Smith and the Pharaohs, and other Tales by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
page 146 of 300 (48%)
page 146 of 300 (48%)
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that at any rate it was better than "Tomfool.")
This was to his face, but behind his back they called him _Inkunzi_, which means bull, and in order to keep up the idea, designated poor Dorcas _Isidanda_, that being interpreted signified a gentle-natured cow. To Tabitha they gave a prettier name, calling her _Imba_ or Little Flower. At first Dorcas was quite pleased with her title, which sounded nice, but when she came to learn what it meant it was otherwise. "How can you expect me, Thomas, to live among a people who call me 'a mild cow'?" she asked indignantly. "Never mind, my dear," he answered. "In their symbolical way they are only signifying that you will feed them with the milk of human kindness," a reply which did not soothe her at all. In fact, of the three the child alone was pleased, because she said that "Opening Flower" was a prettier name than Tabbie, which reminded her of cats. Thenceforward, following a track, for it could not be called a road, they advanced slowly, first over a mountain pass on the farther side of which the wagon nearly upset, and then across a great bush-clad plain where there was much game and the lions roared round them at night, necessitating great fires to frighten them away. These lions terrified Dorcas, a town-bred woman who had never seen one of them except in the Zoo, so much that she could scarcely sleep, but oddly enough Tabitha was not disturbed by them. "God will not let us be eaten by a lion, will He, Father?" she asked in |
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