King Solomon's Treasure

Chapter 3 The Legend of Solomon's Treasure

Before answering Colonel Goode's question, I stopped to fill my pipe.Sir Henry asked anxiously: "Did you hear about my brother when you were in Bermanvaldo?"

"I've heard some," I answered, "but I haven't told anyone so far. I heard he went to find Solomon's treasure."

"Solomon's treasure!" The two of them blurted out, surprised, "Where is it?"

"I don't know either," I replied, "only the legendary location. I've seen mountains near where the treasure is, but there's 130 miles of desert in between. As far as I know, only one white man has ever crossed it." The desert. Maybe all I can do is tell you the legend of King Solomon's treasure. But you can't tell anyone about it without my permission. I have my reasons for making such a request. Do you agree?"

Sir Henry nodded, and Colonel Goode said, "Of course, of course."

"Well then," I began, "as you might guess, elephant hunters are generally rough people, with their own lives on their minds and nothing else. But every once in a while there's a curious one or two." A man with a strong heart, who worked tirelessly to collect some legends from the locals, trying to uncover the history of this black land. About 30 years ago, I met such a person on my first elephant hunting trip in Matabelle County His name was Evans, and from him, I first learned the legend of Solomon's treasure. Unfortunately, the poor guy was gored to death by a wounded buffalo the following year, and his body was buried in the Zambezi River Falls Nearby. I told Evans one evening that I had found some amazing pits many years ago when I was hunting kudu and eland in the Landenberg region of the Transvaal. Gold was sought in these pits, and a wide driveway was dug out of the solid rock to the tunnel entrance of the pit, which was piled with gold and quartz ready to be crushed. The miners were seen leaving in a hurry. Distance from the tunnel Twenty paces away is a handsome stone building."

"Evans said, 'Ah, I'll tell you an even stranger story.' So he said he had found a deserted city in the far outback of South Africa, which he believed to be the Biblical Ophir. By the way, long before Evans, I heard the same story told by many learned men. I was young and interested in such anecdotes. Evans told a story about ancient civilizations The story of an ancient Jewish or Phoenician adventurer who found treasure in a long-lost country. This story fascinated me and caught my imagination. Suddenly he said: 'Man, have you heard Over the Suleiman Mountains in the northwest of Masokulumbuwe County?’ I shook my head, and he said, ‘Well, well. Actually, that’s where Solomon’s treasure really is, and the treasure I’m talking about is the diamond mine.’”

"How do you know?" I asked.

"'How do you know that? Do you know what Sulemon means? Actually, it's an inflected word for Solomon. Also, an old witch doctor in County Mannica told me that people who live on the other side of Sulemon Hill They are a branch of the Zulu people who speak the Zulu dialect, but they are taller and more handsome than the Zulu people. They have a group of powerful wizards. In the prehistoric era, they learned witchcraft from the white people. holding the secret of the 'glowing stone.'”

"While I was intrigued by the story, I just laughed it off. Because the diamond mines hadn't been discovered at the time. Poor Evans died later. Twenty years later, I don't think about it again. But Just 20 years later, I heard the details of Mount Suleimon and the surrounding area. 20 years, what a long time, very few elephant hunters live beyond 20 years. I was in County Mannica In a village called Standa. It was a miserable place, with little to eat and no game. I had a high fever and was very ill. One day a Portuguese came with a half-breed servant. I know a lot about the Portuguese in Delagua Bay. Usually they exploit and oppress slaves, and they live freely. Their wealth is bought with the blood and sweat of slaves. However, this Portuguese and the Delagua Bay I know The Portuguese was very different. He reminded me of a handsome, well-mannered gentleman I'd seen in books. He was tall and thin, with big black eyes and a curly gray beard. He could speak a little English, and I can understand a little Portuguese, so we started talking. He told me his name was Joss Svester, and he lived near Delagua Bay. Before he left the next day, he used an old Way to take off my hat and say goodbye to me: 'Goodbye, sir. If we could meet again, I would be the richest man in the world. I won't forget you.' I just smiled, because at that time His body was very weak and he couldn’t laugh. After he finished speaking, he left. I watched him walk westward, his back gradually disappearing into the endless desert, and I wondered if he was crazy. What did he think he could find there? "

"After a week, I was much better. One night, I was sitting in front of the small tent, gnawing on a chicken leg that I bought from the locals for a piece of fabric that could have been exchanged for twenty. Chicken. While watching the fiery red sun gradually set over the desert, I suddenly saw a figure on the opposite slope, about [-] yards away from me. It was obviously a European, wearing a coat, and crawling on the ground with difficulty , and then stood up by force, walked a few steps staggeringly, fell to the ground again, and continued to crawl forward slowly. It seemed that this person was seriously exhausted. I quickly called the hunter to help him, and soon the hunter I helped him over here. Guess who this person is?"

"It must be Joss Sylvester," said Colonel Goode.

