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21 - Jock of the Bushveld by Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick · Jock of the Bushveld

0:02
Speaker 1: There was no hunting for several days after the affair
0:05
Speaker 1: with the Koodoo car. Jock looked worse the following day
0:09
Speaker 1: than he had done since recovering consciousness. His head and
0:12
Speaker 1: neck swelled up so that chewing was impossible, and he
0:16
Speaker 1: could only lap a little soup or milk, and could
0:18
Speaker 1: hardly bend his neck at all. On the morning of
0:22
Speaker 1: the second day, Jim Mchokell came up with his hostile
0:25
Speaker 1: looking swagger and a cross worried look on his face,
0:29
Speaker 1: and in a half angry and wholly disgusted tone, jerked
0:33
Speaker 1: out of me. The dog is deaf, I say so me,
0:37
Speaker 1: Jim much co keller. Jock is deaf. He does not
0:41
Speaker 1: hear when you speak death. Yes, death. Jim's tone grew
0:47
Speaker 1: fiercer as he warmed up. He seemed to hold me irresponsible.
0:52
Speaker 1: The moment the boys spoke, I knew it was true.
0:55
Speaker 1: It was the only possible explanation for many little things. Nevertheless,
1:00
Speaker 1: I jumped up hurriedly to try him in a dozen ways,
1:03
Speaker 1: hoping to find that he could hear something. Jim was right,
1:07
Speaker 1: he was rarely stone deaf. It was pathetic to find
1:11
Speaker 1: how each little subterfuge that drew his eyes from me,
1:14
Speaker 1: left him out of reach. It seemed as if a
1:17
Speaker 1: link had been broken between us, and I had lost
1:20
Speaker 1: my hold. That was wrong. However, in a few days
1:23
Speaker 1: he began to realize the loss of hearing, and after
1:26
Speaker 1: that feeling so much greater dependence on sight. His watchfulness
1:31
Speaker 1: increased so that nothing escaped him. None of those who
1:34
Speaker 1: saw him in that year, when he was at his
1:36
Speaker 1: very best, could bring themselves to believe he was deaf.
1:40
Speaker 1: With me, it made differences both ways, something lost and
1:44
Speaker 1: something gained. If he could hear nothing, he saw more.
1:49
Speaker 1: The language of signs developed, and taking it all round.
1:53
Speaker 1: I believe the sense of mutual dependence for success and
1:56
Speaker 1: of mutual understanding was greater than ever. Snowball went on
2:01
Speaker 1: to the retired list at the end of the next trip.
2:05
Speaker 1: Joey the Smith stood at the forge one day trimming
2:08
Speaker 1: a red hot horse shoe when I rode up and
2:11
Speaker 1: dropping the reins over Snowball's head, sang out morning Joey.
2:16
Speaker 1: Joey placed the chisel on the shoe, with nice calculation
2:19
Speaker 1: of the amount he wanted to snip off. His assistant
2:22
Speaker 1: boy swung the big hammer and an inch cube of
2:25
Speaker 1: red hot iron dropped off. Then Joey looked up with
2:30
Speaker 1: what seemed to me a conflict of innocent surprise and
2:32
Speaker 1: stifled amusement in his face. The boy also turned to look,
2:37
Speaker 1: and the insignificant incidence is curiously unforgettable. Trod upon the
2:42
Speaker 1: piece of hot iron. Look where you're standing, said Joey, reproachfully.
2:48
Speaker 1: As the smoke and smell of burning skin welt rose up,
2:52
Speaker 1: the boy, with a grunt of disgust such as we
2:56
Speaker 1: might give it a burnt boot, looked to see what
2:58
Speaker 1: damage had been done to unders. It gave me an
3:02
Speaker 1: even better idea of a nigger's feet than those thorn
3:05
Speaker 1: digging operations when we had to cut through a solid
3:08
Speaker 1: whitish welt a third of an inch thick. Joey grinned
3:12
Speaker 1: openly at the boy, but he was thinking of Snowball.
3:16
Speaker 1: I wonder you had the heart, Joey. I do, indeed,
3:19
Speaker 1: I said, shaking my head at him. You would have
3:22
Speaker 1: had him, lad, there's no refuse in you. You are
3:25
Speaker 1: so nice and wanted him so bad. But how could
3:28
Speaker 1: you bear to part with him, Joey? It must have
3:31
Speaker 1: been like selling one of the family. Yes, boys, we're
3:35
Speaker 1: a bit stupid our lot. Is he such a fool
3:37
Speaker 1: or has he improved any with you, Joey, I've learned
3:41
Speaker 1: him full up to the teeth. If he stopped longer,
3:43
Speaker 1: he will become wicked like me, and you would not
3:46
Speaker 1: be the ruin of an innocent young thing trying to
3:48
Speaker 1: earn a living. Honestly, if he can come round behind
3:52
Speaker 1: the sharp boy, I'll get your pony. That'll suit you proper.
