Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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lightning, a real tenant, in the person of amonstrous boa, who evidently, digesting the remnants of the last feastin a semi-somnolent state, had not become aroused and did not think ofsafety until the smoke curled in his nostrils. At the sight of thestrong body, which, like a monstrous spring, darted out of the smokinginterior of the tree, Stas grabbed Nell in his arms and began to runwith her in the direction of the open jungle. But the reptile, itselfterror-stricken, did not think of pursuing them; instead, winding inthe grass and among the scattered packages, it slid away withunheard-of speed in the direction of the ravine, seeking to hide amidthe rocky fissures and crannies. The children recovered theircomposure. Stas placed Nell on the ground and rushed for his rifle, andafterwards pursued the snake in the direction of the ravine, Nellfollowing him. But after going a score of paces such an extraordinaryspectacle struck their eyes that they stood still as if thunderstruck.Now high above the ravine appeared in the twinkling of an eye the bodyof the snake, and, describing a zigzag in the air, it fell again to thebottom. After a while it appeared a second time and again fell. Thechildren, reaching the brink, saw with amazement that their new friend,the elephant, was amusing himself in this manner, for having firstdespatched the snake twice upon an aerial journey, at present he wascrushing its head with his prodigious foot which resembled a log.Having finished this operation, he again lifted the still quiveringbody with his trunk; this time, however, he did not toss it upwards,but directly into the waterfall. After this, nodding both ways andfanning himself with his ears, he began to gaze keenly at Nell, andfinally stretched out his trunk towards her as if claiming a reward forhis heroic and, at the same time, sensible deed.
Nell ran at once to the tent and returning with a box full of wildfigs, began to throw a few at a time to him, while he searched for themin the grass and placed one after another in his mouth. Those whichfell in deeper crevices, he blew out with such force that, with thefigs, stones the size of a man's fist flew up. The children receivedthis exhibition with applause and laughter. Nell went back severaltimes for new supplies, not ceasing to contend with each fig that theelephant was entirely tamed and that they could even at that moment godown to him.
"You see, Stas; we now shall have a defender. For he is afraid ofnobody in the desert--neither lion, nor snake, nor crocodile. And he isvery good and surely loves us."
"If he is tamed," said Stas, "and if I can leave you under his care,then really I can go hunting in perfect peace, for a better defenderfor you I could not find in all Africa."
After a while he added:
"The elephants of this place are wild, but I have read that Asiaticelephants, for instance, have a strange weakness for children. It hasnever occurred in India that an elephant has harmed a child, and if onefalls in a rage, as sometimes happens, the native keepers send childrento pacify him."
"Ah, you see! You see!"
"In any case you did well in not allowing me to kill him."
At this Nell's pupils flashed with joy like two little greenish flames.Standing on tiptoe, she placed both her hands on Stas' shoulders and,tilting her head backward, asked, gazing into his eyes:
"I acted as if I had how many years? Tell me! As if I had how manyyears?"
And he replied:
"At least seventy."
"You are always joking."
"Get angry, get angry, but who will free the elephant?"
Hearing this, Nell began at once to fawn like a little kitten.
"You--and I shall love you very much and he will also."
"I am thinking of that," Stas said, "but it will be hard work and Ishall not do it at once, but only when we are ready to start upon afarther journey."
"Why?"
"Because if we should free him before he is entirely tame and becomesattached to us, he would go away at once."
"Oh! He won't go away from me."
"You think that he already is like me," retorted Stas with impatience.
Further conversation was checked by the arrival of Kali, who broughtwith him the slain zebra and its colt, which had been partly devouredby Saba. It was the good fortune of the mastiff that he rushed afterKali, and was not present at the encounter with the python for he wouldhave chased after him and, overtaking him, would have perished in hismurderous coils before Stas could come to his aid. For eating the zebrahe received, however, from Nell a tongue-lashing which after all he didnot take too much to heart as he did not even hide his lolling tongue,with which he came running in from the hunt.
