Читать книгу Chaka - Thomas Mofolo - Страница 8

Chaka Kills a Lion

ONE DAY when Chaka was still a young lad, an uncircumcised little bullock, he took the cattle out to the pastures very early in the morning, before they were milked. As day-break approached, he and his herds were in the mountain pass which overlooked several fields which lay huddled together below. Little did he realise as he drove out his herds that a lion had raided one fold in the very village where he lived, taken a young calf and dragged it away. It appeared that, having eaten its fill, it had noticed that it was almost daybreak, and then decided to lie down right where it was, taking advantage of the extremely tall grass. Chaka went with his cattle, not aware that he was walking in the tracks of such a fearsome beast. Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, the cattle turned about and fled all the way back home. He remained there wondering what this portended, or what they had seen. Seeing he had no other alternative, he followed them back to the village.

At that time the sun was about to rise, and the people at home saw the cattle scattering away from him, and they knew that the beasts had seen a lion because the owners of the fold which it had plundered during the night were busy narrating to the others the happenings of that night, at that very moment when the cattle fled. And even as they were talking to each other, they saw the lion moving away from a spot near where the cattle were, and gliding towards the forest, but, since the forest was too far, it lay down again in the tall grass, near a large bush.

Chaka arrived as the men were planning to go after it, and he went with them. They formed a large semicircle and walked very close to each other so that the lion should be confused and not know whom to attack first. When they disappeared, it moved away from where it was, but far from running away, it came towards them, yet camouflaging its direction by moving in zigzag patterns across their path. And then, when it was about to become exposed to their view, it crouched and waited for them to arrive. They came walking briskly, close to each other, and they were continually speaking words of encouragement to one another stressing that no one should slack behind, and that, if it jumped on one of them, the others should immediately rush to the rescue and help the victim. No one was to run away. They walked on, feeling extremely tense and cold with fear, their hair standing on end since they could feel that they were about to come face to face with a ferocious beast. And even as they were supporting each other with their words, they suddenly heard it roaring right there very close to them, and it was clear that it was leaping to the attack at the same time. It just went hum-m-m, and it was already in their midst:

O, Tawny One, brother of Mothebele, rise up,

O, Tawny One, fawn-coloured king of the wilds,

Why, you eat not what belongs to men,

But eat, for your part, the sleepers-in-the-veld!

A nephew bereft of uncles

Kills and lays claim to all the booty.

Gracious! They scattered in all directions and they ran helter-skelter, most of them in the direction of the village. Many had not even seen it, but had only heard its roar. Each took his own direction, some running downhill, others uphill, others across, some directly back to the village. Indeed that very one who had been speaking encouragement to the others was the one to start running first, though in truth the poor man could not really be said to have been the first to run since they all took off at the same time. When it jumped, the lion caught one man, hurled him to the ground and stood on top of him. Chaka came running from one of the farther ranks. He tried to stop one man so that they should both go to the rescue of the victim, but it was obvious that this man had no speech left, and neither did he have time since he was so preoccupied with the business of running away. Chaka went running and shouting so that the lion should hear that someone was coming and not kill that poor man immediately.

As he came closer, but still being a long distance away, it roared once more, and that roar made those who were running away add more speed to their flight in the belief that the lion had been following them all the time, and was now close behind them. It roared so that the earth seemed to tremble, and that roar reverberated in the stomachs of the cowards as they fled. And as it roared, it was already leaping to the attack, the yellow calf, wild beast of the forests; it jumped with its mane bristling, its eyes staring, its tail taut, and its claws bared, ready to devour a man. It jumped once, and with the second jump it was already on him.

Chaka waited for it without fear. It came, it jumped. When it was in midair he shifted his position ever so slightly, and on landing it dug its claws into the ground where he had stood, having been unable to change its direction while in the air since it was not a bird. But even while it was still in the air, before it reached the ground, just as it came close to him, he plunged his back-and-white spear into a vital spot just under its shoulder blade, and when it fell on the ground, it fell for good. At that moment, when it was in the final throes of death, its roaring was something indescribable. Chaka looked at it without showing any fear, and it was not as if he was looking at a ferocious beast, one that was attacking him besides. When Chaka stabbed it, the vanguard of the men was already entering the village, and its blood-curdling final roar made them fling themselves into the houses without even looking back, and they pulled the doors shut and tied them securely, leaving the children and the women outside where they were standing. To them it was as if the lion was now in the middle of the village. The noise of the women outside was, to them, like the screams of those whom it was killing, and they therefore went on tying the doors even more tightly.

Chaka now went forward to see the man the lion had attacked first, but when he came to him he found that everything belonged to yesterday. This surprised him because he had not delayed. What had in fact happened, however, was that, in attacking him, the lion had snapped his cervical spine with its claws. Indeed the lion itself, as it stood on top of him, believed he was still alive, not realising that his life was a thing of the day before yesterday.

