The covenant - James A. Michener [41]
'How do I protect myself?'
'Integrity is a good shield.' He paused. 'Did I ever come armed to your father's kraal? Couldn't he have killed me in a moment if he wished? Why didn't he? Because he knew that if he killed a man of honor, he'd soon have on his hands men with none. And then the whole thing falls apart.'
'You know, I'm sure, that my father used to laugh at your stories. The miracles you spoke of, the lies.'
'A man cannot travel great distances without developing ideas. And now I have one of the very best to bring before you.'
He clapped his hands, and when the servant appeared, he gave a signal. Soon the curtains that closed off the living quarters parted and a young girl of fourteen, black as rubbed ebony and radiant, came dutifully into the room. Lowering her eyes, she stood inanimate, like one of the carved statues the Arabs had presented to the king; she was being presented to Nxumalo, the king's inspector of mines, and after a long time she raised her eyes and looked into his.
'My granddaughter,' the old man said.
The two young people continued gazing at each other as the Old Seeker confessed: 'From the first day I saw you at the lake, Nxumalo, I knew you were intended for this girl. Everything I did thereafter was calculated to bring you here for her to see. The rhino horns? I had all I needed waiting in the warehouse. You were the treasure I sought.'
Because of the pain that comes with all living, Nxumalo could not speak. He was acutely aware of this girl's beauty, but he could also remember Zeolani and his promise to her. Finally he blurted out: 'Treasured Father, I am betrothed to Zeolani.'
The old man took a deep breath and said, 'Young men make promises, and they go off to build their fortunes, and the antelope at the lake see them no more. My granddaughter's name is Hlenga. Show him the garden, Hlenga.'
It was in 1458 that Nxumalo assembled a file of sixty-seven porters for the perilous journey to the coast. The route to Sofala was horrendous, with swamps, fever-ridden flats, precipitous descents and swollen rivers barring the way. As he listened to accounts of the journey from men who had made earlier trips, he comprehended what Old Seeker had meant when he said, 'A wise man goes to Sofala only once.' And yet Arab traders appeared at Zimbabwe regularly, and they had to traverse that formidable route.
This contradiction was resolved by the Old Seeker: 'The Arabs have no problems. They start from Sofala with fifty carriers and arrive here with thirty.'
'How is it they're always the ones that arrive?'
'White men protect themselves,' the old councillor said. 'I went down with the father of the man who gave you that disk. At every river he said, "You go first and see how deep it is." So at one crossing I said, "This time you go first," and he said, "It's your task to go. It's my task to protect the gold." '
Nxumalo laughed. 'That's what one of our mine overseers says when tossing a catch of little brown men down the shaft: "It's your task to go down there. It's my task to guard the gold when you send it up." '
'One more thing, Nxumalo. Arabs in a caravan will be your staunchest friends. Share their food with you, their sleeping places. But when you reach Sofala, be aware. Never go aboard ship with an Arab.'
Nxumalo coughed in some embarrassment. 'Tell me, Old Seeker, what is a ship? The king spoke of it and I was ashamed to ask.'
'A rondavel that moves across the water.' While the young man contemplated this improbability, the old man added, 'Because if you step aboard his ship, the Arab will sell you as a slave and you will sit chained to a bench and never see your friends again.'
This almost casual mention of friends saddened Nxumalo, for the friend he cherished most was Zeolani, and the possibility of never seeing her again distressed him. At the same time he recognized that all things happening in Zimbabwe were conspiring to prevent him from ever returning to his village, and he supposed that if he succeeded with the forthcoming expedition to Sofala, his position at Zimbabwe would be