He saw all the affairs of his life, from the time of his childhood, and he found that they were ugly and frightening, and made a man shudder. And when he thought of the day when he came back from rounding up the calves, and found that there was already a plot against him, and the day the boys surprised him in the fields, and about the lion and the hyena, he realised that here on earth people live by might only, and not by right; he decided that here on earth the only person who is wise and strong and beautiful and righteous is he who knows how to fight with his stick, who, when people argue with him, settles the matter with his stick; and he decided that, from that day on, he would do just as he pleased, and that, whether a person was guilty or not, he would simply kill him if he so wished, for that is the law of man.
Chaka had always been a man of firm decisions who never gave up something he had started before it was accomplished according to his wishes; even when it was hard he persevered till things went the way he wanted them. But then his purposes, up to that time, had been good ones; today, however, he had only one resolve: to do whatever he wished, even if it might be ugly, and to avenge himself to the fullest extent, in a manner known to him alone.
When evening came, he left the forest, and he wandered in the plains, without even knowing where he was going. He crossed the Mhlathuze, the Thukela and the Mvoti, heading directly south; and in his flight he forgot the king who loved him, Dingiswayo.
One day, in the middle of the day, when the shadows crept underneath their owners, the heat of the sun overcame him, sweat oozed out of his pores, and the soil was hot as he trod on the ground, and he was compelled to look for shade. There were many trees, but they were widely scattered. As he looked around, he saw one straight ahead, far from the others; it had wide branches, and stood all by itself. Then he went to it. That tree stood tall from the ground, to a height which a person could not reach with his hands; the lower part of its trunk was bare and without branches, and the lowest branches began up there at that height, and they arched towards the ground, and were as full-leaved as those of the willow tree. The higher branches, on the other hand, stretched outward like the palms of a person, and they cast a big wide shade. At the tree’s base was a little fountain with sweet cool water. Chaka came to it tired, weakened by running and hunger, his feet hard from the swelling caused by the dews he had walked through, his thoughts confused, and his head aching from pondering over his problems. He came there and drank from that fountain, ate the bit of meat which he had obtained from one of the villages he had passed on the way, and after eating he drank the water of that fountain again to wash the food down. Because of fatigue, he began to feel drowsy; so he got up and looked this way and that, examining his surroundings with great care. He looked up into the tree’s branches, and even threw a stone up there. And then when he found there was nothing he could see, he leaned against the tree, and was instantly fast asleep.
When at last he woke up, when the shadows began to lengthen, he found a man doctor standing right there beside him, looking at him in a strange way. Chaka’s body shivered the moment he set eyes on him and, being always ready for action, he quickly grabbed his little spear, jumped up and stood to one side, afraid that he had nearly been murdered in his sleep; but he soon realised that this was not someone who would kill him; besides, it was clear that when he woke up, that man had already been standing there for some time, and could have killed him if he wanted to. When Chaka first woke up from his sleep, and their eyes met, he saw that the man’s face was distorted with hate, and his lips were like those of a man sick with nausea, and right inside the farthest depths of his eyes he saw malice and unbounded cruelty, he saw someone who had more evil in his heart than any murderer, the very incarnation of malice, treachery and betrayal. His body shuddered, and he blinked his eyes. Then when he looked at the man again, he found that his face showed sympathy and pity, and he was sad on his behalf; and when he looked deep in his eyes, he saw profound compassion and a heart that felt the grief of others, and had true love. The face he had first seen was completely gone.
He was a man of middle years, with just the first tinge of grey, and because of the many pouches he carried, as well as the porcupine quills and monkey skins on his body, and long tassels of unkempt hair, Chaka knew at once that he was a doctor. Then while he stood there full of suspicion, the man put down the things he was carrying and sat on the ground. He took out his nose-scoop and cleaned his nose, and then put it away again; he took out his snuffbox made of a gourd, tapped it sharply several times with his fingernail, poured out a small quantity of snuff which he sniffed up his nose, going hlwi-hlwi. He spoke with a contented voice because of the sweetness of the snuff and said: “Greetings, then, you from the royal house. Come here and let us talk about things!” When he spoke those words, the sound of his voice was full of conviction and truth, and it was clear that it came from a heart that knew no guile; it was not the voice of a tempter, but that of an honest man. Chaka came near and said: “Yes, I accept your greeting, even though I am not a person of the royal house, but one from a little village, and crawl before those who crawl before the king.” The doctor laughed and said: “It would be a wonder if you were not of a royal house, because your appearance and the manner of your speech indicate that you are; besides, you are not a person of this place where you are now.”
“By what sign do you see that I am not a person of this place, when it is you who find me in it?”
“I see it by many things. I see by your feet that you have travelled a very long distance, and that you covered most of it running. I see by your brow that for many nights you have not had enough sleep, and that you travel with a heart that is full of grief. The weakness of your eyes tells me that for days more or less numbering the fingers of one hand, you have not had enough food to eat. Speak the truth, isn’t that so?”
Chaka took time to answer fearing lest this man should have been following him all the time. “As regards all these things you have just mentioned, that is truly so. But where do you come from? Where are you going? Where is your home? How do you know my affairs?”
