut out by the action of the water, and was pretty thickly sprinkled with bush, among which grew some large trees, I forget of what sort.
“It at once struck me that the dry pan would be a likely place to find my friends in, as there is nothing a lion is fonder of than lying up in reeds, through which he can see things without being seen himself. Accordingly thither78 I went and prospected79. Before I had got half-way round the pan I found the remains80 of a blue vilder-beeste that had evidently been killed within the last three or four days and partially81 devoured82 by lions; and from other indications about I was soon assured that if the family were not in the pan that day they spent a good deal of their spare time there. But if there, the question was how to get them out; for it was clearly impossible to think of going in after them unless one was quite determined to commit suicide. Now there was a strong wind blowing from the direction of the waggon, across the reedy pan toward the bush-clad kloof or donga, and this first gave me the idea of firing the reeds, which, as I think I told you, were pretty dry. Accordingly Tom took some matches and began starting little fires to the left, and I did the same to the right. But the reeds were still green at the bottom, and we should never have got them well alight had it not been for the wind, which grew stronger and stronger as the sun climbed higher, and forced the fire into them. At last, after half an hour’s trouble, the flames got a hold, and began to spread out like a fan, whereupon I went round to the farther side of the pan to wait for the lions, standing well out in the open, as we stood at the copse to-day where you shot the woodcock. It was a rather risky thing to do, but I used to be so sure of my shooting in those days that I did not so much mind the risk. Scarcely had I got round when I heard the reeds parting before the onward84 rush of some animal. ‘Now for it,’ said I. On it came. I could see that it was yellow, and prepared for action, when instead of a lion out bounded a beautiful rietbok which had been lying in the shelter of the pan. It must, by the way, have been a rietbok of a peculiarly confiding85 nature to lay itself down with the lion, like the lamb of prophecy, but I suppose the reeds were thick, and that it kept a long way off.
“Well, I let the rietbok go, and it went like the wind, and kept my eyes fixed upon the reeds. The fire was burning like a furnace now; the flames crackling and roaring as they bit into the reeds, sending spouts86 of fire twenty feet and more into the air, and making the hot air dance above it in a way that was perfectly87 dazzling. But the reeds were still half green, and created an enormous quantity of smoke, which came rolling toward me like a curtain, lying very low on account of the wind. Presently, above the crackling of the fire, I heard a startled roar, then another and another. So the lions were at home.
“I was beginning to get excited now, for, as you fellows know, there is nothing in experience to warm up your nerves like a lion at close quarters, unless it is a wounded buffalo88; and I got still more so when I made out through the smoke that the lions were all moving about on the extreme edge of the reeds. Occasionally they would pop their heads out like rabbits from a burrow89, and then, catching90 sight of me standing about fifty yards out, draw them back again. I knew that it must be getting pretty warm behind them, and that they could not keep the game up for long; and I was not mistaken, for suddenly all four of them broke cover together, the old black-maned lion leading by a few yards. I never saw a more splendid sight in all my hunting experience than those four lions bounding across the veldt, overshadowed by the dense76 pall91 of smoke and backed by the fiery92 furnace of the burning reeds.
“I reckoned that they would pass, on their road to the bushy kloof, within about five and twenty yards of me; so, taking a long breath, I got my gun well on to the lion’s shoulder—the black-maned one—so as to allow for an inch or two of motion, and catch him through the heart. I was on, dead on, and my finger was just beginning to tighten93 on the trigger, when suddenly I went blind—a bit of reed-ash had drifted into my right eye. I danced and rubbed, and succeeded in clearing it more or less just in time to see the tail of the last lion vanishing round the bushes up the kloof.
“If ever a man was mad I was that man. It was too bad; and such a shot in the open, too! However, I was not going to be beaten, so I just turned and marched for the kloof. Tom, the driver, begged and implored94 me not to go; but though as a general rule I never pretend to be very brave (which I am not), I was determined that I would either kill those lions or they should kill me. So I told Tom that he need not come unless he liked, but I was going; and being a plucky95 fellow, a Swazi by birth, he shrugged96 his shoulders, muttered that I was mad or bewitched, and followed doggedly97 in my tracks.
