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狮口余生(短篇快看)
H·赖德·哈格德

狮口余生

H. 赖德·哈格德

这个故事是我的老朋友艾伦·夸特梅因亲口告诉我的,在南非的时候我们都叫他 “猎手” 夸特梅因。他在约克郡买了一所房子,有一次我到他家里逗留做客,就在某一天晚上闲聊时听到了这个故事。不久之后,他唯一的儿子死了,这给了他沉重的打击,他随即离开了英格兰,与他同行的还有两个老朋友——亨利·柯蒂斯爵士和古德上尉——他们都是他昔日的航海伙伴。自此他就完全消失在非洲大陆黑暗的心脏地带了。他一直以来都听到一些传言,说是在广袤无垠、人迹未至的非洲内陆高地上,生活着一个白种民族——这一次他终于被说服,把在有生之年寻找到他们当作自己的抱负。怀着这份狂热的追求,他与同伴们启程了,对此我几乎可以断定,他们再也不会回来。我只收到过这位老绅士的一封信,是远自非洲东海岸塔纳河上游的一个哨站发来的,在桑给巴尔岛 [1] 以北大约300英里处。信里面说他们经历了许多艰难险阻,但都安然无恙;信中还说,他们已经找到了一些蛛丝马迹,这使他信心百倍,坚信他们执着的寻踪之旅将会是一次 “宏伟而又史无前例的发现” 。然而,我很担心他所发现的是死亡;因为这封信是很久以前的事了,从那以后,再没有人听到过这支探险队的任何消息。他们似乎完全消失了。

那是我在他家待的最后一晚,他把下面的故事告诉了我和前来吃饭的古德上尉。他已经吃完了晚餐,为了帮我和古德把第二瓶酒喝完,他也喝了两三杯陈年波尔图葡萄酒。这对他来说是非同寻常的,因为他饮酒一向节制,过去还常常说,他在殖民地居民中生活了很多年,亲眼目睹了酗酒对殖民阶级——狩猎者、运货骑手等等——的影响,也因此对酗酒感到恐惧。正因为这样,几杯美酒便在他身上发挥了更大的效力,让他布满皱纹的面颊泛起一丝红晕,也让他比平时更加健谈。

多么可爱的一个老头儿啊!我的眼前浮现出他的形象,一瘸一拐地在门厅踱来踱去,灰白的头发竖起来像硬毛刷一样,一张皱巴巴的黄脸,黑色的大眼睛如老鹰般锐利,又像公鹿般温顺。整个房间都挂着他无数次狩猎远征的战利品,每件战利品都有个故事,他要是有时间能一一讲述那该有多好啊。在平常他不会那么做,因为他不太愿意讲述自己的冒险经历,但是今晚这瓶波尔图酒让他打开了话匣子。

“啊!你这个畜生!” 他一边喊道,一边在一个大得出奇的狮子头骨下停了下来。这个头骨固定在壁炉架上,头骨的上方是一长排的枪,狮子的下颌张到最大。 “啊,你这个畜生!过去12年你给我添了多少麻烦,我猜,要到我死的那天你才会罢休吧。”

“夸特梅因,把那个故事告诉我们吧。” 古德说, “你常答应了我要讲,但到头来一直都没有。”

“你最好别让我讲。” 夸特梅因说, “这故事有点长。”

“讲吧。” 我说, “时间还早,而且我们还有些葡萄酒没喝完。”

就这样,经过我们的一番恳求后,夸特梅因从一直放在壁炉架上的一罐粗制布尔烟草中拿了些出来填满烟斗,仍然在房间里踱来踱去地开始了他的故事:

“我记得,那是一八六九年的三月,我在西库库尼 [2] 国内。当时正值老国王西夸提病亡,西库库尼掌握了大权——我忘记他是用什么办法得到政权的了。不管怎样,我当时就在那里。我听说巴佩迪人从非洲腹地运来了一批数量巨大的象牙,于是我赶了一辆载满货物的四轮牛车从米德尔堡 [3] 出发,想用这批货换到部分的象牙。这么早的月份就进入这个地区是有些冒险的,因为正是热症流行的时候;但我知道还有几个人在打这批象牙的主意,于是我决定碰碰运气。长期漂泊在外让我耐苦耐劳,所以一路上我几乎都没有停过车。嗯,开始的一段路程还是挺顺的。那是一片稀树草原,景色很美,连绵的山脉跨越平原,圆形的花岗岩丘陵四处耸立,像哨兵一样注视着起伏的低矮丛林。但是天气极其炎热,热得像一口蒸锅。我是三月份到的那里,当时正值非洲这个地区的秋天,空气里都弥漫着热症的味道。我沿着象河 [4] 往南赶路的时候,每天清晨都会钻出牛车,四下张望一番。根本看不到什么河,只有一条长长的白浪,像是被干草杈轻轻抛起的细软棉絮。那就是热症的瘴气。灌木丛中也腾起蒸汽形成的小漩涡,似乎有成百上千个小火苗在燃烧——千万吨腐朽植被散发出臭气。那里的景色真美,却是死亡之美;所有这些水汽生成的线和点共同在这片大地上书写着一个词语—— ‘瘟热’ 。”

“那一年疫病流行,人心惶惶。我记得,我来到了疙瘩鼻部族 [5] 的一个小村庄,于是就跑去看看能不能弄到些酪乳和玉米。走近的时候,我突然发觉这地方一点声响都没有。没有小孩子的吵闹,也没有狗的吠叫。看不到当地的山羊和牲口。这地方显然没多久之前还有人居住,现在却静得跟周围的灌木丛一样,只有几只珍珠鸡飞出村子栅栏门旁遍布密刺的梨树丛。我记得,进去之前我犹豫了一下,那里所有的一切弥漫着荒凉的气息。人类没有侵扰过的地方,大自然便不会显得那么荒凉,她只会显得迷人;可是一旦人类到了这里,又离弃了这地方,她就会变得荒凉。”

“我进了村子,向主屋走去。屋门前,一张很旧的羊皮地毯盖着什么东西。我弯下腰拉开那条毯子,接着大吃一惊地缩了回去,原来毯子下面是一个死去不久的年轻女人的尸体。有那么一刻我想掉头就走,但是好奇心驱使我跨过那具尸体,然后手脚并用地爬进了小屋。屋子里暗得看不见任何东西,但是我能闻到各种气味。我点了根火柴。这根火柴缓慢、微弱地燃烧着。随着火光渐亮,我看到周围是一家子沉睡的男男女女和小孩子。这时火柴突然明亮地燃烧起来,我这才看到他们也都早就死了,一共有五个人,其中一个是婴儿。惊慌之中火柴掉到了地上,我只管朝着屋外摸索,这时我瞥见角落里有一双明亮的眼睛。我以为那是只野猫或者其他什么动物,就再次加快了步伐。突然那里传来了声音,先是喃喃自语,接着是一连串可怕的呼喊声。我匆忙点燃了另一根火柴,看清楚那是一双老太太的眼睛,她裹在一件油腻的皮革衣裳里。想到她可能没办法或者不愿意自己出来,加上那股恶臭也让我无法忍受,我拉着她的胳膊,将她拽出了屋子。她看上去骨瘦如柴,全身裹着黑乎乎、皱巴巴的羊皮。唯一的白色就是那些羊毛,如果不是她的眼睛和声音,她看上去完全就是个死人。她以为我是来把她带走的魔鬼,因此才那样大声呼喊。我把她带到货车旁,给了她少许的南非白兰地,接着又煮了一品脱肉汁让她灌下,这是用前一天猎到的一只蓝角马的肉做的。喝了这些之后,她的气色立刻好了许多。她能说祖鲁语——原来她是恰卡 [6] 时期从祖鲁领地逃出来的——她告诉我说,我看到的所有人都死于瘟热。他们死了以后,其他村民就抢走牲口,逃离了村子,留下这个年老体弱、生活不能自理的穷苦老妇人。要不是遇到我,她肯定不是要饿死就是病死了。我找到她的时候,她已经在那堆尸体中坐了三天。我把她带到了下一个村子,给了村长一条毯子,让他照顾她,并答应如果我回来的时候老太太还健康的话,就再给他一条。我记得,他对于我为了一条不值钱的老命而舍弃两条毯子的做法感到非常惊讶。 ‘你为什么不把她留在灌木丛里?’ 他这样问我。你看,那里的居民将适者生存这个道理发挥到了极致。”

