Caesar & Hussein: Two Classic Novels from the Author of MASTER AND COMMANDER. Patrick O’Brian
Читать онлайн книгу.
as night was falling they drew up all the carts in a wide circle, in the centre of which the elephants and bullocks were put, evidently for protection against tigers or panthers, which were very abundant in this region.
Over my cart they fastened several logs, so that it was impossible for me to get out. However, I tried till morning, flinging myself against the sides and the logs, and I roared myself hoarse, so that the ten men who were posted by the cart appeared somewhat concerned for their own safety.
Once I cracked a board in the side of the cart and the effect was magical. Men left me in a body, going to the tents and huts which they had erected, and they set up a chattering which would have done credit to the largest band of monkeys.
Finally they came back with more pieces of wood with which they strengthened the sides of the cart.
When they had done this they retired still chattering.
When morning came I was very hot and tired, and when the cart began to move again I felt very bruised and battered, and as we journeyed until midday I was feeling remarkably savage when eventually we stopped in the street of a large village.
Here the party scattered, and I was driven with the elephants to the house of one of the white men, where many people came out to look at me. Soon the men with the poles reappeared, and after untying the logs they got me out. After carrying me past the house they went into a large courtyard, where they dropped me heavily and banged a huge door.
This courtyard was paved with stones and it had walls on every side rising twenty feet. One of the walls was also the side of the house, and had holes in it, at all of which were faces of people looking at me.
I struggled with the nets for quite three-quarters of an hour with no success before I saw the gate open, and the young man whom I had attacked on the back of the elephant came in with a long stick at the end of which was a knife, which he stretched forward and with which after a few moments he managed to cut the ropes, after which he retired hurriedly.
In about five minutes I disentangled myself. After pacing round and round the enclosure I tried to jump the walls, but it was impossible; so after knocking myself about a good deal I stopped, feeling extremely angry.
Soon I saw some men at one of the holes and they were holding a small pig which squealed, which they lowered down with a rope, and it ran round and round my enclosure.
I killed it almost at once, and taking it to a dark corner I consumed it, as I had had no food for two days. After which I snatched a little sleep and then felt calmer.
I was soon awakened by the chattering of some monkeys on the walls, after which night fell and I dozed off.
I did not sleep at all well, however, and I dreamt of elephants and guns in which my mother seemed mixed up.
Just after daybreak a number of children began throwing stones from one of the holes in the wall, and this made me exceedingly angry, and roaring I jumped up at the holes. I had never jumped so high as I did that time, and although I did not actually reach the hole I alarmed them so that they did not appear again.
In about an hour I saw two men with a small pig again, which they lowered, which, however, was tied this time by one leg. I darted at it hoping to snatch it away before it had time to recover.
As soon as I reached it, however, a net fell over me which was drawn rapidly together by a cord from the bottom, and I was trapped again.
He roared and I roared back at him, and then a brown bear joined in, and in a few moments the whole place was in an uproar. But above all I heard the mocking bellow of an alligator.
They carried me to an empty cage and pushed me through the door, untying the net through the bars. I was between a bear on one side and a grey ape on the other, both of which renewed their noise immediately. I was almost too dispirited to answer, but I showed what I thought of them quite plainly.
Soon, however, the noises died down, and retiring to a heap of straw I slept, for I was quite worn out.
On the next morning I awoke with a start, expecting to see the sun as usual coming through the open door of my cave, but there was no light at all in the cold grey room, and I despaired of ever seeing the sun and feeling the cool wind again.
To pass the time I began pacing up and down my cage, up and down with just the same number of steps, and the monotonous regularity of the bars in front of me whichever way I turned appalled me.
My impotence and wretchedness filled me with a mad unreasoning rage, and I tore round and round the cage roaring like a mad beast.
The other occupants of the room were all aroused by the din which I made, and together we created a horrible uproar which, however, soon subsided, and I resumed my pacing up and down.
I noticed that the ape in the cage next to me was climbing up and down a rope and swinging to and fro. I stopped and watched him for a while. First he climbed up the rope, poked his hand out between the bars, and took some straw from a box which was balanced on the top of the cage. Then he came down again and put his handful on a heap which he had already collected. He did this several times until he had gathered enough to make a comfortable bed into which he burrowed, only to come out again in about five minutes and move the whole lot to another corner.
My attention was soon drawn from the ape as a man came in pushing a little cart in front of him, on which were some large pieces of meat.
When the man entered all the animals began to get very excited. They ran up and down and roared and growled. I saw the man take one of the pieces of meat and put it on an iron hook and thrust it into the panther’s cage, then he shook it off. Then he passed down the line of cages, feeding all the animals. He began to get nearer to me, and I saw the bear in an absolute frenzy of anticipation. The man opened a little door in my cage and thrust in a piece of meat.
I hurled myself at the bars trying to get at him. The meat was hardly eatable, it smelt strongly of man and had hardly any blood in it.
The man passed on to the ape and gave him some food, then going back to the end of the hall he opened a little door in the back of the panther’s cage by pulling a little rope in front. The panther went out at the back.
Having done this to nearly all the cages he came to the bear, who went out as if used to it; and soon his cage was clean. The man passed by me and went out at the end of the room, returning shortly with a little cart with bowls of water. When he gave me mine I hurled myself so violently against the bars that I knocked it into his face, and he hurriedly passed on to the ape.
Later the man brought in a great deal more straw, which he put into the cages. I could not see where the animals went, and most of them seemed to have so little spirit that none of them attempted to escape.
Three days passed and precisely the same thing happened. On the second day I ate my meat, which was not really so bad, but in the meanwhile my cage was becoming almost unbearable. On the third day, however, three of the white men came in and looked at all the animals, and when they came to me I recognised the man who had shot me, and I growled and spat at him through the bars. Then they all made a noise somewhat like that of a hyena just before a meal.
One of them called for the man who fed the animals, and they chatted together for some time, at the end of which he went out and soon returned with a little cart.
Then the young man — whom I shall call my master from now on — came up to my cage and made encouraging noises. But I was suspicious and growled unceasingly.
But he