Копи царя Соломона
Umbopa Enters Our Service
"Iremember,"Isaid;"whatisityouwant?"
"Itisthis,‘Macumazahn.’"ThatismyKafirname,andmeansthemanwhogetsupinthemiddleofthenight,or,invulgarEnglish,hewhokeepshiseyesopen. "IhearthatyougoonagreatexpeditionfarintotheNorthwiththewhitechiefsfromoverthewater.Isitatrueword?"
"Itis."
"IhearthatyougoeventotheLukangaRiver,amoon’sjourneybeyondtheManicacountry.Isthissoalso,‘Macumazahn?’"
"Whydoyouaskwhitherwego?Whatisittoyou?"Iansweredsuspiciously,fortheobjectsofourjourneyhadbeenkeptadeadsecret.
"Itisthis,Owhitemen,thatifindeedyoutravelsofarIwouldtravelwithyou."
Therewasacertainassumptionofdignityintheman’smodeofspeech,andespeciallyinhisuseofthewords"Owhitemen,"insteadof"OInkosis,"orchiefs,whichstruckme.
"Youforgetyourselfalittle,"Isaid."Yourwordsrunoutunawares.Thatisnotthewaytospeak.Whatisyourname,andwhereisyourkraal?Tellus,thatwemayknowwithwhomwehavetodeal."
"MynameisUmbopa.IamoftheZulupeople,yetnotofthem. ThehouseofmytribeisinthefarNorth; itwasleftbehindwhentheZuluscamedownherea‘thousandyearsago,’longbeforeChakareignedinZululand. Ihavenokraal. Ihavewanderedformanyyears.
