‘In the darkness of the night, O my friends,’ he said presently, ‘the
white spirits of my fathers came upon me and spoke, saying: “Get thee
hence, Makoma, for thou shalt have no rest until thou hast found and
fought with Sakatirina, who had five heads, and is very great and
strong; so take leave of thy friends, for thou must go alone.”’
Then the giants were very sad, and bewailed the loss of their hero; but
Makoma comforted them, and gave back to each the gifts he had taken
from them. Then bidding them ‘Farewell,’ he went on his way.
Makoma travelled far towards the west; over rough mountains and
water-logged morasses, fording deep rivers, and tramping for days
across dry deserts where most men would have died, until at length he
arrived at a hut standing near some large peaks, and inside the hut
were two beautiful women.
‘Greeting!’ said the hero. ‘Is this the country of Sakatirina of five
heads, whom I am seeking?’
‘We greet you, O Great One!’ answered the women. ‘We are the wives of
Sakatirina; your search is at an end, for there stands he whom you
seek!’ And they pointed to what Makoma had thought were two tall
mountain peaks. ‘Those are his legs,’ they said; ‘his body you cannot
see, for it is hidden in the clouds.’
Makoma was astonished when he beheld how tall was the giant; but,
nothing daunted, he went forward until he reached one of Sakatirina’s
legs, which he struck heavily with Nu-endo. Nothing happened, so he
hit again and then again until, presently, he heard a tired, far-away
voice saying: ‘Who is it that scratches my feet?’
And Makoma shouted as loud as he could, answering: ‘It is I, Makoma,
who is called “Greater”!’ And he listened, but there was no answer.
Then Makoma collected all the dead brushwood and trees that he could
find, and making an enormous pile round the giant’s legs, set a light
to it.
This time the giant spoke; his voice was very terrible, for it was the
rumble of thunder in the clouds. ‘Who is it,’ he said, ‘making that
fire smoulder around my feet?’
‘It is I, Makoma!’ shouted the hero. ‘And I have come from far away to
see thee, O Sakatirina, for the spirits of my fathers bade me go seek
and fight with thee, lest I should grow fat, and weary of myself.’
There was silence for a while, and then the giant spoke softly: ‘It is
good, O Makoma!’ he said. ‘For I too have grown weary. There is no
man so great as I, therefore I am all alone. Guard thyself!’ and
bending suddenly he seized the hero in his hands and dashed him upon
the ground. And lo! instead of death, Makoma had found life, for he
sprang to his feet mightier in strength and stature than before, and
rushing in he gripped the giant by the waist and wrestled with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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