"What do my ears hear?" he exclaimed excitedly. "Am I the
Umkulukulu, the Great-Great (i.e., God) himself, that it should
be asked of me to draw the Princess of Heaven from beyond the
stars, she who comes and goes like the wind, but like the wind
cannot be commanded? Do they hear that if she will not come to
my beckoning, then the great Zulu people must put a yoke upon
their shoulders and be as slaves? Surely the King must have been
listening to the doctrines of those English teachers who wear a
white ribbon tied about their necks, and tell us of a god who
suffered himself to be nailed to a cross of wood, rather than
make war upon his foes, one whom they call the Prince of Peace.
Times have changed indeed since the days of the Black One. Yes,
generals have become like women; the captains of the impis are
set to milk the cows. Well, what have I to do with all this?
What does it matter to me who am so very old that only my head
remains above the level of the earth, the rest of me being buried
in the grave, who am not even a Zulu to boot, but a Dwandwe, one
of the despised Dwandwe whom the Zulus mocked and conquered?
"Hearken to me, Spirits of the House of Senzangacona"--here he
addressed about a dozen of Cetewayo's ancestors by name, going
back for many generations. "Hearken to me, O Princess of Heaven,
appointed by the Great-Great to be the guardian of the Zulu race.
It is asked that you should appear, should it be your wish to
signify to these your children that they must stand upon their
feet and resist the white men who already gather upon their
borders.
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