As he spoke thus, Chaka’s voice entered the hearts of those who were listening to him, and it was so convincing that even those who had the last vestiges of hatred in them abandoned it and opened the doors of their hearts for him with great joy. When Dingiswayo heard Chaka’s confession regarding him, knowing that this was true, he loved him and trusted him all the more. To Nandi all these happenings were like a dream in the middle of the night. Noliwa, for her part, saw in Chaka’s face beauty beyond description, which was not of this earth, which surpassed even that told of in fables. She saw in him the very perfection of manhood. The sound of his voice was to her a song more sweet by far than the tones of the stringed calabash or the singing bow. The crowd roared their applause, saying: “May the rains come! We are yours, O King, give us protection!”
On the following day Dingiswayo went back home, leaving Chaka a king in the place of his father. As for Noliwa and the younger people, they spent two more days at that place, and it was there that she and Chaka finally tied up their love affair. And then when all those who had come to the celebrations had left, Malunga began his work of strengthening the royal home with potent medicines, including the houses in which Chaka slept, the cattle folds and everything else that needed to be strengthened. Such was Chaka’s return to his home from which he had been driven away.
After these events, Dingiswayo fought several wars alone, without inviting Chaka, so that he should become re-acquainted with his armies, and ensure that they should not, on feeling the heat of battle, open their ranks and leave him unprotected to be killed; nor should they one day conspire with the enemy and kill him. He called Chaka for the first time the day he went to attack Qwabe, returning with countless herds of captured cattle. In that battle the son of Senzangakhona distinguished himself in the eyes of his people who were seeing him for the first time in action. When they reached the royal place Chaka, instead of going back to his own place, stayed there at Dingiswayo’s, amid crowds, where the spear never slumbered, where the young men became full of the lust for war when they heard their praises chanted. But he also stayed there in order to be near Noliwa. He spent all the time he was there among the regiments, teaching them all kinds of games; but above all he taught them unity, to act as one man, so that in all things they did there should be none who lagged behind or rushed forward. Knowing Chaka’s disposition, Dingiswayo realised that he was reluctant to go home because he craved war, and so, wishing to please him, he ordered an attack on the Mangwane of Matiwane, and the regiments went to that war having been thoroughly trained and disciplined by Chaka.
The day before they were to meet the enemy, Chaka filled all the young warriors’ hearts with determination, and each one went to war having resolved to fight harder than his peers so that he might distinguish himself in the eyes of the king and of Chaka. The Mangwane were a very large nation, even though they weakened themselves by continually fighting among themselves, and thus made it possible for the enemy to take advantage of their disunity.
When Chaka finished talking to the warriors on the eve of battle, and went where he was to sleep, close to the king, he found that Ndlebe and Malunga were already there even though he had not called them. Malunga said: “I have come to you on account of a matter which Ndlebe will explain to you. I would not have come, for I have told you that I do not want to fight the wars of someone who hates me; but I have come on your account, not his, because even though the glory of victory will be his since the armies belong to him, this is a matter of no importance; as for you, what you will obtain through this war is something you will receive also on the day Dingiswayo dies.”
He asked whether Chaka had already spoken to the armies, and Chaka said he had; and then he said: “It is unfortunate, because I had wanted to meet you before you marshalled your armies, but it is nothing, you will go again. I have brought you a medicine which you must chew before you speak to the armies, so that by the time you speak to them you have already chewed it, and it is in your mouth. That medicine will work wonders with your troops. It is called sweet-mouth.”
Ndlebe stood up full of life, being his undisguised self, and he said: “I hear the sound of a great war, which is also but a minor war, important only because of a momentous event which will take place in its wake, about which I will tell you the day we go back home.”
Malunga gave him the medicine and Chaka chewed it and kept on swallowing its juice, and then he went back to the armies. In the dead of night he came again to the troops and found some of them sleeping. He roused them and told them that that was not a time to sleep, but a time to be alert because it might happen that the enemy would fall upon them in their sleep. He said: “My countrymen, I am very concerned, I am unable to sleep or feel peace in my heart. I have already told you that you are going to encounter real men, these ones you will fight tomorrow, and I say to you, you are to go there knowing full well that you are going to your death. I say, he who is afraid had better go home right now, no one is being forced to stay; but he who decides to stay with us must be one who knows that he will not run away however hard it may be, one who is determined to die with his king or to win victory with him, but never to run away. What I most fear is to see men running away when the battle is too heavy for them, and their king is being captured. Remember Zwide. Those who are afraid, get up and go home!” None stood up. All those who heard him were full in their chests, and they cried, their tears rolling down their cheeks in the darkness of the night; they wondered what kind of war this was about which Chaka spoke with such gravity; they said: “Where we have been ordered to go, there we will go, though it may be the place of dying.” Their lungs were lifted high with excitement, and they waited for dawn with much longing, wishing that the night would pass so that they might enter into the games, and also having resolved to fight in such a way that Chaka should never again have cause to talk to them in that manner.