3:56
Speaker 1: He gave a hearty laugh and added, you can always
3:59
Speaker 1: get what you are ask for. If it ain't worth
4:01
Speaker 1: heaven moral, don't ask. I never offered you Snowball. That's
4:04
Speaker 1: one different. You can have him at cost price, and
4:07
Speaker 1: that's an all twelve month account ten pounds. He's worth
4:11
Speaker 1: four of it, salted and shootin' shake. And I gripped
4:15
Speaker 1: his grimy old fist, gladly known it was Johnnick and
4:18
Speaker 1: a square deal. That was Mungo Park, the long, strong, lobuled,
4:24
Speaker 1: half bred Bisuto pony, well trained and without guile. I
4:28
Speaker 1: left Snowball with his previous owner to use as required,
4:32
Speaker 1: and never called back for him. And if this should
4:35
Speaker 1: meet the eye of Jerry the Smith, he will know
4:37
Speaker 1: that I no longer hope his future life will be
4:40
Speaker 1: spent in stalking a wart eyed white horse in a
4:43
Speaker 1: phantom bushvelt, Mungo made amends. There was a spot between
4:48
Speaker 1: the camati and the crocodile rivers, on the north side
4:51
Speaker 1: of the road, where the white man seldom passed and
4:54
Speaker 1: nature was undisturbed. Few knew of water there. It was
4:58
Speaker 1: too well concealed between deep banks and the dense growth
5:02
Speaker 1: of thorns and large trees. The spot always had a
5:06
Speaker 1: great attraction for me, apart from the big game to
5:09
Speaker 1: be found there. I used to steal along the banks
5:12
Speaker 1: of this lone water and watch the smaller life of
5:15
Speaker 1: the bush. It was a delightful field for naturists and artist,
5:20
Speaker 1: But unfortunately we thought little of such things, and knew
5:24
Speaker 1: even less. And now nothing is left from all the
5:27
Speaker 1: glorious opportunities but the memory of an endless fascination and
5:32
Speaker 1: a few facts that touched the human cord, and will
5:35
Speaker 1: not submit to be forgotten. There were plenty of birds,
5:40
Speaker 1: guinea fowl, pheasant, partridge, knurhan and bush pow Jock accompanied me,
5:47
Speaker 1: of course when I took the fowling piece, but merely
5:50
Speaker 1: for companionship, for there was no need for him. On
5:53
Speaker 1: these occasions I shot birds to get a change of food,
5:57
Speaker 1: and trusted to walking them up along the river banks
5:59
Speaker 1: and near drinking pools. But one evening Jock came forward
6:03
Speaker 1: on his own accord to help me, a sort of
6:06
Speaker 1: amused volunteer, and after that I always used him. He
6:11
Speaker 1: had been at my heels, apparently taking little interest in
6:14
Speaker 1: the proceedings from the moment the first bird fell and
6:17
Speaker 1: he saw what the game was. Probably he was intelligently
6:21
Speaker 1: interested all the time, but considered it nothing to get
6:24
Speaker 1: excited about. After a time I saw him turn aside
6:28
Speaker 1: from the line where we had been walking and stroll
6:30
Speaker 1: off at a walking pace, sniffing softly the while. When
6:34
Speaker 1: he had gone a dozen yards, he stopped and looked
6:37
Speaker 1: back at me, and then looked in front again, with
6:39
Speaker 1: his head slightly on one side, much as he would
6:42
Speaker 1: have done examining a beetle rolling his ball. There were
6:47
Speaker 1: no signs of anything yet. The grass was short for
6:50
Speaker 1: those parts, scarce a foot high and close, soft and curly.
6:56
Speaker 1: A brace of partridges rose a few feet from Jock,
6:59
Speaker 1: and he stood at ease, calmly watching them, without a
7:02
Speaker 1: sign or move to indicate more than amused interest. The
7:07
Speaker 1: birds were absurdly tame, and sailed so quietly along that
7:11
Speaker 1: I hesitated at first to shoot. Then the noise of
7:14
Speaker 1: the two shots put up the largest number of partridges
7:17
Speaker 1: I have ever seen in one lot, and a line
7:20
Speaker 1: of birds rose for perhaps sixty yards across our front.
7:25
Speaker 1: There was no wild whir and confusion. They rose in
7:29
Speaker 1: leisurely fashion, as if told to move on, sailing infinitely
7:33
Speaker 1: slowly down the slope to the thorns near the donga.
7:37
Speaker 1: Running my eye along the line, I counted them in twos,
7:40
Speaker 1: up to between thirty and forty, and that could not
7:43
Speaker 1: have been more than half. How many conveys had packed there,
7:47
Speaker 1: and for what purpose, and whether they came every evening
7:50
Speaker 1: were questions which one would like answered now, but they
7:54
Speaker 1: were not of sufficient interest then to encourage a second
7:57
Speaker 1: visit another evening. The birds sailed quietly into the little wood,
8:01
Speaker 1: and many of them alighted on branches of the larger trees.
8:05
Speaker 1: It was the only time I have seen partridges in
8:08
Speaker 1: a tree. But when one comes to think it out,
8:10
Speaker 1: it seems common sense that in a country teeming with
8:13
Speaker 1: vermin and night prowlers, all birds should sleep off the ground.
8:17
Speaker 1: Perhaps they do. There were a number of little squirrel
8:21
Speaker 1: like creatures there too. Our fellows used to call them
8:24
Speaker 1: ground squirrels and tree rats, because they lived underground yet
8:28
Speaker 1: climb trees readily in search of food. There were little
8:32
Speaker 1: fellows like meerkats, with bushy tails ringed in brown, black
8:35
Speaker 1: and white, of which the wagon boys made decorations for
8:39
Speaker 1: their slouch hats. Jock wanted to go at them. They
8:43
Speaker 1: did not appear quite so much beneath notice as the
8:46
Speaker 1: birds along the water's edge. One came on the log
8:50
Speaker 1: of arms, huge repulsive water lizards, three to four feet long,
8:55
Speaker 1: like crocodiles in miniature. Sunning themselves in some favorite spot
8:59
Speaker 1: in the marble of the reeds or on the edge
9:01
Speaker 1: of the bank. They give one the jumps by the
9:04
Speaker 1: suddenness of their rush through the reeds and plunge into
9:06
Speaker 1: deep water. There were otters too big, black brown, fierce
9:12
Speaker 1: fellows to be seen, swimming silently close under the banks.
