登陆注册
5271100000016

第16章 Chapter I.(16)

In those days, which men reck not of now, man, when he hungered, fed on the flesh of his fellow man and found it sweet. Yet even in those days it came to pass that there was one whose head was higher than her fellows and her thought keener, and, as she picked the flesh from a human skull, she pondered. And so it came to pass the next night, when men were gathered around the fire ready to eat, that she stole away, and when they went to the tree where the victim was bound, they found him gone. And they cried one to another, 'She, only she, has done this, who has always said, 'I like not the taste of man-flesh; men are too like me; I cannot eat them.' 'She is mad,' they cried; 'let us kill her!' So, in those dim, misty times that men reck not of now, that they hardly believe in, that woman died. But in the heads of certain men and women a new thought had taken root; they said, 'We also will not eat of her. There is something evil in the taste of human flesh.' And ever after, when the fleshpots were filled with man-flesh, these stood aside, and half the tribe ate human flesh and half not; then, as the years passed, none ate.

"Even in those days, which men reck not of now, when men fell easily open their hands and knees, they were of us on the earth. And, if you would learn a secret, even before man trod here, in the days when the dicynodont bent yearningly over her young, and the river-horse which you find now nowhere on earth's surface, save buried in stone, called with love to his mate; and the birds whose footprints are on the rocks flew in the sunshine calling joyfully to one another--even in those days when man was not, the fore-dawn of this kingdom had broken on the earth. And still as the sun rises and sets and the planets journey round, we grow and grow."

The stranger rose from the fire, and stood upright: around him, and behind him, the darkness stood out.

"All earth is ours. And the day shall come, when the stars, looking down on this little world, shall see no spot where the soil is moist and dark with the blood of man shed by his fellow man; the sun shall rise in the East and set in the West and shed his light across this little globe; and nowhere shall he see man crushed by his fellows. And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

And instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and man shall nowhere crush man on all the holy earth. Tomorrow's sun shall rise," said the stranger, "and it shall flood these dark kopjes with light, and the rocks shall glint in it.

Not more certain is that rising than the coming of that day. And I say to you that even here, in the land where now we stand, where today the cries of the wounded and the curses of revenge ring in the air; even here, in this land where man creeps on his belly to wound his fellow in the dark, and where an acre of gold is worth a thousand souls, and a reef of shining dirt is worth half a people, and the vultures are heavy with man's flesh--even here that day shall come. I tell you, Peter Simon Halket, that here on the spot where now we stand shall be raised a temple. Man shall not gather in it to worship that which divides; but they shall stand in it shoulder to shoulder, white man with black, and the stranger with the inhabitant of the land; and the place shall be holy; for men shall say, 'Are we not brethren and the sons of one Father?'"

Peter Halket looked upward silently. And the stranger said: "Certain men slept upon a plain, and the night was chill and dark. And, as they slept, at that hour when night is darkest, one stirred. Far off to the eastward, through his half-closed eyelids, he saw, as it were, one faint line, thin as a hair's width, that edged the hill tops. And he whispered in the darkness to his fellows: 'The dawn is coming.' But they, with fast-closed eyelids murmured, 'He lies, there is no dawn.'

"Nevertheless, day broke."

The stranger was silent. The fire burnt up in red tongues of flame that neither flickered nor flared in the still night air. Peter Halket crept near to the stranger.

"When will that time be?" he whispered; "in a thousand years' time?"

And the stranger answered, "A thousand years are but as our yesterday's journey, or as our watch tonight, which draws already to its close. See, piled, these rocks on which we now stand? The ages have been young and they have grown old since they have lain here. Half that time shall not pass before that time comes; I have seen its dawning already in the hearts of men."

Peter moved nearer, so that he almost knelt at the stranger's feet: his gun lay on the ground at the other side of the fire.

"I would like to be one of your men," he said. "I am tired of belonging to the Chartered Company."

The stranger looked down gently. "Peter Simon Halket," he said, "can you bear the weight?"

And Peter said, "Give me work, that I may try."

There was silence for a time; then the stranger said, "Peter Simon Halket, take a message to England"--Peter Halket started--"Go to that great people and cry aloud to it: 'Where is the sword was given into your hand, that with it you might enforce justice and deal out mercy? How came you to give it up into the hands of men whose search is gold, whose thirst is wealth, to whom men's souls and bodies are counters in a game? How came you to give up the folk that were given into your hands, into the hand of the speculator and the gamester; as though they were dumb beasts who might be bought or sold?

"'Take back your sword, Great People--but wipe it first, lest some of the gold and blood stick to your hand.

"'What is this, I see!--the sword of the Great People, transformed to burrow earth for gold, as the snouts of swine for earth nuts! Have you no other use for it, Great Folk?

"'Take back your sword; and, when you have thoroughly cleansed it and wiped it of the blood and mire, then raise it to set free the oppressed of other climes.

