Chaka

by Thomas Mofolo

  Dingiswayo saw everything that Chaka did, but he was far off. Then he came, and all the people were amazed at Chaka’s bravery, and they wondered just how he had managed to kill the madman for even his eyes were frightening and were like flames of fire; and all the people began to realise that all the things that had been said about Chaka concerning the lion and the hyena of witchcraft, fitted him perfectly. Even as he first arrived, the son of Senzangakhona, he made a name for himself by killing that madman, and all the people respected him.

  On the third day after Chaka’s arrival, Dingiswayo went out with his armies to attack Zwide, for the two of them were constantly fighting each other. Chaka joined the king’s regiments like any ordinary warrior under the command of the officers. He went with great joy when he remembered that he had been promised that through these wars he would obtain the kingship he yearned for. He felt happy, not like one going to war where the strong and the brave perish, but a carefree traveller going to joyful festivities where he would meet someone he loved very much; he carried only one spear in his hand, with no spare one, without a club or a battle-axe. And on the day they were going to the attack, he cried with impatience as Dingiswayo was praising them, saying that they were delaying too long. When they left the assembly ground, as they approached the outskirts of the village, Chaka was beside himself with joy, and his hand stopped smarting, because it had been itching like the fangs of a hunting dog which was impatient to go to the hunt. He was in the first detachment, the one with the black shields.

  As the armies moved closer to each other, Zwide’s warriors were singing a mokorotlo, a song of men, a song of war, and they were sure of victory; and when the armies were within a short distance of each other, one of Zwide’s warriors leaped forward, shouting his praises several times, and he ran swift as a shooting star from one of his home ranks to another, and back again in the same manner; and when he was halfway, he lifted his spear and brandished it many times, aiming its blade at Dingiswayo’s army. As soon as he finished praising himself in the midst of that mighty chorus of his home warriors, the battle was joined, and Zwide’s men came running.

  Chaka’s detachment, being in front of the rest, was the first to be sent into battle. When the battle grew too heavy for them, they ran away leaving Chaka all by himself right in the midst of the enemy. When Dingiswayo saw this he sent in two reinforcements one after another, so that Chaka should not be killed. No sooner had he entered, no sooner entered battle, the son of Senzangakhona, than he felled men with his short spear, and he opened up gaps in the enemy ranks; he stabbed with his spear while at the same time fencing with his left hand. All Dingiswayo could see was the black shield of the son of Senzangakhona getting blacker right in the middle of the fray where braves were falling; his brown spear was turning red with the blood of the men he killed.

  At midday the battle grew too heavy for Zwide’s armies, and they fled on all flanks, and as they fled Chaka played havoc among them with his spear. In the end he found that he was once more all alone among the enemies who fell upon him most heavily. Dingiswayo again ordered regiments to run and cut off Zwide’s forward advance so that Chaka should get an opportunity to break free and join his comrades. When Zwide’s men first noticed Chaka among them, those two regiments were already near, but were not yet in view. About ten men then rushed at him. Chaka outmanoeuvred them, he turned from side to side with amazing swiftness, and when they thought they had seen him on one side he would already be on another before they knew it, and he was killing them all the while. But because he was alone, they were sure they could kill him even though he had already killed so many of them. Because of this turning from side to side, Chaka stumbled and fell, and before he had risen to his feet again, two men were already descending on him with their spears and clubs. Chaka, in his fright, called the name that was so dear to him, he called it in dire distress, seeing his death close at hand. He shouted: “Isanusi!” As he shouted so he drew up his legs and kicked the warrior whose spear was already poised above, ready to stab him, he kicked him just below the knees with both his feet even as he lay on the ground, and that one came and fell where Chaka had been when he drew up his legs. When the second man brought down his huge, fierce club, it crushed the skull of his own comrade and splashed his brains out. At that same moment Chaka caught the one who wielded the club, wrestling him from behind, and he threw him down hard and then jumped up and grabbed his spear and his stick.

  By then another group of Zwide’s men were just arriving on the scene and, believing that it was Chaka who was on the ground, because of their confused haste, they killed their own comrade, and that way gave Chaka a chance to recover his weapons; and before they became aware of their mistake, he had already killed several of them. By the time they realised that they were killing each other, the regiment sent to help Chaka appeared, and so they ran away, one of them carrying Chaka’s shield which he had snatched while Chaka was on the ground. When Chaka saw this, he hurled himself forward with great speed, but it was clear that the one he was chasing equalled him in swiftness because the distance between them neither increased nor decreased. To Chaka it was disgraceful beyond description for a warrior to return from battle with his shield or spear captured. This is true also of the Basotho, since a shield ought to be captured only when its owner is dead. For this reason Chaka once more shouted: “Isanusi!”, whereupon that young man from Zwide’s stumbled and was thrown forward, and he even somersaulted as he fell. When he tried to get up, he fell down again and even stepped on his own neck. The third time, just as he was getting up from the ground, Chaka had already caught up with him, and dug his spear into him, and he fell down for good. By that time Zwide’s men were running helter-skelter in their flight.

