An African Story Learn English through story level 2
in east africa there was a young man who
was a hunter who loved the plains and
the valleys and the cool nights on the
slopes of mount kilimanjaro
in september 1939 war had begun in
europe and he had traveled over the
country to nairobi
and was training to be a pilot with the
raf
he was doing quite well
but after five weeks he got into trouble
because he took his plane up and flew
off in the direction of nakuru to look
at the wild animals when he should have
been practicing spins and turns
while he was flying there
he thought he saw some rare animals
became excited and flew down low to get
a better view of them
he flew too low and damaged the wing
but he managed to get back to the
airfield in nairobi
after six weeks he was allowed to make
his first cross-country flight on his
own
and he flew off from nairobi to a little
town called el doret two thousand meters
up in the highlands
but again he was unlucky
this time he had engine failure on the
way due to water in the fuel tanks
he kept calm and made a beautiful forced
landing without damaging his aircraft
not far from a little hut which stood
alone on the highland plain with no
other building in sight
that is lonely country up there
he walked over to the hut and there he
found an old man living alone with only
a small garden of sweet potatoes some
brown chickens and a black cow
the old man was kind to him
he gave him food and milk and a place to
sleep
and the pilot stayed with him for two
days and two nights
until a rescue plane from nairobi found
his aircraft landed beside it found out
what was wrong went away and came back
with clean petrol which enabled him to
take off and return
but during his stay the old man who was
lonely and had seen no one for many
months was glad of his company and of
the opportunity to talk
he talked a lot and the pilot listened
he talked of his lonely life
of the lions that came in the night
and of the elephant that lived over the
hill in the west
of the heat of the days and of the
silence that came with a cold at
midnight
on the second night he talked about
himself
he told a long strange story
and as he told it it seemed to the pilot
that the old man was lifting a great
weight off his shoulders by telling it
when he had finished he said that he had
never told that to anyone before and
that he would never tell it to anyone
again
but the story was so strange that the
pilot wrote it down as soon as he got
back to nairobi
he wrote it in his own words
although he had never written a story
before
of course he made mistakes because he
didn’t know any of the tricks that
writers use
but when he had finished writing he left
a rare and powerful story
we found the story in his suitcase two
weeks later when we were packing his
things after he had been killed in
training
the pilot seemed to have had no
relatives and because he was my friend i
took the story and looked after it for
him
this is what he wrote
the old man came out of the door into
the bright sunshine
and for a moment he leaned on his stick
and looked around him he stood with his
head on one side looking up listening
for the noise which he thought he had
heard
he was small and over 70 years old
although he looked nearer 85 because of
illness
his face was covered with gray hair and
when he moved his mouth he moved it only
on one side of his face
on his head indoors or outdoors he wore
a dirty white hat
he stood quite still in the bright
sunshine his eyes almost closed
listening for the noise
yes
there it was again
he looked towards the small wooden hut
which stood a hundred meters away in the
field
this time there was no doubt about it
the cry of a dog
the high sharp cry of pain which a dog
gives when he is in great danger
twice more it came
and this time the noise was more like a
scream
the note was higher and sharper
as if it were torn from some small place
inside the body
the old man turned and walked across the
grass towards the wooden hut where
judson lived pushed open the door and
went in
the small white dog was lying on the
floor
and judson was standing over it his legs
apart his black hair falling all over
his long red face
sweating through his dirty white shirt
his mouth hung open in a strange
lifeless way as if his jaw were too
heavy for him
and there was spit down the middle of
his chin
he stood there looking at the small
white dog which was lying on the floor
and with one hand he was slowly twisting
his left ear
in the other hand he held a heavy wooden
stick
the old man ignored judson and went down
on his knees beside his dog and gently
moved his thin hands over its body
the dog lay still
looking up at him with sad eyes
judson did not move
he was watching the dog and the man
slowly the old man got up
rising with difficulty holding the top
of his stick with both hands and pulling
himself to his feet
he looked around the room
there were dirty bed clothes lying on
the floor in the far corner
there was a wooden table made of old
boxes
and on it a blue pot
there were chicken feathers and mud on
the floor
the old man saw what he wanted
it was a heavy iron bar standing against
the wall near the bedding and he went
over to it thumping the hollow wooden
floorboards with his stick as he went
the eyes of the dog followed his
movements as he walked with difficulty
across the room the old man changed his
stick to his left hand
took the iron bar in his right
came back to the dog and without pausing
lifted the bar and brought it down hard
upon the animal’s head
he threw the bar to the ground and
looked up at judson who was standing
there with his legs apart
he went right up to him and began to
speak
he spoke very quietly and slowly with a
terrible anger
and as he spoke he moved only one side
of his mouth
you killed him
he said
you broke his back
then as the tide of anger rose and gave