The men’s flight home was like “he-who-has-no-speed-will-be-left-behind” and “don’t-pass-me-and-I-won’t-pass-you”, and they did not even know which one of them had been killed. The women were the ones who saw everything clearly because they were watching from a distance, and were not running away. When they saw that Chaka had killed it, they told the men in the houses and urged them to come out and help him carry it, but the men swore that the lion was hiding in the grass, since no young man of such tender years could have killed it. This they said because they saw Chaka still alive.

Chaka waited and waited. In the end, when he realised that no one was coming, he shouted and announced that the lion was dead. The men now began to believe that it was indeed dead. But now a feeling of shame overtook them, shame caused by their act of leaving a man in the claws of a wild beast, and the fact that that beast had been killed by a young lad whose chin was yet smooth, who had not yet fought in any wars. They found it difficult to go, and the women, particularly the younger ones, seeing that the men were not going, started on the path leading there. Only then did some men go, but others were overcome by shame, and they stayed in the village.

The lion was carried unskinned to Senzangakhona at Nobamba, and he in turn passed it on to the overlord Dingiswayo, since Jobe was already dead. He said, a hyena is eaten only in the royal village. He sent word saying that that beast had been killed by his son Chaka all by himself, after all the men had run away. He spoke those words without realising that he was thereby cultivating goodwill for Chaka in the king’s heart.

That lion brought envy into the village. The men and the young men were seized with shame when Chaka was being singled out for praise, and especially when it was said that they ran away and bolted themselves up in their houses. The young women composed a song on that day which said:

Here at our home, at Ncube’s, there are no young men,

There is but one young man of worth;

Here at our home, at Ncube’s, there are no men,

For all the men here are cowards.

They ran away leaving their agemate in the field,

Leaving their comrade wrestling with a wild beast,

Gripping a lion by its jaws.

Senzangakhona has no men, they will desert him and he will be killed.

O, Senzangakhona, come fetch your child and take him home,

He is a male child, a shield-bearer,

He will fight for you and conquer your enemies.

They always sang that song where there were many people, and this they did intentionally, with a purpose. The women, Nandi’s agemates, also composed their own song which ended:

True men are gone, we remain with strange beings,

We remain with men-like beings who are not men!

What can we do with Chaka, a mere child?

Women of Ncube’s village behold, a wonder!

The women of Senzangakhona’s house are useless,

A woman is Nandi, she alone,

For she has born a male child in all respects.

The reader should read these words bearing in mind that there is nothing more humiliating for a man than to be sung about by the women in mockery and contempt, nor, on the other hand, is there anything as pleasing as when they sing about him in praise. We are talking about those days of our fathers, not these modern times.

Those two songs generated a bad feeling among the men and the youths when they realised that the young girls would be attracted towards Chaka and they would not receive any more attention. Besides, in those days the women were not attracted by a man however handsome he might be if he was a coward. A woman’s aim was to find someone who was a man indeed in battle, a true brave when spears were being wielded, or when occasions of precisely this nature arose. Such a one, however ugly he might be, was loved, and songs were composed to praise him and deride the others. In a way we cannot blame them for being like that, because those were days of might. A woman who wanted to be well protected had to find herself a man of that calibre, who was feared by others, a truly tough fellow.

That evil spirit spread until it influenced people like Mfokazana, and all of them plotted to kill Chaka, no matter in how cruel a manner, perhaps at some feast where he might be present. Senzangakhona’s senior wives, in their turn, alleged that the women of Ncube’s village had insulted them with their songs, and they urged Senzangakhona to intervene on their behalf. While matters were in that state, a messenger from Dingiswayo came to Senzangakhona and said: “Dingiswayo greets you. He wishes to know why you have not brought before him the young man whose birth you reported to his father, Jobe, so that he should see him and know him. He says that he is very thankful for the wild beast you sent him, and urges you to send Chaka to him so that he may also bring back with him the young bullock with which he wishes to thank you.”

This message from Dingiswayo blunted the anger of the wives and of the men of Ncube’s village. They all realised that if Chaka should die, Dingiswayo would demand him from them. Chaka himself also heard about Dingiswayo’s message, but for his part waited expectantly for word from his father, but his father remained silent till this very day that is shining above. In those days Chaka still trusted his father a great deal, and he was sure the day would come when he would straighten out his affairs for him. Little did he know that the sun would never rise to light that day. The affairs of his life eventually moulded themselves and took their own course, while his father maintained his silence. Indeed it was evident that, instead of working for Chaka’s welfare, he was fanning the brushfire so that it should burn him.