He remembered Cazi Moto squatting1, undoubtedly2 horrified3 to the core.
"Cazi Moto, are you there?"
"Yes, _bwana_."
"Where has the _memsahib_ gone?"
"Into her tent, _bwana_."
"Listen well to me. She has destroyed the medicine. Now we must go back to where _Bwana_ Marefu can come to fix my eyes. We shall go with all the men as far as the people of the _sultani_. There we will leave many porters and many loads. With a few men we will go to Bwana Marefu. When he has fixed4 my eyes, then we will come back. I will fix a _barua_ for _Bwana_. This must be sent on ahead of us so he can come to meet us. Pick two good men for messengers. Is all that understood?"
"Yes, _bwana_."
"Tell me, then, what is to be done?"
Cazi Moto repeated the gist5 of what had been said. Kingozi nodded.
"That is it."
"_Bwana?_" Cazi Moto hesitated.
"Yes. Speak."
"That woman. Shall she be _kibokoed_ or killed?"
Kingozi caught back a chuckle6.
"No," he said gravely. "That will wait for later. But see that she is watched; do not permit her to talk to her men; take all her guns and pistols, and bring them to me."
"And this Chake?"
"Of course." Kingozi had really forgotten the man in the concentrations of the past few hours. "Let him be brought before me an hour before sundown."
He found himself all at once overcome with sleep. Hardly was he able to stagger to his cot before he fell into a deep, refreshing7 slumber8.
At the appointed hour Cazi Moto scratched on his tent door. Kingozi arose and walked confidently into the opening. Cazi Moto deftly9 indicated the location of the chair. Kingozi sat down.
Although he could not see, he visualized10 the scene well enough. Immediately in front of him, and ten feet away, stood the manacled Nubian, with an armed man at either elbow. Behind them, in turn, were grouped silently all the combined safaris12. At his own elbows stood Cazi Moto and Simba--possibly Mali-ya-bwana.
He allowed an impressive wait to ensue. Then abruptly13 he began his interrogation. He had been thinking over the circumstances, off and on, since last night, and had determined14 on his line. Ordinarily he would have called for witnesses of various sorts, but this would have been not at all for the purpose of piling up evidence against the accused. That is the civilized15 fashion; and is superfluous16 among savages17. Kingozi's witnesses would have been called solely18 for the purpose of furnishing information to himself. He needed only one piece of information here, and that only one witness could furnish him--the man before him.
"Why did you kill Mavrouki?" he demanded.
"I did not kill Mavrouki, _bwana_."
"That is a lie," rejoined Kingozi calmly.
Chake became voluble.
"All night I sat by my fire cooking _potio_ and meat," he protested. "This the _askaris_ will tell you. And my spear lay in the tent with the _askaris_," he went on at great length, repeating these two points, babbling19, protesting, pleading. Kingozi listened to him in dead silence until he had quite run down.
"Listen," said he impressively, "all these words are lies. This is what happened: from one of the _shenzis_ you traded a spear, or a spear was given you. Your own spear you left in the tent. All day you sat in the grass and sharpened the _shenzi_ spear." This was a wild guess, based on probabilities, but by the uneasy stir in the throng20 Kingozi knew he had scored. "Then at night you waited, and you speared Mavrouki with the _shenzi_ spear, and you left it in his back, for you said to yourself, 'men will think a _shenzi_ has done this thing.' Then you went quietly to your fire, and cooked _potio_, and your own spear was all the time where the _askaris_ were lying."
Kingozi paused. He knew without Cazi Moto's whispered assurance that every shot had told. It was a simple bit of deduction21, but to these simpler minds it seemed miraculous22.
"Why did you wish to kill me?" he demanded.
The Nubian, taken completely by surprise, began to chatter23 with fright.
"I did not wish to kill you, _bwana_. I wished to kill Mavrouki."
"That is a lie," said Kingozi equably. "Why should you wait for Mavrouki near my tent? Was Mavrouki my gun bearer, or even my cook, that he should come to my tent? Mavrouki was a porter, and if you wished to kill Mavrouki you would wait by the porters' camp."
