登陆注册
5381600000031

第31章

I asked what size the land was, and how many people lived in it.She answered that there were ten "households," like this that she knew of, including the big "household," where the queen was; that all the "households" lived in caves, in places resembling this stretch of raised country, dotted about in a vast extent of swamp, which was only to be threaded by secret paths.Often the "households" made war on each other until _i_ She _i_ sent word that it was to stop, and then they instantly ceased.That and the fever which they caught in crossing the swamps prevented their numbers from increasing too much.They had no connection with any other race, indeed none lived near them, or were able to thread the vast swamps.Once an army from the direction of the great river (presumably the Zambesi) had attempted to attack them, but they got lost in the marshes, and at night, seeing the great balls of fire that move about there, tried to come to them, thinking that they marked the enemy's camp, and half of them were drowned.As for the rest, they soon died of fever and starvation, not a blow being struck at them.The marshes, she told us, were absolutely impassable except to those who knew the paths, adding, what I could well believe, that we should never have reached this place where we then were had we not been brought thither.

These and many other things we learned from Ustane during the four days pause before our real adventures began gave us considerable cause for thought.The whole thing was exceedingly remarkable, almost incredibly so, indeed, and the oddest part of it was that so far it did more or less correspond to the ancient writing on the sherd.And now it appeared that there was a mysterious queen clothed by rumor with dread and wonderful attributes, and commonly known by the impersonal but, to my mind, rather awesome title of _i_ She _i_.Altogether, I could not make it out, nor could Leo, though of course he was exceedingly triumphant over me because I had persistently mocked at the whole thing.As for Job, he had long since abandoned any attempt to call his reason his own, and left it to drift on the sea of circumstance.Mahomed, the Arab, who was, by the way, treated civilly indeed, but with chilling contempt, by the Amahagger, was, Idiscovered, in a great fright, though I could not quite make out what he was frightened about.He would sit crouched in a corner of the cave all day long, calling upon Allah and the Prophet to protect him.

When I pressed him about it, he said that he was afraid because these people were not men and women at all, but devils, and that this was an enchanted land;and, upon my word, once or twice since then I have been inclined to agree with him.And so the time went on, till the night of the fourth day after Billali had left, when something happened.

We three and Ustane were sitting round a fire in the cave just before bedtime, when suddenly the woman, who had been brooding in silence, rose, and laid her hand upon Leo's golden curls, and addressed him.Even now, when I shut my eyes, I can see her proud, imperial form, clothed alternately in dense shadow and the red flickering of the fire, as she stood, the wild centre of as weird a scene as I ever witnessed, and delivered herself of the burden of her thoughts and forebodings in a kind of rhythmical speech that ran something follows:

[poem in italics]

"Thou art my chosenI have waited for thee from the beginning!

Thou art very beautiful.Who hath hair like unto thee, or skin so white?

Who hath so strong an arm, who is so much a man.

Thine eyes are the sky, and the light in them is the stars.

Thou art perfect and of a happy face, and my heart turned itself towards thee.

Ay, when mine eyes fell on thee I did desire theeThen did I take thee to methou, my Beloved, And hold thee fast, lest harm should come unto thee.

Ay, I did cover thine head with mine hair, lest the sun should strike it;And altogether was I thine, and thou wast altogether mine.

And so it went for a little space, till Time was in labor with an evil Day;And then what befell on that day?

Alas! my Beloved, I know not!

But I, I saw thee no moreI, I was lost in the blackness.

And she who is stronger did take thee;

ay, she who is fairer than Ustane.

Yet didst thou turn and call upon me, and let thine eyes wander in the darkness.

But, nevertheless, she prevailed by Beauty, and led thee down horrible places, And then, ah! then my Beloved"Here this extraordinary woman broke off her speech, or chant, which was so much musical gibberish to us, for all that we understood of what she was talking about, and seemed to fix her flashing eyes upon the deep shadow before her.Then in a moment they acquired a vacant, terrified stare, as though they were striving to realize some half seen horror.She lifted her hand from Leo's head, and pointed into the darkness.We all looked, and could see nothing; but she saw something, or thought she did, and something evidently that affected even her iron nerves, for, without another sound, down she fell senseless between us.

Leo, who was growing really attached to this remarkable young person, was in a great state of alarm and distress, and I, to be perfectly candid, was in a condition not far removed from superstitious fear.The whole scene was an uncanny one.

Presently, however, she recovered, and sat up with an extraordinary convulsive shudder.

"What didst thou mean, Ustane?" asked Leo, who, thanks to years of tuition, spoke Arabic very prettily.

"Nay, my chosen," she answered, with a little forced laugh, "I did but sing unto thee after the fashion of my people.Surely, I meant nothing.How could I speak of that which is not yet?""And what didst thou see, Ustane?" I asked, looking her sharply in the face.

"Nay," she answered again; "I saw naught.Ask me not what I saw.Why should I fright ye?" And then, turning to Leo with a look of the most utter tenderness that Iever saw upon the face of a woman, civilized or savage, she took his head between her hands, and kissed him on the forehead as a mother might."When Iam gone from thee, my chosen; when at night thou stretchest out: thy hand and canst not find me, then shouldst thou think at times of me, for of a truth Ilove thee well, though I be not fit to wash thy feet.

