登陆注册
37819900000042

第42章 7 The End of Bukawai(2)

But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that continued friction would wear through the strands of his rope, though it was many years before this knowledge did more for him than merely to keep him from swinging too long at a time, or too far above the ground at the end of his rope.

The day came, however, when the very thing that had once all but killed him proved the means of saving his life.

He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male.

There was none now to watch over him, solicitously, nor did he need such. Kala was dead. Dead, too, was Tublat, and though with Kala passed the one creature that ever really had loved him, there were still many who hated him after Tublat departed unto the arms of his fathers.

It was not that he was more cruel or more savage than they that they hated him, for though he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his fellows, yet too was he often tender, which they never were. No, the thing which brought Tarzan most into disrepute with those who did not like him, was the possession and practice of a characteristic which they had not and could not understand-- the human sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a trifle broad, perhaps, manifesting itself in rough and painful practical jokes upon his friends and cruel baiting of his enemies.

But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, the witch-doctor, who dwelt in the cave between the two hills far to the north of the village of Mbonga, the chief.

Bukawai was jealous of Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came near proving the undoing of the ape-man. For months Bukawai had nursed his hatred while revenge seemed remote indeed, since Tarzan of the Apes frequented another part of the jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai.

Only once had the black witch-doctor seen the devil-god, as he was most often called among the blacks, and upon that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, at the same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, and ****** his medicine seem poor medicine. All this Bukawai never could forgive, though it seemed unlikely that the opportunity would come to be revenged.

Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting far to the north. He had wandered away from the tribe, as he did more and more often as he approached maturity, to hunt alone for a few days. As a child he had enjoyed romping and playing with the young apes, his companions;but now these play-fellows of his had grown to surly, lowering bulls, or to touchy, suspicious mothers, jealously guarding helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his own man-mind a greater and a truer companionship than any or all of the apes of Kerchak could afford him.

This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast.

Torn clouds, whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above the tree tops. They reminded Tarzan of frightened antelope fleeing the charge of a hungry lion. But though the light clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle was motionless.

Not a leaf quivered and the silence was a great, dead weight-- insupportable. Even the insects seemed stilled by apprehension of some frightful thing impending, and the larger things were soundless. Such a forest, such a jungle might have stood there in the beginning of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the world with life, when there were no sounds because there were no ears to hear.

And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through which the scourged clouds raced. Tarzan had seen all these conditions many times before, yet he never could escape a strange feeling at each recurrence of them.

He knew no fear, but in the face of Nature's manifestations of her cruel, immeasurable powers, he felt very small--very small and very lonely.

Now he heard a low moaning, far away. "The lions seek their prey," he murmured to himself, looking up once again at the swift-flying clouds. The moaning rose to a great volume of sound. "They come!" said Tarzan of the Apes, and sought the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree.

Quite suddenly the trees bent their tops simultaneously as though God had stretched a hand from the heavens and pressed His flat palm down upon the world. "They pass!"whispered Tarzan. "The lions pass." Then came a vivid flash of lightning, followed by deafening thunder.

"The lions have sprung," cried Tarzan, "and now they roar above the bodies of their kills."The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, a perfectly demoniacal wind threshed the jungle pitilessly.

In the midst of it the rain came--not as it comes upon us of the northlands, but in a sudden, choking, blinding deluge.

"The blood of the kill," thought Tarzan, huddling himself closer to the bole of the great tree beneath which he stood.

He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little distance he had seen two hills before the storm broke;but now he could see nothing. It amused him to look out into the beating rain, searching for the two hills and imagining that the torrents from above had washed them away, yet he knew that presently the rain would cease, the sun come out again and all be as it was before, except where a few branches had fallen and here and there some old and rotted patriarch had crashed back to enrich the soil upon which he had fatted for, maybe, centuries. All about him branches and leaves filled the air or fell to earth, torn away by the strength of the tornado and the weight of the water upon them. A gaunt corpse toppled and fell a few yards away; but Tarzan was protected from all these dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy young giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him.

Here there was but a single danger, and that a remote one.

Yet it came. Without warning the tree above him was riven by lightning, and when the rain ceased and the sun came out Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon his face amidst the wreckage of the jungle giant that should have shielded him.

Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain and the storm had passed and looked out upon the scene.

