"
"And if I have a plan, ye Princes, what shall be my reward? It must be
great, for I am weary of life, and I will not use my wisdom for a
little thing."
Now both the princes offered me good things, each of them promising
more than the other, as two young men who are rivals promise to the
father of a girl whom both would wed. I listened, saying always that
it was not enough, till in the end both of them swore by their heads,
and by the bones of Senzangacona, their father, and by many other
things, that I should be the first man in the land, after them, its
kings, and should command the impis of the land, if I would but show
them a way to kill Chaka and become kings. Then, when they had done
swearing, I spoke, weighing my words:--
"In the great kraal beyond the river, O ye Princes, there sit, not one
regiment but two. One is named the Slayers and loves Chaka the king,
who has done well by them, giving them cattle and wives. The other is
named the Bees, and that regiment is hungry and longs for cattle and
girls; moreover, of that regiment the Prince Umhlangana is the
general, and it loves him. Now this is my plan--to summon the Bees in
the name of Umhlangana, not the Slayers in the name of Chaka. Bend
forward, O Princes, that I may whisper in your ears."
So they bent forward, and I whispered awhile of the death of a king,
and the sons of Senzangacona nodded their heads as one man in answer.
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