As soon as these preliminaries were over the Kalubi
called upon Komba, whom he addressed in formal language as "You-who-
have-passed-the-god," and "You-the-Kalubi-to-be" (I thought I saw him
wince as he said these words), to give an account of his mission and
of how it came about that they had the honour of seeing the white
lords there.
Komba obeyed. After addressing the Kalubi with every possible title of
honour, such as "Absolute Monarch," "Master whose feet I kiss," "He
whose eyes are fire and whose tongue is a sword," "He at whose nod
people die," "Lord of the Sacrifice, first Taster of the Sacred meat,"
"Beloved of the gods" (here the Kalubi shrank as though he had been
pricked with a spear), "Second to none on earth save the Motombo the
most holy, the most ancient, who comes from heaven and speaks with the
voice of heaven," etc., etc., he gave a clear but brief account of all
that had happened in the course of his mission to Beza Town.
Especially did he narrate how, in obedience to a message which he had
received from the Motombo, he had invited the white lords to Pongo-
land, and even accepted them as envoys from the Mazitu when none would
respond to King Bausi's invitation to fill that office.
Pages:
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378