The King's Assegai. Mitford Bertram

created my father, Ntelani, one of his indunas. Boy as I was, I was tall and straight and active, and afraid of nothing. I could outstrip the fastest runner among us, and, indeed, all the younger ones were ordered to compete in foot-racing, both short and long distances. I was first in all these, and the King appointed me his chief messenger. I was incorporated into his bodyguard, and was never far from the King’s person. Indeed, he would often talk with me alone, as though I were his son; and being young and unthinking in those days, I soon began to fancy myself a much bigger man than my own father. So one day I went boldly to the King, and asked leave to tunga (Literally ‘sew’ the head-ring; i.e., to marry), for by this time we had many women-captives among us, over and above those we had been able to bring with us from Zululand.

      “Umzilikazi burst out laughing.

      “ ‘What!’ he said. ‘You, a boy—a mere child yesterday—thinking to tunga! Go, go! You are fleet of foot, Untúswa, but I have never heard that you had done anything especially brave—braver than your fellows, that is. What claim, then, have you to sue for the privilege which is granted to tried warriors alone?’

      “ ‘Give me but the chance, O King; give me but the chance!’ I cried. ‘I will surpass everyone for valour, for I know not what fear is.’

      “Umzilikazi had abandoned his good-humoured laugh. He now looked grave, even severe. In truth, I knew I was doing a bold thing in daring so much as to reply upon ‘the word’ of the King. It was an act which might have cost many a man his life. Yet there I stood, about ten paces from him, in a slightly bent attitude of humility, but meeting his gaze full and fearlessly.

      “ ‘Do you presume upon the favour I have ever shown you, Untúswa?’ he said sternly. ‘Do you perchance forget that the slayers are ever within hail?’

      “ ‘I lie beneath the foot of the King—the Great Elephant whose tread shaketh the world,’ I replied, launching into the most extravagant of bonga (Acclamatory praise, as applied to the King), but still meeting his threatening gaze unquailingly.

      “ ‘I believe you speak truly, boy, and that you do not know fear,’ he answered, ‘eke you had not dared to stand before me thus. Well now, this is my “word”: Go and distinguish yourself; perform some act bolder than any I have ever heard tell of. Then, child as you are, you shall wear the head-ring—because are you not, after all, my chief runner?’

      “ ‘Who am I, to keep on filling the King’s ears with words?’ I said. ‘But give me the chance to distinguish myself. Give me the chance, Father!’

      “ ‘You must make the chance, Untúswa; you must make it for yourself. But I say again, because you are my chief runner and my faithful servant, I will do more for you than I would for many, O son of Ntelani. Perform some act bolder than any act I have ever heard tell of, and you shall be allowed to tunga. Not only that, but I will give you this umkonto (The broad-bladed, short-handled assegai) which I hold in my hand, and with it you shall lead my armies to battle. Now go.’

      “I bent low to the earth, then straightened myself up, and with hand, uplifted shouted:—

      “ ‘Bayéte! I walk on air, O Elephant! for have I not the King’s promise?’ Then I went out from the presence.

      “You must know, Nkose, that in those days Umzilikazi was in the prime of his youth and strength, being tall and active, and with the stamp of a chief among chiefs. His countenance was noble and stately as that of a lion, and in his unbending moments he had a way with him that bound us to him in such wise that we, his younger warriors, would have died all deaths at his word. For his rule was lighter than that of Tshaka. He, like Tshaka, knew not fear, and was as daring and skilful a leader as the great Zulu King; indeed, this it was that aroused the jealousy of Tshaka, as I have told you, and led to the building up of a new nation. And although, for necessity’s sake, as regards other tribes, Umzilikazi was ruthless and unsparing, among us, his followers, he was merciful, if strict, and rarely spilt blood. Yet, while we loved him, we feared him—oh yes, we feared him.

      “Now, although I had the King’s promise, I felt sorely perplexed; for how was I to fulfil its conditions? For days and nights I thought and dreamed of nought else; saying nothing, however, to my father, Ntelani, who was already jealous of the great; favour Umzilikazi had shown me, and might have devised some means of thwarting me.

      “It happened that on the evening after I had obtained the King’s promise I was returning alone from a hunt. I was empty-handed; for although my fleetness of foot enabled me to traverse long distances, yet game was scarce in our neighbourhood, owing to the passage of such an immense body of people, which had scared it. Tired and dispirited, I threw down my assegais and small shield, and sank down against a rock to rest. Suddenly my tawny, black-muzzled hound leaped up and dashed round the rock with a growl. But this was soon changed to a whine of pleasure.

      “Clearly the intruder was known to him. Raising my eyes, I beheld a girl.

      “I am an old man now, Nkose, and have lived to learn that women, like assegais, are all made very much on the same lines—like assegais, are keen and sharp to cut and destroy. But, old man as I am, I cannot even now quite forget that evening after I had talked with the King.

      “ ‘Of what are your thoughts that they are so heavy, O son of Ntelani?’ she said, with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

      “I gazed upon her for a moment without replying; for I knew who she was, though we had never before spoken. Picture to yourself, Nkose, a tall fine girl—indeed, nearly as tall as myself—as straight as a spear-shaft and as strong and firm as a yellow-wood tree, with large and rounded limbs, and a face all sparkling with intelligence and mirth. She was rather light-coloured, though, and we Zulus, Nkose, prefer our women very black.

      “ ‘Perhaps it was of you I was thinking, Nangeza,’ I answered. ‘Is not that enough to produce heavy thoughts?’

      “ ‘Yau!’ she cried. ‘It may be that there are those who think the reverse. They do not feel heavy when their thoughts are of me.’

      “ ‘But they are amakehla (Head-ringed men, and privileged to marry). Any one of them has only to send in enough cattle and you are his. Now look at me. I am young. It may be half a lifetime before the King allows me to tunga. Wherefore, when I think of you I feel heavy, Nangeza, for this is not the first time I have looked upon you.’

      “ ‘I know that, son of Ntelani,’ she answered, looking shy. Then all of a sudden she came and sat down beside me. ‘Listen, Untúswa,’ she said, throwing an arm round my neck. ‘You are but an umfane, but I have loved you for some time unknown to you, for you are so strong and brave. And are you not the King’s chief runner? Now, put your ear to my lips while I whisper. Well, then, it is breathed among the old men that Umzilikazi intends to relax the severe laws of the Great Great One whose land we have left (Tshaka), and to allow his warriors to tunga while young—when we gain the land wherein we are to dwell. Now, Untúswa, if any man can win this privilege, it is yourself, for you are as brave as any, and, for the rest, you are the King’s chief runner, and have very much the ear of the King.’

      “This struck me as a good omen, coming as it did so close upon the King’s promise. I looked upon Nangeza’s splendid form, for, of course, she wore nothing but the girl’s mútya, or little apron of beads, and thought that to make her mine but for a little while, I would pay the sure and certain penalty—viz., death; but then the penalty would be suffered by her, too. Should I tell her of the King’s promise? Wisdom said ‘No’; but then my brain was reeling with love for her, and my evil spirit whispered that a woman’s brain and wit are subtle, and might devise a plan where I failed to see one. So I told her of the King’s promise; and having done so, my good spirit cried out upon me for a fool, for a secret which is shared by a woman—might it not as well be cried aloud from kraal to kraal from sunrise to sunset?

      “My news, however, caused Nangeza to clap her hands delightedly.

      “ ‘You are indeed