"That's right, that's him. More precisely, the scrawny Joss Sylvester. He was sallow, jaundiced, devoid of flesh, and his large black eyes seemed The eye sockets fell out. All that remains of the whole body is a layer of sallow skin like parchment paper, a head of white hair, and a handful of bony bones."

"'Water! God, give me water!' he moaned. His lips were chapped and his swollen tongue was black."

"I gave him some water with milk, and he gulped it down, more than two quarts in one gulp. I didn't dare to give him any more. After a while, he developed a fever and lay on the ground. Talking nonsense, muttering about Mount Sulimon, diamonds, and deserts. I put him in the tent and tried to take care of him, but it was no use. I knew in my heart that he was probably in danger. About ten At about one o'clock, he quieted down, and I lay down and fell asleep. At dawn, I woke up. In the faint morning light, I saw him sitting up, staring at the desert ahead, his bony body said It was queer. Presently the first ray of sunlight fell on the broad plain ahead of us, illuminating the highest peaks of Mount Sulimon, more than a hundred miles away."

"'That's there!' cried the dying man, stretching out his slender arms, in Portuguese, 'but I can't get there, never can. Nobody can get there!'"

"Suddenly he stopped shouting, as if he had made an important decision. Then he turned to me and said: 'Friend, are you there? My eyes are dark.'"

"'I am here,' I said hastily, 'you lie down and rest.'"

"'Well,' said he, 'I'll be resting soon, forever. Listen, I'm dying! You saved me, you've been kind to me, and I'll give you this map. Perhaps You can cross this desert and get there alive. It is this desert that killed me and my poor servant.'”

"After he groped in his shirt for a while, he produced a tobacco pouch of black antelope, which was tied with a string. He tried to untie the string, but could not. So he handed the pouch to the I, said: 'Untie the strap.' I did so, and drew out a shabby piece of yellow linen with some faded writing on it. There was also a piece of paper wrapped in the cloth."

"At this time, he said in a weak voice, very angry: 'It took me several years to translate the content of the rags, and it was all written on this paper. Listen: 300 years ago, my ancestor Joe S. da Svester, one of the first Portuguese to set foot on the coast, fled Lisbon as an asylum seeker, and wrote this on a rag as he lay dying in the Sulimon Mountains. Before him, and since his death, no white man had ever reached Mount Sulimon. The servants who waited on this side of the mountain found him dead and took this writing back to their home in Dragua. Since then, this thing has been kept at home, and no one is interested in it, until I discovered it and began to study the mystery. I also paid the price of my life for this. Maybe the next person can succeed and become the world's The richest man, the richest man. Sir, don’t give this to anyone else, go yourself!' With that, he fell into a coma again, and died an hour later."

"May God bless him to rest in peace! He walked away peacefully. I buried him deeply and put a lot of big stones on it so that the jackals would not dig his body out. Then I left there."

"Ah, where's that piece of paper?" Sir Henry said, with deep curiosity in his tone.

"Yes, where is that piece of paper? What is written on it?" The colonel couldn't help asking.

"Gentlemen, if you want to know, I will tell you. I have only shown this paper to two people, one is my wife, who thinks it is all nonsense, and she is no longer alive. The other is An old Portuguese businessman who translated the paper for me. But he was drunk at the time and couldn't remember anything the next morning. The rag and poor Mr. Jose's translation are now in my Durban at home. But the English translation and the facsimile of the map are in my wallet. If it's a map, of course. Look, here it is."

I'm Joss Das West.At this time, I was dying of hunger in a small snowless cave on the north side of the south peak of the two peaks (I call them the Queen of Sheba's Breasts).It is now 1590, and I write this letter on the rags of my clothes with broken bones as my pen and blood as my ink.If my servant can find it, it will be brought back to Dragua, and my friend (here the writing is illegible) will give it to the king.The king may send an army.If the army survived across the desert and the mountains, overcame the mighty Kukuana, and unraveled their witchcraft (should bring some priests with them), then he would be the wealthiest king in the world since King Solomon.Behind the white statue of Reaper, I saw Solomon's Chamber of Secrets, in which countless diamonds were piled up.But the witch Gagul was treacherous, and I couldn't take anything, and almost lost my life.Let the later treasure hunters follow the directions on the map and climb up to the peak along the snow slope of the left peak of the Queen of Sheba's Twin Breasts.To the north of the peak is the Solomon Avenue, and it takes three days to walk along the avenue to reach the king's palace.May he kill Gagul.Pray for my soul.farewell.

Joss Das West

When I finished reading it, and then showed them the facsimile of the map Joss had painted in his dying blood, they were both speechless in astonishment.

"Oh," said Colonel Goode, "I have twice sailed around the world, and been to many ports, but I have never heard of such a wonderful story. It is simply incredible."

"It is indeed a very strange thing, Mr. Quitman," said Sir Henry. "You are not deceiving us, are you? Sometimes it is not a great deal to deceive the inexperienced."

"If you think I'm lying, then just pretend I didn't say it. This is the end of the matter." As I said, I put the note back in my pocket, secretly angry in my heart.I don't want to be seen as one of those smart-witted, witty fools who brag to novices about their adventures out of thin air.I get up and go.

