CHAPTER XXVII.
First Koree, unmindful of the counsel of the skies, moved forward, and, fearing neither Gods nor Monkeys, sought to begin the battle.
He stood in the plain between the two armies, like an oak in an open field between two forests. Breathing defiance to the Lali, he called out:
“Who dares to meet me of all your hosts, and ward off death from his brow when I discharge this dart, the swift avenger of my wrong?”
Him seeing, and not fearing, the great Tree-climber of the mountains ran to meet, he who had often pulled the tails of cats, and grinned at larger beasts. Stopping often, and then starting again, like a great river that now rushes with violence, and then stops and whirls in an eddy, (showing commotion in its stop as in its onward course), he, seeming irresolute, plunged at last at Koree, having eluded his missiles, and seized him with hands and teeth. Hair and blood flew from Koree, who in turn sent a blow to Tree-climber’s ribs, which loosed his ribs and no less his fingers and teeth from Koree’s flesh; and the great warriors, bleeding and aching, flew apart. They stood, frowning like two mountain peaks about to fall with a crash upon each other, but were stayed in their rage by a return of Fear, the destroyer of battles. Both having enough, and being uncertain what it would be to get more, went back, one to the west like the sun, and the other to the east like a shadow; and there was a lull in the storm.
KOREE’S CHALLENGE.
KOREE’S CHALLENGE.
Then Kimpoo, the skunk-scented, rising among the Lali, went forth, breathing war from his extended nostrils, and, scratching first his thigh and then his ribs, said in defiant tones:
“Invaders of our homes! go back to disgrace, or come forth to death.”
So saying he threw a cocoanut which grazed the ear of Duco, calling forth a little blood and a big howl, and then passed on and struck the stomach of Pounder, producing only a grunt.
Then High-tail, the Wood-pecker hunter, ran forth, he who knew all the holes in Possum Grove, and smelt at many and was sad. Aiming at Kimpoo a marrow bone, he threw it with such force, that, whistling through the air, it was heard but not seen. It entered his head where a flea had left a bite at early dawn; and as the bone went in his soul went out. Down he fell with a crash, as when a mountain fir is broken in the storm.
Then Ilko, a friend of the slain ape and lover of huckle berries, rushed forth to avenge his death, and, aiming a stone at the head of High-tail, threw it with such precision that death entered where he struck, and the losses between the two forces were equal.
Then seeing that Death was to be the companion of this War, and uncertain which army would survive, Koree invoked the aid of Shoozoo.
“Great spirit of the skies and Swamp, God and Alligator,” he said, “teach us to conquer on this field or to run away in time. May our arms be stronger than the enemy, or our feet swifter than Death.”
And then rushing out he called on any of the Lali to come forth to meet him in battle, and particularly Ilo, the robber of his pleasures.
But Ilo was sitting afar off with Sosee, guarding her against escape and the seductions of Oboo his rival, and he heard not the challenge to battle.
But Owl-catcher heard, and, fired with anger and a desire for glory, went forth to meet him. On all fours he went, looking up at times as he ran and rising on his feet to survey the field.
Koree, advancing, threw a sharpened flint at him, aiming at where the hair is parted on the brow, and there it entered. The distant Alps disappeared from the eyes of Owl-catcher, and, as all things faded from his sight, he knew not whether the world or a monkey was collapsing.
Now Ilo, hearing that he was challenged, came to the fight; but not willingly. Sosee had demanded that he play not the coward; for love cannot follow the timorous. But whether she deeply designed that he should die or be victor, none could fathom. He came to the front and met the proud Koree who said:
“I have a plentiful supply of death for the Lali, and for you I will send it on this bone;” and he dischargeda split marrow-bone at his breast. It was one that Sosee had sharpened while they talked together of love and acted out their conversation, and she had graved on it, with a bear’s tooth, the wing of a dragon fly.
This marrow-bone pierced the flesh of Ilo, but not his love-tickled heart; and he ran away screaming and bleeding, not wishing to die while in the joys of his first love.
He sought out Sosee in the distance, who showered her compassion, if not her affection, upon him; and she drew the bone from his breast, when, seeing it was the weapon of Koree which her own hands had fashioned, she was thrown into consternation.
“Is my lover fighting my lover?” she asked, “and do I make the weapons that slay them?” and she rushed to the scene of battle and came between the lines.
At the sight of Sosee a shout arose from the Ammi, who thought that she had escaped, or else that the Lali, fearing their defeat, were surrendering her. Koree ran to meet her, forgetful that the battle was raging, when, being about to grasp her in his arms, he was struck by a cocoanut in the ear, which had been thrown by Tree-jumper, an ape from the Bamboo plains, who had started in her pursuit. Koree fell to the ground, stunned by the stroke of the ape and the sight of his beloved, for the double blow on his eye and ear exhausted him, being already weary from strife. But he fell unhurt, and was picked up by friends and carried to a place of safety.
Sosee, however, was seized by Tree-jumper, and taken back to the Lali, who placed her far from the front, where she was safe from both death and rescue.