9:16
Speaker 1: I got a couple of them, but was always nervous
9:18
Speaker 1: of letting Jock into the water after things, as no
9:21
Speaker 1: one knew where the crocodiles lurked. He got an ugly
9:25
Speaker 1: bite from one old dog otter, which I shot in
9:27
Speaker 1: shallow water and mortally wounded as he was. The utter
9:31
Speaker 1: put up a rare good fight before Jock finally hauled
9:34
Speaker 1: him out. Then there were cane rats, considered by some
9:38
Speaker 1: most excellent and delicate of meats, as big and tender
9:41
Speaker 1: as small sucking pigs. The cane rat, living and dead
9:46
Speaker 1: was one of the stock surprises, and the subject of
9:49
Speaker 1: jokes and tricks upon the unsuspecting. There seemed to be
9:53
Speaker 1: no sort of ground for associating the extraordinary fat thing
9:57
Speaker 1: gliding among the reeds or swimming silently under the banks
10:01
Speaker 1: with either its live capacity of rat or its more
10:04
Speaker 1: attractive dead roll of roast's sucking pig. The hardened ones
10:09
Speaker 1: enjoyed setting the street before the hungry and unsuspecting, and
10:13
Speaker 1: after a hearty meal, announced that was roast rat. Good,
10:16
Speaker 1: isn't it? The memory of one experience gives me water
10:20
Speaker 1: in the gills. Now it was unpleasant, but not equal
10:23
Speaker 1: to the nausea and upheaval which supervened when, after a
10:27
Speaker 1: very savory stew of delicate white meat, we were shown
10:30
Speaker 1: the fresh skin of a monkey hanging from the end
10:33
Speaker 1: of the buck rails, with the head drooping forward, eyes closed,
10:38
Speaker 1: arms dangling, lifeless and limp open hands, a ghastly caricature
10:44
Speaker 1: of some hanged human, shriveled and shrunk, with its clothes
10:48
Speaker 1: of skin. I felt like a cannibal. The water tortoises
10:53
Speaker 1: in the silent pools, grotesque muddy fellows were full of
10:57
Speaker 1: interest to the quiet watcher, and better that than as
11:00
Speaker 1: the turtle soup, which once or twice we ventured on
11:03
Speaker 1: and tried to think was good. There were certain hours
11:07
Speaker 1: of the day when it was most pleasant and profitable
11:09
Speaker 1: to lie in the shade and rest. It is the
11:12
Speaker 1: time of rest for the bushveldt that spell about mid day.
11:16
Speaker 1: And yet if one remains quiet, there is generally something
11:19
Speaker 1: to see and something worth watching. There were the insects
11:23
Speaker 1: on the ground about one, which would not otherwise be
11:26
Speaker 1: seen at all. There were caterpillars clad in spiky armor
11:30
Speaker 1: made of tiny fragments of grass, fair defense, no doubt
11:34
Speaker 1: against some enemies, and most marvelous disguise. Other caterpillars clad
11:39
Speaker 1: in bark, impossible to detect until they moved. There were
11:43
Speaker 1: grasshoppers like leaves, and irregularly shaped stick insects with legs
11:48
Speaker 1: as bulky as the body, and all joined by knots
11:51
Speaker 1: like irregular twigs. Wonderful mimetic creatures. Jock often found these
11:57
Speaker 1: things for me. Something would move an interesting and when
12:00
Speaker 1: I saw him stand up and examine a thing at
12:02
Speaker 1: his feet, turned it over with his nose or giving
12:05
Speaker 1: it a scrape with its paw, it was usually worth
12:08
Speaker 1: joining in the inspection. The hottentot gods always attracted him
12:13
Speaker 1: as they reared up and prayed before him, quaint things
12:16
Speaker 1: with tiny heads and thin necks and enormous eyes that
12:20
Speaker 1: sat up with fore legs raised to prey as a
12:23
Speaker 1: pet dog sits up and begs. One day, I was
12:27
Speaker 1: watching the ants as they traveled along their route, sometimes
12:30
Speaker 1: stopping to hobnob with those they met, sometimes hurrying past,
12:35
Speaker 1: and sometimes turning as though sent back on a message
12:38
Speaker 1: or reminded of something forgotten, when a little dry brown
12:42
Speaker 1: bean lying on a spot of sunlight gave a jump
12:45
Speaker 1: of an inch or two. At first, it seemed that
12:48
Speaker 1: I must have unknowingly moved some twig or grasped them
12:51
Speaker 1: that flicked it. But as I watched it there was
12:54
Speaker 1: another vigorous jump. I took it up and examined it,
12:58
Speaker 1: but there was nothing unusual about it. It was just
13:01
Speaker 1: a common, light brown bean, with no peculiarities or marks.
13:05
Speaker 1: It was a real puzzle, a most surprising and ridiculous one.
13:10
Speaker 1: I found half a dozen more in the same place,
13:13
Speaker 1: but it was some days before we discovered the secret domicile.
13:18
Speaker 1: In each of them was a very small but very
13:20
Speaker 1: energetic worm with a trap door or stopper on his
13:24
Speaker 1: one end, so artfully contrived that it was almost impossible
13:28
Speaker 1: with the naked eye to locate the spot where the
13:30
Speaker 1: hole was. The worm objected to too much heat, and
13:34
Speaker 1: if the beans were placed in the sun or near
13:37
Speaker 1: the fire, the weird, astonishing jumping would commence. The beans
13:42
Speaker 1: were good for jumping for several months, and once in Delagoa,
13:46
Speaker 1: one of our party put some on a plate in
13:48
Speaker 1: the sun beside a fellow who had been doing himself
13:50
Speaker 1: too well for some time previously. He had become a
13:54
Speaker 1: perfect nuisance to us, and we could not get rid
13:56
Speaker 1: of him. He had a mouthful of bread and a
13:59
Speaker 1: mug of on the way to help it down. When
14:01
Speaker 1: the first being jumped, he gave a sort of peck,
14:06
Speaker 1: blinked several times to clear his eyes, and then with
14:09
Speaker 1: his left hand pulled slightly at his collar, as though
14:12
Speaker 1: to ease it. Then came another jump, and his mouth
14:16
Speaker 1: opened slowly and his eyes got big. The plate, being
14:21
Speaker 1: hollow and glazed, was not a fair field for the jumpers.
14:24
Speaker 1: They could not escape, and in about half a minute
14:26
Speaker 1: eight or ten beans were having a rough and tumble
14:30
Speaker 1: with the white scared face. Our guest slowly lowered his mug,
14:34
Speaker 1: screened his eyes with the other hand, and after fighting
14:37
Speaker 1: down a mouthful of bread, got up and walked off
14:40
Speaker 1: without a word. We tried to smother our laughter, but
14:45
Speaker 1: some one's choking made him look back, and he saw
14:47
Speaker 1: the whole lot of us in various stages of convulsions.
