登陆注册
20413600000027

第27章 SOLOMON'S ROAD(4)

Then diving again into the hag,he brought out a little pocket razor with a guard to it,such as are sold to people afraid of cutting themselves,or to those about to undertake a sea voyage.Then he vigorously scrubbed his face and chin with the fat and began.But it was evidently a painful process,for he groaned very much over it,and I was convulsed with inward laughter as I watched him struggling with that stubbly beard.It seemed so very odd that a man should take the trouble to shave himself with a piece of fat in such a place and under such circumstances.At last he succeeded in getting the worst of the scrub off the right side of his face and chin,when suddenly I,who was watching,became aware of a flash of light that passed just by his head.

Good sprang up with a profane exclamation (if it had not been a safety razor he would certainly have cut his throat),and so did I,without the exclamation,and this was what I saw.Standing there,not more than twenty paces from where I was,and ten from Good,was a group of men.They were very tall and copper-colored,and some of them wore great plumes of black feathers and short cloaks of leopard skins;this-was all I noticed at the moment.In front of them stood a youth of about seventeen,his hand still raised and his body bent forward in the attitude of a Grecian statue of a spear thrower.Evidently the flash of light had been a weapon,and he had thrown it.

As I looked an old,soldier-like looking man stepped forward out of the group,and catching the youth by the arm said something to him.

Then they advanced upon us.

Sir Henry,Good,and Umbopa had by this time seized their rifles and lifted them threateningly.The party of natives still came on.It struck me that they could not know what rifles were,or they would not have treated them with such contempt.

"Put down your guns!"I hallooed to the others,seeing that our only chance of safety in conciliation.They obeyed,and,walking to the front,I addressed the elderly man who had checked the youth.

"Greeting,"I said,in Zulu,not knowing what language to use.

To my surprise I was understood.

"Greeting,"answered the man,not,indeed,in the same tongue,but in a dialect so closely allied to it that neither Umbopa nor myself had any difficulty in understanding it.Indeed,as we afterwards found out,the language spoken by this people was an old-fashioned form of the Zulu tongue,bearing about the same relationship to it that the English of Chaucer does to the English of the nineteenth century.

"Whence come ye?"he went on,"what are ye?and why are the faces of three of ye white,and the face of the fourth as the face of our mother's sons?"and he pointed to Umbopa.I looked at Umbopa as he said it,and it flashed across me that he was right.Umbopa was like the faces of the men before me;so was his great form.But I had not time to reflect on this coincidence.

"We are strangers,and come in peace,"I answered,speaking very slow,so that he might understand me,"and this man is our servant.""Ye lie,"he answered,"no strangers can cross the mountains where all things die.But what do your lies matter;if ye are strangers then ye must die,for no strangers may live in the land of the Kukuanas.It is the king's law.Prepare then to die,O strangers!"I was slightly staggered at this,more especially as I saw the hands of some of the party of men steal down to their sides,where hung on each what looked to me like a large and heavy knife.

"What does that beggar say?"asked Good.

"He says we are going to be scragged,"I answered,grimly.

"Oh,Lord,"groaned Good;and,as was his way when perplexed,put his hand to his false teeth,dragging the top set down and allowing them to fly back to his jaw with a snap.It was a most fortunate move,for next second the dignified crowd of Kukuanas gave a simultaneous yell of horror,and bolted back some yards.

"What's up?"said I.

"It's his teeth,"whispered Sir Henry,excitedly."He moved them.

Take them out,Good,take them out!"

He obeyed,slipping the set into the sleeve of his flannel shirt.

In another second curiosity had overcome fear,and the men advanced slowly.Apparently they had now forgotten their amiable intentions of doing for us.

"How is it,O strangers,"asked the old man,solemnly,"that the teeth of the man"(pointing to Good,who had nothing on but a flannel shirt,and had only half finished his shaving)"whose body is clothed,and whose legs are bare,who grows hair on one side of his sickly face and not on the other,and who has one shining and transparent eye,move of themselves,coming away from the jaws and returning of their own will?""Open your mouth,"I said to Good,who promptly curled up his lips and grinned at the old gentleman like an angry dog,revealing to their astonished gaze two thin red lines of gum as utterly innocent of ivories as a new-born elephant.His audience gasped.

"Where are his teeth?"they shouted;"with our eyes we saw them."Turning his head slowly and with a gesture of ineffable contempt,Good swept his hand across his mouth.Then he grinned again,and lo!there were two rows of lovely teeth.

The young man who had flung the knife threw himself down on the grass and gave vent to a prolonged howl of terror;and as for the old gentleman,his knees knocked together with fear.

"I see that ye are spirits,"he said,falteringly;"did ever man born of woman have hair on one side of his face and not on the other,or a round and transparent eye,or teeth which moved and melted away and grew again?Pardon us,O my lords."Here was luck indeed,and,needless to say,I jumped at the chance.

"It is granted,"I said,with an imperial smile."Nay,ye shall know the truth.We come from another world,though we are men such as ye;we come,"I went on,"from the biggest star that shines at night.""Oh!oh!"groaned the chorus of astonished aborigines.