And now let us love and take that which is given us, and be happy; for in the grave there is no love and no warmth, nor any touching of the lips.Nothing perchance, or perchance but bitter memories of what might have been.To-night the hours are our own, how know we to whom they shall belong to-morrow?"

同类推荐
  • 御览诗

    御览诗

    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。
  • 曲藻

    曲藻

    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。
  • 播般曩结使波金刚念诵仪

    播般曩结使波金刚念诵仪

    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。
  • 道德真经颂

    道德真经颂

    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。
  • 黄箓斋十洲三岛拔度仪

    黄箓斋十洲三岛拔度仪

    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
  • 无限丧尸女友

    无限丧尸女友

    问:我能做你女友吗?答:恐怕不行!
  • 农女贵娇

    农女贵娇

    上一世,堂堂名门闺秀被人作践,重生归来,有仇报仇,有怨报怨。她韬光养晦,势要为自己谋一世荣华。可是,娘亲是疯子,小妾坐正位,弟小妹弱,四面楚歌的水瑶不得不杀出一条血路。
  • 娱乐之造星家

    娱乐之造星家

    带着记忆重生新世界,走上为华夏领先造星之路!
  • 盛夏未夏

    盛夏未夏

    “莫轩,听说孟夏去欧洲旅游了。”莫轩笑笑,“她应该有自己的私人空间。”“莫轩,听说和孟夏作对的人又死了一个。”莫轩笑笑,“那个人死得活该!”“莫轩,听说孟夏带回来了个小鲜肉。”莫轩笑笑,“没事,反正最后帮她暖床的人还是我。”“谁说一定是你的?!”孟夏咬牙切齿地说。“难道不是我吗?”莫轩一副笑眼盈盈的模样却让孟夏泄了底气,“是是是!”大哥,我怂了!【正经版】莫轩,我在这世上不知活了多少岁月,即便除去沉睡的那些日子,也不知道比你年长了几千岁,可即便这般,我也从没有看清过你,所以,莫轩你究竟是谁,又隐藏了些什么?(小众文不解释,结局甜虐不定,学生党,学业为重,更新不定。)
  • 淮阳集

    淮阳集

    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。
  • 独霸苍穹

    独霸苍穹

    当封印破碎,魔劫将至时,他肩任着亲人的安危,踏上了一条不归的征途……当战斗号角吹响,一切重演时,他注定是一个让万物都敬仰的英雄。天地间,他就是主宰!
  • 去宋镇

    去宋镇

    我爹招呼村里人帮着把李长明送进县城里的医院里。做了CT观察,在左腿的骨头里加了钢板,绑上了石膏绷带。李长明在医院里住了一个多月。每天注射止疼和消炎的针药。我爹去看过几次。想等李长明出院以后再多给他一些钱。我爹最近这次去看李长明的时候,曾经和李长明商量,要赔给他多少钱才满意呢?李长明听出了我爹的意思。摇摇头说:“算了吧。我欠你的还没还呢,以后再说吧。”我问我爹:“李长明欠咱什么?他已经不欠咱什么了啊?”我爹抬手拧了一把鼻子,低头盯着我的脚,一句话也没说。过了老大会儿,我听到他嗯了一声,起身朝门外走。他的脚步歪斜在夏日的阳光里,腰间的钥匙串儿也跟着叮当作响,刺得我耳朵生疼。
  • 重生之捡个娇妻来当当

    重生之捡个娇妻来当当

    豪门闺秀为逃脱被欺辱的命运纵身一跳,谁知醒来却重生在了坎坷少女身上。一心一意把学考,为的是当今还是前世?看到被姐妹踢来踢去不肯接收的他,一时心软装进兜里,谁知原来废材也能变成宝。谁说穿着prada就是女魔头,她也能演绎时尚志。
  • 距离产生美(短篇小说)

    距离产生美(短篇小说)

    到哪里了?一个声音刺在翟青云的耳膜里。他边接电话边看着天空,不知何故,乌云越来越多。马上就到!马上!翟青云再不耐烦,也不敢得罪她,否则,今天晚上别想睡了。为什么这么慢?声音又尖利又刺耳,像催命符一样可怕。我怎么知道?又不是我开车!头皮“咋咋咋”地发麻,翟青云有种想跳出车窗外的冲动。“嘎吱”一声急刹车,像天上传来的劈雷,迅雷不及掩耳之势劈得翟青云两眼一黑,下意识紧紧抱住前排座位。妈呀,差点把急得像热锅上的蚂蚁的乘客翟青云吓死。
  • 家有青春期男孩:父子共战青春期必读书

    家有青春期男孩:父子共战青春期必读书

    我们知道,好妈妈胜过好老师,也胜过好学校。其实,好爸爸一样胜过好老师,也一样胜过好学校。但是,你做到了吗?如何说孩子才会听,如何听孩子才肯讲?你做到了吗?如果你不知道如何做到上述两点,请阅读并实践《家有青春期男孩》,其中的各种技巧与理念,一定会让你成为一个好爸爸!让你这个好爸爸胜过好妈妈,胜过好老师,也胜过好学校。