CHAPTER VII
ALONE IN THE GREAT FOREST
Imagine to yourself one accustomed to live in the great treelessplain, accustomed to open his eyes each morning to the wide blue skyand the brilliant sunlight, now for the first time opening them inthat vast gloomy forest, where neither wind nor sunlight came, andno sound was heard, and twilight lasted all day long! All round himwere trees with straight, tall grey trunks, and behind and beyondthem yet other trees--trees everywhere that stood motionless likepillars of stone supporting the dim green roof of foliage far above.It was like a vast gloomy prison in which he had been shut, and helonged to make his escape to where he could see the rising sun andfeel the fanning wind on his cheeks. He looked round at the others:they were all stretched on the ground still in a deep sleep, and itfrightened him a little to look at their great, broad, dark facesframed in masses of black hair. He felt that he hated them, for theyhad treated him badly: the children had taken his clothes, compellinghim to go naked, and had beaten and bruised him, and he had not beenpitied and helped by their elders. By and by, very quietly andcautiously he crept away from among them, and made his escape intothe gloomy wood. On one side the forest shadows looked less darkthan the other, and on that side he went, for it was the side onwhich the sun rose, and the direction he had been travelling when hefirst met with the savages. On and on he went, over the thick bed ofdark decaying leaves, which made no rustling sound, looking like alittle white ghost of a boy in that great gloomy wood. But he cameto no open place, nor did he find anything to eat when hungerpressed him; for there were no sweet roots and berries there, nor anyplant that he had ever seen before. It was all strange and gloomy,and very silent. Not a leaf trembled; for if one had trembled nearhim he would have heard it whisper in that profound stillness thatmade him hold his breath to listen. But sometimes at long intervalsthe silence would be broken by a sound that made him start and standstill and wonder what had caused it. For the rare sounds in theforest were unlike any sounds he had heard before. Three or fourtimes during the day a burst of loud, hollow, confused laughtersounded high up among the trees; but he saw nothing, although mostlikely the creature that had laughed saw him plainly enough from itshiding-place in the deep shadows as it ran up the trunks of the trees.
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At length he came to a river about thirty or forty yards wide;and this was the same river that he had bathed in many leaguesfurther down in the open valley. It is called by the savagesCo-viota-co-chamanga, which means that it runs partly in the darkand partly in the light. Here it was in the dark. The trees grewthick and tall on its banks, and their wide branches met andintermingled above its waters that flowed on without a ripple, blackto the eye as a river of ink. How strange it seemed when, holding onto a twig, he bent over and saw himself reflected--a white, nakedchild with a scared face--in that black mirror! Overcome by thirst,he ventured to creep down and dip his hand in the stream, and wasastonished to see that the black water looked as clear as crystal inhis hollow hand. After quenching his thirst he went on, followingthe river now, for it had made him turn aside; but after walking foran hour or more he came to a great tree that had fallen across thestream, and climbing on to the slippery trunk, he crept cautiouslyover and then went gladly on in the old direction.
Now, after he had crossed the river and walked a long distance, hecame to a more open part; but though it was nice to feel thesunshine on him again, the underwood and grass and creepers trailingover the ground made it difficult and tiring to walk, and in thisplace a curious thing happened. Picking his way through the tangledherbage, an animal his footsteps had startled scuttled away in greatfear, and as it went he caught a glimpse of it. It was a kind ofweasel, but very large--larger than a big tom-cat, and all over asblack as the blackest cat. Looking down he discovered that thisstrange animal had been feasting on eggs. The eggs were nearly aslarge as fowls', of a deep green colour, with polished shells. Therehad been about a dozen in the nest, which was only a small hollow inthe ground lined with dry grass, but most of them had been broken,and the contents devoured by the weasel. Only two remained entire,and these he took, and tempted by his hunger, soon broke the shellsat the small end and sucked them clean. They were raw, but never hadeggs, boiled, fried, or poached, tasted so nice before! He hadjust finished his meal, and was wishing that a third egg had remainedin the ruined nest, when a slight sound like the buzzing of an insectmade him look round, and there, within a few feet of him, was the bigblack weasel once more, looking strangely bold and savage-tempered.It kept staring fixedly at Martin out of its small, wicked, beadyblack eyes, and snarling so as to show its white sharp teeth;and very white they looked by contrast with the black lips, andnose, and hair. Martin stared back at it, but it kept moving andcoming nearer, now sitting straight up, then dropping its fore-feetand gathering its legs in a bunch as if about to spring, and finallystretching itself straight out towards him again, its round flathead and long smooth body making it look like a great black snakecrawling towards him. And all the time it kept on snarling andclicking its sharp teeth and uttering its low, buzzing growl. Martingrew more and more afraid, it looked so strong and angry, sounspeakably fierce. The creature looked as if he was speaking toMartin, saying something very easy to understand, and very dreadfulto hear. This is what it seemed to be saying:--
"Ha, you came on me unawares, and startled me away from the nest Ifound! You have eaten the last two eggs; and I found them, and theywere mine! Must I go hungry for you--starveling, robber! A miserablelittle boy alone and lost in the forest, naked, all scratched andbleeding with thorns, with no courage in his heart, no strength inhis hands! Look at me! I am not weak, but strong and black and fierce;I live here--this is my home; I fear nothing; I am like a serpent,and like brass and tempered steel--nothing can bruise or break me:my teeth are like fine daggers; when I strike them into the flesh ofany creature I never loose my hold till I have sucked out all theblood in his heart. But you, weak little wretch, I hate you! Ithirst for your blood for stealing my food from me! What can you doto save yourself? Down, down on the ground, chicken-heart, where Ican get hold of you! You shall pay me for the eggs with your life! Ishall hold you fast by the throat, and drink and drink until I seeyour glassy eyes close, and your cheeks turn whiter than ashes, andI feel your heart flutter like a leaf in your bosom! Down, down!"
It was terrible to watch him and seem to hear such words. He wasnearer now--scarcely a yard away, still with his beady glaring eyesfixed on Martin's face: and Martin was powerless to fly fromhim--powerless even to stir a step or to lift a hand. His heartjumped so that it choked him, his hair stood up on his head, and hetrembled so that he was ready to fall. And at last, when about tofall to the ground, in the extremity of his terror, he uttered agreat scream of despair; and the sudden scream so startled the weasel,that he jumped up and scuttled away as fast as he could through thecreepers and bushes, making a great rustling over the dead leavesand twigs; and Martin, recovering his strength, listened to thatretreating sound as it passed away into the deep shadows, until itceased altogether.