him strength he found more words
he looked up and spat them into the face
of the tall judson who moved back
towards the wall
you
dirty cruel coward
that was my dog
what right have you got to beat my dog
tell me that
answer me you madman
answer me
judson was slowly rubbing his left hand
up and down the front of his shirt
and now the whole of his face began to
tremble
without looking up he said
he wouldn’t stop licking that place on
his leg
i couldn’t stand the noise it made
you know i can’t stand noises like that
licking licking licking
i told him to stop but he went on
licking
i couldn’t stand it any longer
so i beat him
the old man did not say anything
for a moment it looked as if he were
going to hit this creature
he half raised his arm dropped it again
spat on the floor
turned round
and went out of the door into the
sunshine
he went across the grass to where a
black cow was standing in the shade of a
small tree
the cow was eating moving its jaws
regularly mechanically as it watched him
walk across the grass from the hut
the old man came and stood beside it
stroking its neck
then he leaned against its shoulder and
scratched its back with the end of his
stick
he stood there for a long time leaning
against the cow
scratching it with his stick
and now and then he spoke to it
whispering quiet little words like one
person telling a secret to another
there was shade under the little tree
and the country around him looked rich
and pleasant after the long reigns
because the grass grows green up in the
highlands of kenya
and at this time of the year after the
rains it is as green and rich as any
grass in the world
in the distance stood mount kenya with
snow on its head with a thin stream of
what looked like white smoke coming from
the top where the cold winds made a
storm and blew the white powder from the
top of the mountain
down below on the slopes of that
mountain there were lions and elephants
and sometimes during the night one could
hear the roar of the lions as they
looked at the moon
the days passed and judson went on with
his work on the farm in a silent
mechanical way
taking in the corn digging the potatoes
and milking the black cow while the old
man stayed indoors away from the fierce
african sun
he only went out in the late afternoon
when the air began to get cool and sharp
and then he always went over to his
black cow
and spent an hour with it under the tree
one day when he came out he found judson
standing beside the cow looking at it
strangely
standing with one foot in front of the
other gently twisting his ear with his
right hand
what is it now
said the old man
the cow’s making that noise again
she’s just chewing the grass said the
old man leave her alone
judson said
it’s the noise
can’t you hear it
it sounds as if she’s chewing stones but
she isn’t
listen to her
the noise goes right into my head
get out said the old man get out of my
sight
at dawn the old man sat as he always did
looking out of his window watching
judson come across from his hut to milk
the cow
he saw him coming sleepily across the
field talking to himself as he walked
dragging his feet leaving long dark
green marks across the wet grass
and carrying the petrol can which he
used for the milk
the sun was coming up and making long
shadows behind the man the cow and the
small tree
the old man saw judson put the can down
and he saw him fetch a box from beside
the tree and settle himself on it ready
for the milking
he saw him suddenly kneeling down
feeling under the car with his hands
and at the same time the old man noticed
that the animal had no milk
he saw judson get up and come walking
fast towards the hut
he came and stood under the window where
the old man was sitting and looked up
the cows got no milk he said
the old man leaned through the open
window placing both his hands on the
sill
you dirty thief you’ve stolen it
i didn’t take it said judson i’ve been
asleep
you stole it
the old man was leaning further out of
the window speaking quietly with one
side of his mouth
i’ll beat you for this he said
judson said
someone stole it in the night
perhaps he was a native
or maybe the cow’s sick
it seemed to the old man that he was
telling the truth
we’ll see
he said if there’s any milk this evening
now
get out of my sight
by evening the car was full and the old
man watched judson take good thick milk
from her
the next morning she was empty
in the evening she was full
on the third morning she was empty again
on the third night the old man went to
watch
as soon as it began to get dark he
positioned himself at the open window
with an old gun lying on his lap
waiting for the thief who came and
milked his cow in the night
at first it was dark
and he could not even see the cow but
soon a three-quarter moon came over the
hills and it became light
almost as if it were daytime
but it was bitterly cold because the
highlands are two thousand meters up
and the old man pulled his brown blanket
closer around his shoulders
he could see the car well now
just as well as in daylight
and the little tree threw a shadow
across the grass since the moon was
behind it
all through the night the old man sat
there watching the cow
and except when he got up and went back
into the room to fetch another blanket
his eyes never left her
the cow stood calmly under the small
tree chewing and staring at the moon
an hour before dawn she was full the old
man could see it he had been watching it
the whole time
and although he had not seen the
movement of the swelling all the time he
had been conscious of the filling as the
milk came down
the moon was now low but the light had
not gone
he could see the cow and the little tree
and the greenness of the grass around
the cow
suddenly he moved his head quickly
he heard something
surely that was a noise he heard
yes there it was again right under the
window where he was sitting
