Page:Swahili tales.djvu/297

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SULTAN MAJNÚN.
277

you frightened about?" And they said, "Very good, let us go on, master." And they went on till they reached the bottom.

And he said to them, "Let every one that has two cloths, take off one of them." And they said, "What for, master?" And he said, "Here we are in the wood, and the wood is not a little one. Perhaps we shall be caught by the thorns, or perhaps as we are getting through the thorns, or if we are chased, our second cloth may cause us trouble, and we shall not be able to go fast. It is better for these cloths to be one apiece, and that one we must tuck up between our legs." And they said, "Very good, master." And they all tucked up their cloths between their legs. And he said, "Come along, let us be going." And they went on their knees till they saw the nunda there where the shade was, and it was asleep.

The master said, "This is the nunda." And the slaves said, "It is it, master." And he said, "Now the sun is setting, shall we fire at it, or shall we let it be?" And they said, "Master, let us fire at it, that we may know if we hit it, or we may know if we have missed." And he said, "Very good." And he said, "Hold your guns ready." And he said, "When I order, let your guns go off at once." And they said, "Please God, master."

And they crept on their knees till they approached where it was. And they saw it clearly. And he said to them, "Come, now let us fire at it." And when the master fired his gun, all those of his slaves went off. The nunda did not raise itself, those guns sufficed it. And they ran away, and climbed up the mountain.

The sun was setting when they reached the top of the mountain, and they sat down, and took out cakes, and bumundas, and ladus, and stiff cakes, and they ate, and ate freely, and were filled, and they drank water, and sat