Login to MoboReader
icon 0
icon TOP UP
rightIcon
icon Reading History
rightIcon
icon Log out
rightIcon
icon Get the APP
rightIcon
5.0
Comment(s)
32
View
36
Chapters

Another of Henry Rider Haggard's renowned action-adventure tales, Nada the Lily tells the story of revered warrior Umslopogaas, an illegitimate son of the Zulu monarch Chaka, who is forced into exile and must fight to defend his honor -- as well as to win the love of the sought-after and seemingly unattainable beauty Nada. With plenty of battlefield action and stirring romance, this rollicking tale has something to offer every reader.

Chapter 1 THE BOY CHAKA PROPHESIES

You ask me, my father, to tell you the tale of the youth of Umslopogaas, holder of the iron Chieftainess, the axe Groan-maker, who was named Bulalio the Slaughterer, and of his love for Nada, the most beautiful of Zulu women. It is long; but you are here for many nights, and, if I live to tell it, it shall be told. Strengthen your heart, my father, for I have much to say that is sorrowful, and even now, when I think of Nada the tears creep through the horn that shuts out my old eyes from light.

Do you know who I am, my father? You do not know. You think that I am an old, old witch-doctor named Zweete. So men have thought for many years, but that is not my name. Few have known it, for I have kept it locked in my breast, lest, thought I live now under the law of the White Man, and the Great Queen is my chieftainess, an assegai still might find this heart did any know my name.

Look at this hand, my father-no, not that which is withered with fire; look on this right hand of mine. You see it, though I who am blind cannot. But still, within me, I see it as it was once. Ay! I see it red and strong-red with the blood of two kings. Listen, my father; bend your ear to me and listen. I am Mopo-ah! I felt you start; you start as the regiment of the Bees started when Mopo walked before their ranks, and from the assegai in his hand the blood of Chaka (1) dropped slowly to the earth. I am Mopo who slew Chaka the king. I killed him with Dingaan and Umhlangana the princes; but the wound was mine that his life crept out of, and but for me he would never have been slain. I killed him with the princes, but Dingaan, I and one other slew alone.

(1) The Zulu Napoleon, one of the greatest geniuses and most wicked men who ever lived. He was killed in the year 1828, having slaughtered more than a million human beings.-ED.

What do you say? "Dingaan died by the Tongola."

Yes, yes, he died, but not there; he died on the Ghost Mountain; he lies in the breast of the old Stone Witch who sits aloft forever waiting for the world to perish. But I also was on the Ghost Mountain. In those days my feet still could travel fast, and vengeance would not let me sleep. I travelled by day, and by night I found him. I and another, we killed him-ah! ah!

Why do I tell you this? What has it to do with the loves of Umslopogaas and Nada the Lily? I will tell you. I stabbed Chaka for the sake of my sister, Baleka, the mother of Umslopogaas, and because he had murdered my wives and children. I and Umslopogaas slew Dingaan for the sake of Nada, who was my daughter.

There are great names in the story, my father. Yes, many have heard the names: when the Impis roared them out as they charged in battle, I have felt the mountains shake and seen the waters quiver in their sound. But where are they now? Silence has them, and the white men write them down in books. I opened the gates of distance for the holders of the names. They passed through and they are gone beyond. I cut the strings that tied them to the world. They fell off. Ha! ha! They fell off! Perhaps they are falling still, perhaps they creep about their desolate kraals in the skins of snakes. I wish I knew the snakes that I might crush them with my heel. Yonder, beneath us, at the burying place of kings, there is a hole. In that hole lies the bones of Chaka, the king who died for Baleka. Far away in Zululand there is a cleft upon the Ghost Mountain. At the foot of that cleft lie the bones of Dingaan, the king who died for Nada. It was far to fall and he was heavy; those bones of his are broken into little pieces. I went to see them when the vultures and the jackals had done their work. And then I laughed three times and came here to die.