“The manner in which you speak tells me that you are not only of the royal village, but indeed the child of a king. I will answer your questions, but first I must finish mine. As I listen to you and examine you carefully, I can see that your right hand is tired from killing people, and that you are, at this very moment, in flight, and that is why you jumped high when you saw me, because you have reached a point where you are afraid of people; besides, the way you speak tells me that you are a child whose upbringing has been very hard indeed. Is that not so?” Chaka was now so surprised that he was unable to answer, and then the doctor said: “You must look straight into my eyes as I talk to you,” and they looked at each other. “The trouble which led to your being in this place arose in the night. You were fighting with a wild beast, and you even killed it. That beast was a hyena; I can see that by its fur which has stuck to your blanket. A few days before that you had killed another. Good gracious! I can see that you are rejected by our own father, and that he, in turn, is afraid of his wives. This time you escaped from a serious danger because you were meant to be killed.”
When the doctor finished saying those words, Chaka adjusted his blanket, and a large section of his belly was exposed, and so also were the vaccinations, and the doctor saw them. Chaka once more asked the question he had asked before, and the doctor then said: “As a human being, you might think that I heard of your affairs through someone else, yet it is not so. But, in order that you may believe in me, I shall tell you one small matter which is known to you alone. In your tuft of hair there is a medicine to bring you luck and kingship. When you adjusted your blanket I saw, I who have the power of vision, and I became aware, I who am wise, that you were once visited by the great master who comes from those who have departed, who are above, and that master was highly pleased with you. Besides, my eyes which see things which have already passed, can see that you were very frightened when
the master was with you, so much so that your hand refused to leave this tuft of hair, in the manner you had been instructed by the woman doctor who is now gone.”
The reader can imagine for himself how great was Chaka’s amazement as all the secrets known to him alone were being exposed. When the doctor mentioned these things, Chaka jumped for joy, and felt indeed like one dreaming. A light dawned on him from far, far away yonder, and it streaked across space till it lighted on his heart and shone there; joy and happiness also arose from that far-off place, and came and massaged his wounded heart. He said to himself: might this not be the isanusi who, it had been said, would come to him! And he saw, and was indeed convinced that, if this is he, then truly his affairs were going to take a new turn, because it was quite clear that this man could feel things with his head. Then he asked once again the question he had already asked two or three times, and said: “I have asked you a question, but it seems to me it is a question you do not wish to answer: Where do you come from? Where are you going?”
The doctor took his stick and pointed up to the sky, and said: “Ngivela kude le!” (I come from far away yonder!), and he was quiet for a long time staring right up there where he was pointing, and he sighed.
Chaka: “It seems to me you are pointing to the sky! Exactly where are you pointing? Do you come from the clouds?”
“No, by pointing upwards I am simply estimating for you the distance to the place from which I have come, because, if I pointed at those mountains, even if I were to say, far away on the other side of them, you would fail to understand the distance which I have travelled.” Chaka’s face lit up, and it glowed; he remembered that it was said a doctor had been summoned from far away yonder, and once again he pursued his questioning: “At this moment where are you going? You have not answered my question completely.”
“At this moment I’m going to … I’m going to … Look here, Chaka,” and now he called him by his name so that he should see without any doubt that he to whom he was talking was someone who knew him like the back of his hand, “Look here, Chaka, I do not have much time to talk to you about trifling matters, the plains ahead of me are wide, and the country I still have to traverse stretches far. There are many who are suffering, who are oppressed, who are unable to attain the desires of their hearts; the kings who await my coming, so that I might fortify them and smooth things out for them, are many. Besides, I want to return soon to my home, and my home is far away.” So saying the doctor once more was silent for a while and he stared longingly up to the sky where he had been pointing, and then he said: “I have told you some of your affairs which are known to you alone; and if even now you still don’t know who I am, or if you have now changed your mind, you must tell me so that I may pass on and go where they are waiting for me.”
When Chaka heard these things, he nearly went mad with joy, and he said: “Tell me, is it you who are supposed to complete …” His voice trembled, and he was unable to speak because of the fullness of his heart when he saw that right there, in the wilderness, in the barrenness of the desert, in his state of forlornness, he met the one concerning whose coming he had long abandoned all hope, through whom all promises were to be fulfilled. The doctor was piercing him with his eyes as those thoughts were coursing through his mind, intent on peering right inside Chaka’s heart, where all the confidences and the secrets were hidden; and in answer, he simply nodded his head. And then when he saw how Chaka was overcome with emotion, he said: “Have no more doubts, I have already come.” When he said so it was clear that this was a man full of self-confidence who was talking, a man with the power to accomplish that which he promised. Those words struck Chaka right in the centre of his forehead, and they convinced him, and he entertained no further doubts. He felt the heavy load of a grieving heart loosening and falling to the ground, and he was light and buoyant. He also felt something like a ray of light streaking inside his heart and settling down where that load had been, and he saw clearly that his father’s kingship was now his, that he had that day secured it, and it would not any longer slip out of his grasp as long as he was with this man.