“离开老太太的那天晚上,我第一次碰到了那边的这位朋友。” 他朝着那个头骨点了点头;在宽宽的壁炉架的阴影中,狮头似乎正居高临下地冲着我们龇牙咧嘴地笑。 “从黎明到上午11点钟,我一直在赶路——赶了很长一段路,因为我想尽量多走一段。然后我把牛群放到草场上吃草,还派了跟车探路的土著小子去照看它们,打算到了傍晚六点的时候再次套车,趁着月光一直赶路到晚上十点。我爬进车里,一觉睡到了下午两点半左右,便起来做了些肉,就着一小杯黑咖啡吃了晚饭;因为在那个时候,要弄到保鲜牛奶是相当困难的。就在我快吃完饭、那个叫汤姆的赶车人正在洗涮餐具的时候,这个小无赖赶着一头牛回来了。”

“ ‘其他的牛哪儿去了?’ 我问道。”

“ ‘库斯!’ 他说, ‘库斯(首领)!其他的牛都跑了。我一转身的工夫,再回头看,其他的牛就都不见了,只有 ‘上尉’ 还在这儿,用它的后背蹭着一棵树。’”

“ ‘你是说你睡着了,让它们都走散了,你这个混蛋!我要拿棍子抽你。’ 我生气地说道,因为在这样一个瘟热传播的地方要困上一周左右寻找牛群,这可不是什么让人高兴的事。 ‘你快去找,汤姆你也是,如果找不到牛群,你们就不要回来。我敢肯定,它们是沿着米德尔堡路往回走,现在一定走了有12英里远了。你们俩什么话也别说,快去找吧。’”

“赶车人汤姆骂了一通,又狠狠踢了那个小子一脚——那完全是他活该。接着,他用皮条把老 ‘上尉’ 拴在车辕子上,他们两个就带着长矛和棍子出发了。我本来也应该去的,但我清楚必须有人看着货车,而且在夜里把车子留给他们两个中的任何一个照管,我都不放心。事实上,我当时十分生气,不过我对这种事早已经见怪不怪了。于是为了让自己平静下来,我就拿上一支步枪打猎去了。在接下来的几个小时里,我四处寻找,结果也没找到什么可以让我开上一枪,但是最后,就在离货车不到70码的地方,我从一片合欢树丛后面赶出了一只上了年纪的公黑斑羚。它径直朝着货车跑去。等它跑到离车几英尺远的地方时,我才有机会开枪射击。我扣动扳机,正中它的脊柱中央;它随即跌倒,不再动弹,死得透透的。这一枪真是准极了,不过当然啦,这话不该由我来说。这个小插曲让我的怒气消了些,尤其是这只黑斑羚正好撞在货车后部,所以我只需要将它的内脏掏出,用皮条绑住它的腿,把它拖上车就成了。等我做完这一切,太阳已经落山,一轮圆月当空升起,真是一轮美丽的月亮。之后在夜色尚浅时分,一份美好的静谧笼罩了灌木林。这是在非洲灌木地带间或会出现的景象。野兽不再游走,鸟儿不再啼叫。没有一丝微风打扰宁静的树木,树影不再摇曳,只是默默地拉长。但是,现在这一景象显得既压抑又荒凉,因为我完全看不到牛群和同伴的影子。我很感激老 ‘上尉’ 与我为伴;它正倚靠车辕子躺在那里,咀嚼着反刍的食物,神态悠闲。”

“可是,就在这个时候, ‘上尉’ 开始变得焦躁不安起来。它先是鼻子呼哧呼哧地喷了阵气,接着站起身来,又开始呼哧呼哧。我不明白是怎么回事,就像个傻子一样跳下货车车厢四下察看,还以为是走失的牛群回来了。”

“接下来的一瞬间我就后悔了,因为我突然听到一声咆哮,看到什么黄色的东西飞速闪过我身旁,落在了可怜的 ‘上尉’ 身上。牛儿痛苦地怒吼了一声,接着是嘎吱一声咬嚼,原来是一头狮子一口咬在这只可怜畜生的脖子上。我这才明白发生了什么。步枪在货车里,我的第一个念头是去取枪,于是我转身一个箭步朝货车奔去。我一只脚踩在了车轮上,想要翻身上车,但我整个人就像凝固了一般停在那里。原来,我正打算纵身一跃时,就听见狮子在我身后,下一秒我就能感觉到这头狮子,啊,那感觉真实得就像我能触摸到这张桌子一样。这么说吧,我能感觉到它正嗅着我垂下的左腿。”

“哎呀!我当时的感觉真的很奇怪;我以前还从未有过这么奇怪的感觉。我吓得一动都不敢动,而奇怪的是我好像对整条腿都失去了控制;它似乎有了自己的意志,想要一脚踢出去,就像人们在特别严肃的场合想要歇斯底里地大笑一样。那头狮子闻了又闻,从我的脚踝向上慢慢移动到了大腿处。我以为它要抓住我的腿,结果它没有。它只是低声地咆哮,又回到了牛的身边。我稍微转了转脑袋,以便可以看见它的全貌。这大概是我见过的最大的一头狮子——我见过的狮子要说也不少了,黑色的鬃毛浓密得惊人。你们可以看到它的牙齿是什么样子的——看那里,很大的牙齿,不是吗?总而言之,那真是一头庞然大物。就在我四肢张开、躺在货车的前辕杆上的时候,我突然想到,这头狮子在笼子里看起来绝对会不同凡响。它站在可怜的 ‘上尉’ 的尸体旁,小心地取食它的内脏,娴熟得像个屠夫。在这期间我一直不敢挪动,因为它舔食着那堆血肉模糊的碎肉的当儿,不停地抬起头留意着我。等它把 ‘上尉’ 的肚子都掏干净了,就张开嘴发出了一声巨吼,不夸张地说,那声音让货车都颤动了。紧接着就听到另一声咆哮在回应它。”

“ ‘老天啊!’ 我想, ‘它还有同伴。’”

“这个念头还没有散去,我就看见一头雌狮在月光下跳跃着穿过又高又密的草丛,在它身后跟着两只獒犬大小的幼狮。它在我面前几英尺处停了下来,摇摆着尾巴站在那儿,明亮的黄眼睛目不转睛地盯着我;可就在我以为一切都完了的时候,它转身开始和幼狮啃食起 ‘上尉’ 来。就在离我还不到八英尺的地方,有四只狮子在咆哮着争吵着,撕扯啃食可怜的 ‘上尉’ 的尸骨;我躺在那里,害怕得浑身一边发抖,一边冒着冷汗,就像被投入狮坑的但以理一样。不一会儿,幼狮吃饱了,开始变得焦躁不安。其中一只绕到货车后面,扯着挂在那里的公黑斑羚,另一只到了我的跟前,开始嗅闻我的腿。事实上,不仅如此,它还开始用粗糙的舌头舔着我挽起的裤腿下露出的皮肤。从它舔的力气越来越大和发出的咕噜声可以看出,它越舔越起劲。它锉刀般的舌头即刻就要锉进我大腿的皮肤——幸好我皮糙肉厚——大腿就要流出血来,我想这下完了,这次可是没法活命了。于是我就躺在那里,回忆我的罪过,并向上帝祈祷,心想无论如何,这辈子还算是没有白活。”