All that is long ago, and I have not died; though I wish to die and follow the road that Nada trod. Perhaps I have lived to tell you this tale, my father, that you may repeat it to the white men if you will. How old am I? Nay, I do not know. Very, very old. Had Chaka lived he would have been as old as I. (2) None are living whom I knew when I was a boy. I am so old that I must hasten. The grass withers, and the winter comes. Yes, while I speak the winter nips my heart. Well, I am ready to sleep in the cold, and perhaps I shall awake again in the spring.

(2) This would have made him nearly a hundred years old, an age rarely attained by a native. The writer remembers talking to an aged Zulu woman, however, who told him that she was married when Chaka was king.-ED.

Before the Zulus were a people-for I will begin at the beginning-I was born of the Langeni tribe. We were not a large tribe; afterwards, all our able-bodied men numbered one full regiment in Chaka's army, perhaps there were between two and three thousand of them, but they were brave. Now they are all dead, and their women and children with them,-that people is no more. It is gone like last month's moon; how it went I will tell you by-and-bye.

Our tribe lived in a beautiful open country; the Boers, whom we call the Amaboona, are there now, they tell me. My father, Makedama, was chief of the tribe, and his kraal was built on the crest of a hill, but I was not the son of his head wife. One evening, when I was still little, standing as high as a man's elbow only, I went out with my mother below the cattle kraal to see the cows driven in. My mother was very fond of these cows, and there was one with a white face that would follow her about. She carried my little sister Baleka riding on her hip; Baleka was a baby then. We walked till we met the lads driving in the cows. My mother called the white-faced cow and gave it mealie leaves which she had brought with her. Then the boys went on with the cattle, but the white-faced cow stopped by my mother. She said that she would bring it to the kraal when she came home. My mother sat down on the grass and nursed her baby, while I played round her, and the cow grazed. Presently we saw a woman walking towards us across the plain. She walked like one who is tired. On her back was a bundle of mats, and she led by the hand a boy of about my own age, but bigger and stronger than I was. We waited a long while, till at last the woman came up to us and sank down on the veldt, for she was very weary. We saw by the way her hair was dressed that she was not of our tribe.

"Greeting to you!" said the woman.

"Good-morrow!" answered my mother. "What do you seek?"

"Food, and a hut to sleep in," said the woman. "I have travelled far."

"How are you named?-and what is your people?" asked my mother.

"My name is Unandi: I am the wife of Senzangacona, of the Zulu tribe," said the stranger.

Now there had been war between our people and the Zulu people, and Senzangacona had killed some of our warriors and taken many of our cattle. So, when my mother heard the speech of Unandi she sprang up in anger.

"You dare to come here and ask me for food and shelter, wife of a dog of a Zulu!" she cried; "begone, or I will call the girls to whip you out of our country."

The woman, who was very handsome, waited till my mother had finished her angry words; then she looked up and spoke slowly, "There is a cow by you with milk dropping from its udder; will you not even give me and my boy a gourd of milk?" And she took a gourd from her bundle and held it towards us.

"I will not," said my mother.

"We are thirsty with long travel; will you not, then, give us a cup of water? We have found none for many hours."

"I will not, wife of a dog; go and seek water for yourself."

The woman's eyes filled with tears, but the boy folded his arms on his breast and scowled. He was a very handsome boy, with bright black eyes, but when he scowled his eyes were like the sky before a thunderstorm.

"Mother," he said, "we are not wanted here any more than we were wanted yonder," and he nodded towards the country where the Zulu people lived. "Let us be going to Dingiswayo; the Umtetwa people will protect us."

"Yes, let us be going, my son," answered Unandi; "but the path is long, we are weary and shall fall by the way."

I heard, and something pulled at my heart; I was sorry for the woman and her boy, they looked so tired. Then, without saying anything to my mother, I snatched the gourd and ran with it to a little donga that was hard by, for I knew that there was a spring. Presently I came back with the gourd full of water. My mother wanted to catch me, for she was very angry, but I ran past her and gave the gourd to the boy. Then my mother ceased trying to interfere, only she beat the woman with her tongue all the while, saying that evil had come to our kraals from her husband, and she felt in her heart that more evil would come upon us from her son. Her Ehlose (3) told her so. Ah! my father, her Ehlose told her true. If the woman Unandi and her child had died that day on the veldt, the gardens of my people would not now be a wilderness, and their bones would not lie in the great gulley that is near U'Cetywayo's kraal.