14:51
Speaker 1: He made one rude remark and went on. But every
14:54
Speaker 1: one he met that day made some allusion to beans,
14:57
Speaker 1: and he took the Durban streamer next morning. The insect
15:01
Speaker 1: life was prodigious in its number and variety, and the birds,
15:05
Speaker 1: the beasts, and the reptiles were all interesting. There is
15:09
Speaker 1: a goodness knows what will turn up next atmosphere about
15:12
Speaker 1: the bushvelt, which is I fancy unique. The story of
15:17
Speaker 1: a curate armed with a butterflynette coming face to face
15:20
Speaker 1: with a black maned lion may or may not be true.
15:24
Speaker 1: In fact, it is true enough as an illustration, and
15:27
Speaker 1: it is no more absurd or unlikely than the meeting
15:30
Speaker 1: at five yards of a lioness and a fever stricken
15:33
Speaker 1: lad carrying a white, green lined umbrella, which is true.
15:38
Speaker 1: The boy stood and looked. The lioness did the same.
15:41
Speaker 1: She seemed to think I was not worth eating, so
15:43
Speaker 1: she walked off. He used to say he was a
15:47
Speaker 1: trooper two four two of the Imperial light Horse, who
15:50
Speaker 1: went back under fire for wounded comrades, and was killed
15:53
Speaker 1: as he bought the last one out. I had an
15:57
Speaker 1: old cross bred Hottentot bushman boy one one could not
16:01
Speaker 1: tell which lot he favored, who was full of the folklore,
16:04
Speaker 1: stories and superstitions of his strange and dying race, which
16:08
Speaker 1: he half humorously and half seriously blended with his own
16:11
Speaker 1: knowledge and hunting experience. Yankee had the ugly, wrinkled, dry
16:17
Speaker 1: leather face of his breed, with hollow cheeks, high cheek bones,
16:21
Speaker 1: and little pinched eyes so small and so deeply set
16:26
Speaker 1: that no one ever saw the color of them. The
16:28
Speaker 1: peppercorns of tight wiry wool that did the duty, for
16:32
Speaker 1: hair were sparsely scattered over his head like the stunted
16:35
Speaker 1: bushes of the desert, and his face and head were
16:38
Speaker 1: seen with scars too numerous to count the souvenirs of
16:42
Speaker 1: his drunken brawls. He resembled a tame monkey rather than
16:46
Speaker 1: a human creature, being like so many of his kind,
16:50
Speaker 1: without the moral side or qualities of human nature which
16:53
Speaker 1: go to mark the distinction between man and monkey. He
16:56
Speaker 1: was normally mostly cheery and obliging, but it meant nothing,
17:00
Speaker 1: for in a moment the monkey would peep out vicious,
17:03
Speaker 1: treacherous and unrestrained honesty. Sobriety, gratitude, truth, fidelity, and humanity
17:10
Speaker 1: were impossible to him. It seemed as if even the
17:13
Speaker 1: germs were not there to cultivate, and the material with
17:16
Speaker 1: which to work did not exist. He had certain make
17:21
Speaker 1: believe substitutes which had in a sense been grafted on
17:24
Speaker 1: to his nature and appeared to work while there was
17:27
Speaker 1: no real use for them. They made a show until
17:30
Speaker 1: they were tested. One took them for granted as long
17:32
Speaker 1: as they were not disproved it was a skin graft only,
17:36
Speaker 1: and there seemed to be no real union possible between
17:39
Speaker 1: them and the tough alien stock. He differed in character
17:43
Speaker 1: and nature from the Zulu as much as he did
17:45
Speaker 1: from the white man. He was as void of principles
17:49
Speaker 1: as well as his next of kin, the monkey. Yet
17:53
Speaker 1: while without either shame or contempt for cowardice, he was
17:56
Speaker 1: wholly without fear of physical danger, having a fatalist's indifference
18:01
Speaker 1: to it, and that was something to set off against
18:04
Speaker 1: his moral deficit. I put Yankee on to wash clothes
18:08
Speaker 1: the day he turned up at the wagons to look
18:10
Speaker 1: for work, and as he knelt on the rock stripped
18:13
Speaker 1: to the waist, I noticed a very curious knotted line
18:16
Speaker 1: running up his right side, from the lowest rib into
18:19
Speaker 1: the armpit. The lion was whiter than his yellow skin.
18:24
Speaker 1: Over each rib there was a knot or widening in
18:26
Speaker 1: the line, and under the arm there was a big
18:29
Speaker 1: splotchy star, all markings of some curious wound. He laughed
18:35
Speaker 1: almost hysterically, his eyes disappearing all together, and every tooth
18:40
Speaker 1: showing if I lifted his arm to investigate, and then,
18:43
Speaker 1: in high pitched falsetto tones, he shouted in a sort
18:47
Speaker 1: of ecstasy and delight. Dear Old Buffle's bas de Biffle's
18:52
Speaker 1: bull bars buffalo. Did he toss you? I asked? Yankee
18:58
Speaker 1: seemed to think it the best oak in the world,
19:01
Speaker 1: and with constant squeals of laughter and graphic gestures, gabbled
19:05
Speaker 1: off his account. His master, it appeared, had shot at
19:09
Speaker 1: and slightly wounded a buffalo, and Yankee had been placed
19:13
Speaker 1: at one exit from the bush to prevent the herd
19:15
Speaker 1: from breaking away. As they came towards him. He fired
19:19
Speaker 1: at the foremost one, but before he could reload, the
19:22
Speaker 1: wounded bull made for him, and he ran for dear
19:25
Speaker 1: life to the only tree near one of the flat
19:28
Speaker 1: topped thorns. He heard the thundering hoofs and snorting breath behind,
19:33
Speaker 1: but raced on, hoping to reach the tree and dodge
19:36
Speaker 1: behind it. A few yards short, however, the bull caught
19:40
Speaker 1: him in spite of a jump aside, and flung him
19:43
Speaker 1: with one toss right on top of the thorn tree.