“突然间灌木丛中传来了一阵哗啦哗啦的声音,还夹杂着呼喊声和口哨声,原来是那两个小子赶着牛群回来了。他们发现牛群的时候,这些牛正聚在一起往前走。几头狮子抬起头,竖起耳朵听着,然后就一声不响地跑开了——我也昏倒了。”

“那晚狮子没有再来,到了第二天早上,我的神经算是平复了;但是一想到我在那四只狮子的爪下——或者毋宁说鼻下——的遭遇,还有我的公牛 ‘上尉’ 的悲惨命运,我就满腔愤怒。我很爱 ‘上尉’ 这头了不起的老牛。我气得像个傻子一样,打算去攻击它们这一大家子。这是一个首次出猎的新手才会犯的错误,但我竟然还是去了。我吃了早饭,在那条被幼狮舔得剧痛的腿上擦了些油,就带着赶车人汤姆出发了——他可一点儿也不喜欢这差事。我这次带的是一支普通双管12号滑膛枪,也是我的第一支后膛枪。我之所以带上滑膛枪,是因为它能精准地射出子弹;经验告诉我,滑膛枪子弹对付狮子和猎枪子弹一样有效。狮子是一种皮肉柔软的动物,只要射中它的身体就不难解决了。相比较而言,射杀一只羚羊还要更费些周章。”

“我们出发后的第一件事就是要找到狮群在白天的藏身之处。距离货车300码的地方是一处山冈,上面零零散散地围了一圈合欢树。穿过合欢树,就是一片开阔的平原,一直延伸到一处几近干涸的盆地,也可以说是个占地大约一英亩的水洼,密布着枯萎的黄色芦苇叶。这处盆地的另一边向上斜伸到一条沟壑的边缘。沟壑原先由激流不断冲刷形成,现在里面密密长着灌木丛,还有几棵我忘了叫什么名字的大树。”

“我即刻想到,在这个干涸的盆地里很可能会找到我的这些朋友,因为没有什么比躺在芦苇中更让一只狮子喜欢的了。这样它既可以洞察周围,而且自己也不会被发现。于是我决定前往一探究竟。就在我绕着盆地走到一半的时候,我发现了一只蓝角马的残骸,很明显是三四天之前被狮子猎杀的,一部分已经被狮群吞食;周围的其他迹象让我很快确信,就算狮群那一天不在这盆地里,它们也经常到这里来。但是如果它们在这里,问题在于怎么引它们出来;想要深入盆地去追踪它们显然是不可行的,除非是谁不想活了。此时,一阵大风从货车的方向席卷而来,掠过整片芦苇地,向灌木丛生的干沟吹去。我首先萌生了一个念头,就是烧掉芦苇丛,我之前提过那里很干燥。于是汤姆用火柴从芦苇丛的左侧开始点火,我从右侧点火。但是芦苇丛靠近根部的地方还是绿的,多亏借了风力,我们才点着了火。随着太阳升高,风力也逐渐增强,芦苇终于烧起来了。最终,大概过了半个小时,大火开始稳步地呈扇形向前推进,于是我绕到盆地另一边视线开阔的地方等待狮群,一如我们今天站在矮林中射杀山鹬一样。这样做挺冒险的,但是当年我对自己的射击充满自信,并不在意这样的危险。我刚到那里,就听到了芦苇丛被扒开的声音,随后一只动物就冲了上来。 ‘来吧。’ 我说。它来了。我能看到的只是一个黄色的物体,正准备射击,突然发现蹿出来的不是狮子,而是一只藏身在盆地中的美丽的小苇羚。这只小苇羚一定极易相信他人,才敢与狮群为邻,就像上帝的羔羊,但我猜芦苇丛一定很茂密,而且它与狮群保持了相当远的一段距离。”

“我放过了这只小苇羚,它就像一阵风一样跑开了。我继续盯着芦苇丛。大火现在燃烧得像个熔炉;火苗噼里啪啦的,呼啸着舔食芦苇丛,向空中喷出的火焰有二十多英尺高,热气就像在火苗上舞蹈,令人头晕目眩。但是芦苇依然有一半是绿色的,大量浓烟生成,倚借风势在低空像幕帘一样向我席卷而来。此时,从火苗噼里啪啦燃烧的声音中,我听到一声惊起的咆哮,接着一声又一声。现在可以断定,狮群确实是待在窝里的了。”

“我开始兴奋起来,你们知道,除了受伤的水牛之外,没有什么比一头近距离的狮子更能刺激神经的了;当我透过浓烟看出狮群正活动在芦苇丛的最边缘,我变得更加亢奋。它们偶尔像兔子把脑袋伸出洞穴一样探出头来,看到我站在大约五十码开外之后,又把头缩了回去。我知道,它们身后一定越来越热,所以这种状态坚持不了多长时间。我想得没错,它们四只突然一起从藏身处冲了出来,那头年老的黑鬃雄狮领先几步。在我的狩猎经验中从未看到如此壮观的一幕:四只狮子飞跃着穿过草原,全身笼罩在浓浓的烟幕之中,身后是熔炉般炽热燃烧的芦苇丛。”

“我估计它们是想跑到灌木丛生的沟谷之中,这样就会在距我大约5到20码处经过;于是我深吸了一口气,举起枪瞄准了那头狮子的肩部——那头黑鬃雄狮——这样它在运动中向前一两英寸,就能够直击它的心脏。来吧!我准备好了。我的手指正要扣动扳机,但就在这时,我突然眼前一黑——有点儿芦苇灰飘进了我的右眼。我跳起来揉搓着眼睛,等我终于睁开眼睛大致能看清楚的时候,最后一只狮子的尾巴恰好消失在了沟谷的灌木丛中。”

“这个时候再没有比我更要气疯的人了。太糟糕了,还是这样一个在空旷地带射击的大好机会!然而,我没有气馁;我转过身往沟谷方向走去。赶车人汤姆央求我别去了;按常理说我从不在胆量上逞强(我胆子也不大),但当时我下定决心,要么我杀死狮子,要么狮子杀死我。于是我告诉汤姆,如果他不愿意就不必跟着我了,但我一定要去;我的这位赶车人是个斯威士人 [7] ,他们天生胆大,所以他只是耸了耸肩,一边嘀嘀咕咕说我不是疯了就是着魔了,一边固执地跟随我的脚步。”