  Since he was not in the battle himself, Dingiswayo was the one who saw clearly the way in which that battle was fought, and better than anyone else how well Chaka performed. We will not tell how pleased he was with Chaka, nor how the women honoured him with their shrill ululations on that day, nor how songs were composed for him: let the reader imagine these things for himself, how it was on that day. What is surprising, however, is that while Chaka was being thus praised and sung, the other warriors did not grow envious, but instead they were the very ones who spoke highly of Chaka, and even suggested to the king that he be promoted to his senior regiments, consisting only of seasoned braves; and indeed the king did so, and also honoured him by making him commander of one of the top-ranking regiments.

  That is how Chaka made his arrival known at Dingiswayo’s royal village. After only three days he was already known, and counted among the most renowned braves, the king’s trusted ones. And now Chaka was happy here at the royal place where a warrior was a highly valued person, and the spear never slumbered.

  CHAPTER 9

  Ndlebe and Malunga Come to Chaka

  CHAKA USED to tell his mother everything concerning the medicines his doctor gave him. What surprises us so much now, therefore, is that he did not tell her about his meeting with Isanusi and how the doctor worked on him, as well as his promises to him for the future. All he said was that he had met “that” doctor about whom they had been told, and that the doctor had worked on him, and he told it in a manner which made light of it, simply skimming off the top. Perhaps – we say perhaps because we do not know if this was indeed the reason – perhaps he was afraid to tell his mother the story of Isanusi in its entirety because he believed that Isanusi was a sorcerer, and that his mother would warn him to part company with him, while he, for his part, felt that whether Isanusi was a sorcerer or not was of no importance as long as he could obtain the medicines and the kingship that he yearned for. He had already resolved that, however ugly a deed might be, he would do it only if it led him towards that kingship.

  After his war with Zwide, Dingiswayo fought several battles with nations living around the borders of his kingdom, and he conquered them all, after which he halted to rest his armies. When Zwide saw this, he assumed that the reason
for that respite was that Dingiswayo’s armies had become diminished, and that he was waiting to fill in the gaps with younger men; so Zwide decided to attack while the odds were still thus in his favour. On that occasion he drafted his entire nation – mature men, young men, old men, including even the tenderest youth who was handling spears for the first time, as well as habitual good-for-nothing stay-at-homes. The battle was ordered in the following manner: Zwide was to go ahead and meet Dingiswayo, and when the battle was joined, he was to retreat and then quickly return to the attack. He was to continue with this strategy with the aim of drawing Dingiswayo to a gorge where Zwide’s reinforcements were lying in ambush in the depths of the forests. Besides, on that occasion Zwide had even invited another king to come and help him. When Zwide came to where the reinforcements were hiding, he was to retreat more slowly fighting back with reasonable force, and then when Dingiswayo’s armies passed that point, the hidden reinforcements would rise up, cutting him off from the rear. Zwide would thereupon renew the assault at once, and the battle would be fought in a tight circle around Dingiswayo so that no one should escape, especially since just below the path of Zwide’s planned retreat there were steep drops at the gorge’s edge, which no one would dare to descend unless he was deliberately hurled down.

  At that very time when Zwide was planning to attack, an event of great importance took place among Dingiswayo’s people, even though they were not aware of it.

  Chaka went to the river very early in the morning on his usual day, and he bathed and finished washing himself. Just as he came out of the water and started to walk up the bank, he saw two young men, very different in appearance, squatting above the river bank, at the very place he was going to pass. They were completely silent, not saying anything to each other, and were both looking at him. Chaka looked at them, examining them with great care, and he found that they were a different kind of people who he was seeing for the first time in his entire life, that is to say, a different race of people. One of them had a countenance and a body which showed clearly that he was alert and sharp, a brave who fought in great wars. Chaka realised without a doubt that he was certainly not a man from Bokone; he saw that he came from nations living far away, at the very ends of the earth, nations of powerful giants; yet, among those very giants, he could see this young man playing havoc among the warriors with his spear, felling them and carving out a name for himself among the powerful men of that faraway land. The way in which he was squatting testified that in running, his speed equalled that of a wild beast, that he was a veritable whirlwind. He had strong biceps, and his calf muscles were a tight ball. His eyes were sharp, and did not drop when they met those of another person; they were like the eyes of someone who had grown up amid royalty, among crowds of people, who was accustomed to looking at different kinds of people. He was wearing a neatly made fringe-skirt, a headdress of porcupine quills, and a copper bracelet around his arm, and it was clear that he was not only a brave, but also a fastidious person in regard to his dressing, a beautiful and refined young man who was much sought after by all the young girls.

  As for the second young man, he was a flabby, clumsy thing with big hanging lips and drooping ears which were too big for him, like caves ready to scoop up the wind, or, we should rather say, gossip. His eyes were liquid and were full of treachery and guile to an amazing degree; they refused to look straight into other people’s eyes; they were so lustreless that even when they looked at someone they lacked the power to make him feel that his eyes were meeting those of another human being; they were like mere imitations of human eyes. His hair was matted together in long tufts which hung like plaits over his face and the back of his head, exaggerating his ugliness and making him look like a halfwit. His jaws were large, his cheeks sunken, and his chin curved upwards. His arms were disproportionately long, and were muscular but lean, and it was clear that he had the strength of a blind man, and once he caught something in his grip, he never let it go. He had long, thin shanks, and his feet too were extraordinarily long and flat. The shape of his feet and his hollowed flank muscles showed that he was a tireless long-distance runner. His feet were like old dry cowhides, with cracks on the heels, and even on the soles.