As soon as it was light, the battle was joined with great severity. Matiwane’s village was at the top of a rise, and the women and the old men were sitting outside the village watching the battle. Ndlebe went by a secret path to the back of the village and quickly set it alight, and his quick feet rapidly took him back to where the battle was raging.
Within a short time, when the Mangwane heard the heart-rending cries from the village, they looked back, and they saw heavy smoke from their homes which were on fire; they saw their children and their women scattered on the plains and the hills fleeing in all directions, some running towards the forests, others to the ravines, others to the mountains; then their hearts became discouraged and their knees sagged, because a man whose children have been attacked by the enemy at once loses hope. At that point they ran to rescue their children. Dingiswayo captured all of Matiwane’s cattle as well as the small stock. At the place where they slept that night, as he was congratulating Chaka on his ingenious strategies, he repeated once again that Chaka should find a wife, and that he, Dingiswayo, would attend to all the formalities. Chaka answered him by saying that he had no thought of marriage; he stated that there was just one person he loved, but that she was most inaccessible, and he had no hope of getting her, so that he had actually given her up.
Dingiswayo: “What do you mean by saying she is inaccessible?”
“That is to say she is the child of a very great king before whom I, Chaka, am but nothing.”
“Where is her home? Whose daughter is she?”
“Her home is at … is at … is at what-you-call-it …”
“Why do you keep on saying ‘is at … is at …’? Why do you find it difficult to talk? Is it my sister?”
“Yes, O King.” His forehead felt hot as he said so.
“Who?”
“Forgive me, O King, I fear even to mention her name, because she is one whom you love very much.”
“Is it Noliwa?”
“Yes, O King.”
“Have you already talked to her? I am not in a position to force her. You may talk to her: let her agree if she
agrees, or refuse if she refuses. I want her to do exactly as her heart pleases.”
“If I may say so, she and I have already come to an agreement, O King.”
“Oh, I see. So you have just been afraid to ask for her hand. Very well. However, remember that if you marry my sister you are the one to give me cattle, because I cannot give you cattle as well as my sister.” The reader can imagine for himself how great was Chaka’s joy on that day. Dingiswayo, like the sporting fellow he was, told all the warriors that Noliwa had become betrothed to Chaka, and they were greatly pleased, for they saw that Chaka was now going to belong to them fully, because a head of cattle is a great uniter of people.
When they arrived back at the royal village, Chaka heard that his mother was ill, and then he went on right away without even spending the night there, because his mother was a precious thing to him on account of what she had done for him. When they reached home Ndlebe said: “I am receiving messages that tell me that Dingiswayo is not going to live for more than ten days from now. Be prepared. That is the matter I said I would tell you about on our return home.”
CHAPTER 15
Zwide Kills Dingiswayo: Chaka Acquires Dingiswayo’s Kingship
WHEN DINGISWAYO reached home, he dismissed his regiments and dispersed his warriors so that they might go to their homes and rest. Zwide, having felt unhappy in his heart all this time because of the indignity of defeat, attacked Dingiswayo without warning. Dingiswayo only heard about it when Zwide was already at the Mfolozi River; and then he left home with the few warriors at hand and went to meet him, to prevent him from coming into his village. The alarm was sounded and the armies were quickly summoned to come to the king’s place to join the battle. The few people Dingiswayo had were tired from the war against Matiwane, and from driving the cattle captured there; for that reason the battle was too heavy for them right from the beginning, with the result that King Dingiswayo was captured. When Zwide reached his home, he killed Dingiswayo, severed his head, impaled it on a stick and had it taken to Dingiswayo’s during the night. The messengers came there and planted that stick at the council place, and leant his shield on the impaling stick. And when the people came out of their houses next morning they were cold with fright when they saw what had been done to their king.
As soon as Chaka heard that Dingiswayo had been captured, he tried all kinds of plans to save him: he sent messengers at great speed to Zwide to beg him not to kill Dingiswayo, saying that he would pay ransom for his release, whatever Zwide might demand that was to be had on this earth, but those messengers of his never reached Zwide. Ndlebe and Malunga were already at the royal village, and they quickly spread the rumour that Dingiswayo had already been killed, and yet at that time he had not yet been killed. For that reason the messengers thought that going to Zwide’s was of no further use. Chaka came with all his warriors with surpassing speed, but when he arrived at the royal village, he heard the painful news of the death of Dingiswayo.
The armies had begun gathering at the royal place on the previous day, the day on which the king was captured, and they continued gathering until the next day dawned; and it was not only the armies, but all men who still had strength to fight. Chaka stood there stunned and lost, not knowing what to do. Because of this death of his king he found that he had been left destitute and lost, abandoned by the one he trusted, to whom he turned in times of trouble, and through whom he had become a human being. He saw clearly that the people who were not satisfied with his installation in the kingship of his father would rise up in strength against him, now that the one who had installed him was gone; and even among the king’s armies he realised that his commands were no longer going to be heeded.