Stas announced in the meantime to Kali that he intended to arrange adwelling in the interior of the tree and related to him what hadoccurred during the smoking out of the trunk, as well as how theelephant had handled the snake. The idea of living in the baobab tree,which would afford a protection not only against the rain but alsoagainst the wild animals, pleased the negro very much; but on the otherhand the conduct of the elephant did not meet his approval.
"The elephant is foolish," he said, "so he threw the nioka (snake) intothe thundering water, but Kali knows that nioka is good; so he willsearch for it in the thundering waters, and bake it as Kali iswise--and is a donkey."
"It is agreed that you are a donkey," Stas answered, "but of course youwill not eat the snake."
"Nioka is good," repeated Kali. And pointing at the slain zebra, headded:
"Better than that niama."
After which both went into the baobab tree and occupied themselves inarranging the dwelling. Kali, having found on the river-side a flatstone the size of a sieve, placed it in the trunk, heaped burning coalsupon it, and afterwards continually added more fuel, watching only thatthe decayed wood on the inside did not ignite and cause theconflagration of the whole tree. He said that he did this in order that"nothing should bite the great master and the bibi." In fact itappeared that this was not a useless precaution, for as soon as smokefilled the interior of the tree and spread even on the outside therebegan to creep out of the cracks in the bark a great variety ofcreatures; scarabees, black and cherry-colored, shaggy spiders big asplums, caterpillars of the thickness of a finger, covered as thoughwith thorns, and loathsome and at the same time venomous scolopendraswhose bite may even cause death. In view of what was occurring on theoutside of the trunk it was easy to surmise how many similar creaturesmust have perished from the fumes of the smoke on the inside. Thosewhich fell from the bark and lower branches upon the grass were crushedunmercifully with a stone by Kali, who was continually gazing at theupper and lower openings as if he feared that at any moment somethingstrange might appear in either of them.
"Why are you looking so?" Stas asked. "Do you think that another snakeis hiding in the tree?"
"No, Kali fears Mzimu!"
"What is a Mzimu?"
"An evil spirit."
"Did you ever in your life see a Mzimu?"
"No, but Kali has heard the horrible noise which Mzimu makes in thehuts of fetish-men."
"Nevertheless your fetish-men do not fear him."
"The fetish-men know how to exorcise him, and afterwards go to the hutsand say that Mzimu is angry; so the negroes bring them bananas, honey,pombe (beer made of sorghum plant), eggs, and meat in order topropitiate the Mzimu."
Stas shrugged his shoulders.
"I see that it is a good thing to be a fetish-man among your people.Perhaps that snake was Mzimu?"
Kali shook his head.
"In such case the elephant could not kill the Mzimu, but the Mzimuwould kill the elephant. Mzimu is death."
Some kind of strange crash and rumble within the tree suddenlyinterrupted his reply. From the lower aperture there burst out astrange ruddy dust, after which there resounded a second crash, louderthan the former one.
Kali threw himself in the twinkling of an eye upon his face and beganto cry shrilly:
"Aka! Mzimu! Aka! Aka! Aka!"
Stas at first stepped back, but soon recovered his composure, and whenNell with Mea came running up he began to explain what might havehappened.
"In all probabilit
y," he said, "a whole mass of decayed wood in theinterior of the trunk, expanding from the heat, finally tumbled downand buried the burning wood. And he thinks that it was Mzimu. Let Mea,however, pour water a few times through the opening; if the live embersare not extinct for want of air and the decayed wood is kindled, thetree might be consumed by fire."
After which, seeing that Kali continued lying down and did not ceaserepeating with terror, "Aka! Aka!" he took the rifle with which heusually shot at guinea-fowl and, firing into the opening, said, shovingthe boy with the barrel:
"Your Mzimu is killed. Do not fear."
And Kali raised his body, but remained on his knees.
"Oh, great master! great! You do not even fear Mzimu!"
"Aka! Aka!" exclaimed