Caesar Page 5

  One day when he had finished the cleaning of my cage he fastened the chain on as usual, but instead of going out into the paddock, to my great surprise he opened the cage door and led me out. At first I did not like to come, but when he said ‘Come on, Cæsar,’ and tugged the chain, I jumped down to the floor by his side.

  How curious it was to feel different ground under one’s feet, for in one year I had grown to know every stone in the floor in my cage and almost every blade of grass in the paddock.

  My master led me down the passage between the cages, and out at the entrance and through two rooms, and out into a large enclosure in which there was a large stretch of green, very short-cropped grass. The walls of this paddock were made of brick, and they were about ten feet high. At the foot of each of these walls there was a space in which the earth had been turned up and flowers were growing in orderly rows.

  I wondered how they got there, and I came to the conclusion that the ants must have put them there, for the ants are very fond of going about together in lines. Also I had seen when turning over an ant-hill in search of a rat that the ants had several of the small things from which the plants grow stored up.

  I did not have much time to wonder, however, before my master said, ‘Here, Cæsar — meet my wife,’ and turning I saw a female who evidently was my master’s mate. I growled at her.

  But he stopped me and said, ‘Down, old boy.’

  The female was without fear, and put her hand on my head, and at once I felt that she was friendly towards me. My master said, ‘This is your mistress, Cæsar,’ so hereafter I shall call her my mistress. Then my master took the chain from my collar and the ball from his pocket, with which we had a fine game in which they threw it from one to the other and I tried to catch it.

  After we had finished my mistress sat down and made a great fuss of me. I saw that my master was pleased so I permitted her to stroke me to her heart’s content. Besides, it saved me the trouble of a wash. Soon he put the chain on me again and we went back to the cage.

  After he had gone the native whom I hated came with his bamboo rod. Inserting this through the bars he suddenly hit me on the nose. The blow stung and I roared. This is what he wanted, and, laughing, he struck at me again.

  Leaping to the back of the cage I observed that my master had left his hat on the floor. The man had not seen this, however, and continued to torment me, while I hoped against hope that my master would come back for it.

  Soon I saw the door open as he entered and, roaring, I hurled myself against the bars to attract his attention. Just then the wretched man gave me a particularly vicious crack.

  In a few strides he reached the man, and seizing him by the shoulder, he said in a quiet tone: ‘What is the meaning of this?’

  The man said something which I did not catch. My master with great speed drew back his fist and dealt the man a blow on the jaw, knocking him off his feet into a corner. I thought that my master would now kill him, but he let the man lie. Then he came into my cage, and after giving me the cane, which I tore to fragments, and stroking me, he took his hat and left.

  Soon after this two natives came and took my tormentor away, who was almost stupefied but had just enough energy to shake his fist at me as he was taken away.

  Next day another native cleaned the cages out, but he kept clear of me, to my very great content.

  Twelve

  A few days later my master took me into the garden again, where I saw his two young children, which were quite like him, only very small. They smelt the same. I was very proud that he should trust me so much and determined not to hurt them, for evidently he liked them, though they would have made a tender and juicy meal.

  My mistress stood guard over them and appeared very anxious, very like my mother was over me. They were not in the least afraid of me, to my surprise, and made rather pleasant gurgling noises.

  Then my master took one of them in his arms and held it quite near to my face, and it chuckled, putting one of its podgy hands on my head, and I realised that these were quite pleasant little creatures. Very soon, however, they were removed and my master and I went through the garden gate. We emerged on an open courtyard in which there were several stables in the walls, all of which were empty except one, and from this I caught the scent of some animal that I did not know.

  Then my master attached the end of my chain to a ring in the wall, and said very slowly and impressively: ‘Stay there, Cæsar’; and I knew from long weeks of training what he meant.

  He had taught me to obey him absolutely, and I would have as soon thought of flying as of disobeying. Then he went to the occupied stable and led out a great beast like a buffalo, but taller and less thick. Its tail was composed of long hairs and its head was bent at right angles to the neck and it had no horns. This extraordinary animal was evidently tame.

  On seeing me it reared up and made a loud noise, and I growled, but my master said: ‘Be quiet, Cæsar.’ The animal would not be calmed, so he got it back with difficulty to the stables. Then he came to me, and after he had unfastened the chain, he said:

  ‘Well, Cæsar, and what do you think of my horse?’

  I did not understand what he said, but afterwards he said ‘horse’ a great many times, so I concluded that the creature was called a horse, and I wondered what it was for.

  When we reached the cage I went in as usual after he had removed the chain, and he remained a little while outside talking to me. I did not understand what he said, but I liked the sound of his voice. The word horse kept re-occurring, and I thought he was trying to make me understand something about it. Although I went over all my ideas of his words I could not get his meaning. Soon he went away and left me to puzzle over this animal.

  Before nightfall I came to these conclusions:

  First, the beast was tame;

  Second, my master had shown signs of liking it;

  Third, he had stopped me from hurting it by chaining me up.

