Helgvor of the Blue River by J.-H. Rosny Aîné

Author:J.-H. Rosny Aîné
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Coat Press
Published: 2012-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

V. The Python

Three days passed; the lions had not returned and the elephants had disappeared down the river. Under the rays of the terrible Sun and with the help of the nocturnal vapors, the crushed grasses and shrubs were busy remaking their green flesh. Inexhaustible life, that outstripped all the hunger of the herbivores, sprang up from the damp soil and spread itself upon the waters of the inlets. Prey was so abundant that Aoun had only to throw a javelin or dart a harpoon each day to ensure their subsistence. Naoh’s spirit was upon him, forbidding him to kill more than was necessary to stay his hunger.

His companion’s shivering fits and delirium troubled Aoun for a long time. But his wounds were healing and the green light was leaving his eyes. On the fourth day they were joyful. The shade of the creepers and palm-trees made a pleasant freshness. Seated at the entrance of their shelter, the Oulhamr and the Man-without-Shoulders enjoyed a sense of complete repose and the luxury of abundance. The sight of the teeming animal life around moved them deeply, for it gave promise that they would not starve, and there is satisfaction in beholding the world’s strength. Purple herons swooped down on the water chestnuts, two black storks got up on the opposite bank of the river, a marabou danced in a strange and unmeaning manner, and the pendant legs of a flight of yellow-headed cranes were visible, while black-footed geese with thick wattles and scarlet ibis were seeking adventures among the lotus.

A python emerged from the mud and climbed on the bank, unfolding his lithe body, as thick as a man’s and five times as long. The wanderers gazed with disgust at the loathsome beast, which was unknown to the Oulhamrs. Although it was capable of the speed of a wild boar, it progressed heavily and uncertainly, still numbed by sleep and more suited to the night than to the day.

Aoun and Zouhr had taken refuge in the creeper hut. No previous experience enabled them to judge the strength of the reptile, or to know whether its fangs were poisonous, like those of the serpents which they had met in western countries. It might be as strong as a tiger or as venomous as a viper…

Little by little it approached the enclosure. Aoun kept his club and spear in readiness but did not think of shouting his war-cry. He was conscious of life which resembled his own in the great brutes, but this long slimy body without any limbs, the head which was too small in proportion—the motionless eyes, seemed stranger to him than grubs and earthworms.

When the python was close to the refuge it reared itself up and opened its flat jaws.

“Should I strike now?” asked the son of Urus.

Zouhr hesitated; in his country the Men-without-Shoulders killed serpents by crushing their skulls, but what were the serpents he knew in comparison to this huge monster?

“Zouhr does not know,” he replied. “He would not strike until the beast attacks the hut.

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