19:46
Speaker 1: When he recovered consciousness, he was lying face upwards in
19:50
Speaker 1: the sun, with nothing to rest his head on and
19:53
Speaker 1: only sticks and thorns around him. He did not know
19:56
Speaker 1: where he was or what had happened. He tried to move,
19:59
Speaker 1: but one arm word useless and their effort made him
20:02
Speaker 1: slip and sag, and he thought he was falling through
20:05
Speaker 1: the earth. Presently he heard regular trampling underneath him, and
20:09
Speaker 1: the breadth of a big animal, and the whole incident
20:12
Speaker 1: came back to him. By feeling about cautiously, he at
20:17
Speaker 1: last located the biggest branch under him, and getting a
20:20
Speaker 1: grip onto this, he managed to turn over and ease
20:23
Speaker 1: his right side. He could then see the buffalo. It
20:27
Speaker 1: had trampled a circle round the tree and was doing
20:30
Speaker 1: sentry over him. Now and again. The huge creature stopped
20:34
Speaker 1: to sniff, snort, and stamp, and then resumed the round,
20:38
Speaker 1: perhaps the reverse way. The buffalo could not see him,
20:41
Speaker 1: and never once looked up, but glared about at its
20:44
Speaker 1: own accustomed level, and relying entirely on the sense of smell,
20:49
Speaker 1: It kept up the restless, vengeful watch for hours, always
20:53
Speaker 1: stopping in the same place to leeward to satisfy itself
20:56
Speaker 1: that the enemy had not escaped. Later in the afternoon,
21:00
Speaker 1: the buffalo, for the first time suddenly came to stand
21:04
Speaker 1: on the windward side of the tree, and, after a
21:07
Speaker 1: good minute's silence, turned its tail on Yankee, and with
21:11
Speaker 1: angry sniffs and tosses, stepped swiftly and resolutely forward. Some
21:15
Speaker 1: faces there was nothing to be seen, but Yankee judged
21:19
Speaker 1: the position and yelled out a warning to his master,
21:22
Speaker 1: whom he guessed to be coming through the bush to
21:24
Speaker 1: look for him, and at the same time he made
21:27
Speaker 1: what noise he could in the tree top to make
21:29
Speaker 1: the buffalo think he was coming down. The animal looked
21:32
Speaker 1: round from time to time with swings and tosses of
21:34
Speaker 1: his head and threatening angry sneezes, much as one sees
21:39
Speaker 1: a cowdo when standing between her young calf and threatened danger.
21:43
Speaker 1: It was defending Yankee for his own purposes and facing
21:46
Speaker 1: the danger. For many minutes, there was dead silence. No
21:51
Speaker 1: answer came to Yankee's call, and the bull stood its ground,
21:55
Speaker 1: glaring and sniffling towards the bush. At last there was
21:58
Speaker 1: a heavy thud below, instantly followed by the report of
22:02
Speaker 1: a rifle. The bullet came faster than the sound. The
22:05
Speaker 1: buffalo gave a heavy plunge, and with a grunting sob
22:09
Speaker 1: slid forwards on its chest round the camp fire. At night,
22:14
Speaker 1: Yankee used to tell tales in which fact, fancy, and
22:17
Speaker 1: superstition were curiously mingled, and Yankee, when not out of humor,
22:22
Speaker 1: was free with his stories. The boys, for whose benefit
22:26
Speaker 1: they were told, listened open mouthed, and I often stood
22:30
Speaker 1: outside the ring of gaping boys at the fire an
22:33
Speaker 1: interested listener. The tale of his experiences with the honey bird,
22:38
Speaker 1: which he had cheated out of its share, was the
22:40
Speaker 1: first I heard him tell. Who could say how much
22:44
Speaker 1: was fact, how much fancy, and how much the superstition
22:48
Speaker 1: of his race? Not even Yankee knew that he believed
22:52
Speaker 1: it all. The honey bird met him one day with
22:56
Speaker 1: cherry cheap, cheap, and as he whistled in reply, it
23:00
Speaker 1: led him to an old tree where the bee hive was.
23:03
Speaker 1: It was a small hive, and Yankee was hungry, so
23:06
Speaker 1: he ate it all. All the time he was eating,
23:09
Speaker 1: the bird kept fluttering about, calling anxiously and expecting some
23:12
Speaker 1: honey or young fat bees to be thrown out of it.
23:16
Speaker 1: And when he had finished, the bird came down and
23:18
Speaker 1: searched in vain for its share. As he walked away,
23:22
Speaker 1: the guilty Yankee noticed that the indignant bird followed him
23:25
Speaker 1: with angry cries and threats. All day long. He failed
23:30
Speaker 1: to find game, whenever there seemed to be a chance.
23:34
Speaker 1: An angry honey bird would appear ahead of him and
23:37
Speaker 1: cry a warning to the game. And that night, as
23:40
Speaker 1: he came back, empty handed and hungry, all the portents
23:43
Speaker 1: of bad luck came to him in turn. An owl
23:47
Speaker 1: screeched three times over his head. A goat sucker, with
23:51
Speaker 1: its long, wavy wings and tailed, flitted before him in
23:54
Speaker 1: swoops and rings in most ghostly silence. And there is
23:58
Speaker 1: nothing more ghostly than the flappy, baby, soundless flittings of
24:01
Speaker 1: a goat sucker. A jackal trotted persistently in front, looking
24:05
Speaker 1: back at him, and a striped tayena hump back, savage
24:09
Speaker 1: and solitary, stalked by in silence and glared. At night,
24:14
Speaker 1: as he lay unable to sleep, the bats came and
24:17
Speaker 1: made faces at him. A night adder rose up before
24:20
Speaker 1: his face and slithered out its forked tongue. The two black,
24:25
Speaker 1: beady eyes glinted the firelight back, and whichever way he looked,
24:29
Speaker 1: there was a honey bird, silent and angry, yet with
24:32
Speaker 1: a look of satisfaction as it looked. So it went
24:35
Speaker 1: all night, no sleep for him, no rest. In the morning.