(3) Guardian spirit.-ED.

While my mother talked I 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; I think that he would have drunk it all had not his thirst been slaked; but 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 carried a short stick.

"What is your name, boy?" he said to me as a big rich man speaks to one who is little and poor.

"Mopo is my name," I answered.

"And what is the name of your people?"

I told him the name of my tribe, the Langeni tribe.

"Very well, Mopo; now I will tell you my name. My name is Chaka, son of Senzangacona, and my people are called the Amazulu. And I will tell you something more. I am little to-day, and my people are a small people. But I shall grow big, so big that my head will be lost in the clouds; you will look up and you shall not see it. My face will blind you; it will be bright like the sun; and my people will grow great with me; they shall eat up the whole world. And when I am big and my people are big, and we have stamped the earth flat as far as men can travel, then I will remember your tribe-the 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 can hold the blood of a man shall flow-the blood of one of your men. But because you gave me the water I will spare you, Mopo, and you only, and make you great under me. You shall grow fat in my shadow. You alone I will never harm, however you sin against me; this I swear. But for that woman," and he pointed to my mother, "let her make haste and die, so that I do not need to teach her what a long time death can take to come. I have spoken." And he ground his teeth and shook his stick towards us.

My mother stood silent awhile. Then she gasped out: "The little liar! He speaks like a man, does he? The calf lows like a bull. I will teach him another 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 so hard on the head that she fell down. After that he laughed, turned, and went away with his mother Unandi.

These, my father, were the first words I heard Chaka speak, and they were words of prophecy, and they came true. The last words I heard him speak were words of prophecy also, and I think that they will come true. Even now they are coming true. In the one he told how the Zulu people should rise. And say, have they not risen? In the other he told how they should fall; and they did fall. Do not the white men gather themselves together even now against U'Cetywayo, as vultures gather round a dying ox? The Zulus are not what they were to stand against them. Yes, yes, they will come true, and mine is the song of a people that is doomed.

But of these other words I will speak in their place.

I went to my mother. Presently she raised herself from the ground and sat up with her hands over her face. The blood from the wound the stick had made ran down her face on to her breast, and I wiped it away with grass. She sat for a long while thus, while the child cried, the cow lowed to be milked, and I wiped up the blood with the grass. At last she took her hands away and spoke to me.

"Mopo, my son," she said, "I have dreamed a dream. I dreamed that I 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 flat with his feet. Before him was the green of summer, behind him the land was black as when the fires have eaten the grass. I saw our people, Mopo; they were many and fat, their hearts laughed, the men were brave, the girls were fair; I counted their children by the hundreds. I 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, in my dream, I 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 a little spear, and he fell down and grew small again; he fell down and cursed you. But you cried in his ear a name-the name of Baleka, your sister-and he died. Let us go home, Mopo, let us go home; the darkness falls."

So we rose and went home. But I held my peace, for I was afraid, very much afraid.

Continue Reading

Other books by H. Rider Haggard

More
Allan Quatermain

Allan Quatermain

Fantasy

4.0

Allan Quartermain is a sequel to the famous novel King Solomon's Mines. Quatermain has lost his only son and longs to get back into the wilderness. Having persuaded Sir Henry Curtis, Captain John Good, and the Zulu chief Umbopa to accompany him, they set out from the coast of east Africa, this time in search of a white race reputed to live north of Mount Kenya. They survive fierce encounters with Masai warriors, undergo a terrifying subterranean journey, and discover a lost civilization before being caught up in a passionate love-triangle that engulfs the country in a ferocious civil war. This novel is based on author's own experience in the African continent. Excerpt: 'I have just buried my boy, my poor handsome boy of whom I was so proud, and my heart is broken. It is very hard having only one son to lose him thus, but God's will be done. Who am I that I should complain? The great wheel of Fate rolls on like a Juggernaut, and crushes us all in turn, some soon, some late it does not matter when, in the end, it crushes us all. We do not prostrate ourselves before it like the poor Indians; we fly hither and thither we cry for mercy; but it is of no use, the black Fate thunders on and in its season reduces us to powder. 'Poor Harry to go so soon! just when his life was opening to him. He was doing so well at the hospital, he had passed his last examination with honours, and I was proud of them, much prouder than he was, I think. And then he must needs go to that smallpox hospital. He wrote to me that he was not afraid of smallpox and wanted to gain the experience; and now the disease has killed him, and I, old and grey and withered, am left to mourn over him, without a chick or child to comfort me. I might have saved him, too-I have money enough for both of us, and much more than enough-King Solomon's Mines provided me with that; but I said, "No, let the boy earn his living, let him labour that he may enjoy rest." But the rest has come to him before the labour. Oh, my boy, my boy!