同类推荐
  • 悟真集

    悟真集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Danny's Own Story

    Danny's Own Story

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 文殊师利菩萨六字咒功能法经

    文殊师利菩萨六字咒功能法经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 剪灯余话

    剪灯余话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 维摩经义疏

    维摩经义疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 庶女枭妃

    庶女枭妃

    “哗啦”一下的水声。正在沐浴的女子看着突然而至的俊美男子,躲进了她的木桶里。也就是这一刻,一条看不见的红线紧紧地系着他们两个的小拇指。【天下,有什么好的?】男子张扬而深情:【我亦是平凡的人,若非为了百姓,我不会去征战天下。而如今,天下安定,】【我该追逐我的爱情去了。】她眼眶微微湿润,以往不开心的事情,早已淡忘。【好。】她听见她这么说。【天下,我们一起来坐。】【亲爱的。】
  • 南宫少爷的独家小女友

    南宫少爷的独家小女友

    “呵呵,小家伙,惹上了我就想逃?”某魅男抱着慕容晓晓的小蛮腰在她的耳朵旁邪邪一笑,沙哑的说道。想逃?没那么容易,偷了他的心就得做他的人。
  • 桾族秘史

    桾族秘史

    桾族人毕生的使命就是守护桾生树,守护只有桾族人知道的传说。
  • 双穿后我和他相爱相杀

    双穿后我和他相爱相杀

    叶飘摇作为宰相嫡女,肆意横行,鲜衣怒马,人称京城小霸王。只是小霸王也有翻车的时候,她不就是发了个毒誓吗,结果被雷劈到了现代社会,重生成了没爹疼没娘爱的陆家养女何飘摇。那个双腿瘫痪的陆家独子,咱们是不是应该算算账? 她一边发展事业,一边想着怎么把他给弄死,下毒,整蛊,暗杀,通通来一遍。 ** 都说陆家养女唯唯诺诺,一无是处。 呵呵,国际k组织重要成员,古武绝学大师,新型武器专家,都是你摇姐的马甲,不服来战! ** “乖,谁敢说我媳妇,我第一个不答应。” 某男一脸宠溺地望着她。 “滚!谁是你媳妇!”
  • 千古之梦

    千古之梦

    废柴少年青羽从火影位面降落到灵武大陆,且看他在异界闯出属于自己的赫赫威名!
  • 快穿之攻略主角之旅

    快穿之攻略主角之旅

    更新不定……,不喜勿喷……新人,望支持……
  • 妹妹就是这么朴实无华

    妹妹就是这么朴实无华

    21世纪小绣娘叶清乐穿越到星际。哥哥有钱,姐姐学霸,叶清乐以为自己可以躺赢了。可渐渐的,叶清乐做一条咸鱼的梦破了!意识海里的祖宗们开始逐渐被唤醒祖宗一:我要造出最锋利的武器,乐丫头去学习他们的武器制造技术叶清乐:专业不对口,不去!祖宗:呵( ̄_ ̄)欺师灭祖的玩意,儿子砸,管管你的后代儿子:儿砸,管管。。。社会最底层的叶清乐:我去祖宗二:瓷器呢?这个世界没有瓷器怎么行,乐丫头去造给他们瞅瞅。叶清乐:。。。。行吧奶奶:叶清乐!你怎么能放弃刺绣?祖宗四:我们要做出最美味的食物,征服他们!叶清乐:这我真没天赋。要不您看他怎么样,他可以继承您的衣钵,我把您送到他意识海怎么样。祖宗:也行。。。叶清乐从此在伺候祖宗的道路上一去不复返直到一个男人撞坏了叶清乐的宝贝刺绣:“哪个混。。。”看到这位逆光而行的男人,刚刚有发生什么吗?没有,她什么都不记得了!男人:对不起叶清乐:没关系,是她不知好歹!绣品:以前喊人家小宝贝,现在说人家不知好歹?这是一个有着无数多才多艺的祖宗加持,努力(被迫)奋发,带领祖宗向星际人民展示瑰丽盛大的地球文化,顺便被个大帅比迷住双眼的故事。
  • 无双锋芒

    无双锋芒

    蛰伏、磨砺,最后……绽放!当那道无可匹敌的锋芒展露出其真正的可怕之处时,无论是凶悍嗜血的魔兽、开山裂地的武者、呼风唤雨的法师,还是如渊似海的神威,都将被悍然洞穿!身为唯一的男性亚马逊战士,王尔德的道路从一开始,就注定了不会平凡……有些东西大家如果看腻了,不妨来换换口味。本书会在一定程度上回避某些套路,同时也会在一些细节方面留下些许小小的彩蛋,算是一种新的尝试,欢迎各位指正。
  • 一见钟情就很重要

    一见钟情就很重要

    学校天台上。“刚刚那封信不是你问的?”“不是啊,那是我们班女生让我帮忙问的。”“如果知道不是你问的我根本不会去理那封信。”“啊?”做我女朋友吧。
  • 古代化学

    古代化学

    中华民族是世界上最古老的民族,中华文明是世界上最悠久的文明之一。中国有文字记载的历史近5000年之久,从公元前841年开始,有文献可考的编年史从未间断,至今已近3000年,这在人类历史的长河中是绝无仅有的。世界四大文明古国中,只有中国的历史始终传承有序,从未中断。