“不久我们就到了沟谷。这个沟谷大约300码长,但树木稀少;真正的刺激开始了。每一处灌木丛后都可能藏着一只狮子——这四只狮子肯定是藏在某个地方了,棘手的问题是,它们到底藏在哪儿。我四下察看,四处拨弄,不放过任何一个可能的地方,心也提到了嗓子眼。终于,我得偿所愿地瞥见一处灌木丛后有什么黄色的东西在移动。与此同时,从我对面的另一处灌木丛中跳出了一只小狮子,向烧尽芦苇的盆地方向冲去。我迅速转身,开枪射击,它随即一个跟头栽倒在地,在离尾部两英寸处折断了背脊。它无助地倒在地上,只能怒视着我。汤姆随后用长矛将它刺死了。我打开枪膛,快速抽出旧弹壳。事后想来,从接下来发生的事情来判断,我猜这弹壳已经炸开,并且留下了一部分布片在枪管里。无论我怎样试着装进新的子弹,都只能装进一半;还有——你们相信吗?——一定是被幼狮的呼叫招引而来,这时母狮现身了。它在离我20步左右的地方站着,摆动着尾巴,那样子看上去要多凶恶有多凶恶。我慢慢向后挪步,想要推进新的子弹,而它也跟着我小步子移动,每跑几步就停下来弓起身子。危险迫在眉睫,子弹还是推不进去。奇怪的是,我脑子里这时候想到的是那个制造子弹的家伙——在这里就不说他的名字了——我真心希望如果狮子把我吃掉了,他会得到应有的惩罚。子弹还是进不去,我试着抽出来,但也不行。如果合不上枪,就意味着我用不了另外那个枪管,这就是把废枪。我这就等于没有枪了。此时,我一边紧紧盯着母狮子,一边向后退去,它正腹部贴地无声无息地向前爬行,但还是摆动着尾巴瞪着我;从它的眼神中我知道再有几秒钟它就要扑过来了。我的手腕和手掌被子弹的黄铜边缘划出了一道口子,鲜血直流——看,到今天还有伤疤呢!”

夸特梅因对着灯光举起了他的右手,给我们看在手掌和手腕接合处留下的四五块白色伤疤。

“但是那样一丁点儿用也没起。” 他继续说道, “子弹纹丝不动。我希望再也不会有人遇到像我这样糟糕的境况了。雌狮打起精神,我简直陷入了绝境,就在这时,汤姆的喊声从我身后传来: ‘你正在往那只受伤的狮崽那里去。朝右边走。’”

“尽管我脑子一片空白,还是听懂了汤姆的话。于是我一边像刚才那样盯着母狮子,一边转向右边继续后退。”

“让我松了口气的是,随着一声低沉的咆哮,母狮伸直了腰,转过身去,朝沟谷另一头飞奔而去。”

“ ‘来啊,老大,’ 汤姆说, ‘咱们回车子上去吧。’”

“ ‘好的,汤姆,’ 我回答说, ‘我杀掉其他三只狮子就回去。’ 因为这时候我已经下定决心要杀死它们,在我记忆里,之前或之后我都从来没有这样坚定地要做什么事。 ‘你想走的话就回去吧,或者在树上待着也行。’”

“他考虑了一下眼前的情况,然后就明智地爬到了树上。我当时要是也爬上去就好了。”

“这时,我找到了我的一把小刀,这把小刀带有钩子,于是我费尽周折终于把枪管里残余的旧弹壳布片掏了出来,就是这点破布几乎要了我的命。它比一张邮票厚不了多少,绝对没有一张书写纸厚。掏出来之后,我给枪上了膛,在手腕和手掌接合处绑了条手帕来止血,就再次出发了。”

“我刚才就看到那头母狮跑进了一丛茂密的绿叶灌木之中——更确切地说是生长在水边的好几簇灌木;那儿有一条小溪顺着沟谷往下淌,就在大约50码远的地方。我于是就往那里去。可是,等我到了那儿,我什么也看不到,于是我拾起一块大石头扔进了灌木丛中。我一定是砸中了另一只小狮子,因为它一下子就蹿了出来,身子的一侧暴露在我面前。我立刻抓住这个机会,一枪把它打死了。母狮这时也像一道闪电似的冲了出来。就在它冲出来的瞬间,我终于用另一发子弹击中它的肋骨,结果它像只被击中的兔子一样翻滚了三圈。我迅速又上了两发子弹,这时那只母狮又站了起来,前爪扒着地向我爬来,咆哮着、呻吟着,脸上充满着我少有机会见到的恶魔般的愤怒。我又一次开枪,射穿了它的胸腔,它倒向一侧死了。”

“那是我第一次——也是最后一次——同时打死两只狮子,我还从来没有听说其他人有过这样的事迹。我自然很得意,于是又上了子弹,继续寻找那头杀死 ‘上尉’ 的漂亮黑鬃雄狮。我小心翼翼地沿着沟谷慢慢往顶头搜索,搜遍了沿路的每一簇灌木和草丛。这真是让我兴奋极了,因为我不能肯定哪一秒钟它就会向我扑来。让我稍稍感到宽心的是,我知道一头狮子很少攻击一个成年男子——我说 ‘很少’ ,是因为它有时候也会攻击,你们一会儿就知道了——除非它陷入绝境或者受了伤。我大概找了它将近一个小时。有一次,在一簇须芒草丛中,我以为看到了点动静,但是不能确定,等我踏进草丛时已经找不到它了。”

“最后我到了沟谷尽头,那里是条死路,一道50英尺高的石壁挡住去路。一条小瀑布顺着石壁涓涓流下,而在石壁正前方大约70英尺处,是一个巨石堆,在它的缝隙和顶部生长着蕨类、杂草和矮小的灌木。巨石堆大约有25英尺高,两侧的谷壁也非常陡峭。我来到沟谷的顶头,向四周望去,没有那头狮子的踪迹。很显然,要么是我在搜索的沿路错过了它,要么是它早就逃跑了。我心里有点儿恼怒;但是晚餐之前凭着一人一枪解决了三只狮子也不赖啊,我有点得意忘形。于是我又往回走,绕过那四面无所依赖的卵石堆。这时我感到兴奋劲儿已经过去,整个人都累坏了。而且,要把那三只狮子拖回去剥皮还要花更大的力气。等我走过那个石堆——据我判断大约有18码的距离——时,我又回头望了一眼。我眼睛很尖,但还是什么都没看见。”

“正在此时,我突然看到一个让人寒毛直竖的场面。在卵石堆之上,那头巨大的黑鬃雄狮正面对我站立着,它的轮廓在远处崖壁的映衬下显得格外清晰。它原来是趴伏在那里的,此时就像施了魔法一样显身了。它立在那里,尾巴不停地甩动着。它就像是诺森伯兰府 [8] 大门口的狮像活转了过来——我在哪里看到过那狮像的一张画。但它没有站许久。在我开火前——在我刚把枪抵住肩头还没来得及做什么的时候——它就向上径直一跃,跳离了岩石,并且借着那有力的一跃划过空中朝我飞扑过来。”

“老天!它看上去真是一个庞然大物,令人敬畏!它高高地跃向空中,划出一道优美的弧线。就在它跃到最高点的时候我开枪了。我不敢再等了,因为我知道它都不用着地,会直接扑到我的身上。我甚至都没有瞄准就开了这一枪,就像射杀一只沙锥一样快速扣动扳机。子弹打中了,我清楚地听见狮子挟着风声呼啸而来时,身体上砰地响了一声。接下来的一秒我就被扑倒在地(幸运的是,我跌入了一处匍匐植物覆盖的低矮灌木丛,这有效地缓解了冲击),狮子扑在我身上,它的森森白牙咬上了我的大腿——我听到牙齿与骨头发出的摩擦声。我痛苦地大喊,因为我一点也不像利文斯通博士 [9] 那样,感觉到麻木或是快乐——顺口提一下,我跟博士本人非常熟——我简直就是做好了死的准备。然而,就在这一刻,狮子紧紧咬住我大腿的嘴突然松开了。它俯身瞧着我,身子来回摇摆,从它的血盆大口中鲜血直往下滴。它一声咆哮,岩石都为之撼动。”