24:40
Speaker 1: He rose early, and taking his gun and chopper set
24:43
Speaker 1: out in search of hives. He would give all to
24:46
Speaker 1: the honey bird he had cheated, and thus make amends
24:50
Speaker 1: he had not gone far before. To his great delight,
24:52
Speaker 1: there came a welcome chattering in answer to his low whistle,
24:56
Speaker 1: and the busy little fellow flew up to show himself
24:59
Speaker 1: and promptly led the way, going ahead ten to twenty
25:02
Speaker 1: yards at a flight. Yankee followed eagerly until they came
25:06
Speaker 1: to a small donga with the sandy bottom, and then
25:09
Speaker 1: the honey bird, called briskly, fluttered from tree to tree
25:12
Speaker 1: on either bank, leading him on. Yankee, thinking the hive
25:17
Speaker 1: must be near, was walking slowly along the sandy bed
25:20
Speaker 1: and looking upwards in the trees, when something on the
25:23
Speaker 1: ground caught his eye, and he sprang back, just as
25:26
Speaker 1: the head of a big puffadder struck where his barefoot
25:29
Speaker 1: had been a moment before. With one swing of his chopper,
25:33
Speaker 1: he killed it. He took the skin off for an ornament,
25:36
Speaker 1: the poison glands for medicine, and the fangs for charms,
25:40
Speaker 1: and then whistled and looked about for the honey bird,
25:42
Speaker 1: but it had gone a little Later on, however, he
25:46
Speaker 1: came upon another and it led him to a big
25:49
Speaker 1: and shady wild fig The honey bird flew to the
25:53
Speaker 1: trunk itself and cheaped and chattered there, and Yankee put
25:56
Speaker 1: down his gun and looked about for an easy place
25:59
Speaker 1: to climb. As he peered through the foliage, he met
26:02
Speaker 1: a pair of large green eyes looking full into his.
26:07
Speaker 1: On a big limb of the tree lay a tiger,
26:10
Speaker 1: still as death, with its head resting on his paws,
26:14
Speaker 1: watching him with a catlike eagerness for its prey. Yankee
26:18
Speaker 1: hooked his toe to the ream sling of his old
26:20
Speaker 1: gun and slowly gathered it up, without moving his eye
26:24
Speaker 1: from the tigers, and backing away slowly foot by foot,
26:28
Speaker 1: he got out into the sunshine and made off as
26:31
Speaker 1: fast as he could. It was the honey bird's revenge,
26:34
Speaker 1: he knew it. Then he sat down on some bare
26:37
Speaker 1: ground to think what to do next, for he knew
26:40
Speaker 1: that he must die if he did not find honey
26:42
Speaker 1: and make good a hundred times what he had cheated.
26:46
Speaker 1: All day long, he kept meeting honey birds and following them,
26:50
Speaker 1: but he would no longer follow them into bad places,
26:53
Speaker 1: for he could not tell whether they were new birds
26:55
Speaker 1: or the one he had robbed once he had been
26:58
Speaker 1: nearly caught. The bird had perched on an old ant heap,
27:02
Speaker 1: and Yankee, thinking there was a ground hive there, walked
27:05
Speaker 1: boldly forwards. A small misshapen tree grew out of the
27:09
Speaker 1: ant heap, and one of the twisted branches caught his
27:12
Speaker 1: eye because of the thick ring around it. It was
27:16
Speaker 1: the coil of a long green mumber, and far below that,
27:20
Speaker 1: half hidden by the leaves, hung the snake's head, with
27:23
Speaker 1: the neck gathered in half loop coils, ready to strike
27:27
Speaker 1: at him. After that, Yankee kept in the open, searching
27:31
Speaker 1: for himself among the rocks and in the old dead
27:34
Speaker 1: trees for the tell tale stains that marked the hive's entrance.
27:39
Speaker 1: But he had no luck, and when he reached the
27:41
Speaker 1: river in the early afternoon, he was glad of a
27:44
Speaker 1: cool drink and a place to rest. For a couple
27:47
Speaker 1: of hours, he had seen no honey birds, and it
27:50
Speaker 1: seemed at last that his pursuer had given him up
27:53
Speaker 1: for that day, at least, as he sat in the
27:56
Speaker 1: shade of the high bank. However, with the river only
27:59
Speaker 1: a few yards from his feet, he heard again the
28:02
Speaker 1: faint chattering. It came from the river side beyond a
28:05
Speaker 1: turn in the bank, and it was too far away
28:08
Speaker 1: for the bird to have seen Yankee from where it called,
28:11
Speaker 1: so he had no doubt about this being a new bird.
28:14
Speaker 1: It seemed to him a glorious piece of luck that
28:16
Speaker 1: he should find honey by the aid of a strange bird,
28:20
Speaker 1: and be able to take half of it back to
28:22
Speaker 1: the hive he had emptied the day before, and leave
28:24
Speaker 1: it there for the cheated bird. There was a beach
28:28
Speaker 1: of pebbles and rocks between the high bank and the river,
28:31
Speaker 1: and as Yankee walked along it on the keen lookout
28:35
Speaker 1: for the bird, he spotted it sitting on a route
28:38
Speaker 1: half way down the bank. Some twenty yards away, close
28:42
Speaker 1: to where the chattering bird perched, there was a break
28:45
Speaker 1: in the pebbly beach, and there shallow water extended up
28:49
Speaker 1: to the perpendicular bank. In the middle of this little
28:53
Speaker 1: stretch of water, and conveniently placed as a stepping stone,
28:57
Speaker 1: there was a black rock, and the bare footed Yankee
29:00
Speaker 1: stepped noiselessly from stone to stone towards it. An alarmed
29:06
Speaker 1: cane rat, cut off by Yankee from the river, ran
29:09
Speaker 1: along the foot of the bank to avoid him, but
29:12
Speaker 1: when it reached the little patch of shallow water, it
29:15
Speaker 1: suddenly doubled back in fright, and raced under the boy's
29:18
Speaker 1: feet into the river. Yankee stopped. He did not know why,
29:22
Speaker 1: but there seemed to be something wrong, Something had frightened.
29:25
Speaker 1: The cane rat back on to him, and he stared
29:28
Speaker 1: hard at the bank and the stretch of beach ahead
29:31
Speaker 1: of him. Then the rock he meant to step on
29:34
Speaker 1: gave a heave, and a long blackish thing curved towards him.
29:39
Speaker 1: He sprang into the air as high as he could,
29:42
Speaker 1: and the crocodile's tail swept under his feet. Yankee fled
29:47
Speaker 1: back like a buck, the rattle on the stones behind him,
29:51
Speaker 1: and the crash of reeds putting yards into every bound.