You'll also like

No Longer Your Luna

No Longer Your Luna

Werewolf

5.0

Book 1 Amethyst prayed for her childhood best friend to be her mate. Everyone stares, they tease, they bully her for being an orphan but Mason was different. He protected her, he defended her. The Alpha's son loved her since they were pups. But you can't be kids forever. Everything turned sour when Mason began training to take over the Stone Heart Pack. He turned on her just like everyone else, Mason made her the target of his ruthless antics and when they turned of age - it got worse. Mason doesn't want an orphan for a mate. She has no power, no status and he wants someone with wealth to carry the Luna title. Amethyst isn't it. Everything crashes down, the humiliation and rejection too much to bare, turning Rogue was her only option. She couldn't submit any longer to the torture and living in the woods for a couple years before death seemed less painful. Until a man arrives. Claiming that Amethyst isn't an orphan. That she belongs to one of the five founding families. Amethyst thought that rejection was where her life ended. Wait till she finds out that it's only the beginning and neither her heart or life are safe. ******** Book 2 Maverick's past is a secret for a reason, there are rumors spread that he made deals with ancient witches to get the power every member longs for. But it's just a rumor....or is it? There is a reason why his mind and heart are always at war because if he claims Sage as his, hell would rip her from this earth. The best option is to stay away from her, to not have contact with her. What can he do when she shows up at his territory? Desperate to escape her grief. The problem is, Maverick made promises and with Sage in the picture - he can't keep them. There is a reason why Maverick is the Forbidden Alpha.. and Sage is about to find out what being a Fated Mate truly means. ******* Book 3 Jasmine Ravenstone gave up everything for a man who couldn't speak. Renouncing her Alpha title and fleeing with Kyson Zero, she has no idea of the past he carries or the Fated Mate curse she will endure. Being born from the first witch in existence, Kyson and Kier had to go through lifetimes to kill their father and never succeeded in their destiny. Now, the seal has been broken and they are down to their last life. If they don't kill their father then the supernatural world will cease to exist. Kyson didn't realize the ramifications of his actions. Stealing a Fated comes with consequences, a sirebond that ties Jasmine to him. He didn't expect a curse that will cause damnation. ******* Book 4 Kier Zero returns to his life as Alpha, after ultimately killing his first tormentor. But that was only his first demon, there is a second one that haunts him. Marked by Olivia Aspen, he wants as much distance away from her as possible. Until she arrives, with a mysterious power that everyone seems to want and a debt to a deadly vampire. She has no one to consult, stranded and lost in a world without a pack or home. Olivia chooses to repay her debt, but that comes with strings attached when the charming vampire has more to offer than she ever could have imagined.