  On the following morning after cleaning the cage he took me to the courtyard, and after fastening my chain to the ring in the wall he brought out the horse, and after a while he took it back again, and then we went back to my cage. This happened on the next day and on the one after that, and so on until I lost count.

  At the end of all this time the horse and I got quite used to each other, and at last I comprehended that my master wanted me to like the horse, and he also wanted the horse not to be afraid of me. Then after a month had passed the horse didn’t fear me any longer, and I no longer wanted to kill and eat it.

  Then one day my master brought out a kind of seat made to fit the horse’s back, and after strapping this on he brought from the stable a piece of metal and some leather thongs. The piece of metal he passed under the horse’s tongue, and the horse, who seemed quite used to it, stood still. Then to my amazement he jumped on the horse’s back, which by means of the leather straps was entirely under his control. Then they went out of the gate, and he said to me:

  ‘Stay there, Cæsar.’

  Soon he returned, and after he had put the horse back we went back to my cage.

  One day in the next week we went out through the garden to the horse’s stable, and when my master had put on the harness as he called it, he took a longer chain and fastened it to my original one; then he mounted the horse, and taking my chain in his hand he rode out of the gate and I followed. At first the horse was very excited and tried to get away from me, but he soon calmed down, as my master spoke to him soothingly. We emerged on to a grassy plain, extending in short bushy folds as far as the eye could see.

  How good it was to have the crisp grass under my feet and to see an uninterrupted horizon all round. As we went I reflected on the remarkable conditions under which I was existing, and observed to myself how strange it was that anyone like myself should be found fastened by a chain to an animal of which he should be making a good meal, and obeying every word of a man seated on the back of this horse.

  My reverie, how
ever, was cut short by a hole in the ground, in which I half tripped. My master laughed, and saying ‘Come on, old boy — keep up,’ made the horse gallop, and we tore along at top speed for a while, which was very pleasant because for a whole year I had not really exerted myself. Having covered three-quarters of a mile we stopped, and I looked at the horse with new respect for it did not appear in the least fatigued, whilst I was panting and sweating a little.

  Meanwhile my master had climbed a tree, very clumsily I thought, and was looking round and round as if searching for something, and he came down looking as if he had not found it. Just then the wind changed a little, and I smelt game. My master must have seen it, for he looked pleased and pointed in its direction.

  Then an antelope came into sight, feeding on the short grass, and my master crouched down at once so as not to be seen. Then he unfastened my chain and said to me: ‘Fetch it, Cæsar.’ I understood what he meant and determined to show him what I could do. I was off in a moment, wriggling through the bushes in my most skilful fashion. At first I was so clumsy that I was afraid the creature would see me, but soon all my old cunning returned and I got within killing range.

  The antelope saw me and I charged. Though the beast was very fleet, and I had to exert myself to my utmost speed, I soon secured him. Having broken its neck, I began to lap up the warm blood; but in a few moments I was checked by hearing my master’s voice calling: ‘Leave it, Cæsar.’

  Thirteen

  Looking up I saw him standing about twenty yards away, looking at me steadily.

  I thought: ‘Why should I give up my kill to this man?’ Then a remembrance of all his past kindness made me hesitate to disobey; but a smell of warm blood was wafted up from the antelope and almost killed my better feeling.

  Then the habit of implicit obedience which I had formed came uppermost, and I picked up the animal and going to him laid it at his feet. He did not do much; he just said ‘Good, Cæsar,’ and patted me on the head, but I felt amply repaid for my sacrifice.

  After this he picked up the antelope and went back to the horse which had been tied to a tree. Having slung it on to the horse’s back, he mounted, and we went back to the house. When he had put the horse back into its stable we went back to my cage, and my master gave me a large piece of the antelope’s shoulder, and I remembered that I always used to begin my meal at the shoulder of my prey instead of at the haunch, as I had seen some animals doing.

  After I had eaten every scrap I paced up and down my cage pondering over the curious chain of events which had made up my life so far, and I wondered why I did not escape when I had the chance. In a way I was glad that I had not, but on the other hand I thought how pleasant it would be if I were back again in my old cave where I was born and going wherever I wished and feeding at my own time. But on reflection I thought it would be even better if my master were with me.

  My thoughts occupied me until nightfall, when my tail was suddenly seized by the ape, who had thrust his hand through the bars of both his cage and mine and got a grip on my tail when I turned during my walking up and down. I tried to jerk it away, but the ape had a firm hold, so I whisked round and before he could withdraw, my teeth had sunk to the bone in his arm.

  Pandemonium ensued, and the ape raced round and round his cage chattering and shrieking. After about ten minutes he burrowed into a large box of straw at the back of his cage, from which he did not emerge for a whole day, but gave out dismal howls and moans which interrupted my sleep somewhat.

  In a few days’ time he was moved up the row away from me, and a cage with a little mongoose, who took no notice of me, was put in his place.

  In about a week’s time my master took me out again. This time, however, we met a native who fled towards the village. I set off after him with a roar, but the combined strength of my master and the horse pulled me up. My master appeared very angry, and I sulked for a short while, but I soon recovered my spirits, observing to myself that one man did not matter, and anyway he would not have tasted nice. I suppose my master felt bound to protect his own kind, but at the time it seemed rather unreasonable to me.

