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

CHAPTER I
12/21

We saw by the way her hair was dressed that she was not of our tribe.
"Greeting to you!" said the woman.
"Good-morrow!" answered my mother.

"What do you seek ?" "Food, and a hut to sleep in," said the woman.

"I have travelled far." "How are you named ?--and what is your people ?" asked my mother.
"My name is Unandi: I am the wife of Senzangacona, of the Zulu tribe," said the stranger.
Now there had been war between our people and the Zulu people, and Senzangacona had killed some of our warriors and taken many of our cattle.

So, when my mother heard the speech of Unandi she sprang up in anger.
"You dare to come here and ask me for food and shelter, wife of a dog of a Zulu!" she cried; "begone, or I will call the girls to whip you out of our country." The woman, who was very handsome, waited till my mother had finished her angry words; then she looked up and spoke slowly, "There is a cow by you with milk dropping from its udder; will you not even give me and my boy a gourd of milk ?" And she took a gourd from her bundle and held it towards us.
"I will not," said my mother.
"We are thirsty with long travel; will you not, then, give us a cup of water?
We have found none for many hours." "I will not, wife of a dog; go and seek water for yourself." The woman's eyes filled with tears, but the boy folded his arms on his breast and scowled.

He was a very handsome boy, with bright black eyes, but when he scowled his eyes were like the sky before a thunderstorm.
"Mother," he said, "we are not wanted here any more than we were wanted yonder," and he nodded towards the country where the Zulu people lived.
"Let us be going to Dingiswayo; the Umtetwa people will protect us." "Yes, let us be going, my son," answered Unandi; "but the path is long, we are weary and shall fall by the way." I heard, and something pulled at my heart; I was sorry for the woman and her boy, they looked so tired.


<<Back  Index  Next>>

D-Link book Top

TWC mobile books