[Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard]@TWC D-Link book
Nada the Lily

PREFACE
8/8

The exact spiritual position held in the Zulu mind by the Umkulunkulu,--the Old--Old,--the Great--Great,--the Lord of Heavens,--is a more vexed question, and for its proper consideration the reader must be referred to Bishop Callaway's work, the "Religious System of the Amazulu." Briefly, Umkulunkulu's character seems to vary from the idea of an ancestral spirit, or the spirit of an ancestor, to that of a god.
In the case of an able and highly intelligent person like the Mopo of this story, the ideal would probably not be a low one; therefore he is made to speak of Umkulunkulu as the Great Spirit, or God.
It only remains to the writer to express his regret that this story is not more varied in its hue.

It would have been desirable to introduce some gayer and more happy incidents.

But it has not been possible.

It is believed that the picture given of the times is a faithful one, though it may be open to correction in some of its details.

At the least, the aged man who tells the tale of his wrongs and vengeance could not be expected to treat his subject in an optimistic or even in a cheerful vein.
(1) I grieve to state that I must now say the late Mr.F.B.Fynney.
NADA THE LILY.


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