Allan and the Holy Flower by H. Rider Haggard (easy books to read txt) ๐
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Read book online ยซAllan and the Holy Flower by H. Rider Haggard (easy books to read txt) ๐ยป. Author - H. Rider Haggard
โโYes,โ I answered, โbut who are you who dare to wake me from my sleep?โ
โโLord, I am the Kalubi, the Chief of the Pongo, a great man in my own land yonder.โ
โโThen why do you come here alone at night, Kalubi, Chief of the Pongo?โ
โโWhy do you come here alone, White Lord?โ he answered evasively.
โโWhat do you want, anyway?โ I asked.
โโO! Dogeetah, I have been hurt, I want you to cure me,โ and he looked at his bandaged hand.
โโLay down that spear and open your robe that I may see you have no knife.โ
โHe obeyed, throwing the spear to some distance.
โโNow unwrap the hand.โ
โHe did so. I lit a match, the sight of which seemed to frighten him greatly, although he asked no questions about it, and by its light examined the hand. The first joint of the second finger was gone. From the appearance of the stump which had been cauterized and was tied tightly with a piece of flexible grass, I judged that it had been bitten off.
โโWhat did this?โ I asked.
โโMonkey,โ he answered, โpoisonous monkey. Cut off the finger, O Dogeetah, or tomorrow I die.โ
โโWhy do you not tell your own doctors to cut off the finger, you who are Kalubi, Chief of the Pongo?โ
โโNo, no,โ he replied, shaking his head. โThey cannot do it. It is not lawful. And I, I cannot do it, for if the flesh is black the hand must come off too, and if the flesh is black at the wrist, then the arm must be cut off.โ
โI sat down on my camp stool and reflected. Really I was waiting for the sun to rise, since it was useless to attempt an operation in that light. The man, Kalubi, thought that I had refused his petition and became terribly agitated.
โโBe merciful, White Lord,โ he prayed, โdo not let me die. I am afraid to die. Life is bad, but death is worse. O! If you refuse me, I will kill myself here before you and then my ghost will haunt you till you die also of fear and come to join me. What fee do you ask? Gold or ivory or slaves? Say and I will give it.โ
โโBe silent,โ I said, for I saw that if he went on thus he would throw himself into a fever, which might cause the operation to prove fatal. For the same reason I did not question him about many things I should have liked to learn. I lit my fire and boiled the instrumentsโhe thought I was making magic. By the time that everything was ready the sun was up.
โโNow,โ I said, โlet me see how brave you are.โ
โWell, Allan, I performed that operation, removing the finger at the base where it joins the hand, as I thought there might be something in his story of the poison. Indeed, as I found afterwards on dissection, and can show you, for I have the thing in spirits, there was, for the blackness of which he spokeโa kind of mortification, I presumeโhad crept almost to the joint, though the flesh beyond was healthy enough. Certainly that Kalubi was a plucky fellow. He sat like a rock and never even winced. Indeed, when he saw that the flesh was sound he uttered a great sigh of relief. After it was all over he turned a little faint, so I gave him some spirits of wine mixed with water which revived him.
โโO Lord Dogeetah,โ he said, as I was bandaging his hand, โwhile I live I am your slave. Yet, do me one more service. In my land there is a terrible wild beast, that which bit off my finger. It is a devil; it kills us and we fear it. I have heard that you white men have magic weapons which slay with a noise. Come to my land and kill me that wild beast with your magic weapon. I say, Come, Come, for I am terribly afraid,โ and indeed he looked it.
โโNo,โ I answered, โI shed no blood; I kill nothing except butterflies, and of these only a few. But if you fear this brute why do you not poison it? You black people have many drugs.โ
โโNo use, no use,โ he replied in a kind of wail. โThe beast knows poisons, some it swallows and they do not harm it. Others it will not touch. Moreover, no black man can do it hurt. It is white, and it has been known from of old that if it dies at all, it must be by the hand of one who is white.โ
โโA very strange animal,โ I began, suspiciously, for I felt sure that he was lying to me. But just at that moment I heard the sound of my menโs voices. They were advancing towards me through the giant grass, singing as they came, but as yet a long way off. The Kalubi heard it also and sprang up.
โโI must be gone,โ he said. โNone must see me here. What fee, O Lord of medicine, what fee?โ
โโI take no payment for my medicine,โ I said. โYetโstay. A wonderful flower grows in your country, does it not? A flower with wings and a cup beneath. I would have that flower.โ
โโWho told you of the Flower?โ he asked. โThe Flower is holy. Still, O White Lord, still for you it shall be risked. Oh, return and bring with you one who can kill the beast and I will make you rich. Return and call to the reeds for the Kalubi, and the Kalubi will hear and come to you.โ
โThen he ran to his spear, snatched it from the ground and vanished among the reeds. That was the last I saw, or am ever likely to see, of him.โ
โBut, Brother John, you got the flower somehow.โ
โYes, Allan. About a week later when I came out of my tent one morning, there it was standing in a narrow-mouthed, earthenware pot filled with water. Of course I meant that he was to send me the plant, roots and all, but I suppose he understood that I wanted a bloom. Or perhaps he dared not send the plant. Anyhow, it is better than nothing.โ
โWhy did you not go into the country and get it for yourself?โ
โFor several reasons, Allan, of which the best is that it was impossible. The Mazitu swear that if anyone sees that flower he is put to death. Indeed, when they found that I had a bloom of it, they forced me to move to the other side of the country seventy miles away. So I thought that I would wait till I met with some companions who would accompany me. Indeed, to be frank, Allan, it occurred to me that you were the sort of man who would like to interview this wonderful beast that bites off peopleโs fingers and frightens them to death,โ and Brother John stroked his long, white beard and smiled, adding, โOdd that we should have met so soon afterwards, isnโt it?โ
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