After Divorce: Loved By The Secret Billionaire CEO

After Divorce: Loved By The Secret Billionaire CEO

Romance

4.8

After a devastating divorce with the man she had been married to for over three years, Rachel thought her life was over. Her family disowned her, they wanted nothing to do with her anymore and she couldn't blame them. She had just divorced David Hart, one of the top successful bachelors in the country and heir to the Hart industries. But they would never understand that she didn't divorce him, he divorced her after she caught him cheating on her with her god-damned best friend! Rachel was just about to end everything by jumping off a bridge when she was saved by the most unexpected person. The boy she once bullied severally in highschool because he always wore ugly glass and was from a poor background, how come that glass make him so hot now? Why was he helping her get revenge on ex-husband who is trying to make her life even more miserable? And most important how did he get so handsome? What exactly does he want from her? ... No, you must want something, anything. If you can really help me get revenge on David and Lana, I can't just let you do it for free". Ethan went quiet for a while. I held my breath waiting for what his request might be. If it was something money could buy, I'll try my best to get it for him even though I was somehow broke right now. "You're right I do want something". He said after thinking for few minutes "What?" I asked slowly. " Until you get your revenge on David, Lana and every other person you want, you will live here". Live here as in...?  " Wha... What are you saying? ". I stammered hoping he wasn't saying what I thought he was saying. I tried to step back but I missed a step and almost fell on the bed but Ethan caught me holding me in his muscular arms.  Ethan moved his face closer to mine be was so close, our nose almost touched. " I want you to be with me! ".

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
Nada the Lily
1

Chapter 1 THE BOY CHAKA PROPHESIES

28/11/2017

2

Chapter 2 MOPO IS IN TROUBLE

28/11/2017

3

Chapter 3 MOPO VENTURES HOME

28/11/2017

4

Chapter 4 THE FLIGHT OF MOPO AND BALEKA

28/11/2017

5

Chapter 5 MOPO BECOMES THE KING'S DOCTOR

28/11/2017

6

Chapter 6 THE BIRTH OF UMSLOPOGAAS

28/11/2017

7

Chapter 7 UMSLOPOGAAS ANSWERS THE KING

28/11/2017

8

Chapter 8 THE GREAT INGOMBOCO

28/11/2017

9

Chapter 9 THE LOSS OF UMSLOPOGAAS

28/11/2017

10

Chapter 10 THE TRIAL OF MOPO

28/11/2017

11

Chapter 11 THE COUNSEL OF BALEKA

28/11/2017

12

Chapter 12 THE TALE OF GALAZI THE WOLF

28/11/2017

13

Chapter 13 GALAZI BECOMES KING OF THE WOLVES

28/11/2017

14

Chapter 14 THE WOLF-BRETHREN

28/11/2017

15

Chapter 15 THE DEATH OF THE KING'S SLAYERS

28/11/2017

16

Chapter 16 UMSLOPOGAAS VENTURES OUT TO WIN THE AXE

28/11/2017

17

Chapter 17 UMSLOPOGAAS BECOMES CHIEF OF THE PEOPLE OF THE AXE

28/11/2017

18

Chapter 18 THE CURSE OF BALEKA

28/11/2017

19

Chapter 19 MASILO COMES TO THE KRAAL DUGUZA

28/11/2017

20

Chapter 20 MOPO BARGAINS WITH THE PRINCES

28/11/2017

21

Chapter 21 THE DEATH OF CHAKA

28/11/2017

22

Chapter 22 MOPO GOES TO SEEK THE SLAUGHTERER

28/11/2017

23

Chapter 23 MOPO REVEALS HIMSELF TO THE SLAUGHTERER

28/11/2017

24

Chapter 24 THE SLAYING OF THE BOERS

28/11/2017

25

Chapter 25 THE WAR WITH THE HALAKAZI PEOPLE

28/11/2017

26

Chapter 26 THE FINDING OF NADA

28/11/2017

27

Chapter 27 THE STAMPING OF THE FIRE

28/11/2017

28

Chapter 28 THE LILY IS BROUGHT TO DINGAAN

28/11/2017

29

Chapter 29 MOPO TELLS HIS TALE

28/11/2017

30

Chapter 30 THE COMING OF NADA

28/11/2017

31

Chapter 31 THE WAR OF THE WOMEN

28/11/2017

32

Chapter 32 ZINITA COMES TO THE KING

28/11/2017

33

Chapter 33 THE END OF THE PEOPLE, BLACK AND GREY

28/11/2017

34

Chapter 34 THE LILY'S FAREWELL

28/11/2017

35

Chapter 35 THE VENGEANCE OF MOPO AND HIS FOSTERLING

28/11/2017

36

Chapter 36 MOPO ENDS HIS TALE

28/11/2017