The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-07-08

tongue all the while, saying that evil
had come to our kraals from her hus-
band. and she felt in her heart that more
evil would come upon US from her son.
Her Ehlose guardian spirit) told her so.
Ali my father, her Ehlose told her true.
While my mother talked, and the
cow with the white face stood still and
watched, and the baby Baleka cried
aloud. The boy, Unandi's son, having
taken the gourd, did not offer the water
to his mother. He drank two-thirds Of
it himself; | think he would have drank
it all had not his thirst been slaked, bot
when he had done he gave what was
left to his mother, and she finished it.
Then he took the gourd again and came
forward, holding it in one hand; in the
other he had short stick.
what is your name, boy?" he said
to me.
"Mopo is my name" answered.
"And what is the name of your peo-
ple2"
1 told him the name of my tribe, the
Langeni tribe.
Every well, Mopo; now will tell you
my name My name is Chaka, son of
Senzangacona, and my people are called
the Amazulu. And now viii tell you
something more. am little today, and
my people are little people. But l
shall grow big, and my people shall grow
big with me. They shall eat up the
whole world. And when | am big and
my people are big and we have stamped
the earth flat as far as men can travel,
I f1-Ih no
tribe of the Langeni, who would not
give me and my mother a cup of milk
when we were weary. You see this
gourd; for every drop it will hold the
blood of a man shall fiow-the blood of
one of your men. But because you gave
me the water will spare you, and you
only, and make you great under me.
You alone l will never harm. That
swear But for that woman" and he
pointed to my mother, ''let her make
haste and die, so that do not have to
teach her what long time death can
take to come. l have spoken"
Ny mother stood still awhile. Then
she gasped out: THE little liari He
speaks like man, does he? The calf
lows like bull. l will teach him an
other note-the brat of an evil prophet"
and putting down Baleka she ran at
the boy.
Chaka stood quite still till she was
near; then suddenly he lifted the stick
in his hand and hit her 50 hard on the
head that she fell down. After that he
laughed, turned and went away with
his mother.
l went to my mother. Presently she
l., %1,f,f nd of
up with her hands over her face. The
blood from the wound the stick had
made ran down her hands on her breast,
and l wiped it away with grass. She
sat for long while thus, while the child
cried, the COW lowed to be milked and
wiped away the blood with the grass.
At last she took her hands away and
spoke to me.
''Mopo, ny son." she said, 81 have
dreamed a dream. l dreamed that /
saw the boy Chaka who struck me; he
was grown like a giant. He stalked
across the mountains and the veldt, his
eyes blazed like the lightning and in
his hand he shook a little assegai that
was red with blood. He caught up
people after people in his hands and tore
them; he stamped their kraals fiat with
his feet. Before him was the green of
summer; behind him the land was black
as when the fires have eaten the grass. l
saw our people, Mopo; they were many
and fat, their hearts laughed, the men
were brave, the girls were fair; count
ed their children by hundreds. saw
them again, Mopo. They were bones,
white bones, thousands of bones tumbled
together in a rocky place, and he, Chaka,
stood over the bones and laughed till
the earth shook. Then, Mopo, l saw
you grown a man. You alone were left
of our people. You crept up behind the
giant Chaka, and with you came others,
great men of a royal look. You stabbed
him with l'ttle spear and he fell down
and grew small again; he fell down and
prayed for mercy. But you cried in his
ear a name-the name of Baleka, your
sister-and he died. Mopo, let US go
home.
So he turned and went home.