Caesar & Hussein: Two Classic Novels from the Author of MASTER AND COMMANDER

As soon as I reached it, however, a net fell over me which was drawn rapidly together by a cord from the bottom, and I was trapped again.

Eight (#ulink_984e3b11-f8b3-5e72-90e1-46ec1db4bd3a)

Then the door of the courtyard opened and the brown men with their poles came in. They carried me through into the house along several passages and at length into a great hall down the sides of which many cages with animals were placed, and one of the animals saw me — it was a panther.

He roared and I roared back at him, and then a brown bear joined in, and in a few moments the whole place was in an uproar. But above all I heard the mocking bellow of an alligator.

They carried me to an empty cage and pushed me through the door, untying the net through the bars. I was between a bear on one side and a grey ape on the other, both of which renewed their noise immediately. I was almost too dispirited to answer, but I showed what I thought of them quite plainly.

Soon, however, the noises died down, and retiring to a heap of straw I slept, for I was quite worn out.

On the next morning I awoke with a start, expecting to see the sun as usual coming through the open door of my cave, but there was no light at all in the cold grey room, and I despaired of ever seeing the sun and feeling the cool wind again.

To pass the time I began pacing up and down my cage, up and down with just the same number of steps, and the monotonous regularity of the bars in front of me whichever way I turned appalled me.

My impotence and wretchedness filled me with a mad unreasoning rage, and I tore round and round the cage roaring like a mad beast.

The other occupants of the room were all aroused by the din which I made, and together we created a horrible uproar which, however, soon subsided, and I resumed my pacing up and down.

I noticed that the ape in the cage next to me was climbing up and down a rope and swinging to and fro. I stopped and watched him for a while. First he climbed up the rope, poked his hand out between the bars, and took some straw from a box which was balanced on the top of the cage. Then he came down again and put his handful on a heap which he had already collected. He did this several times until he had gathered enough to make a comfortable bed into which he burrowed, only to come out again in about five minutes and move the whole lot to another corner.

My attention was soon drawn from the ape as a man came in pushing a little cart in front of him, on which were some large pieces of meat.

When the man entered all the animals began to get very excited. They ran up and down and roared and growled. I saw the man take one of the pieces of meat and put it on an iron hook and thrust it into the panther’s cage, then he shook it off. Then he passed down the line of cages, feeding all the animals. He began to get nearer to me, and I saw the bear in an absolute frenzy of anticipation. The man opened a little door in my cage and thrust in a piece of meat.

I hurled myself at the bars trying to get at him. The meat was hardly eatable, it smelt strongly of man and had hardly any blood in it.

The man passed on to the ape and gave him some food, then going back to the end of the hall he opened a little door in the back of the panther’s cage by pulling a little rope in front. The panther went out at the back.

Having done this to nearly all the cages he came to the bear, who went out as if used to it; and soon his cage was clean. The man passed by me and went out at the end of the room, returning shortly with a little cart with bowls of water. When he gave me mine I hurled myself so violently against the bars that I knocked it into his face, and he hurriedly passed on to the ape.

Later the man brought in a great deal more straw, which he put into the cages. I could not see where the animals went, and most of them seemed to have so little spirit that none of them attempted to escape.

Three days passed and precisely the same thing happened. On the second day I ate my meat, which was not really so bad, but in the meanwhile my cage was becoming almost unbearable. On the third day, however, three of the white men came in and looked at all the animals, and when they came to me I recognised the man who had shot me, and I growled and spat at him through the bars. Then they all made a noise somewhat like that of a hyena just before a meal.

One of them called for the man who fed the animals, and they chatted together for some time, at the end of which he went out and soon returned with a little cart.

Then the young man — whom I shall call my master from now on — came up to my cage and made encouraging noises. But I was suspicious and growled unceasingly.

But he moved about in an even sort of way and didn’t jerk about and alarm me. Then he opened the back of the cage and I slipped out and found myself in a pleasant open space about twenty-five feet square, which was completely enclosed by iron bars which prevented escape. It was carpeted by grass and had a large broken tree in the middle. I hadn’t seen the sky for some days and I was remarkably pleased to be in the open with the sun shining on me again. Then in the longer grass at the end of the paddock I saw a very large rat, which I killed at once. It was much nicer than the bloodless meat which the men gave me.

Soon I heard a noise behind me and, turning, I saw the door rise. I was determined not to go back to the smelly cage, so I remained where I was. Soon the direction of the wind changed and I noticed a somewhat familiar scent which was that of an elephant. The scent became stronger, and an elephant with a man on its back came walking along the path in front of the open cages.

I thought of my first elephant, and perceiving that discretion was the better part of valour, I darted through the door, which banged behind me. Once in the cage I roared my defiance at elephants and the world in general. Then I remembered that the elephants were tame and obeyed the men, and this must have been a tame one.

I looked round the cage and saw to my relief that it had been cleaned; some fresh water was in my trough and some straw had been thrown into one corner.