Fearing that the day of his death was now close, Chaka went down to the river, pulled a reed and peeled it, and then he called Isanusi with his heart full of sadness. As he went up from the river, he was even afraid to reach the village, to go among the people; he was also anxious lest Isanusi should delay in coming until danger befell him. When he reached the village, Ndlebe came to him covered with mud, but exceedingly happy. He went into one of the houses with Chaka, even though he was so full of joy that he was unable to talk, but simply kept on stroking his battle-axe and looking at Chaka with much excitement. At that time there were heart-rending lamentations in the village, as the people cried for their king who had been killed by a jackal such as Zwide, while still so young besides.
Before Ndlebe had spoken, Malunga suddenly burst in, and he too was very happy, and his joy radiated through his skin. He said: “Chaka, child of a king, I see that your heart is grieved. But this is no time to be despondent, it is time for much rejoicing. Those who weep may weep, it is fitting that they should weep for their king. But you ought to rejoice because the death of one king is the beginning of the reign of the one who succeeds him and the one who will succeed Dingiswayo is you.” At that point Chaka began to feel his courage returning, and he gathered strength, because he knew that what he was told by Isanusi’s servants always happened. Malunga went on to say: “The day before yesterday I gave you a medicine to be chewed just before you go to address the regiments. It was for precisely this day that I prepared that medicine. The hearts of all the warriors who heard you on that day are clinging to you, and they will never agree to be commanded by anyone else but you. Speak, Ndlebe, I have finished.”
Ndlebe: “Zwide is on the attack, he is on his way here, bringing a fearful multitude of people; his intention is to kill every man, woman and child so that the Bathethwa should be wiped off the face of the earth.”
At that very moment Isanusi suddenly burst into view among them, and he came in already talking: “Let your courage rise, Chaka, I have come, and there is no manner of harm that can befall you. Ndlebe, go out and shout and spread the word among the crowds outside that Zwide is going to attack them early in the morning, and that they must get ready. Malunga, run and prepare the armies with medicines in the way you know, and quickly. You, Chaka, undress.”
Chaka’s sadness and his fears were banished at once when Isanusi arrived; he was very happy and he undressed gladly, and Isanusi worked on him to prepare him for the important task which he was about to assume on that very night. Even before he finished working on him, the armies outside, on hearing that Zwide was once more on the move, made hurried efforts to find Chaka and to tell him that he was the one to whom they were looking for protection against their enemies.
Then, when Isanusi finished, Chaka went out to where he was being clamoured for; and the armies spoke to him in a united voice, saying: “You are Dingiswayo, and all of us bestow on you his kingship and say to you please save us and fight for us, we are your people. We give you Dingiswayo’s kingship in this manner with events moving fast as you yourself have no doubt heard. Zwide is coming in the early hours of the morning, and his intention is that not a single one of us should escape. Our eyes are turned towards you so that you may command these armies in the way you commanded them while their owner was still alive; you taught us and we listened and heard. Today we will listen to you not only as our commander, but also as our king. The one little matter we would like to get your word on is that you will truly marry Noliwa, as Dingiswayo had told us that you had asked for her in marriage, and that way we shall truly become one nation with yours.”
It was a time of extreme anxiety and everyone was in the grip of fear, when Dingiswayo’s armies appointed Chaka as king, with rumours running wild and rampant, some saying Zwide, whose cruelty they all knew, had already arrived. The reader can imagine for himself what Chaka’s feelings were that night, having hankered so much after kingship! His mood changed frequently following the changing pattern of events. He spent that night preparing the armies for the morning’s encounter.
Zwide was attacking with a frighteningly large army, having conscripted even the old whose limbs were already too heavy for them, who went only because of their greed for cattle, as well as the very young ones, novices who were handling their s
pears and going to war for the first time, who were trusting only to the nimbleness and swiftness of their youth to capture the enemy’s cattle, since they expected no opposition because the Bathethwa had no king.
When Zwide crossed the Mfolozi-Mhlophe, opposite the Mbelebeleni, Chaka ordered all the seasoned warriors as well as the younger ones to the attack, leaving only the regiments; and since he realised that Zwide’s men were far superior to his in numbers, he ordered that the villages be burned, as well as the sorghum and maize; some men accompanied the women and the children in driving the cattle to a place of safety. The battle raged, and Zwide was forced back to the other side of the river, and then Chaka’s people started to follow their king. It was a running battle and lasted three days. Chaka’s aim was to make Zwide’s armies succumb to hunger in the end, because in those days they did not carry provisions; that was why he burned the sorghum and the maize so that Zwide’s people should have nothing to eat.
On the third day he told himself that hunger must by now have played havoc among the enemy, and he prepared to launch an offensive. On that night he slaughtered many cattle, and there was much feasting among his armies; he slaughtered them with a vengeance so that, if they were defeated, Zwide should have nothing to capture, whereas if he won he would capture Zwide’s cattle. On that same night Isanusi went to drag evil medicines across the path of Zwide’s armies. As dawn approached, Senzangakhona’s young man dilated his nostrils, catching the scent of war even while it was yet far off; he threw his eyes into the darkness, and continually walked back and forth with impatience, and the warriors were consumed with war-lust when they saw him in that state. When he spoke to them his voice carried amazing power, so that when he gave his commands, each warrior took a vow in his heart, saying: “I will do it and if I fail, I will die trying to carry out that order.”
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