quickly he pulled himself up and looked
over the sill to the ground
then he saw it
a large black snake a mamba
nearly three meters long and as thick as
a man’s arm was sliding towards the cow
its small head was raised slightly off
the ground and the movement of its body
against the wetness made a sound like
gas escaping from a jet
he raised his gun to shoot
almost at once he lowered it again he
didn’t know why
and he sat there not moving watching the
mamba as it approached the cow
listening to the noise it made as it
went
watching it come up close to the cow and
waiting for it to strike
but it did not strike
it lifted its head and for a moment let
it move gently from side to side
then it raised the front part of its
black body into the air under the cow
and began to drink from her
the cow did not move
there was no noise anywhere and the body
of the mamba curved gracefully up from
the ground and hung under the cow
the black snake and the black cow were
clearly visible out there in the
moonlight
for half an hour the old man watched the
mamba taking the milk of the cow
he saw the gentle movement of the
snake’s body as it sucked at the liquid
until at last there was no milk left
then the mamba lowered itself to the
ground and slid back through the grass
in the direction from which it had come
again it made a soft noise as it went
and again it passed underneath the
window where the old man was sitting
leaving a thin dark mark in the wet
grass where it had gone
then it disappeared behind the hut
slowly the moon went down behind the
mountain in the distance
almost at the same time the sun rose in
the east and judson came out of his hut
with the petrol can in his hand
walking sleepily towards the cow
dragging his feet in the wet grass as he
went
the old man watched him coming and
waited
judson bent down and felt the underneath
of the cow
and as he did so the old man shouted at
him
judson jumped at the sound of the old
man’s voice
it’s gone again
said the old man
judson said
yes the cow’s empty
i think
said the old man slowly
that it was a native boy
i was sleeping a bit
and only woke up as he was leaving i
couldn’t shoot because the cow was in
the way
i’ll wait for him tonight
i’ll get him tonight he added
judson did not answer
he picked up his can
and walked back to his hut
that night the old man sat up again by
the window watching the cow
for him there was this time a certain
pleasure in waiting for what he was
going to see
he knew that he would see the mamba
again but he wanted to be quite sure
and so when the great black snake slid
across the grass towards the car an hour
before sunrise
the old man leaned over the windowsill
and watched the movements of the mamba
as it approached the cow
he saw it wait for a moment under the
animal’s stomach letting its head move
slowly backwards and forwards half a
dozen times
before it finally raised its body from
the ground and started to drink the milk
he saw it drink for half an hour
until there was none left
and he saw it lower its body and slide
smoothly back behind the hut from where
it had come
and while he watched these things
the old man began laughing quietly
with one side of his mouth
then the sun rose up behind the hills
and judson came out of his hat with a
petrol can in his hand
but this time he went straight to the
window of the hut where the old man was
sitting wrapped up in his blankets
what happened said judson
the old man looked down at him from the
window
nothing he said
nothing happened
i fell asleep again and the native came
and took the milk
listen judson he added
we have to catch this boy
otherwise you won’t have enough milk
we’ve got to catch him
i can’t shoot because he’s too clever
but cow’s always in the way
you will have to get him
me get him
how
the old man spoke very slowly
i think he said i think you must hide
beside the cow
that is the only way you can catch him
judson was scratching his head with his
left hand
today you will dig a shallow hole beside
the cow
if you lie in it
and if i cover you over with cut grass
the thief won’t notice until he’s beside
you
he may have a knife judson said
no you won’t have a knife you take your
stick that’s all you’ll need
judson said
yes i’ll take my stick
when he comes i’ll jump up and beat him
with my stick
then suddenly he seemed to remember
something
what about the noise the cow makes when
she’s chewing he said i couldn’t stand
that noise all night
he began twisting at his left ear with
his hand
you’ll do as i tell you said the old man
that day judson dug his hole beside the
cow
the cow was tied to the tree so that she
could not wander around the field
then as evening came and he was
preparing to lie down in the hole for
the night
the old man came to the door of the
house and said don’t do anything until
early morning
he won’t come until the cow’s full
come in here and wait it’s warmer than
your dirty little hat
judson had never been invited into the
old man’s house before
he followed him in
happy that he would not have to lie all
night in the hole
there was a candle burning in the room
it was stuck in the neck of a beer
bottle and the bottle was on the
table make some tea
said the old man
judson did as he was told
the two of them sat down on a couple of
wooden boxes and began to drink
the old man drank his tea hot and made
loud sucking noises as he drank
judson kept blowing on his tea drinking
cautiously and watching the old man over
the top of his cup
the old man kept sucking at his tea
until suddenly judson said
stop
he said it quietly
and as he said it the corners of his
eyes and mouth began to tremble
what
said the old man
judson said
that noise
that sucking noise you’re making
the old man put down his cup and looked
at the other quietly for a few moments
then he said
how many dogs have you killed judson
there was no answer