“它来回摇动着,接着它巨大的脑袋重重砸在我的身上,我几乎为之窒息。它就这样死了。原来,我射出的那发子弹正中它的胸膛,又从它背部中央的脊柱右侧穿透皮肉而出。”

“因为腿上伤口的疼痛,我才没有昏厥过去。我一能够喘上气来,就设法拖着自己的身体从它身下移了出来。谢天谢地,它的大牙没有把我的大腿骨完全咬断,但我流了大量的血,如果不是汤姆及时赶到,把我手腕上的手帕解下系在我的大腿上,再用一根棍子将它拧紧,我想我就会失血过多而死了。”

“对于我单枪匹马猎杀一大家子狮子这样的愚蠢行径,这不啻一个公正的奖励。真是千钧一发。从那以后一直到我死的那天,我就是个瘸腿了;每到三月份,伤口总是疼得厉害,而且每三年还会有一次红肿发炎。毋庸赘言,我在西库库尼国内没有换到多少象牙。象牙落到了另一个人的手里——一个德国人——净利赚了500英镑。接下来一个月我都躺在床上,此后又一瘸一拐地过了六个月。现在,故事我已经告诉你们了,我可以喝口杜松子酒睡觉了。”

注释

[1] 坦桑尼亚东北部一岛。

[2] 西库库尼(Sikukuni,1814—1882),今南非境内东北部一地区巴佩迪人的国王。他于1861年即位。

[3] 南非东北部姆普马兰加省的一个城镇。

[4] 南部非洲林波波河的一条支流,在今南非姆普马兰加省境内。

[5] 即东南部非洲的马关巴部族(the Magwamba)。荷兰殖民者因其出于装饰目的的奇特鼻部畸形而以 “疙瘩鼻” 称呼他们。

[6] 恰卡(T’ Chaka,也称为Shaka Zulu,约1787—约1828),非洲祖鲁族首领,祖鲁王国建立者。他被称为军事天才,但其残酷统治也受到争议。

[7] 斯威士人是东南非洲的一个民族,主要生活在今日的斯威士兰和南非,还有一部分人生活在莫桑比克。

[8] 诺森伯兰府为伦敦一座詹姆斯一世时期的大宅,建于1605年,是诺森伯兰公爵的府邸。它一直矗立在河岸街的最西头,直到1874年被拆毁。

[9] 戴维·利文斯通(David Livingstone,1813—1873),英国探险家、传教士,维多利亚瀑布和马拉维湖的发现者,非洲探险的最伟大人物之一。他曾遭到狮子的袭击,受了重伤。 nHvQcsQkMOSVfUoPtCDfvVIrzACW/gm6RmSTGOorA+US4iYloX8n50KnX61ZOBDJ



Long Odds(1)

H. Rider Haggard

The story which is narrated in the following pages came to me from the lips of my old friend Allan Quatermain, or Hunter Quatermain, as we used to call him in South Africa. He told it to me one evening when I was stopping with him at the place he bought in Yorkshire. Shortly after that, the death of his only son so unsettled him that he immediately left England, accompanied by two companions, his old fellow—voyagers, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good, and has now utterly vanished into the dark heart of Africa. He is persuaded that a white people, of which he has heard rumours all his life, exists somewhere on the highlands in the vast, still unexplored interior, and his great ambition is to find them before he dies. This is the wild quest upon which he and his companions have departed, and from which I shrewdly suspect they never will return. One letter only have I received from the old gentleman, dated from a mission station high up the Tana, a river on the east coast, about three hundred miles north of Zanzibar; in it he says that they have gone through many hardships and adventures, but are alive and well, and have found traces which go far toward making him hope that the results of their wild quest may be a "magnificent and unexampled discovery. " I greatly fear, however, that all he has discovered is death; for this letter came a long while ago, and nobody has heard a single word of the party since. They have totally vanished.

It was on the last evening of my stay at his house that he told the ensuing story to me and Captain Good, who was dining with him. He had eaten his dinner and drunk two or three glasses of old port, just to help Good and myself to the end of the second bottle. It was an unusual thing for him to do, for he was a most abstemious man, having conceived, as he used to say, a great horror of drink from observing its effects upon the class of colonists—hunters, transport—riders and others—amongst whom he had passed so many years of his life. Consequently the good wine took more effect on him than it would have done on most men, sending a little flush into his wrinkled cheeks, and making him talk more freely than usual.

Dear old man! I can see him now, as he went limping up and down the vestibule, with his gray hair sticking up in scrubbing—brush fashion, his shrivelled yellow face, and his large dark eyes, that were as keen as any hawk's, and yet soft as a buck's. The whole room was hung with trophies of his numerous hunting expeditions, and he had some story about every one of them, if only he could be got to tell it. Generally he would not, for he was not very fond of narrating his own adventures, but to—night the port wine made him more communicative.

"Ah, you brute! " he said, stopping beneath an unusually large skull of a lion, which was fixed just over the mantelpiece, beneath a long row of guns, its jaws distended to their utmost width. "Ah, you brute! you have given me a lot of trouble for the last dozen years, and will, I suppose to my dying day. "

"Tell us the yarn, Quatermain, " said Good. "You have often promised to tell me, and you never have. "

"You had better not ask me to, " he answered, "for it is a longish one. "

"All right, " I said, "the evening is young, and there is some more port. "

Thus adjured, he filled his pipe from a jar of coarse—cut Boer tobacco that was always standing on the mantelpiece, and still walking up and down the room, began:

"It was, I think, in the March of '69 that I was up in Sikukuni's country. It was just after old Sequati's time, and Sikukuni had got into power—I forget how. Anyway, I was there. I had heard that the Bapedi people had brought down an enormous quantity of ivory from the interior, and so I started with a waggon—load of goods, and came straight away from Middelburg to try and trade some of it. It was a risky thing to go into the country so early, on account of the fever; but I knew that there were one or two others after that lot of ivory, so I determined to have a try for it, and take my chance of fever. I had become so tough from continual knocking about that I did not set it down at much. Well, I got on all right for a while. It is a wonderfully beautiful piece of bush veldt, with great ranges of mountains running through it, and round granite koppies starting up here and there, looking out like sentinels over the rolling waste of bush. But it is very hot, —hot as a stew—pan, —and when I was there that March, which, of course, is autumn in this part of Africa, the whole place reeked of fever. Every morning, as I trekked along down by the Oliphant River, I used to creep from the waggon at dawn and look out. But there was no river to be seen—only a long line of billows of what looked like the finest cottonwool tossed up lightly with a pitchfork. It was the fever mist. Out from among the scrub, too, came little spirals of vapour, as though there were hundreds of tiny fires alight in it—reek rising from thousands of tons of rotting vegetation. It was a beautiful place, but the beauty was the beauty of death; and all those lines and blots of vapour wrote one great word across the surface of the country, and that word was' fever. ' "

"It was a dreadful year of illness that. I came, I remember, to one little kraal of knobnoses, and went up to it to see if I could get some maas (curdled butter—milk) and a few mealies. As I got near I was struck with the silence of the place. No children began to chatter, and no dogs barked. Nor could I see any native sheep or cattle. The place, though it had evidently been recently inhabited, was as still as the bush round it, and some guinea—fowl got up out of the prickly pear bushes right at the kraal gate. I remember that I hesitated a little before going in, there was such an air of desolation about the spot. Nature never looks desolate when man has not yet laid his hand upon her breast; she is only lovely. But when man has been, and has passed away, then she looks desolate.

