Child of Storm

"Then I will tell you--I will tell you; yes, even if you hate me

afterwards. I could teach you what love is very well, Macumazahn; you

are quite right--because I love you." (Sob.) "No, you shall not stir

till you have heard me out." Here she flung her arms about my legs and

held them tight, so that without using great violence it was absolutely

impossible for me to move. "When I saw you first, all shattered and

senseless, snow seemed to fall upon my heart, and it stopped for a

little while and has never been the same since. I think that something

is growing in it, Macumazahn, that makes it big." (Sob.) "I used to like

Saduko before that, but afterwards I did not like him at all--no,

nor Masapo either--you know, he is the big chief who lives over the

mountain, a very rich and powerful man, who, I believe, would like

to marry me. Well, as I went on nursing you my heart grew bigger and

bigger, and now you see it has burst." (Sob.) "Nay, stay still and do

not try to speak. You shall hear me out. It is the least you can do,

seeing that you have caused me all this pain. If you did not want me to

love you, why did you not curse at me and strike me, as I am told white

men do to Kafir girls?" She rose and went on: "Now, hearken. Although I am the colour of copper, I am comely. I am

well-bred also; there is no higher blood than ours in Zululand, both on

my father's and my mother's side, and, Macumazahn, I have a fire in me

that shows me things. I can be great, and I long for greatness. Take me

to wife, Macumazahn, and I swear to you that in ten years I will make

you king of the Zulus. Forget your pale white women and wed yourself to

that fire which burns in me, and it shall eat up all that stands between

you and the Crown, as flame eats up dry grass. More, I will make you

happy. If you choose to take other wives, I will not be jealous, because

I know that I should hold your spirit, and that, compared to me, they

would be nothing in your thought--"

"But, Mameena," I broke in, "I don't want to be king of the Zulus."

"Oh, yes, yes, you do, for every man wants power, and it is better to

rule over a brave, black people--thousands and thousands of them--than

to be no one among the whites. Think, think! There is wealth in the

land. By your skill and knowledge the amabuto [regiments] could be

improved; with the wealth you would arm them with guns--yes, and

'by-and-byes' also with the throat of thunder" (that is, or was, the

Kafir name for cannon).[*] "They would be invincible. Chaka's kingdom

would be nothing to ours, for a hundred thousand warriors would sleep

on their spears, waiting for your word. If you wished it even you could

sweep out Natal and make the whites there your subjects, too. Or perhaps

it would be safer to let them be, lest others should come across the

green water to help them, and to strike northwards, where I am told

there are great lands as rich and fair, in which none would dispute our

sovereignty--"