Читать книгу Caesar & Hussein - Patrick O’Brian - Страница 13

I awoke with a start fairly late in the afternoon, with a sense of danger near me. Seeing nothing, I began to stretch myself and wash.

But I was interrupted by a low hiss, and turning I looked into the face of a large king cobra, which was coiled for a spring, not at me, however, but at something behind me, and towards the left.

Turning sharply, I saw a little brown man crouched like a monkey in some long grass. Then the cobra struck, its head shooting over my tail like a whip-lash. It missed, for the man had dodged to one side and had hit it on the back of the head with a bent stick, and the snake lay motionless on the ground.

All this only took about half a minute, however, but I had time to back out without being seen, for I had never seen any animal like this who could dodge the fastest thing in the jungle.

From my place up a tree which I climbed, I saw him follow my tracks round the rock towards me. Then I lost sight of him, but feeling uneasy I left my tree and concealed myself in the rushes.

Soon I saw him come out of the brushwood, bent double and staring around him. Then he saw a place where I had put my foot in a little patch of mud. He ran to it, and after inspecting it some time he rose with a little whistle of surprise, and disappeared again in the bushes.

Soon after that I came out, feeling hungry. As I have said before, the rock on which I had been lying was over a small pool, and now as it was evening I hoped that some game might come down to drink. So, hiding near the banks, I waited.

In about half an hour there came a sounder of pigs led by a vast boar. Having had some little experience of these boars I knew that it would be better not to touch him or his family, so I let them alone.

Then the pigs began to drink. A few minutes passed, and with a roar a large tiger leapt out of the bushes opposite to me, and the pigs scattered.

One little one ran straight to me, and I secured it without any noise. All the pigs fled except the boar, who stood facing the tiger who, after circling around for a moment, charged.

The boar with great speed leaped to one side, at the same time getting in a blow with his long tusks which opened up the skin from the tiger’s shoulder to half way down the ribs. Then before he could recover the boar had swung round and gored him again.

The tiger roared and began to circle round slowly and cautiously — and then he leapt. The boar was too slow, and lost part of his right shoulder. The tiger retreated and continued these tactics for some time, circling and dashing in and back again.

After a while the boar was a sorry sight; all his head and shoulders were bleeding and the blood obscured his vision.

The tiger suddenly leapt in again, but he over-reached himself, missing his mark as he struck, and the boar, with a grunt, lowered his head, and with lightning speed ripped up the tiger.

As he fell, the boar with one great raking thrust completely disembowelled his adversary, who lay kicking on the ground. The boar drew off and soon the tiger’s struggles ceased and he lay dead.

Then the boar crawled away into the bushes opposite me, and soon after I saw two jackals near the place. In a few moments five more had come, and from the sky the vultures and crows were coming.

Soon I had finished my pig, and I walked out into the open.

As soon as they saw me the cloud of crows and vultures rose and settled on all the trees around. I looked at the tiger’s body and saw beside the main wounds innumerable others all over him.

Having inspected the tiger I went farther south on the trail of some deer. I followed this trail along through what seemed like a beaten track or path until I came to a kind of cross-roads, where another set of deer tracks converged on to the main one. Further along still, I found some more which led into it, and I could tell by the scent that I was coming near to the deer.

Then quite suddenly the sun set and the afterglow set in, and after about five minutes the darkness began to close in.

A month ago I would have been looking for a sleeping-place, but now, oddly enough, I took little notice, for I was growing up and knew that the hunting time for the big carnivores is the night.

I saw the fireflies dancing in among the grasses in front of me, and vaguely I wondered where they got the light from. As I travelled along the deer trails I began to notice a scent in the air which I did not recognise, and as I progressed the smell grew more powerful, until at last I knew I must be very near the beast, whatever it was.

Then breaking through some bushes (I had left the path in my curiosity) I emerged into a clearance, where I saw a huge black shape standing still in a corner.

It was an elephant, and what is more it was a rogue elephant, or a mad one which had been driven from the herd. It raised its trunk as it caught my scent, and seemed puzzled.

Then the moon rose and showed me up. He saw me, and I saw that his little red eyes glittered in the pale light, which also shone on his huge tusks. All at once the great beast came at me with its trunk curled in the air, as fast as the forest fire and as silent as a snake. With its great ears spread wide it was on me before I had time to spring properly, and I received a shattering blow in the side from the powerful trunk which knocked me into a thorn bush.

I roared with pain, but I had barely time to scramble to my feet when the elephant turned and charged again. This time I managed to claw my way on to his great broad neck, and there I endeavoured to tear him to small pieces.

I had reckoned without the trunk, however, which flicked me off like a mosquito, and I fell to the ground with a thump. Feeling very dazed as I struggled to my feet, I heard the elephant charge on for a little way. Then he stopped and, turning, began to search for me.

I kept quite still, hoping that he would miss me. As the elephant came nearer I noticed something moving in the bushes near me, and the elephant saw it too for he turned off towards it with a rush.

A large black panther leapt out into the clearing, his tail switching his sides.

I knew there must be something wrong with him. Then in the moonlight I saw that his flanks were full of arrows. The two mad beasts stood glaring for a second, and then the elephant, trumpeting shrilly, charged. The panther sprang straight up at his face, but was seized at once in a grip of iron by the elephant’s trunk, whirled aloft, and dashed with a sickening thud against a tree. The elephant then knelt on the body, breaking every bone in it, and gored it with his tusks, which showed red in the moonlight.

I did not stay any longer, but slipped noiselessly away. The wind was blowing in my direction, and I knew that he would not scent me.

I quickly regained the path made by the deer, and feeling very stiff and bruised I sat down under the cover of a bush and licked myself all over, pulling out many thorns from my body, after which I felt better and continued to follow my original trail.

After some time I came to a large river where all the tracks disappeared, and I saw that the herds must have crossed here.

I did not feel up to crossing the broad stream, so I turned back along the path by which I had come until I came to another track which crossed the main one. This I followed up, and at last I came upon a sambhur doe sleeping; and creeping round a tree near her I climbed it, and I was able by crawling along an overhanging branch to spring straight on to her back, and I despatched her at once.

I made my meal where I was, and having gorged my fill I reascended the tree, and finding a comfortable crotch about twenty feet from the ground, I watched the glowing eyes of the jackals close in round the remnants of my feast.