29:56
Speaker 1: For four days he stayed in camp, waiting for someone
29:58
Speaker 1: to find a hive and give him honey enough to
30:01
Speaker 1: make his peace, and then for an old snack box
30:04
Speaker 1: and little powder. He bought a huge basket full of comb,
30:08
Speaker 1: young and old from a kafferwoman at one of the
30:10
Speaker 1: kraals some miles away, and put it all at the
30:13
Speaker 1: foot of the tree he had cleaned out. Then he
30:16
Speaker 1: had peace. The boys believed every word of that story,
30:20
Speaker 1: so I am sure did Yankee himself. The buffalo story
30:24
Speaker 1: was obviously true, and Yankee thought nothing of it. The
30:28
Speaker 1: honeybird's story was not. Yet he gloried in it. It
30:31
Speaker 1: touched his superstitious nature, and it was impossible for him
30:35
Speaker 1: to tell the truth or to separate fact from fancy
30:38
Speaker 1: and superstition. How much fact they may have been in it,
30:42
Speaker 1: I cannot say. Honeybirds gave me many a wild goose chase,
30:46
Speaker 1: but when they led to anything at all, it was
30:49
Speaker 1: to hives, and not to snakes, tigers, and crocodiles. Perhaps
30:53
Speaker 1: it is right to own up that I never cheated
30:56
Speaker 1: the honeybird. We pretended to laugh at the superstition, but
31:00
Speaker 1: we left some honey all the same, just for luck.
31:04
Speaker 1: After all, as we used to say, the bird earned
31:07
Speaker 1: its share and deserved encouragement. Round the campfire at nights,
31:12
Speaker 1: it was no uncommon thing to see someone jump up
31:15
Speaker 1: and let out with whatever was handiest at some poisonous intruder.
31:20
Speaker 1: There was always plenty of dead wood about, and we
31:22
Speaker 1: piled on big branches and logs freely, And as the
31:26
Speaker 1: ends burnt to ashes in the heart of the fire,
31:28
Speaker 1: we kept pushing the logs further in of course, dead
31:32
Speaker 1: trees are home to all sorts of creepy, cowly things.
31:35
Speaker 1: And as the log warmed up and the fire eate
31:38
Speaker 1: into the decayed heart and drove thick hot smoke through
31:41
Speaker 1: the cracks and corridors and secret places in the logs,
31:44
Speaker 1: the occupants would come scuttling out at the butt ends.
31:48
Speaker 1: Small snakes are common, the big ones, usually clearing when
31:51
Speaker 1: the log was first disturbed, and they slip away into
31:54
Speaker 1: the darkness, giving hard quick glances about them. But scorpions, centipedes,
31:59
Speaker 1: and all sorts of spiders were by far more numerous.
32:02
Speaker 1: Occasionally in the mornings we found snakes under our blankets,
32:06
Speaker 1: where they had worked in during the night for the
32:08
Speaker 1: warmth of the human body. But no one was bitten,
32:11
Speaker 1: and one made a practice of getting up at once
32:14
Speaker 1: and with one movement, so that the unwelcomed visitors should
32:17
Speaker 1: not be warned or provoked by any preliminary rolling. The scorpions,
32:22
Speaker 1: centipedes and tarantulas seemed to be more objectionable, but they
32:26
Speaker 1: were quite as anxious to get away as we were,
32:28
Speaker 1: and it is wonderful how little damage is done. One night,
32:32
Speaker 1: when we had been watching them coming out of a
32:34
Speaker 1: big honeycombed log like the animals from the ark, and
32:38
Speaker 1: were commenting on the astonishing number and the variety of
32:41
Speaker 1: these things. I heard Yankee conveying, in high pitched tones,
32:46
Speaker 1: fanciful bits of information to their credulous wagon boys. When
32:51
Speaker 1: he found that we too were listening, and Yankee had
32:54
Speaker 1: the story teller's love for a gallery, he turned our
32:57
Speaker 1: way and dropped into jargon of broken English, helped out
33:00
Speaker 1: with hot and touch Dutch, which it is impossible to
33:03
Speaker 1: reproduce an intelligible form. He made some allusion to the
33:07
Speaker 1: Great Battle, and when I asked for an explanation, he
33:10
Speaker 1: told us the story. It is well known in South Africa,
33:14
Speaker 1: and similar stories are to be found in the folklore
33:16
Speaker 1: of other countries, but it had a special interest to
33:19
Speaker 1: us in that Yankee gave it as having come to
33:22
Speaker 1: him from his own people. He called it the Great
33:25
Speaker 1: Battle between the things of the earth and the things
33:28
Speaker 1: of the air. For a long time there had been
33:32
Speaker 1: jealousy between the things of the earth and the things
33:34
Speaker 1: of the air, each claiming superiority for themselves. Each could
33:39
Speaker 1: do some things that others could not do, and each
33:41
Speaker 1: thought their powers greater, and their qualities superior. One day
33:46
Speaker 1: a number of them happened to meet on an open
33:49
Speaker 1: plain near the river's bank, and the game of bragg
33:52
Speaker 1: began again as usual. At last, the lion, who was
33:56
Speaker 1: very cross, turned to the old black ask as he
34:00
Speaker 1: sat half asleep on a dead tree, and challenged him.
34:04
Speaker 1: You only eat the dead. You steal where others kill.
34:09
Speaker 1: It is all talk with you. You will not fight.
34:13
Speaker 1: The Asfogel said nothing but let his bald head and
34:17
Speaker 1: bare neck settle down between his shoulders and closed his eyes.
34:22
Speaker 1: He wakes up soon enough when we find him squatting
34:25
Speaker 1: above the carcass, said the jackal. See him flop along.
