our word for . . .,â the Consul rambled, âbut never mind. What I want to know is why Nandzi tried to escape.â
What should I answer ? she wondered, and asked for the question to be repeated to give her a little longer to consider her reply. But there was no time to prepare an answer which her owner might favour. All she could do was to tell the truth.
âI wanted to be free, to go back to my family and my home and to live as I lived before I was captured,â she blurted out.
Suba hesitated, afraid of the effect that her frank confession might have. She nodded at him and he translated.
âI see,â said the Consul. He paused and decided that it would be best at this stage not to commit himself to a reply. âWere you not afraid of being all alone in the dark, with the spirits of the bush and the wild animals? I am told that there were leopard tracks at the foot of the tree in which you were found.â
âI was afraid,â replied Nandzi.
âDid you see the leopard?â
âI heard it. That is why I climbed the tree. I did not see it. I must have fallen asleep. I was very tired. No one has told me of the tracks.â
âWhat you did was not clever. Donât you know that leopards can also climb trees? You are very lucky to be alive. No one in his right senses wanders out into the bush alone at night. Yet I must give you credit for your courage.â
He paused. He appeared not to expect a reply. Nandzi remained silent.
âThe penalty for attempted escape is death. By rights you should be executed as an example to your fellows.â
Nandzi dropped her head and began to sob.
âStop crying, girl, and listen to me,â said the Consul.
Nandzi wiped her tears with her cloth. Let them kill me , she thought, it would be better to die than to continue this life as a slave.
âBecause of the courage you displayed,â continued the Consul, âI might ask the King to pardon you, but only on one condition. That condition is that you promise not to try to escape again. Do you agree?â
âI agree; I promise,â she said at once.
Then she sank to her knees and bowed her head.
âThank you, my lord,â she said.
âI shall present this girl to our Queen Mother as my personal gift,â Nana Koranten told the King after Damba had taken her away.
Nandzi smiled and, for the first time since her escape, Itsho's face appeared to her.
Ah, she breathed, Itsho. It is you who has been watching over me.
CHAPTER 5
âNo work, today,â announced Damba.
âToday is a holiday. Not even the slaves will work. The King has proclaimed a grand durbar in the market square in honour of Nana Koranten Péte, Consul of the King of Asante. Nandzi, you will stay by my mother and serve her. Suba, you will be with me as usual.â
Nandzi rubbed her tongue gently against her palate. A few days before an aged woman had appeared in Damba's compound. Nandzi had not understood a word the toothless crone had said, but Damba's mother had explained that she had come on the orders of the King. She had made Nandzi open her mouth and bite on a piece of wood. Then she had used a razor to make a small incision in her tongue. She had applied medicinal ointment to stop the bleeding and had left some more, wrapped in a leaf, to be rubbed in until the wound had healed.
âThey are doing the same to all the slaves in the compound,â Suba had told her.
âAnd you too?â she had asked him.
âNo, it is only for those who will be travelling. Damba says it will be a long journey to Kumase and you may run short of food and water. The medicine they put on your tongue will stave off the hunger and the thirst.â
This festival, she thought, must be another sign that they were about to leave Yendi. For the first time since her audience with the King and the Consul, she allowed herself to contemplate escape. But for the life of her she could not
What should I answer ? she wondered, and asked for the question to be repeated to give her a little longer to consider her reply. But there was no time to prepare an answer which her owner might favour. All she could do was to tell the truth.
âI wanted to be free, to go back to my family and my home and to live as I lived before I was captured,â she blurted out.
Suba hesitated, afraid of the effect that her frank confession might have. She nodded at him and he translated.
âI see,â said the Consul. He paused and decided that it would be best at this stage not to commit himself to a reply. âWere you not afraid of being all alone in the dark, with the spirits of the bush and the wild animals? I am told that there were leopard tracks at the foot of the tree in which you were found.â
âI was afraid,â replied Nandzi.
âDid you see the leopard?â
âI heard it. That is why I climbed the tree. I did not see it. I must have fallen asleep. I was very tired. No one has told me of the tracks.â
âWhat you did was not clever. Donât you know that leopards can also climb trees? You are very lucky to be alive. No one in his right senses wanders out into the bush alone at night. Yet I must give you credit for your courage.â
He paused. He appeared not to expect a reply. Nandzi remained silent.
âThe penalty for attempted escape is death. By rights you should be executed as an example to your fellows.â
Nandzi dropped her head and began to sob.
âStop crying, girl, and listen to me,â said the Consul.
Nandzi wiped her tears with her cloth. Let them kill me , she thought, it would be better to die than to continue this life as a slave.
âBecause of the courage you displayed,â continued the Consul, âI might ask the King to pardon you, but only on one condition. That condition is that you promise not to try to escape again. Do you agree?â
âI agree; I promise,â she said at once.
Then she sank to her knees and bowed her head.
âThank you, my lord,â she said.
âI shall present this girl to our Queen Mother as my personal gift,â Nana Koranten told the King after Damba had taken her away.
Nandzi smiled and, for the first time since her escape, Itsho's face appeared to her.
Ah, she breathed, Itsho. It is you who has been watching over me.
CHAPTER 5
âNo work, today,â announced Damba.
âToday is a holiday. Not even the slaves will work. The King has proclaimed a grand durbar in the market square in honour of Nana Koranten Péte, Consul of the King of Asante. Nandzi, you will stay by my mother and serve her. Suba, you will be with me as usual.â
Nandzi rubbed her tongue gently against her palate. A few days before an aged woman had appeared in Damba's compound. Nandzi had not understood a word the toothless crone had said, but Damba's mother had explained that she had come on the orders of the King. She had made Nandzi open her mouth and bite on a piece of wood. Then she had used a razor to make a small incision in her tongue. She had applied medicinal ointment to stop the bleeding and had left some more, wrapped in a leaf, to be rubbed in until the wound had healed.
âThey are doing the same to all the slaves in the compound,â Suba had told her.
âAnd you too?â she had asked him.
âNo, it is only for those who will be travelling. Damba says it will be a long journey to Kumase and you may run short of food and water. The medicine they put on your tongue will stave off the hunger and the thirst.â
This festival, she thought, must be another sign that they were about to leave Yendi. For the first time since her audience with the King and the Consul, she allowed herself to contemplate escape. But for the life of her she could not
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