He said these words slowly, without emphasis, in almost a detached manner. By the murmur24 he knew that this amazing reasoning had, as usual, struck the men with deep astonishment25. The African native is a simple creature. He waited a full minute.
"Mavrouki wore a khaki coat. He and I were the only people of all the safari11 who had khaki coats. That is why in the darkness you mistook Mavrouki for me. That is why you killed Mavrouki."
He said this in a firm voice, as though making an indisputable statement. The buzz of low-voiced comment increased. This time he did not pause.
"Why did you wish to kill me?" he repeated.
But again he sensed the fact that Chake had taken refuge in the dull stupidity that is an acknowledgment of defeat. He knew that he would get no more replies. After waiting a few moments he went on. His voice had become weighty with authority and measured with doom26.
"You will not tell. Let it be so. And now listen; and you other safari men listen also. Because you have wished to kill me, you shall have two hundred lashes27 with the _kiboko_; and then you shall be hanged."
A moment of horror was followed by a low murmur of comment. Not a man there but realized that the unfortunate Nubian would never live to be hanged. A punishment of twenty-five is as much as the most stoical can stand in silence; fifty as much as can be absorbed without permanent injury; seventy-five an extreme resorted to on a very few desperately28 rare occasions. Beyond that no experience taught the result. Kingozi's sentence was equivalent to death by torture.
He leaned forward in his chair, listening intently. He heard his victim's gasp29, the mutter of the crowd. They passed him by. Then he sank back, a half smile on his lips. He had caught the rustle30 of silks, the indignant breathing of a woman. He knew that Bibi-ya-chui stood before him.
"But this is atrocious!" she cried. "This cannot go on!"
"It shall go on," he replied steadily31. "Why not?"
"He is my man. I forbid it!"
"He is my man to punish when he attempts my life."
"I shall prevent this--this--oh, this outrage32!"
"How?" he asked calmly.
She turned to the men and began to talk to them in Swahili, repeating emphatically what she had just said to Kingozi in English, uttering her commands. They were received in a dead silence.
"You have heard the _memsahib_ speak, you men of the _memsahib's_ safari," remarked Kingozi; then: "You, Jack33, whom I made chief of _askaris_, you speak."
"What does the _bwana_ say of this?" came Jack's deep voice after a moment.
"You have heard."
"What the _bwana_ says is law."
"Does any man of you think differently? Speak!"
No voice answered. Kingozi turned to where, he knew, the Leopard34 Woman stood.
"You see?"
He heard only a choked sob35 of rage and impotence. After waiting a minute he resumed:
"Do my command. Let three men, in turn, give the _kiboko_. You, Simba, see that they strike hard."
A faint clink of manacles indicated that the guards had laid hands on their victim.
"Wait!" cried the Leopard Woman in a strangled voice.
Kingozi raised his hand.
"You--you brute36!" she cried. "You shall not do this! Chake is not to blame! It is I--I, who speak. I did this. I ordered him to kill you. I alone should be punished!"
He drew a deep breath.
"I thought so," he said softly; then in Swahili: "These are my orders. Let this man be well guarded. Let him be treated well, and given _potio_ and meat. He shall be punished later. And now," he turned to Bibi-ya-chui in English again, "let us drop the excitement and the hysterics. Let us sit down calmly and discuss the matter. Perhaps you are now ready to tell me why you have lied to me; why you have concealed37 your possession of a secret map and other information; why you have deliberately38 delayed my march; and, above all, why you have refused to aid my blindness and have attempted to kill me."
收听单词发音 |
1
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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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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gist
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| n.要旨；梗概 | |
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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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7
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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visualized
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| 直观的，直视的 | |
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safari
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| n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队 | |
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safaris
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| n.游猎，陆路旅行（尤指在东非或中非）( safari的名词复数 )；类似游猎的假日旅行 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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33
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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