i said how many
how many dogs judson
the old man shouted
then quietly and very slowly like
someone to a child he said
in all your life
how many dogs have you killed
judson said
why should i tell you
he did not look up
i want to know judson
the old man was speaking very gently
i’m getting interested in this too
let’s talk about it
and make some plans for more fun
judson looked up
a ball of spit rolled down his chin hung
for a moment in the air and fell to the
floor
i only kill them because of their noise
how often have you done it
i’d love to know how often
lots of times long ago
how
tell me how you used to do it
what way did you like best
no answer
tell me judson
i’d love to know
i don’t see why i should tell you it’s a
secret
i won’t tell
i swear i won’t tell
well
if you promise
judson shifted his seat closer and spoke
in a whisper
once
i waited till one was sleeping
then i got a big stone and dropped it on
his head
the old man got up and poured himself a
cup of tea
you didn’t kill mine like that
i didn’t have time
the noise of its tongue was so bad
the licking
i just had to do it quickly
it didn’t even kill him
i stopped the licking
the old man went over to the door and
looked out
it was dark
the moon had not yet risen but the night
was clear and cold with many stars
in the east there was a little paleness
in the sky
and as he watched the paleness grew and
it changed into brightness
slowly the moon rose over the hills
the old man turned and said you better
get ready
you never know he might come early
tonight
judson got up and the two of them went
outside
judson lay down in the shallow hole
beside the cow and the old man covered
him with grass so that only his hand
showed above the ground
i’ll be watching too he said from the
window
if i give a shout
jump up and catch him
he went back to the hut went upstairs
wrapped himself in blankets and took up
his position by the window
it was early still
the moon was nearly full and it was
rising
it shone on the snow on top of mount
kenya
after an hour the old man shouted out of
the window
are you still awake johnson
yes he answered i’m awake
don’t go to sleep said the old man
whatever you do don’t go to sleep
the cow’s making that noise all the time
said judson
good
and i’ll shoot you if you get up now
said the old man
you shoot me
i said i’ll shoot you if you get up now
a gentle noise came from where judson
lay
a strange sound as if a child were
trying not to cry
and in the middle of it judson’s voice
i’ve got to move
please let me move
this chewing
if you get up said the old man i’ll
shoot you in the stomach
for another hour or so the crying
continued
then
quite suddenly it stopped
just before four o’clock it began to get
very cold and the old man shouted
are you cold out there judson
are you cold
yes
came the answer
so cold
but i don’t mind because the cow’s not
chewing anymore she’s asleep
the old man said
what are you gonna do with the thief
when you catch him
i don’t know
will you kill him
a pause
i don’t know
i’ll just grab him i’ll watch
said the old man
it should be fun
he was leaning out of the window with
his arms resting on the sill
then he heard the soft noise under the
window
looked out and saw the black mamba
sliding through the grass towards the
cow
going fast and holding its head just a
little above the ground as it went
when the mambo was five meters away
the old man shouted here he comes
jackson here he comes
go and get him
judson lifted his head quickly and
looked up
as he did so he saw the member and the
member saw him
there was a second or perhaps two
when the snake stopped
pulled its head back and raised the
front part of its body in the air
then the stroke
just a flash of black and a slight thump
as it hit him in the chest
judson screamed
a long high scream which did not rise or
fall but remained constant until
gradually it faded into nothingness and
there was silence
now he was standing up tearing open his
shirt feeling for the place in his chest
crying quietly and breathing hard with
his mouth wide open
and the old man sat quietly at the open
window
leaning forward and never taking his
eyes away from the scene below
everything happens very quickly when one
is bitten by a snake by a black mamba
and almost at once the poison began to
work
he fell to the ground where he lay on
his back rolling around on the grass
he no longer made any noise
it was all very quiet
as if a man of great strength were
fighting with someone whom one could not
see and it was as if this invisible
person were twisting him and not letting
him get up stretching his arms through
the fork of his legs and pushing his
knees up under his chin
then he began pulling up the grass with
his hands and soon after that he lay on
his back kicking gently with his legs
but he didn’t last very long
he gave a quick shake
twisted his back
then lay on the ground quite still
lying on his stomach with his right knee
underneath his chest
and his hands stretched out above his
head
still the old man sat by the window
and even after it was all over he stayed
where he was and did not move
there was a movement in the shadow under
the little tree
and the mamba came forward slowly
towards the cow
it came forward a little
stopped
raised its head
waited
and slid forward again right under the
stomach of the cow
it raised itself into the air and began
to drink
the old man sat watching the mamba
taking the milk of the cow
and once again he saw the gentle
movement of its body as it sucked out
the liquid
while the snake was still drinking the
old man got up and moved away from the
window
you can have his share
he said quietly we don’t mind you having
his share
and as he spoke he glanced back and saw
again the black body of the member
curving upwards from the ground
joining the underneath of the cow
yes
he said again
we don’t mind you having his share
you