"Well, I passed into the kraal, and went up to the principal hut. In front of the hut was something with an old sheepskin kaross (rug) thrown over it. I stooped down and drew off the rug, and then shrank back amazed, for under it was the body of a young woman recently dead. For a moment I thought of turning back, but my curiosity overcame me; so going past the dead woman, I went down on my hands and knees and crept into the hut. It was so dark that I could not see anything, though I could smell a great deal, so I lit a match. It was a't andstickor 'match, and burnt slowly and dimly, and as the light gradually increased I made out what I took to be a family of people, men, women, and children, fast asleep. Presently it burnt up brightly, and I saw that they too, five of them altogether, were quite dead. One was a baby. I dropped the match in a hurry, and was making my way out of the hut as hard as I could go, when I caught sight of two bright eyes staring out of a corner. Thinking it was a wild cat, or some such animal, I redoubled my haste, when suddenly a voice near the eyes began first to mutter, and then to send up a succession of awful yells. Hastily I lit another match, and perceived that the eyes belonged to an old woman, wrapped up in a greasy leather garment. Taking her by the arm, I dragged her out, for she could not, or would not, come by herself, and the stench was overpowering me. Such a sight as she was—a bag of bones, covered over with black, shrivelled parchment. The only white thing about her was her wool, and she seemed to be pretty well dead except for her eyes and her voice. She thought that I was a devil come to take her, and that is why she yelled so. Well, I got her down to the waggon, and gave her a't ot' of Cape smoke, and then, as soon as it was ready, poured about a pint of beef—tea down her throat, made from the flesh of a blue vilder—beeste I had killed the day before, and after that she brightened up wonderfully. She could talk Zulu, —indeed, it turned out that she had run away from Zululand in T 'Chaka's time, —and she told me that all the people whom I had seen had died of fever. When they had died the other inhabitants of the kraal had taken the cattle and gone away, leaving the poor old woman, who was helpless from age and infirmity, to perish of starvation or disease, as the case might be. She had been sitting there for three days among the bodies when I found her. I took her on to the next kraal, and gave the headman a blanket to look after her, promising him another if I found her well when I came back. I remember that he was much astonished at my parting with two blankets for the sake of such a worthless old creature. ' Why did I not leave her in the bush? 'he asked. Those people carry the doctrine of the survival of the fittest to its extreme, you see.

"It was the night after I had got rid of the old woman that I made my first acquaintance with my friend yonder, " and he nodded toward the skull that seemed to be grinning down at us in the shadow of the wide mantel—shelf. "I had trekked from dawn till eleven o'clock, —a long trek, —but I wanted to get on; and then had turned the oxen out to graze, sending the voorlooper to look after them, meaning to inspan again about six o'clock, and trek with the moon till ten. Then I got into the waggon and had a good sleep till half—past two or so in the afternoon, when I rose and cooked some meat, and had my dinner, washing it down with a pannikin of black coffee; for it was difficult to get preserved milk in those days. Just as I had finished, and the driver, a man called Tom, was washing up the things, in comes the young scoundrel of a voorlooper driving one ox before him.

" 'Where are the other oxen? ' I asked.

" 'Koos! ' he said, 'Koos! (chief) the other oxen have gone away. I turned my back for a minute, and when I looked round again they were all gone except Captain, here, who was rubbing his back against a tree. ' "

" 'You mean that you have been asleep, and let them stray, you villain. I will rub your back against a stick, ' I answered, feeling very angry, for it was not a pleasant prospect to be stuck up in that fever—trap for a week or so while we were hunting for the oxen. 'Off you go, and you too, Tom, and mind you don't come back till you have found them. They have trekked back along the Middelburg Road, and are a dozen miles off by now, I'll be bound. Now, no words; go, both of you. ' "

"Tom, the driver, swore and caught the lad a hearty kick, which he richly deserved, and then, having tied old Captain up to the disselboom with a riem, they took their assegais and sticks, and started. I would have gone too, only I knew that somebody must look after the waggon, and I did not like to leave either of the boys with it at night. I was in a very bad temper, indeed, although I was pretty well used to these sort of occurrences, and soothed myself by taking a rifle and going to kill something. For a couple of hours I poked about without seeing anything that I could get a shot at, but at last, just as I was again within seventy yards of the waggon, I put up an old Impala ram from behind a mimosa—thorn. He ran straight for the waggon, and it was not till he was passing within a few feet of it that I could get a decent shot at him. Then I pulled, and caught him half—way down the spine; over he went, dead as a door—nail, and a pretty shot it was, though I ought not to say it. This little incident put me into rather a better temper, especially as the buck had rolled right against the after part of the waggon, so I had only to gut him, fix a riem round his legs, and haul him up. By the time I had done this the sun was down, and the full moon was up, and a beautiful moon it was. And then there came that wonderful hush which sometimes falls over the African bush in the early hours of the night. No beast was moving, and no bird called. Not a breath of air stirred the quiet trees, and the shadows did not even quiver, they only grew. It was very oppressive and very lonely, for there was not a sign of the cattle or the boys. I was quite thankful for the society of old Captain, who was lying down contentedly against the disselboom, chewing the cud with a good conscience.

"Presently, however, Captain began to get restless. First he snorted, then he got up and snorted again. I could not make it out, so like a fool I got down off the waggon—box to have a look round, thinking it might be the lost oxen coming.

"Next instant I regretted it, for all of a sudden I heard a roar and saw something yellow flash past me and light on poor Captain. Then came a bellow of agony from the ox, and a crunch as the lion put his teeth through the poor brute's neck, and I began to understand what had happened. My rifle was in the waggon, and my first thought was to get hold of it, and I turned and made a bolt for it. I got my foot on the wheel and flung my body forward on to the waggon, and there I stopped as if I were frozen, and no wonder, for as I was about to spring up I heard the lion behind me, and next second I felt the brute, ay, as plainly as I can feel this table. I felt him, I say, sniffing at my left leg that was hanging down.

"My word! I did feel queer; I don't think that I ever felt so queer before. I dared not move for the life of me, and the odd thing was that I seemed to lose power over my leg, which developed an insane sort of inclination to kick out of its own mere motion—just as hysterical people want to laugh when they ought to be particularly solemn. Well, the lion sniffed and sniffed, beginning at my ankle and slowly nosing away up to my thigh. I thought that he was going to get hold then, but he did not. He only growled softly, and went back to the ox. Shifting my head a little I got a full view of him. He was about the biggest lion I ever saw, —and I have seen a great many, and he had a most tremendous black mane. What his teeth were like you can see—look there, pretty big ones, ain't they? Altogether he was a magnificent animal, and as I lay sprawling on the fore tongue of the waggon, it occurred to me that he would look uncommonly well in a cage. He stood there by the carcass of poor Captain, and deliberately disembowelled him as neatly as a butcher could have done. All this while I dared not move, for he kept lifting his head and keeping an eye on me as he licked his bloody chops. When he had cleaned Captain out he opened his mouth and roared, and I am not exaggerating when I say that the sound shook the waggon. Instantly there came back an answering roar.