The doctor: “First, before we go into any details, I ask you whether you bind yourself to observe all my commandments completely? I am asking this because there is nothing I can do unless you so bind yourself.” It is the law of the profession that in matters of this nature, or of curing someone of sterility, or of surrounding a property with protective medicines, a doctor should lay down his conditions which the people have to abide by or refuse at the beginning if those conditions are too difficult because, if they do not refuse at the very start, the doctor will still claim his reward even if, through their negligence, his labours have not attained any results.
Chaka: “I bind myself to abide by your commandments in every way in which you will command me.”
“My commandments and my laws are difficult, but since you want kingship, a thing which is hard, it stands to reason that even the efforts to obtain it are difficult, and heavy, and demand complete self-submission.” Chaka swore once more that, no matter how difficult they might be, he would obey them, if it was within the power of an earthly person to do so. Then the doctor said: “So be it. I said to you a while ago, lay your fears to rest, I have already come, and even now I still repeat that your hardships and your sufferings are now all things of the past; the blessings you were promised in your childhood will on this very day begin to fall upon you; you will succeed in everything you do. Now, tell me the desires of your heart, and the one thing on which, of all others, you want me to concentrate all my skills.”
“I do not have many wishes. My heart yearns for the kingship for which I was born, which will slip out of my hands simply because I have bad luck. I say to you, work on me so that that kingship should be restored to me.”
“I understand. All you want is your father’s kingship, beyond that there is nothing you want, not even a kingship that surpasses that of your father. That is what you are saying, is that not so?”
“No, I do want that. If you can make me into a great king, one who is independent, to whom all lesser kings own allegiance, I shall be very grateful. But, doctor, you must tell me the truth concerning what you are able to do; very often you doctors promise people wonders, things you know very well that you will never be able to accomplish.”
“You must believe in me, I will never deceive you. I believe that you have, in a small way, seen the affairs of this world, that people live by favouritism and bias, by hatred and by strength; and now you too must part with mercy from this very day, because mercy devours its owner. Besides, I shall not stay long with you; I shall simply work on you, and then go away, and while I am gone you will strive for the kingship which you desire.”
CHAPTER 7
Isanusi Strengthens Chaka with Medicine
AFTER CHAKA had come to an understanding with the doctor in everything, the doctor began his work. He started by cutting off the tuft of hair under which the medicine had been placed, saying that that had been done because Chaka was still too weak for the powerful medicines of kingship. He made vaccination cuts around his heart, then rubbed in the medicine with his eyes shut, speaking as follows: “Permitter-of-those-who-are-gone, permitter-of-those-who-are-taken-unduly, accept him, receive him, bring him all the blessings of those who are gone, that they may lie on him as the dew that lies upon the ground! Upon his tracks may there be mud and marshes of rains that fall in torrents! May all his enemies vanish when he appears, like mist that evaporates when the sun rises!”
When he finished, he washed the medicine off his hands with water, after which he clapped his hands together in the direction of the place where he had made the scarifications on Chaka’s body, and when the droplets of water touched the cuts, Chaka’s entire body was seized with smarting pains, and he felt numb; the cuts swelled into weals, but when the doctor stopped, the cuts also subsided at once and became the size they had been before. The doctor said that that was the one and only medicine
of good luck, and that he would never be vaccinated again with one of that kind.
Secondly, the doctor made a cut at the hairline on his forehead, lifted the skin and stuffed a powdery medicine in there, and he also put in one containing the brain of a crocodile. He did those things with his eyes staring fiercely, and he worked with extreme haste. He said that that was the medicine of kingship which would make all those who saw him tremble and kneel before him; when he was angry, the faint-hearted would die from fright. His command would be taken so seriously that, if the one commanded delayed in carrying it out, others would tear him apart even while Chaka kept his peace. In war, there would be none who could face him. The doctor said that the medicine which remained to be used was one which he did not have with him; he said it was a medicine associated with the spilling of blood, with killing: “It is extremely evil, but it is also extremely good. Choose!” The doctor placed matters in Chaka’s hands; he told him, without hiding anything from him, that that medicine was truly evil, then he, for his part, stood to one side so that Chaka could act according to his wish.
“I want it,” said Chaka. And now the final link had been cut, Chaka had deliberately chosen death instead of life. When he said so the doctor looked at him for a long time without saying a word, and then he said: “Very well. Let’s go and look for it.”
There was a tree in Bokone in those days which always stood all by itself in the plain, especially in deserts. It was said that before a person could cut it, he had to be strengthened with medicines, and then only could he go to it, because if he cut it without having strengthened himself, he would die at once. It was said that, when a person chopped it, it cried like a goat, and, besides, its sap was red like human blood. The person chopping it had to be naked, totally nude. It was a tree of witchcraft, because if a person placed it on the windward side of someone’s house, all the people in that house would die. It was kept in the veld like the medicine for healing fractures. It was generally believed that once that tree had a section of it removed, it withered immediately, its life force going away with the medicine that had been taken from it.
Chaka Page 7