“We soon got to the kloof, which was about three hundred yards in length and but sparsely98 wooded, and then the real fun began. There might be a lion behind every bush—there certainly were four lions somewhere; the delicate question was, where. I peeped and poked and looked in every possible direction, with my heart in my mouth, and was at last rewarded by catching a glimpse of something yellow moving behind a bush. At the same moment, from another bush opposite me out burst one of the cubs and galloped99 back toward the burned-out pan. I whipped round and let drive a snap-shot that tipped him head over heels, breaking his back within two inches of the root of the tail, and there he lay helpless but glaring. Tom afterward100 killed him with his assegai. I opened the breech of the gun and hurriedly pulled out the old case, which, to judge from what ensued, must, I suppose, have burst and left a portion of its fabric101 sticking to the barrel. At any rate, when I tried to get in the new case it would only enter half-way; and—would you believe it?—this was the moment that the lioness, attracted no doubt by the outcry of her cub, chose to put in an appearance. There she stood, twenty paces or so from me, lashing102 her tail and looking just as wicked as it is possible to conceive. Slowly I stepped backward, trying to push in the new case, and as I did so she moved on in little runs, dropping down after each run. The danger was imminent103, and the case would not go in. At the moment I oddly enough thought of the cartridge104-maker, whose name I will not mention, and earnestly hoped that if the lion got me some condign105 punishment would overtake him. It would not go in, so I tried to pull it out. It would not come out either, and my gun was useless if I could not shut it to use the other barrel. I might as well have had no gun. Meanwhile I was walking backward, keeping my eye on the lioness, who was creeping forward on her belly106 without a sound, but lashing her tail and keeping her eye on me; and in it I saw that she was coming in a few seconds more. I dashed my wrist and the palm of my hand against the brass107 rim108 of the cartridge till the blood poured from them—look, there are the scars of it to this day!”
Here Quatermain held up his right hand to the light and showed us four or five white cicatrices just where the wrist is set into the hand.
“But it was not of the slightest use,” he went on; “the cartridge would not move. I only hope that no other man will ever be put in such an awful position. The lioness gathered herself together, and I gave myself up for lost, when suddenly Tom shouted out from somewhere in my rear:
“‘You are walking on to the wounded cub; turn to the right.’
“I had the sense, dazed as I was, to take the hint, and slewing109 round at right angles, but still keeping my eyes on the lioness, I continued my backward walk.
“To my intense relief, with a low growl50 she straightened herself, turned, and bounded off farther up the kloof.
“‘Come on, inkoos,’ said Tom, ‘let’s get back to the waggon.’
“‘All right, Tom,’ I answered. ‘I will when I have killed those three other lions,’ for by this time I was bent110 on shooting them as I never remember being bent on anything before or since. ‘You can go if you like, or you can get up a tree.’
“He considered the position a little, and then he very wisely got up a tree. I wish that I had done the same.
“Meanwhile I had found my knife, which had an extractor in it, and succeeded after some difficulty in hauling out the case which had so nearly been the cause of my death, and removing the obstruction111 in the barrel. It was very little thicker than a postage-stamp; certainly not thicker than a piece of writing-paper. This done, I loaded the gun, bound a handkerchief round my wrist and hand to staunch the flowing of the blood, and started on again.
“I had noticed that the lioness went into a thick green bush, or rather cluster of bushes, growing near the water; for there was a little stream running down the kloof, about fifty yards higher up and for this I made. When I got there, however, I could see nothing, so I took up a big stone and threw it into the bushes. I believe that it hit the other cub, for out it came with a rush, giving me a broadside shot, of which I promptly112 availed myself, knocking it over dead. Out, too, came the lioness like a flash of light, but quick as she went I managed to put the other bullet into her ribs113, so that she rolled right over three times like a shot rabbit. I instantly got two more cartridges114 into the gun, and as I did so the lioness rose again and came crawling toward me on her fore paws, roaring and groaning115, and with such an expression of diabolical116 fury on her countenance117 as I have not often seen. I shot her again through the chest, and she fell over on to her side quite dead.
“That was the first and last time that I ever killed a brace118 of lions right and left, and, what is more, I never heard of anybody else doing it. Naturally I was considerably119 pleased with myself, and having again loaded up, I went on to look for the black-maned beauty who had killed Kaptein. Slowly, and with the greatest care, I proceeded up the kloof, searching every bush and tuft of grass as I went. It was wonderfully exciting work, for I never was sure from one moment to another but that he would be on me. I took comfort, however, from the reflection that a lion rarely attacks a man,—rarely, I say; sometimes he does, as you will see,—unless he is cornered or wounded. I must have been nearly an hour hunting after that lion. Once I thought I saw something move in a clump120 of tambouki grass, but I could not be sure, and when I trod out the grass I could not find him.
“At last I worked up to the head of the kloof, which made a cul-de-sac. It was formed of a wall of rock about fifty feet high. Down this rock trickled121 a little waterfall, and in front of it, some seventy feet from its face, was a great piled-up mass of boulders122, in the crevices123 and on the top of which grew ferns, grasses, and stunted124 bushes. This mass was about twenty-five feet high. The sides of the kloof here were also very steep. Well, I came to the top of the nullah and looked all round. No signs of the lion. Evidently I had either overlooked him farther down or he had escaped right away. It was very vexatious; but still three lions were not a bad bag for one gun before dinner, and I was fain to be content. Accordingly I departed back again, making my way round the isolated125 pillar of boulders, beginning to feel, as I did so, that I was pretty well done up with excitement and fatigue126, and should be more so before I had skinned those three lions. When I had got, as nearly as I could judge, about eighteen yards past the pillar or mass of boulders, I turned to have another look round. I have a pretty sharp eye, but I could see nothing at all.