同类推荐
  • John Bull on the Guadalquivir

    John Bull on the Guadalquivir

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 东山国语

    东山国语

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 灵鬼志

    灵鬼志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Naturalist on the River Amazons

    The Naturalist on the River Amazons

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 沙弥尼律仪要略

    沙弥尼律仪要略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 海棠花开又一朝

    海棠花开又一朝

    她,为人冷漠,善于心计,洞晓世间一切,对任何事情都能了若指掌,她能看透任何人的想法却从不点破,看似孱弱的她,其实早已无形中下了一盘很大的棋,几乎所有人都是她手中的执起的棋子。
  • 专攻男主系统

    专攻男主系统

    【新文,魔帝宠妃:神医从天降!】 “叮!宿主已同意绑定本系统!正在绑定……”喂喂,她什么时候同意绑定了啊!某人挥泪投诉。咳咳,好吧,既然绑定了就算了吧,反正她待着也无聊,还不如去做做任务消磨一下时间……什么酷帅校草,腹黑总裁,温柔竹马,纯情王子,高冷师傅,网游大神……统统都来吧!只有你想不到,没有我叶筱沫做不到的!来一个我扑倒一个!姿势绝对帅,速度绝对快!
  • 田园医女娉婷传

    田园医女娉婷传

    女医生重生古代农家俏萝莉,秀雅娉婷,冰雪聪明。奈何家中贫困,她在家做牛做马,机缘巧合之下,她得了随身空间,利用空间发家致富,斗极品亲戚,医好傻妹妹,带着妹妹分家做生意赚银子,置地买房,念书院,建马场,开医馆,姐妹俩的日子过的风生水起,金银财宝滚滚来,美男纷纷来求亲,好吧,那姐抛绣球择相公吧,那帅哥谁?抢到绣球了!他,国公府嫡子,丰神俊朗,腹黑冷酷,文武双全,乃敌军闻风丧胆的旷世名将,他对她说,我以真心宠她,爱她,娶她,从此一生一世一双人……他,大楚太子,霸气慵懒,浅浅一笑间,杀人于无形,他踏上鲜血和白骨筑就的帝王宝座,回眸间只有她的倾城一笑才能暖他的心……他,楼兰太子,一颦一笑,风姿若仙,运筹帷幄,决胜千里之外,本想与她再续前缘,奈何她有空间在手,追求她的情路何其坎坷?他,或侯府公子,或神秘身份……他,他……爱!或被爱!几段宿世情缘,她又该何去何从?本文一对一!古代温馨种田文,甜宠、赚钱、过日子!偶尔斗斗极品炮灰!某抽风精彩片段:“启禀主公,刚才夫人让凝香搜集一兜的鸟粪往裴世子的脑袋上砸上去了。”鬼三下跪着禀报给某男听。“倒是娉婷的作风,就我说,娉婷这么做还不够心狠,这样吧,你们几个去多找些鸟粪,马粪,然后一股脑儿扔去归伯侯府,不把归伯侯府给弄个臭气熏天,都别给我回来。”某男闻言非但不生气,还宠溺的含笑道。妈呀,要怎么样才算心狠?鬼三无语望天。但是再怎么样无语,也得按照主公的吩咐去做。某男心道:我的媳妇儿做什么都是好的,你要用鸟粪对付渣男,我做你相公的怎么好落后,就用个鸟粪还便宜了那一家子。这样吧,咱再加个马粪还凑合吧。希望归伯侯府好好享受府内臭气熏天的“美好”氛围!
  • 地球“发烧”了(趣味地理卷)

    地球“发烧”了(趣味地理卷)

    地理是研究地球表面各种自然现象、人文现象以及它们之间的相互关系和区域差异的学科,是最美丽的科学,也是与我们的生活联系最紧密的科学。为什么这样说呢?
  • 尘封的罪恶

    尘封的罪恶

    刀鞘的武器就是一把锈迹斑斑的刀鞘,四寸宽,七寸长,弯似牛角。刀鞘凭他手中这把没有任何杀伤力的不是武器的武器,穿梭于东南亚和云南、广西边界,力挫群雄,无往不胜。他声称,江湖上谁能将自己的兵刃插入他的刀鞘,他不仅让出武林第一帮“无刀帮”帮主的宝座,并且赠银百万。若是败在他手中,则将兵刃留下。
  • 不屈的灵魂战神

    不屈的灵魂战神

    我不愿平凡,不愿屈服,我要成为世界之主,杀掉一切不顺眼的人,我就是我,不屈的我。
  • 异域之星球领主

    异域之星球领主

    因为一次意外身不由己的穿越,使他被迫降临到一个陌生的星球,并且在一个低位面的环境下生存,经过努力得到改变之时,家园却遭受异族及其走狗侵犯,最终经过艰苦卓绝的努力战胜来犯之敌,自己也成功荣膺成为星际领主。
  • 礼仪金说4:公关礼仪

    礼仪金说4:公关礼仪

    进入21世纪,公关礼仪在企业的公共关系、形象宣传、品牌推广和市场营销领域正发挥着越来越重要的作用。
  • 都市极术鬼才

    都市极术鬼才

    【火热免费新书】街角一位带着墨镜的算命先生仔细端详着面前的祭晨:“小伙子,你身份扑朔,悟值看起来一般,也没有什么特殊的慧根,更加没有无敌系统,就你这样还想称霸华夏国?”“人总归是要有梦想的嘛,不如来看看没有系统的我如何在都市混出一番天地?”祭晨笑的是那么的人畜无害。
  • 漫威实力派英雄

    漫威实力派英雄

    “请问您作为复仇者联盟中最强超级英雄,觉得和其他像钢铁侠、美国队长的最大区别是什么?”美国《时代周刊》记者强忍住不去看亚瑟王那颗反射着刺眼光芒的光头调侃道。“我觉得最大的区别是:我是实力派英雄,其他人大部分时候是表演派!”亚瑟一边吃着美味的香蕉一边认真思考了下。半晌后回答道。“请问这两者有什么区别吗?”女记者嘴角抽搐的问出了所有观众的心声。“区别就是他们的战斗极具观赏性和戏剧性。而我的战斗则是极具破坏力,并且完全碾压对手!”(第一次写书,望各位读者大大多提意见)