" 'Heavens! ' I thought, 't here is his mate. '"

"Hardly was the thought out of my head when I caught sight in the moonlight of the lioness bounding along through the long grass, and after her a couple of cubs about the size of mastiffs. She stopped within a few feet of my head, and stood, and waved her tail, and fixed me with her glowing yellow eyes; but just as I thought that it was all over she turned and began to feed on Captain, and so did the cubs. There were the four of them within eight feet of me, growling and quarrelling, rending and tearing, and crunching poor Captain's bones; and there I lay shaking with terror, and the cold perspiration pouring out of me, feeling like another Daniel come to judgment in a new sense of the phrase. Presently the cubs had eaten their fill, and began to get restless. One went round to the back of the waggon and pulled at the Impala buck that hung there, and the other came round my way and commenced the sniffing game at my leg. Indeed, he did more than that, for, my trouser being hitched up a little, he began to lick the bare skin with his rough tongue. The more he licked the more he liked it, to judge from his increased vigour and the loud purring noise he made. Then I knew that the end had come, for in another second his file—like tongue would have rasped through the skin of my leg—which was luckily pretty tough—and have drawn the blood, and then there would be no chance for me. So I just lay there and thought of my sins, and prayed to the Almighty, and thought that, after all, life was a very enjoyable thing.

"And then all of a sudden I heard a crashing of bushes and the shouting and whistling of men, and there were the two boys coming back with the cattle, which they had found trekking along all together. The lions lifted their heads and listened, then without a sound bounded off—and I fainted.

"The lions came back no more that night, and by the next morning my nerves had got pretty straight again; but I was full of wrath when I thought of all that I had gone through at the hands, or rather noses, of those four lions, and of the fate of my after—ox Captain. He was a splendid ox, and I was very fond of him. So wroth was I that, like a fool, I determined to attack the whole family of them. It was worthy of a greenhorn out on his first hunting—trip; but I did it nevertheless. Accordingly after breakfast, having rubbed some oil upon my leg, which was very sore from the cub's tongue, I took the driver, Tom, who did not half like the job, and having armed myself with an ordinary double No. 12 smooth—bore, the first breech—loader I ever had, I started. I took the smoothbore because it shot a bullet very well; and my experience has been that a round ball from a smooth—bore is quite as effective against a lion as an express bullet. The lion is soft, and not a difficult animal to finish if you hit him anywhere in the body. A buck takes far more killing. nHvQcsQkMOSVfUoPtCDfvVIrzACW/gm6RmSTGOorA+US4iYloX8n50KnX61ZOBDJ



Long Odds(2)

"Well, I started, and the first thing I set to work to do was to try to make out whereabouts the brutes lay up for the day. About three hundred yards from the waggon was the crest of a rise covered with single mimosa—trees, dotted about in a park—like fashion, and beyond this was a stretch of open plain running down to a dry pan, or water—hole, which covered about an acre of ground, and was densely clothed with reeds, now in the sear and yellow leaf. From the farther edge of this pan the ground sloped up again to a great cleft, or nullah, which had been cut out by the action of the water, and was pretty thickly sprinkled with bush, among which grew some large trees, I forget of what sort.

"It at once struck me that the dry pan would be a likely place to find my friends in, as there is nothing a lion is fonder of than lying up in reeds, through which he can see things without being seen himself. Accordingly thither I went and prospected. Before I had got half—way round the pan I found the remains of a blue vilder—beeste that had evidently been killed within the last three or four days and partially devoured by lions; and from other indications about I was soon assured that if the family were not in the pan that day they spent a good deal of their spare time there. But if there, the question was how to get them out; for it was clearly impossible to think of going in after them unless one was quite determined to commit suicide. Now there was a strong wind blowing from the direction of the waggon, across the reedy pan toward the bush—clad kloof or donga, and this first gave me the idea of firing the reeds, which, as I think I told you, were pretty dry. Accordingly Tom took some matches and began starting little fires to the left, and I did the same to the right. But the reeds were still green at the bottom, and we should never have got them well alight had it not been for the wind, which grew stronger and stronger as the sun climbed higher, and forced the fire into them. At last, after half an hour's trouble, the flames got a hold, and began to spread out like a fan, whereupon I went round to the farther side of the pan to wait for the lions, standing well out in the open, as we stood at the copse to—day where you shot the woodcock. It was a rather risky thing to do, but I used to be so sure of my shooting in those days that I did not so much mind the risk. Scarcely had I got round when I heard the reeds parting before the onward rush of some animal. 'Now for it, ' said I. On it came. I could see that it was yellow, and prepared for action, when instead of a lion out bounded a beautiful rietbok which had been lying in the shelter of the pan. It must, by the way, have been a rietbok of a peculiarly confiding nature to lay itself down with the lion, like the lamb of prophecy, but I suppose the reeds were thick, and that it kept a long way off.

"Well, I let the rietbok go, and it went like the wind, and kept my eyes fixed upon the reeds. The fire was burning like a furnace now; the flames crackling and roaring as they bit into the reeds, sending spouts of fire twenty feet and more into the air, and making the hot air dance above it in a way that was perfectly dazzling. But the reeds were still half green, and created an enormous quantity of smoke, which came rolling toward me like a curtain, lying very low on account of the wind. Presently, above the crackling of the fire, I heard a startled roar, then another and another. So the lions were at home.

"I was beginning to get excited now, for, as you fellows know, there is nothing in experience to warm up your nerves like a lion at close quarters, unless it is a wounded buffalo; and I got still more so when I made out through the smoke that the lions were all moving about on the extreme edge of the reeds. Occasionally they would pop their heads out like rabbits from a burrow, and then, catching sight of me standing about fifty yards out, draw them back again. I knew that it must be getting pretty warm behind them, and that they could not keep the game up for long; and I was not mistaken, for suddenly all four of them broke cover together, the old black—maned lion leading by a few yards. I never saw a more splendid sight in all my hunting experience than those four lions bounding across the veldt, overshadowed by the dense pall of smoke and backed by the fiery furnace of the burning reeds.

"I reckoned that they would pass, on their road to the bushy kloof, within about five and twenty yards of me; so, taking a long breath, I got my gun well on to the lion's shoulder—the black—maned one—so as to allow for an inch or two of motion, and catch him through the heart. I was on, dead on, and my finger was just beginning to tighten on the trigger, when suddenly I went blind—a bit of reed—ash had drifted into my right eye. I danced and rubbed, and succeeded in clearing it more or less just in time to see the tail of the last lion vanishing round the bushes up the kloof.

"If ever a man was mad I was that man. It was too bad; and such a shot in the open, too! However, I was not going to be beaten, so I just turned and marched for the kloof. Tom, the driver, begged and implored me not to go; but though as a general rule I never pretend to be very brave (which I am not), I was determined that I would either kill those lions or they should kill me. So I told Tom that he need not come unless he liked, but I was going; and being a plucky fellow, a Swazi by birth, he shrugged his shoulders, muttered that I was mad or bewitched, and followed doggedly in my tracks.

"We soon got to the kloof, which was about three hundred yards in length and but sparsely wooded, and then the real fun began. There might be a lion behind every bush—there certainly were four lions somewhere; the delicate question was, where. I peeped and poked and looked in every possible direction, with my heart in my mouth, and was at last rewarded by catching a glimpse of something yellow moving behind a bush. At the same moment, from another bush opposite me out burst one of the cubs and galloped back toward the burned—out pan. I whipped round and let drive a snap—shot that tipped him head over heels, breaking his back within two inches of the root of the tail, and there he lay helpless but glaring. Tom afterward killed him with his assegai. I opened the breech of the gun and hurriedly pulled out the old case, which, to judge from what ensued, must, I suppose, have burst and left a portion of its fabric sticking to the barrel. At any rate, when I tried to get in the new case it would only enter half—way; and—would you believe it? —this was the moment that the lioness, attracted no doubt by the outcry of her cub, chose to put in an appearance. There she stood, twenty paces or so from me, lashing her tail and looking just as wicked as it is possible to conceive. Slowly I stepped backward, trying to push in the new case, and as I did so she moved on in little runs, dropping down after each run. The danger was imminent, and the case would not go in. At the moment I oddly enough thought of the cartridge maker, whose name I will not mention, and earnestly hoped that if the lion got me some condign punishment would overtake him. It would not go in, so I tried to pull it out. It would not come out either, and my gun was useless if I could not shut it to use the other barrel. I might as well have had no gun. Meanwhile I was walking backward, keeping my eye on the lioness, who was creeping forward on her belly without a sound, but lashing her tail and keeping her eye on me; and in it I saw that she was coming in a few seconds more. I dashed my wrist and the palm of my hand against the brass rim of the cartridge till the blood poured from them—look, there are the scars of it to this day! "

Here Quatermain held up his right hand to the light and showed us four or five white cicatrices just where the wrist is set into the hand.