“Then, on a sudden, I saw something sufficiently127 alarming. On the top of the mass of boulders, opposite to me, standing out clear against the rock beyond, was the huge black-maned lion. He had been crouching128 there, and now arose as though by magic. There he stood lashing his tail, just like a living reproduction of the animal on the gateway129 of Northumberland House that I have seen a picture of. But he did not stand long. Before I could fire—before I could do more than get the gun to my shoulder—he sprang straight up and out from the rock, and driven by the impetus130 of that one mighty68 bound came hurtling through the air toward me.
“Heavens! how grand he looked, and how awful! High into the air he flew, describing a great arch. Just as he touched the highest point of his spring I fired. I did not dare to wait, for I saw that he would clear the whole space and land right upon me. Without a sight, almost without aim, I fired, as one would fire a snap-shot at a snipe. The bullet told, for I distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound caused by the passage of the lion through the air. Next second I was swept to the ground (luckily I fell into a low, creeper-clad bush, which broke the shock), and the lion was on the top of me, and the next those great white teeth of his had met in my thigh—I heard them grate against the bone. I yelled out in agony, for I did not feel in the least benumbed and happy, like Dr. Livingstone,—whom, by the way, I knew very well,—and gave myself up for dead. But suddenly, at that moment, the lion’s grip on my thigh loosened, and he stood over me, swaying to and fro, his huge mouth, from which the blood was gushing131, wide opened. Then he roared, and the sound shook the rocks.
“To and fro he swung, and then the great head dropped on me, knocking all the breath from my body, and he was dead. My bullet had entered in the centre of his chest and passed out on the right side of the spine about half way down the back.
“The pain of my wound kept me from fainting, and as soon as I got my breath I managed to drag myself from under him. Thank heavens, his great teeth had not crushed my thigh-bone; but I was losing a great deal of blood, and had it not been for the timely arrival of Tom, with whose aid I got the handkerchief from my wrist and tied it round my leg, twisting it tight with a stick, I think that I should have bled to death.
“Well, it was a just reward for my folly132 in trying to tackle a family of lions single-handed. The odds133 were too long. I have been lame83 ever since, and shall be to my dying day; in the month of March the wound always troubles me a great deal, and every three years it breaks out raw. I need scarcely add that I never traded the lot of ivory at Sikukuni’s. Another man got it—a German—and made five hundred pounds out of it after paying expenses. I spent the next month on the broad of my back, and was a cripple for six months after that. And now I’ve told you the yarn, so I will have a drop of Hollands and go to bed.”
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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abstemious
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| adj.有节制的，节俭的 | |
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6
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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7
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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8
narrating
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| v.故事( narrate的现在分词 ) | |
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9
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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10
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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11
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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12
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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13
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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15
adjured
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| v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求 | |
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16
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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17
waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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18
risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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19
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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20
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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21
reeked
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的过去式和过去分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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22
trek
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| vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行 | |
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23
trekked
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| v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水 | |
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24
blots
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| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
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25
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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26
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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27
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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28
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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29
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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30
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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31
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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32
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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33
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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34
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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35
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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36
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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37
ram
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| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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38
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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39
gut
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| n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏 | |
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40
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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41
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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42
bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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43
crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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44
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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45
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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46
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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47
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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48
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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49
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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50
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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51
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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52
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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53
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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54
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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55
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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56
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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57
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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58
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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59
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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60
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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61
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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62
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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63
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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64
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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65
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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66
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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67
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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68
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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69
trekking
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| v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的现在分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水 | |
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70
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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71
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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72
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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73
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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74
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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75
densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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76
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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77
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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78
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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79
prospected
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| vi.勘探（prospect的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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80
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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81
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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82
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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83
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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84
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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85
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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86
spouts
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| n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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87
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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88
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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89
burrow
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| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
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90
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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91
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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92
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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93
tighten
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| v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧 | |
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94
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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96
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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97
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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98
sparsely
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| adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地 | |
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99
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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100
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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101
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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102
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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103
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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104
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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105
condign
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| adj.应得的，相当的 | |
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106
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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107
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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108
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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109
slewing
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| n.快速定向，快速瞄准v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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111
obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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112
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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113
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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114
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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115
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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116
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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117
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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118
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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119
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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120
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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121
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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122
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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123
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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124
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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125
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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126
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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127
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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128
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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129
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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130
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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131
gushing
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| adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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132
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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