34:28
Speaker 1: Then when we find him, the Asfalgel said, opening his
34:33
Speaker 1: eyes wide, sneaking, prowler of the night, little bastard of
34:38
Speaker 1: the striped thief, come down and fight, snarled the Hyaena angrily,
34:45
Speaker 1: thief and scavenger yourself. So the things of the air
34:49
Speaker 1: gathered around and joined in backing the black Assvogel and
34:53
Speaker 1: the things of the earth kept on challenging them to
34:55
Speaker 1: come down and have it out, But nobody could hear
34:59
Speaker 1: anything because the jackal yapped incessantly, and the go away
35:03
Speaker 1: birds with his feathers all on end, and its neck
35:05
Speaker 1: craned out screamed itself, drunk with passion. Then the eagle
35:11
Speaker 1: spoke out, you have talked enough. Strike strike for the eyes,
35:16
Speaker 1: and he swept down close to the lion's head, but
35:20
Speaker 1: swerving to avoid the big paw that darted out at him.
35:23
Speaker 1: He struck in passing at the jackal and took out
35:26
Speaker 1: part of his ear. I am killed, I am killed,
35:29
Speaker 1: screamed the jackal, racing for a hole to hide in,
35:33
Speaker 1: But the other beasts laughed at him, and when the
35:36
Speaker 1: lion called them up and bade them take their places
35:39
Speaker 1: in the field for the great battle, the jackal walked
35:42
Speaker 1: close behind him, holding his head on one side and
35:45
Speaker 1: showing each one what the eagle had done. Where is
35:49
Speaker 1: my place, asked the crocodile in a soft voice, from
35:53
Speaker 1: the bank, where no one had noticed him come up.
35:56
Speaker 1: The things of the earth that were near him moved
35:59
Speaker 1: quietly away. Your place is in the water, the lion answered,
36:04
Speaker 1: coward and traitor whom no one trusts, who would fight
36:08
Speaker 1: with his back to you? The crocodile laughed softly and
36:12
Speaker 1: rolled his green eyes from one to another, and they
36:15
Speaker 1: moved still further away. What am I asked the ostrich
36:20
Speaker 1: kindred of the birds, I am of the winged ones,
36:23
Speaker 1: but I cannot fight with them. Let him fly, said
36:27
Speaker 1: the jackal, grinning, and we shall then see to whom
36:30
Speaker 1: he belongs. Fly all three sticks fly. The ostridge ran
36:35
Speaker 1: at him, waltzing and darting with wings outspread, But the
36:39
Speaker 1: jackal dodged away under the lion and squealed out, take
36:42
Speaker 1: your feet off the ground, clumsy, and fly. Then it
36:47
Speaker 1: was arranged that there should be two umpires, one from
36:50
Speaker 1: each party, and that the umpires should stand on two
36:53
Speaker 1: high hills where all could see them. The ostridge was
36:57
Speaker 1: made umpire for the things of the air, and as
37:00
Speaker 1: long as the fight went well with his party, he
37:02
Speaker 1: was to hold his head high so that the things
37:05
Speaker 1: of the air might see the long neck upright. And,
37:08
Speaker 1: knowing that all was well, fight on. The jackal asked
37:13
Speaker 1: that he might be umpire of the things of the earth.
37:16
Speaker 1: You are too small to be seen, objected the lion, gruffly. No, No,
37:21
Speaker 1: urged the jackal. I will stand up on a big
37:23
Speaker 1: ant heap and hold my bushy tail on high, where
37:26
Speaker 1: all will see it, shining silver and gold. In the sunlight. Good,
37:31
Speaker 1: said the lion. It's better so perhaps, for you would
37:33
Speaker 1: never fight. And as soon as one begins to run,
37:36
Speaker 1: others follow. The things of the air gathered in their numbers,
37:41
Speaker 1: and the eagle led them, showing them how to make
37:44
Speaker 1: up for their weakness by coming swiftly down in numbers
37:47
Speaker 1: when they found their enemies alone or weak, or how
37:50
Speaker 1: to keep the sun behind them so that it would
37:52
Speaker 1: shine in their enemies eyes and blind them. And how
37:56
Speaker 1: the loud voiced ones should attack on the rear and
37:59
Speaker 1: scream suddenly, while those with bill and claws sweeped down
38:02
Speaker 1: in front and struck at the eyes. And for a
38:06
Speaker 1: time it went well with the things of the air.
38:09
Speaker 1: The little birds and locusts and butterflies came in clouds
38:12
Speaker 1: about the lion, and he could see nothing as he
38:15
Speaker 1: moved from place to place. And the things of the
38:17
Speaker 1: earth were confused by these sudden attacks, and, giving up
38:21
Speaker 1: the fight, began to flee from their places. Then the jackal,
38:25
Speaker 1: believing that he would not be found out cheated, he
38:28
Speaker 1: kept his tail up to make them think that they
38:30
Speaker 1: were not beaten. The lion roared to them so that
38:33
Speaker 1: all could hear to watch the hill where the jackals
38:36
Speaker 1: stood and see the sign of victory, and the things
38:39
Speaker 1: of the earth, being strong, gathered together again and withstood
38:43
Speaker 1: the enemy and drove them off. The battle was going
38:47
Speaker 1: against the things of the air when the go away
38:49
Speaker 1: bird came to the eagle and said, it's the jackal
38:53
Speaker 1: who has done it. Long ago we had won, but
38:55
Speaker 1: cheat and coward he kept his tail aloft, and his
38:58
Speaker 1: people had returned and are winning now. Then the eagle,
39:03
Speaker 1: looking round the field, said send me the bee. And
39:07
Speaker 1: when the bee came, the eagle told them what to do, and,
39:11
Speaker 1: setting quietly about his work as his habit is, he
39:14
Speaker 1: made a circuit through the trees that brought him to
39:17
Speaker 1: the hill where the jackal washed from the ant heap.
39:20
Speaker 1: While the jackal stood there with his mouth open and
39:23
Speaker 1: tongue out, laughing to see how his cheating had succeeded,
39:27
Speaker 1: the bee came up quietly behind, and, as Yankee put it,
39:31
Speaker 1: stuck him from Hereafter the jackal gave a scream of pain, and,
39:36
Speaker 1: tucking his tail down, jumped from the ant heap and
39:39
Speaker 1: ran away into the bush. And when the things of
39:42
Speaker 1: the earth saw the signal go down, they thought that
39:45
Speaker 1: all was lost and fled, So was the great battle won.
39:52
Speaker 1: End of chapter twenty