In the front of the cage, just between the bars, was a large piece of meat, and I saw that the bear was straining to get his paws through the bars to get my meat. Thinking that if I didn’t get it at once I shouldn’t get it at all, I took it to the back of the cage. It was very juicy and obviously was fairly fresh. Leaving the bear in a furious rage, with one paw firmly wedged between the bars of his cage, I consumed it slowly.

After eating half of the meat I washed and regained my sleek appearance. Then I lay curled up in the straw till night came, when I was awakened by the sound of footsteps.

I jumped up and saw my master approaching from the entrance; he was carrying a basket in his hands, and I thought that I smelt some animal.

He walked straight down the rows of cages until he came opposite to me, when he stopped and began to advance slowly. I growled.

He advanced to the front of the cage, making soothing noises. I retreated as far as possible feeling very apprehensive, and for a few moments he continued his silly noises. Then he took from the basket the carcase of a jack rabbit and threw it to me.

The sudden movement which he made in throwing it made me start; however, he made no other movement, and I think if I had not just had a large meal I would have taken it, but as it was I left it lying and snarled and spat at him.

Soon he left to my great relief, for my nerves were all on edge. After he had gone I ate the rabbit, which was very nice and did not smell of man as much as the ordinary food.

Then having licked myself all over very thoroughly, I paced up and down my cage for the best part of an hour. Then I lay down in the straw and slept for a while, only to be awakened by a sharp pain in the tail.

Jumping up, I saw that the ape had seized my tail and was pulling it. I jerked it away with a roar.

I mention this as an example of things which I had to put up with.

At length night fell and I slept well.

Nine (#ulink_d4563c94-33e5-55f1-852f-04fa9e926489)

For many weeks my master continued to clean out my cage and feed me, and gradually I got so used to his presence that I even forgot to growl at him.

But when anyone else came, such as the native who cleaned the other cages, an ungovernable rage seized me and I hurled myself against the bars until I was sore.

One day my master stayed away, and then I realised how unpleasant it was to be without him to clean out my cage or feed me, for no one else would come near me. Next day, however, he returned and I had fresh straw and a clean cage; but when he was cleaning the cage and I was in the paddock I accidentally trod on a thorn which, with a small branch attached, had blown from a tree near by. With a snarl I broke off the branch and thought no more of it until the next morning, when my foot was painful and it made me limp.

But by midday the paw had become twice its proper size, and it throbbed very painfully. My master seemed to notice it, but he did nothing, as I was so angry that I would have killed him if he had entered my cage. By evening I felt so unwell that I did not even retaliate when the ape pulled my tail, who soon left me alone, or when the bear, nearly tearing himself in two with the effort, took the meat which I hadn’t touched, having no appetite. I got very little sleep that night and I felt as if I did not mind what happened to me.

Next day my master did not come until the evening, when he stood outside my cage for some time making his usual silly noises. Then very slowly he opened the cage door and came in. I growled and half rose, but he showed no signs of fear and continued to approach. Then bending he lifted my paw. I growled, but I did not snatch it away as I hardly had strength to do so.

With a quick tug he pulled out the thorn — and I snarled at the pain, but I had the sense to see that he was trying to help me. Then he squeezed the paw gently and a lot of matter came out which at once relieved the pain. He tied a piece of cloth round it, and backed out of the cage, shutting the door.

Soon after that I dozed off into a refreshing sleep. I slept well all night, and next morning I woke up feeling much better and also extremely hungry. I could move about quite well, and after a time I worried the bandage so much that it came off, and I licked my paw, until I saw the native attendant coming in with his little cart, and I so far recovered my spirits as to roar lustily at him. Then I lay down in a corner of my cage where the sun could shine in and idly watched the ape swinging on his rope.

After about an hour I began to doze, but I was awakened by the sound of my master’s voice, who was standing outside the cage with the basket which he always carried when he came to me. I was pleased to see him, partly because I knew that his coming meant a good meal and partly because I had some feelings of gratitude towards him.

He smiled and pulled the rope that opened the door at the back of the cage. I went out and heard him enter. Soon he had finished and I came in again, expecting to find my piece of meat. But there was not a vestige of food in the cage. I went to the front of the cage and there he stood outside with a piece of meat in his hand. He cut a piece off, and I wondered whether he were going to eat it.

He did not eat it, however, on the contrary he threw it through the bars at me. It landed at my feet. I sniffed it suspiciously, and then finding it all right I snapped it up. Then he threw another piece, this time a little nearer to himself, then another and another, until at last I was almost feeding from his hand.

Curiously enough I felt no alarm. There was one more piece, and this he held just between the bars and did not throw it. I wondered if he would suddenly hit me if I took it. Then I saw what a juicy piece it was and my hunger overcame my fear. With a quick snap I took it out of his hand and jumped back to the end of the cage.

To my surprise he showed no signs of anger, merely smiled, and withdrawing his hand went away.

I paced up and down for some time, thinking how curious it was that I should take my food from the hand of a man, and that I could have cracked that man’s skull like a bird’s egg, and that I should permit him to enter my cage to extract a thorn.

The idea, however, did not anger me as it would have done a month ago. I merely thought it to be curious and dismissed it from my mind, and started to wash. I had little else to do.