  When Chaka looked at them, this second one had his head bowed, but as soon as Chaka’s eyes landed on him, this flabby old thing came suddenly alive, and he raised his head and looked this way and that; he grew wild and his ears seemed to grow even hollower than before, and his eyes grew more guileful and treacherous; he strutted about in an agitated manner like an ostrich, and then sat down again. The other young man was holding a spear with a short handle like that of Chaka’s and when Chaka’s eyes reached him, he slowly wielded his spear like one testing its strength; his face at once became wild, and the sinews in his face and body swelled up, and his eyes turned red. Chaka saw without a doubt that he could not possibly fight against these two, for it would be like lighting a fire which refuses to burn. Then he ran back into the water extremely frightened, and he broke a reed and began to peel it. But just as he was about to call Isanusi, the half-witted one stood up, looked this way and that, stretched out his neck, and then sat down again; then the intelligent one said: “Chaka, do not trouble yourself about calling Isanusi, we are your friends, not your enemies; we are the enemies of your enemies; come up and hear the news.” When he spoke like that there was a certain authority in his voice which made it impossible for those he commanded not to listen to him, or delay in carrying out his orders; besides, the sound of it showed that it was the voice of a leader of men who was accustomed to commanding great armies.

  When Chaka heard them calling him by name and mentioning the name of Isanusi who was his own close secret, when he realised that they began to speak to him at exactly the moment when he was about to call Isanusi, and that they were quite aware of what he was doing, he at once believed that they did truly come from his doctor. He walked up from the water with great joy when he heard that these strange people had come to him to be his friends and allies. He greeted them and asked for news without delay in the manner of someone who seeks to know about a place he loves.

  “What is the news from Isanusi? Is Isanusi well? How did you know that I was here at the river? And from where did you rise up so early in the morning?”

  “News: we have been sent by Isanusi to come and live with you. He is well. We knew you were here because it is your day. We rose up right here in the middle of the veld.”

  “But how did you know that I was in this particular river and at this precise spot?”

  “We knew because we are Isanusi’s servants, who can see in the darkness and in the hiding places, who can hear things that are far, and who are able also to see the thoughts that spring from a man’s heart.”

  When they began talking, the half-witted one stood up and came and sat behind the other one with his back to him, thus facing in the backward direction. Chaka asked what he was doing and they said: “Whenever we talk about confidential things we do so so that one can see what is at the back while the other one sees what is in front, so that no one can come upon us unexpectedly while we are speaking confidentially, and thus hear our secrets.”

  Chaka: “What is your name?” He was asking the half-witted one.

  “Ndlebe.”

  “Ndlebe! Why is that so? Or is it because your ears are so large?”

  “Because I hear much.”

  “You hear much?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you hear?”

  “All things which an ear is able to hear.”

  “Were you also sent to me?”

  “Yes.”

  “To come and do what?”

  “To hear for you all the gossip and secret talks so that you may not be caught unawares by any secret plots against you.”

  Chaka was suspicious of this half-witted fellow who talked to him with his head down, refusing to look him in the face, and also about his brief answers which resembled those of someone who was unwill
ing to talk. But Ndlebe soon convinced him that he had come for the reasons he stated.

  “And you, who are you?” he asked the other one.

  “People call me Malunga.”

  “What do you call yourself if that is the way other people call you?”

  “I never call myself; besides, a person does not give himself a name, it is given to him by other people.”

  “What exactly is the business of your visit, both of you?”

  “I believe that we have already answered that question: Our business is to come and live with you, to look after you and be near you in times of war; besides, a big war is close at hand in which you will distinguish yourself in the eyes of your king more than you have already done hitherto. We will stand by you in these wars: Ndlebe will be your ears and will hear all the news for you; I will be your arm, and will fight for you. But the two of us will only enter the battle when it is already well joined, and well advanced. During peacetime, when there are no wars, I shall stay by your side and discuss all your plans with you; which means that when you have an idea in your mind you must tell me, and I shall seek a way in which it may be put into action so that it may be accomplished well in accordance with your wishes. Ndlebe, for his part, will sit in the courtyards of the royal house, and also near the king, and the people will talk quite freely in his presence without taking any note of him since, as you yourself can see, he is, in appearance, a halfwit. Yet, let me tell you, he is a complete human being with all his faculties. Furthermore, the time for you to return to your home to take over the kingship is near. It is because of all these things that Isanusi has decided that it would be a good thing for us to come here and be near you.”

  When Chaka heard that the time for him to go and assume the kingship of his home was near, he simply kept quiet, holding in his feeling of excitement as he imagined in his heart how it would be the day he, Chaka, deserted by his own father, returned to take his rightful seat; of what nature, he wondered, would be his revenge upon his enemies? He concluded that killing them would be too light a punishment, undeserved by such as they.