"Curses be on the head of this Mameena!" he exclaimed. "Surely some evil
spirit must have been her father, not I, and well was she called Child
of Storm.[*] What shall I do now, Macumazahn? Thanks be to my Spirit,"
he added, with an air of relief, "she is too far gone for me to try to
catch her; also, if I did, Umbelazi and his soldiers would kill me."
[*--That, if I have not said so already, was the meaning
which the Zulus gave to the word "Mameena", although as I
know the language I cannot get any such interpretation out
of the name, I believe that it was given to her, however,
because she was born just before a terrible tempest, when
the wind wailing round the hut made a sound like the word
"Ma-mee-na". --A. Q.] "And what will Saduko do if you don't?" I asked.
"Oh, of course he will be angry, for no doubt he is fond of her. But,
after all, I am used to that. You remember how he went mad when she
married Masapo. At least, he cannot say that I made her run away with
Umbelazi. After all, it is a matter which they must settle between
them."
"I think it may mean great trouble," I said, "at a time when trouble is
not needed."
"Oh, why so, Macumazahn? My daughter did not get on with the Princess
Nandie--we could all see that--for they would scarcely speak to each
other. And if Saduko is fond of her--well, after all, there are other
beautiful women in Zululand. I know one or two of them myself whom I
will mention to Saduko--or rather to Nandie. Really, as things were, I
am not sure but that he is well rid of her."
"But what do you think of the matter as her father?" I asked, for I
wanted to see to what length his accommodating morality would stretch.
"As her father--well, of course, Macumazahn, as her father I am sorry,
because it will mean talk, will it not, as the Masapo business
did? Still, there is this to be said for Mameena," he added, with a
brightening face, "she always runs away up the tree, not down. When she
got rid of Masapo--I mean when Masapo was killed for his witchcraft--she
married Saduko, who was a bigger man--Saduko, whom she would not marry
when Masapo was the bigger man. And now, when she has got rid of Saduko,
she enters the hut of Umbelazi, who will one day be King of the Zulus,
the biggest man in all the world, which means that she will be the
biggest woman, for remember, Macumazahn, she will walk round and round
that great Umbelazi till whatever way he looks he will see her and no
one else. Oh, she will grow great, and carry up her poor old father
in the blanket on her back. Oh, the sun still shines behind the cloud,
Macumazahn, so let us make the best of the cloud, since we know that it
will break out presently."