  We went on and on, past the place where I killed the antelope and about ten miles south-east until we came to a place which my master and the horse seemed to know. Here we stopped, and as we were all a little fatigued we had a short rest.

  Then my master took the horse to a small hut which was hidden among some trees and shut him in. I suppose this was as a protection against wild animals; then he led me by my chain and we went down to a small pool, where I saw some fairly fresh pig-marks. Here my master looked round for some time and at last found some of the more obvious tracks, and I wished that I could have communicated with him in some way to make him understand the bent pieces of grass, a little splash of mud on a stone and, above all, the faint smell of pig in the air, so that he could translate all the signs that pointed to the fact that pigs had been there a little while ago.

  But it was no good. All my growls and scratchings he mistook for signs of pleasure, so soon I gave it up.

  When he had found several footprints my master took me to them and, selecting a very large one, said: ‘Fetch him, Cæsar!’ I felt a slight sinking of the heart as I saw that it was that of a remarkably large boar, probably the chief of the sounder. But nevertheless I followed the trail along a stretch of very difficult country, all stony with only a sprinkling of grass here and there.

  My master followed, still holding the chain, but soon he took it off. He made such a noise in walking and he smelt so strongly that I was afraid we would never get near enough to catch any of them.

  However, things turned out better than I had hoped, for after not more than ten minutes of stony ground we reached a lot of long green grass which held the scent, and I could see that the grass had been crushed in places.

  Now I went very slowly, for as the scent was very fresh here I felt that we might come on them suddenly. We crept on through the grass, my master crawling with his hands like a rational beast, and we soon found the pigs in a grove of bamboo, eating the tender shoots.

  The great boar was feeding with the rest, and as the sentinel pig had not seen us, I hoped to be able to dash in and kill the boar in the confusion.

  Then my master sneezed, and in an instant the fat sows and the tender sucking pigs were in full flight. Only the boar stayed to block my path, to let the others escape. He did not think that I was after him, for who would prefer a tough boar to a fat and tender sow?

  However, I charged in directly and got my shoulder laid open for my folly, and remembering the tiger whom I had seen killed before, I contented myself with circling round and looking for an opening. I rather wished that my master had had better eyes when he picked out this pig’s footprints, but for all that it promised to be a grand fight.

  Suddenly I saw an opening as the boar had turned a little too slowly, and I darted in, rolling him over and tearing his flank in my endeavour to pin him down. But in a flash he had whipped round his head and with his tusk had cut into the pad of my right forepaw. Then as I released my hold he rolled over and got on his feet again, aiming a wicked thrust at my unprotected stomach.

  With a roar I sprang out of range, and as he was carried on a little way by the impetuosity of his thrust, I leaped in and gave him a blow which smashed his skull in, and he fell kicking feebly. But he was dead almost as soon as he touched the ground.

  I am glad that I was able to finish him when I did, for as I was lamed by the cut in my paw I could not have lasted very much longer.

  As soon as the boar fell my master came from his hiding-place and walked towards the boar, saying, ‘Leave it, Cæsar — good boy.’

  This time I did not hesitate, and left it at once, and went over to him, looking up for approval.

  On seeing my blood he knelt down on the grass and took up my injured paw, talking kindly all the time. The place was bleeding fast and hurting abominably, so he tore a large piece from his clothes and wrapped it round t
he wound. I tried to walk on the paw, but the pain made me desist. Meanwhile my master was covering the hog with a heap of stones. Evidently he did not mean to carry it with him.

  Then he set off towards the hut where we had left the horse, and I walked slowly on three legs, and he tried to help me along, but the march back to the hut was the slowest and most painful that I have ever made.

  At last we reached it, just after the sun had set.

  A panther was prowling around, attracted no doubt by the scent of the horse, which I could hear snorting angrily. The panther cleared off, however, at our approach. The horse, being down-wind of us, caught our scent, and I heard him whinnying with pleasure.

  On reaching the hut my master went in, and after searching round for a little while, he brought out a metal box, from which he took a blue bottle containing some brown fluid, which he poured on to my wound.

  It stung horribly. At first I thought that he was playing a trick on me, but the thought was foolish, so I dismissed it from my mind at once. Having done this he bound it up again and reentered the hut and brought out the chain, with which he tied me up to a post, and then he went back to the hut saying, ‘On guard, Cæsar.’

  Fourteen

  I understood what he meant and I prepared to have a sleepless night. I felt sure that he would not have said ‘on guard’ if he had known how tired I was, and all night I paced up and down, and sometimes lay down, but I never went to sleep, in case a panther, or perhaps a leopard, should come along.

  Once or twice I heard the coughing roar of a panther, and again I caught the scent of a leopard, but neither of the creatures attacked me, for which I was extremely thankful, as I could not have held my own against either of them with my paw in the state that it was.

  But at last morning came, with one of the most beautiful sunrises that I have ever seen.