I, Shabaka, answered that I did. (And I, Allan Quatermain, observing all these things in my psychic trance in the museum of Ragnall Castle, reflected that I also remembered how a certain Hans had saved me from a certain mad elephant, to wit, Jana, not so long before, which just shows how things come round.)
“Yes,” went on Bes, “you saved me from that elephant, though it seemed death to you. And, Master, I will tell you something now. That very morning I had tried to poison you, only you would not wait to eat because the elephants were near.”
“Did you?” I asked idly. “Why?”
“Because two years before you captured me in battle with some of my people, and as I was misshapen, or for pity’s sake, spared my life and made me your slave. Well, I who had been a chief, a very great chief, Master, did not wish to remain a slave and did wish to avenge my people’s blood. Therefore I tried to poison you, and that very day you saved my life, offering for it your own.”
“I think it was because I wanted the tusks of the elephant, Bes.”
“Perhaps, Master, only you will remember that this elephant was a young cow and had no tusks worth anything. Still had it carried tusks, it might have been so, since one white tusk is worth many black dwarfs. Well, to-day I have paid you back. I say it lest you should forget that had it not been for me, that lion would have eaten you.”
“Yes, Bes, you have paid me back and I thank you.”
“Master, hitherto I always thought you one who worshipped Maat, goddess of Truth. Now I see that you worship the god of Lies, whoever he may be, that god who dwells in the breasts of women and most men, but has no name. For, Master, it was you who saved me from the lion and not I you, since you cut its throat at the last. So that debt of mine is still to pay and by the great Grasshopper which we worship in my country, who is much better than all the gods of the Egyptians put together, I swear that I will pay it soon, or mayhap ten thousand years hence. At the last it shall be paid.”
“Why do you worship a grasshopper and why is he better than the gods of the Egyptians?” I asked carelessly, for I was tired and his talk amused me while we rested.
“We worship the Grasshopper, Master, because he jumps with men’s spirits from one life to another, or from this world to the next, yes, right through the blue sky. And he is better than your Egyptian gods because they leave you to find your own way there, and then eat you alive, that is if you have tried to poison people, as of course we have all done. But, Master, we are fresh again now, so let us be going, for the hour will soon be finished. Also when she has eaten the spear handle, that lioness may return.”
“Yes,” I said; “let us go and report to the King of kings that we have killed a lion.”
“Master, it is not enough. Even common kings believe little that they do not see, wherefore it is certain that a King of kings will believe nothing and still more certain that he will not come here to look. So as we cannot carry the lion, we must take a bit of it,” and straightway he cut off the end of the brute’s tail.
Following the crocodile path, presently we reached the edge of the reeds opposite to the camp where the King now sat in state beneath a purple pavilion that had been reared, eating a meal, with his courtiers standing at a distance and looking very hungry.
Out of the reeds bounded Bes, naked and bloody, waving the lion’s tail and singing some wild Ethiopian chant, while I, also bloody and half naked, for the lion’s claws had torn my jerkin off me, followed with bow unstrung.
The King looked up and saw us.
“What! Do you live, Egyptian?” he asked. “Of a surety I thought that by now you would be dead.”
“It was the lion that died, O King,” I answered, pointing to Bes who, having ceased from his song, was jumping about carrying the beast’s tail in his mouth as a dog carries a bone.
“It seems that this Egyptian has killed a lion,” said the King to one of his lords, him of the painted face and scented hair.
“May be please the King,” he answered, bowing, “a tail is not the whole beast and may have been taken thither, or cut from a lion lying dead already. The King knows that the Egyptians are great liars.”
So he spoke because he was jealous of the deed.
“These men look as though they had met a live one, not one that is dead,” said the King, scanning our blood-stained shapes. “Still, as you doubt it, you will wish to put the matter to the proof. Therefore, Cousin, take six men with you, enter the reeds and search. In that soft ground it will be easy to follow their footmarks.”
“It is dangerous, O King,” began the prince, for such he was, no less.
“And therefore the task will be the more to your taste, Cousin. Go now, and be swift.”
So six hunters were called and the prince went, cursing me beneath his breath as he passed us. For he was terribly afraid, and with reason. Suddenly Bes ceased from his antics and prostrating himself, cried,
“A boon, O King. This noble lord throws doubt upon my master’s word. Suffer that I may lead him to where the lion lies dead, since otherwise wandering in those reeds the great King’s cousin might come to harm and the great King be grieved.”
“I have many cousins,” said the King. “Still go if you wish, Dwarf.”
So Bes ran after the prince and catching him up, tapped him on the shoulder with the lion’s tail to point out the way. Then they vanished into the reeds and I went to the chariot to wash off the blood from my body and clothes. As I fastened my robe I heard a sound of roaring, then one scream, after which all grew still. Now I drew near to the reeds and stood between them and the King’s camp.
Presently on their edge appeared Bes dancing and singing as before, but this time he held a lion’s tail in either hand. After him came the six hunters dragging between them the body of the lion we had killed. They staggered with it towards the King, and I followed.
“I see the dwarf,” he said. “I see the dead lion and I see the hunters. But where is my cousin? Make report, O Bes.”
“O King of kings,” replied Bes, “the mighty prince your cousin lies flat yonder beneath the body of that lion’s wife. She sprang upon him and killed him, and I sprang upon her and killed her with my spear. Here is her tail, O King of kings.”
“Is this true?” he asked of the hunters.
“It is true, O King,” answered their captain. “The lioness, which was wounded, leapt upon the prince, choosing him although he was behind us all. Then this dwarf leapt upon the lioness, being behind the prince and nearest to him, and drove his spear through her shoulders to her heart. So we brought the first lion as the King commanded us, since we could carry no more.”
The face of the King grew red with rage.
“Seven of my people and one black dwarf!” he exclaimed. “Yet the lioness kills my cousin and the dwarf kills the lioness. Such is the tale that will go to Egypt concerning the hunters of the King of the world. Seize those men, Guards, and let them be fed to the wild beasts in the palace dens.”
At once the unfortunates were seized and led away. Then the King called Bes to him, and taking the gold chain he wore about his neck, threw it over his head, thereby, though I knew nothing of it at the time, conferring upon him some noble rank. Next he called to me and said,
“It would seem that you are skilled in the use of the bow and in the hunting of lions, Egyptian. Therefore I will honour you, for this afternoon your chariot shall drive with my chariot, and we will hunt side by side. Moreover, I will lay you a wager as to which of us will kill the most lions, for know, Shabaka, that I also am skilled in the use of the bow, more skilled than any among the millions of my subjects.”