"But it was not of the slightest use, " he went on; "the cartridge would not move. I only hope that no other man will ever be put in such an awful position. The lioness gathered herself together, and I gave myself up for lost, when suddenly Tom shouted out from somewhere in my rear:

" 'You are walking on to the wounded cub; turn to the right. ' "

"I had the sense, dazed as I was, to take the hint, and slewing round at right angles, but still keeping my eyes on the lioness, I continued my backward walk.

"To my intense relief, with a low growl she straightened herself, turned, and bounded off farther up the kloof.

" 'Come on, inkoos, ' said Tom, 'let's get back to the waggon. ' "

" 'All right, Tom, ' I answered. 'I will when I have killed those three other lions, ' for by this time I was bent on shooting them as I never remember being bent on anything before or since. 'You can go if you like, or you can get up a tree. ' "

"He considered the position a little, and then he very wisely got up a tree. I wish that I had done the same.

"Meanwhile I had found my knife, which had an extractor in it, and succeeded after some difficulty in hauling out the case which had so nearly been the cause of my death, and removing the obstruction in the barrel. It was very little thicker than a postage—stamp; certainly not thicker than a piece of writing—paper. This done, I loaded the gun, bound a handkerchief round my wrist and hand to staunch the flowing of the blood, and started on again.

"I had noticed that the lioness went into a thick green bush, or rather cluster of bushes, growing near the water; for there was a little stream running down the kloof, about fifty yards higher up and for this I made. When I got there, however, I could see nothing, so I took up a big stone and threw it into the bushes. I believe that it hit the other cub, for out it came with a rush, giving me a broadside shot, of which I promptly availed myself, knocking it over dead. Out, too, came the lioness like a flash of light, but quick as she went I managed to put the other bullet into her ribs, so that she rolled right over three times like a shot rabbit. I instantly got two more cartridges into the gun, and as I did so the lioness rose again and came crawling toward me on her fore paws, roaring and groaning, and with such an expression of diabolical fury on her countenance as I have not often seen. I shot her again through the chest, and she fell over on to her side quite dead.

"That was the first and last time that I ever killed a brace of lions right and left, and, what is more, I never heard of anybody else doing it. Naturally I was considerably pleased with myself, and having again loaded up, I went on to look for the black—maned beauty who had killed Captain. Slowly, and with the greatest care, I proceeded up the kloof, searching every bush and tuft of grass as I went. It was wonderfully exciting work, for I never was sure from one moment to another but that he would be on me. I took comfort, however, from the reflection that a lion rarely attacks a man, —rarely, I say; sometimes he does, as you will see, —unless he is cornered or wounded. I must have been nearly an hour hunting after that lion. Once I thought I saw something move in a clump of tambouki grass, but I could not be sure, and when I trod out the grass I could not find him.

"At last I worked up to the head of the kloof, which made a cul—de—sac. It was formed of a wall of rock about fifty feet high. Down this rock trickled a little waterfall, and in front of it, some seventy feet from its face, was a great piled—up mass of boulders, in the crevices and on the top of which grew ferns, grasses, and stunted bushes. This mass was about twenty—five feet high. The sides of the kloof here were also very steep. Well, I came to the top of the nullah and looked all round. No signs of the lion. Evidently I had either overlooked him farther down or he had escaped right away. It was very vexatious; but still three lions were not a bad bag for one gun before dinner, and I was fain to be content. Accordingly I departed back again, making my way round the isolated pillar of boulders, beginning to feel, as I did so, that I was pretty well done up with excitement and fatigue, and should be more so before I had skinned those three lions. When I had got, as nearly as I could judge, about eighteen yards past the pillar or mass of boulders, I turned to have another look round. I have a pretty sharp eye, but I could see nothing at all.

"Then, on a sudden, I saw something sufficiently alarming. On the top of the mass of boulders, opposite to me, standing out clear against the rock beyond, was the huge black—maned lion. He had been crouching there, and now arose as though by magic. There he stood lashing his tail, just like a living reproduction of the animal on the gateway of Northumberland House that I have seen a picture of. But he did not stand long. Before I could fire—before I could do more than get the gun to my shoulder—he sprang straight up and out from the rock, and driven by the impetus of that one mighty bound came hurtling through the air toward me.

"Heavens! how grand he looked, and how awful! High into the air he flew, describing a great arch. Just as he touched the highest point of his spring I fired. I did not dare to wait, for I saw that he would clear the whole space and land right upon me. Without a sight, almost without aim, I fired, as one would fire a snap—shot at a snipe. The bullet told, for I distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound caused by the passage of the lion through the air. Next second I was swept to the ground (luckily I fell into a low, creeper—clad bush, which broke the shock), and the lion was on the top of me, and the next those great white teeth of his had met in my thigh—I heard them grate against the bone. I yelled out in agony, for I did not feel in the least benumbed and happy, like Dr. Livingstone, —whom, by the way, I knew very well, —and gave myself up for dead. But suddenly, at that moment, the lion's grip on my thigh loosened, and he stood over me, swaying to and fro, his huge mouth, from which the blood was gushing, wide opened. Then he roared, and the sound shook the rocks.

"To and fro he swung, and then the great head dropped on me, knocking all the breath from my body, and he was dead. My bullet had entered in the centre of his chest and passed out on the right side of the spine about half way down the back.

"The pain of my wound kept me from fainting, and as soon as I got my breath I managed to drag myself from under him. Thank heavens, his great teeth had not crushed my thigh—bone; but I was losing a great deal of blood, and had it not been for the timely arrival of Tom, with whose aid I got the handkerchief from my wrist and tied it round my leg, twisting it tight with a stick, I think that I should have bled to death.

"Well, it was a just reward for my folly in trying to tackle a family of lions single—handed. The odds were too long. I have been lame ever since, and shall be to my dying day; in the month of March the wound always troubles me a great deal, and every three years it breaks out raw. I need scarcely add that I never traded the lot of ivory at Sikukuni's. Another man got it—a German—and made five hundred pounds out of it after paying expenses. I spent the next month on the broad of my back, and was a cripple for six months after that. And now I've told you the yarn, so I will have a drop of Hollands and go to bed. "

life is too short for a long story.

时间太少,小说太长,不如读一篇短故事。

波澜壮阔的汪洋之中,是人和机器的存亡较量;广袤无际的荒野之上,是人与野兽的生死搏斗;是谁为了金制的王冠,前仆后继在所不惜?是谁为了美惠的王后,孤身一人历尽艰难?

顶天立地的豪迈气魄,履险如夷的无畏精神。雨果、吉卜林、伏尔泰、布雷特·哈特……文学大家带来5个精彩短篇,加上全新的译文诠释,邀读者一起踏上冒险征途,领略两种语言的魅力。 nHvQcsQkMOSVfUoPtCDfvVIrzACW/gm6RmSTGOorA+US4iYloX8n50KnX61ZOBDJ

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