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
  • 萨天锡逸诗永和本

    萨天锡逸诗永和本

    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。
  • 鲙残篇

    鲙残篇

    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。
  • 佛说戒德香经

    佛说戒德香经

    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。
  • 佛说沙曷比丘功德经

    佛说沙曷比丘功德经

    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 Man Who Was Thursday

    The Man Who Was Thursday

    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
  • 禁止饮用自来水

    禁止饮用自来水

    “如果你想害死一个人,”卡尔说,“不要在英国动手。”“为什么呢?”我不解地问。“因为你杀了人之后逃脱惩罚的可能性不大,”我的这位狱友提醒道,此刻的我和他正在监狱的休闲运动区里散步,“但是在俄罗斯,这样的机会要大得多。”“我会努力记住你这句话的。”我向他保证道。“你听我说,”卡尔补充道,“我认识一位你的同胞,虽说他杀人之后确实没有受到法律的惩罚,却也付出了一些代价。”此刻是放风时间。
  • 迷藏Ⅱ·月影迷踪

    迷藏Ⅱ·月影迷踪

    少女青苗从海上归来,回到现实生活,但哥哥失踪和罗舅舅背叛的谜团依然困扰着她。一通神秘电话掀起了她新一轮的探险,其中好友郑柯、百薇以及来路不明的神秘少年萧源悉数回归,和她并肩作战,终于克服了重重困难,找到了失踪已久的罗舅舅,化解了亲人之间的隔阂,找回哥哥的愿望也因此变得更加接近了。
  • 带着女神闯星河

    带着女神闯星河

    多年努力一事无成的小人物,惨遭女友抛弃,却在机缘巧合之下遇到了来自浩宇的星际两大美女,从此跟着她们闯荡宇宙,解开宇宙之中的一个个不解之谜的同时,漫漫星空的各个星球,有了他们的主宰者,那个人就叫古宇!
  • 升妖

    升妖

    “哼,小子能明白就好,走吧!我带你寻找点厉害的凶兽撕杀,现在那些弱小的野兽对你已经起不到什么作用了,只有经常和一些强大的凶兽战斗,你才能更快的达到冲击窍穴的地步,进阶成为灵兽,不然你只会是那些强大妖兽口中的食物。”老龟对着苏阗说道。
  • 深度罪恶

    深度罪恶

    世界上没有无缘无故的爱,也没有无缘无故的恨。每一段仇恨的背后,都有一个曲折的故事。105米,是人类徒手潜水的深度极限。然而在内心深处,罪恶的深度,又该如何测量?侦情档案三之深度罪恶,全力奉上!————————————————————小莫的V群:200144356欢迎任意书中主配角名+读者ID+粉丝值来敲门
  • 辽西风景

    辽西风景

    照相师傅来了,在给小柱照完了满月照后说,给你们一家三口也照个吧。王艳芬把李宝财推到了屋外,李宝财用手小心翼翼地遮着小柱的脸,他怕上午的阳光照坏了小柱的眼睛。王艳芬挖来一瓢粮食撒在了李宝财的轮椅前后,一些鸡鸭就叫着跑过来了,她还把猫放在了窗台上给它扔了块肉,把狗抱到了李宝财的腿下给它扔了根骨头,这之后她就坐到了李宝财的身边,她左手搂着李宝财,右手抱着小柱对照相师傅说,给我们照吧。照相师傅从镜框里看到了这帧如此美好的人间烟火,就开始啪啪啪地连着摁起快门来了。
  • 不做贤后

    不做贤后

    新书“江门归”,希望支持。顾盼自幼在军中长大,刁蛮豪爽,不通墨文。兰若主动提亲,她嫌他文弱书生,毅然逃婚。后来,他君临天下,赐她青灯古佛,了此残生。重活一世,她欣然应嫁,却卷入夺嫡复仇的朝堂之争。素手铅华,公子情深。与子同谋,一生一世一双人。
  • 古拉斯的秘密

    古拉斯的秘密

    我的爸爸叫做古拉斯,在我眼里他是世界上最好的人,但是别人却把他叫做“没用的古拉斯”。他的胆小在这个地区是出了名的,即使是半夜撞见一只仓皇而过的老鼠,他也会被吓得浑身发抖。可我并不在乎,上帝可没有规定一个男人就必须胆大。我没有妈妈,或者说我从来没有见过妈妈。小时候,我常常觉得奇怪,为什么别的小朋友都有妈妈,而我却没有。于是我就喋喋不休地追问:“妈妈在哪里?”他总是不肯说,可总有躲不过的时候,而这个时候,他的脸上就挂满了沮丧和无奈:“她死了,都是我的错。那一天我们开车出去兜风,结果……出了车祸。我真是没用啊,没用的古拉斯。”
  • 美人在侧花满堂

    美人在侧花满堂

    从小接受铁血教义的天一族女子怡符衣,为找寻镇族之宝而接近名捕向昕,并化名“向美仁”,却不想这个随手拈来的假名成了她此生永远的印记。仙人姿容玲珑心的她在险恶的江湖中游刃有余,戏谑自如,很快赢得两个截然不同的卓越男子倾心。同时,她亦在不知不觉中被身后的神秘势力引入了一场惨烈的皇室之争,在这场权力的角逐中,一场又一场阴谋与背叛迫使她步上冷漠绝情的复仇之路。繁华凋敝后的寂寞独行路上,那个被她戏称为“绝世祸水”的挂名二哥明景升,始终默默守护着她,等待着她。
  • 谁也骗不了你

    谁也骗不了你

    如果你无法阻止别人说谎,那就学会永远不上当。一本帮你在第一时间快速而准确地识破谎言的书。3分钟识破谎言,5分钟看透人心,练就识人的眼力和心力。读懂人性的真相,掌控人际交往主动权,做人际博弈中的赢家: