Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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forego his murderousdesign in regard to the elephant before them and in regard to anythingelse in the world. For a time he was silent, not knowing what reply tomake to the little one, after which he said:
"Very well! very well! I tell you it is all right! Nell, let go of me!"
And Nell at once hugged him and through her tear-dimmed eyes a smilegleamed. Now she was concerned only about giving the elephant somethingto eat as quickly as possible. Kali and Mea were greatly astonishedwhen they learned that the Bwana kubwa not only would not kill theelephant, but that they were to pluck at once as many melons from thebread-fruit trees, as many acacia pods, and as much of all kinds ofweeds as they were able. Gebhr's two-edged Sudanese sword was of greatuse to Kali at this labor, and were it not for that the work would nothave proceeded so easily. Nell, however, did not want to wait for itscompletion and when the first melon fell from the tree she seized itwith both her hands and, carrying it to the ravine, she repeatedrapidly as if from fear that some one else might want to supplant her:
"I! I! I!"
But Stas did not in the least think of depriving her of this pleasure,but from fear that through too much zeal she might fall over with themelon, he seized her by the belt and shouted:
"Throw!"
The huge fruit rolled over the steep declivity and fell close to theelephant's feet, while the latter in the twinkling of an eye stretchedout his trunk and seized it; afterwards he bent his trunk as if hewanted to place the melon under his throat and this much the childrensaw of him.
"He ate it!" exclaimed the happy girl.
"I suppose so," answered Stas, laughing.
And the elephant stretched out his trunk towards them as if he wantedto beg for more and emitted in a powerful tone:
"Hruumf!"
"He wants more!"
"I suppose so!" repeated Stas.
The second melon followed in the track of the first and in the samemanner afterwards disappeared in a moment a third, fourth, tenth; lateracacia pods and whole bundles of grass and great leaves began to flydown. Nell did not allow any one to take her place, and when her littlehands grew tired from the work, she shoved new supplies with her littlefeet; while the elephant ate and, raising his trunk, from time to timetrumpeted his thunderous "hruumf" as a sign that he wanted to eat stillmore, but Nell claimed that it was a sign of gratitude.
But Kali and Mea finally were fatigued with the work which theyperformed with great alacrity under the impression that Bwana kubwawanted first to fatten the elephant and afterwards to kill him. Atlast, however, Bwana kubwa ordered them to stop, as the sun was settingand it was time to start the construction of the zareba. Fortunatelythis was not a difficult matter, for two sides of the triangularpromontory were utterly inaccessible, so that it was necessary only tofence in the third. Acacias with big thorns also were not lacking.
Nell did not retire a step from the ravine and, squatting upon itsbrink, announced from a distance to Stas what the elephant was doing.At frequent intervals her thin little voice resounded:
"He is searching about with his trunk!"
Or: "He is moving his ears. What big ears he has!"
"Stas! Stas! He is getting up! Oh!"
Stas approached hurriedly and seized Nell's hand.
The elephant actually rose, and now the children could observe hisimmense size. They had previously seen huge elephants which werecarried on vessels through the Suez Canal bound from India to Europe,but not one of them could compare with this colossus, who actuallylooked like a huge slate-colored rock walking on four feet. He differedfrom the others in the size of his tusks which reached five or morefeet and, as Nell already observed, his ears, which were of fabulousproportions. His fore legs were high but comparatively thin, which wasundoubtedly due to the fast of many days.
"Oh, that is a Lilliputian!" laughed Stas. "If he should rear himselfand stretch out his trunk, he might catch you by the feet."
But the colossus did not think of rearing or catching any one by thefeet. With an unsteady gait he approached the egress of the ravine,gazed for a while over the precipice, at the bottom of which water wasseething; afterwards he turned to the wall close to the waterfall,directed his trunk towards it, and, having immersed it as best hecould, began to drink.
"It is his good fortune," Stas said, "that he can reach the water withhis trunk. Otherwise he would have died."
The elephant drank so long that finally the little girl became alarmed.
"Stas, won't he harm himself?" she asked.
"I don't know," he replied, laughing, "but since you have taken himunder your care, warn him now."
So Nell leaned over the edge and cried:
"Enough, dear elephant, enough!"
And the dear elephant, as if he understood what was the matter, stoppeddrinking at once, and instead, began to splash water over himself.First he splashed water on his feet, then on his back, and afterwardson both sides.
But in the meantime it grew dark; so Stas conducted the little girl tothe zareba where supper already awaited them.
Both were in excellent humor--Nell because she had saved the elephant'slife and Stas because he saw her eyes sparkling like two stars and hergladdened face which was ruddier and healthier than it had been at anytime since their departure from Khartum. A promise of a quiet andperfect night also conduced to the boy's contentment. The twoinaccessible sides of the promontory absolutely secured them fromattacks from those directions, and on the third side Kali and Meareared so high a wall of thorny branches of acacias and of passionflowers that there could be no thought of any predacious beasts beingable to surmount such a barrier. In addition the weather was fine andthe heavens immediately after sunset were studded with countless stars.The air, which was cool, owing to the proximity of the waterfall, andwhich was saturated with the odor of the jungle and newly brokenbranches, was agreeable to breathe.
"This fly will not get the fever here," Stas thought joyfully.
Afterwards they commenced to converse about the elephant, as Nell wasincapable of talking of anything else and did not cease going intotransports over his stature, trunk, and tusks, which in reality wereprodigious. Finally she asked:
"Honestly, Stas, isn't he wise?"
"As Solomon," answered Stas. "But what makes you think so?"
"Because when I asked him not to drink any more, he obeyed me at once."
"If before that time he had not taken any lessons in English andnevertheless understands it, that really is miraculous."
Nell perceived that Stas was making merry with her, so she gave him ascolding; after which she said:
"Say what you wish, but I am sure that he is very intelligent and willbecome tame at once."
"Whether at once I don't know, but he may be tamed. The Africanelephants are indeed more savage than the Asiatic; nevertheless, Ithink that Hannibal, for instance, used African elephants."
"And who was Hannibal?"
Stas glanced at her indulgently and with pity.
"Really," he said, "at your age, you are not supposed to know suchthings. Hannibal was a great Carthaginian commander, who used elephantsin his war with the Romans, and as Carthage was in Africa, he must haveused African--"
Further conversation was interrupted by the resounding roar of theelephant, who, having eaten and drunk his fill, began to trumpet; itcould not be known whether from joy or from longing for completefreedom. Saba started up and began to bark, while Stas said:
"There you have it! Now he is calling companions. We will be in a nicepredicament if he attracts a whole herd here."
"He will tell them that we were kind to him," Nell responded hastily.
But Stas, who indeed was not alarmed, as he reckoned that even if aherd should rush towards them, the glare of the fire would frightenthem away, smiled spitefully and said:
"Very well! very well! But if the elephants appear, you won't cry, ohno! Your eyes will only perspire as they did twice before."
And he began to tease her:
"I do no
t cry, only my eyes perspire--"
Nell, however, seeing his happy mien, conjectured that no immediatedanger threatened them.
"When he gets tame," she said, "my eyes will not perspire, though tenlions should roar."
"Why?"
"For he will defend us."
Stas quieted Saba, who would not stop replying to the elephant; afterwhich he deliberated somewhat and spoke thus:
"You did not think of one thing, Nell. Of course, we will not stay herefor ages but will proceed farther; I do not say at once. On thecontrary, the place is good and healthy; I have decided to stop here--aweek, perhaps,--perhaps two, for you, and all of us as well, areentitled to a rest. Well, very good! As long as we stay here we willfeed the elephant, though that will be a big task for us all. But he islocked up