同类推荐
  • 天尊说阿育王譬喻经

    天尊说阿育王譬喻经

    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。
  • 混唐后传

    混唐后传

    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。
  • 厦门志

    厦门志

    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。
  • Allan Quatermain

    Allan Quatermain

    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。
  • 复阴

    复阴

    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。
热门推荐
  • 文明帝国

    文明帝国

    一个史前发达文明的机械设计工程师,却在后世一个偏远的小部落中复活。没有金手指的他,却掀起了轰轰烈烈的钢铁狂潮,引领了原始社会工业大革命,促进了三流部落的迅速崛起,建立全新的人类文明……形形色色的部落人种,不可思议的原始社会,与众不同的发展进程,新奇有趣的钢铁机器,啼笑皆非的文明冲突。一切尽在《文明帝国》…….Q群:29513599
  • 国之重器啊

    国之重器啊

    一个无父无母在酒肆打杂的小伙计立志要考上进士。可是自从在河边捡到了一个婴儿后,两个人的吃饭问题就成了最大的问题。
  • 罪妃归来:陛下,请自重!

    罪妃归来:陛下,请自重!

    五年前,她被他灌下打胎药,打入冷宫。五年后,他再见到她,第一件事就是撕毁了她的衣衫,确认她身上的胎记,第二件事就是想造一座金屋困住她,宠她一辈子。他是冷漠异常的帝国天子慕言瀮,做事狠绝。但是只有他的暗卫才知道他用五年的时间去找一个他曾经亲手打入冷宫的女人。她是被打入冷宫的弃妃殷楚怡,被人灌下剧毒丢下悬崖,失去了所有的记忆。为了解去体内的剧毒,恢复过往的记忆,她忍辱负重,却发现一切居然都跟她最爱的那个男人有关……他历尽千辛,九死一生,才见到梦寐以求的人儿。而她早已绝情绝爱,全无旧时记忆。当他筋疲力尽的站在她面前,她却挥刀相向,整整一十二刀,刀刀剜心。他却眉眼温柔,轻声问道:“怡儿,你可记起我?”
  • 第一宠妃

    第一宠妃

    她是现代顶尖杀手之王,一朝穿越,却成了大楚国人人皆知的丑女,最明显的标志就是脸上那暗红色的胎记!他是一国王爷,一人之下,万人之上,却独独对她情有独钟,是万幸,还是不幸?“雪儿,让本王给你松松筋骨!”温柔的声音能滴出水来。“那远滚哪去!”一道清冷的女声恶狠狠的回应。“雪儿。”一个大男人妩媚动人的抛了个媚眼,身边的鬼影一阵恶寒,急忙有多远逃多远,看多了怕长针眼。墨楚寒心想现在也是没办法,凰北雪油盐不进,想要将她吃下去还要多费一些功夫!眼底的痴迷更深,继续望着那一袭白衣,妩媚却不失冰冷的倩影,久久不曾离去!【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 金牌冰人和刁蛮小姐

    金牌冰人和刁蛮小姐

    不就是一巧言善辩的男媒婆嘛,竟自诩一代天骄、魔宫的领头人物、更是御赐的金牌冰人!哼,以为自己长得不赖就可以让所有女人一见倾心?扯淡!还敢嫌弃她是刁蛮腹黑耍无赖!小样,那她就刁蛮给你看看!
  • 神明

    神明

    用你的时间来购买你遗忘的记忆,生命因为记忆而变得美丽,变得丰富,遗忘是因为你自己不想记得,你真的要记起来吗?好了,至今为止,你已经用完一生来购买你的记忆,你的一辈子都属于我了。每个男人都是自己喜欢的女人的神明,你卖给我的时间,从今往后的全部还给你,找回的记忆,是属于你的。(本文纯属虚构,请勿模仿。)
  • 继父,快跟妈咪生个弟弟

    继父,快跟妈咪生个弟弟

    谁说未婚先孕没人要?谁说带着孩子不好嫁人?为了争夺一个孩子的妈,四个男穷追不舍,却一路搞笑,逗乐无穷。孩子的妈,男人的宝。风流前男友说:孩子他娘,看在孩子的份上,你就嫁给我吧!超级高富帅说:宝贝,我是认真的,给我当总裁夫人吧!顶级黑老大说:那谁,给我当压寨夫人,你想要啥就啥。
  • 无限魔漫

    无限魔漫

    无限好书尽在阅文。
  • 特别特别管用的职场心理学

    特别特别管用的职场心理学

    职场中也是如此,要学会把握人的心理——好的职场关系,不是一味地讲实话,而是先判断对方相信什么,再顺应他们的世界观,说该说的话。本书提供最实用的心理学定律,帮你了解自己、读懂他人。在职场中,人际关系有时候比公司制度更重要!书中提供切实可行的建议,让你在一个个真实的案例中学会慧眼识人,巧妙用人,圆融待人。进而游刃有余地处理你与自己、与领导、与同事、与客户的四大关系。
  • 魔武邪神

    魔武邪神

    失去天才光环,被家族遗弃,青梅竹马的女孩上门退婚。决心跳崖自尽,却被幸运女神给看上了,吃下丹神与龙神争夺的七彩珠,自此龙翔九天。