Sir Henry stretched out his big hand and put it on my shoulder. "Sit down, Mr. Quitman, and I beg your pardon. I know you're not trying to deceive us, but the story is so incredible that it makes one wonder."

"When I get to Durban, I'll show you the original map and the letter." My anger subsided a little.To be honest, the story was so bizarre that it was reasonable for them to be skeptical. "I haven't finished about your brother, though. I know the man who went with him, Jim, from Bechuanaland, a good hunter and a very clever man. On the morning Mr. Neville set out, I Saw Jim standing beside my wagon cutting tobacco."

"'Jim,' I asked him, 'where are you going this trip? Is it elephant hunting?'"

"'No, boss,' he answered, 'we're going to find something worth more than ivory.'"

"'What is that?' I asked curiously again, 'Is it gold?'"

"'No, boss. Worth more than gold.' He grinned."

"I didn't press any further. I didn't want to dig so as not to lose my dignity. I didn't ask, but I wondered. Soon Jim was cutting the tobacco."

"'Boss,' he said."

"I don't care."

"'Boss.' he called again."

"'Oh boy, what's the matter?' I asked."

"'We're going to find diamonds.'"

"'Diamonds? But you're going in the wrong direction. You should go in the direction of the goldfields.'"

"'Boss, have you heard of Sulimon Iceberg? (Mount Solomon)'"

"Did you ever hear that there were diamonds there?'"

"'That's just a ridiculous story, Jim.'"

"'That's not just a story, boss. I know a woman who's been there. She told me it herself, but she's dead.'"

"'Even if we got to Mount Sulimon, your master would be eaten by vultures, and you would be bitten to the bone,' I said."

"He grinned. 'Maybe, boss. But people are going to die. I'd rather try my luck elsewhere, and the elephants here are almost gone.'

"'Well, boy,' said I, 'you, wait till death has a firm grip on your throat, and see how you scream.'"

"Neville's carriage set off in half an hour. Jim came running back a moment later. 'Good-bye, sir,' said he, 'I'd like to say good-bye to you anyway, or I'd be unhappy. I think you're probably right that this Go, we may never come back.'”

"'Is your master really going to Sulimen Iceberg? Jim, you're not lying, are you?'"

"'It's true,' he said, 'he's going. He told me he wanted to be rich anyway, and that's why he decided to look for diamonds.'"

"'Oh,' I said, 'wait, Jim. You give this note to your master. But remember, you don't give it to him until you get to Iyandi.' Iyandi is hundreds of miles away Far."

"'OK.'"

"So I found a piece of paper and wrote: 'Let the later treasure hunters follow the directions on the map and climb up to the summit along the snow slope of the peak on the left side of the Queen of Sheba's Twin Breasts. To the north of the summit is Solomon Avenue.'"

"'Now, Jim,' said I, 'you give the note to your master, and tell him that it is best to follow the directions on it. Remember, it must not be given to him until Iyandi, and I don't want him to run away. Come back and ask me questions, and I will answer nothing. Go, you idle fellow, your master's carriage is almost out of sight.'"

"Jim went off with a note. That's all I know about your brother, Sir Henry. But I'm afraid he—"

"Mr. Quitman," began Sir Henry, "I am going to my brother, and I intend to follow his trail to Sulemon Hills. If necessary, I will cross Sulemon Hills until I find him. So far. In short, you need to see people when you live, and you need to see corpses when you die. Would you like to go with me?"

As I said, I am timid by nature and cautious in doing things. After hearing what he said, I instinctively rejected it.For me, such a trip is undoubtedly suicidal.Apart from other reasons, I still have a son to raise, so I can't just die like this.

"No, thank you, Sir Henry, I don't think I'll go," I replied, "I'm afraid I'm too old to do such absurd and useless things. If I do risk it, I'll end up with nothing but misery." The same fate as Svester. And I have a son to raise, and I can't risk my life."

Sir Henry and Colonel Good looked very disappointed at what I said.

"Mr. Quitman," said Sir Henry, "though I have a good family, I am determined to do it. If you will go with me, just ask for any payment, and I will definitely accept it and pay it before departure." .and I will arrange everything so that if anything happens to us or you, your son will be taken care of. Now you can see how much you mean to us. And, if we ever get there, find Diamonds, then everything is divided between you and Colonel Good. I want nothing. Of course, the chances of finding the treasure are very small. But the ivory is also divided between you and Colonel Good. Mr. Quitman, you still If you have any requirements, feel free to mention them. Of course, all the expenses will be borne by me alone."

"Sir Henry," said I, "you offer the most generous pay I have ever seen. Poor hunters and merchants will certainly accept it. But it is also the most difficult job I have ever had, and I have to spend Time to think it over and I'll give you an answer before I get to Durban."

"That's all right," said Sir Henry.So I said goodnight and turned to leave.That night I dreamed of poor Svester, long dead, and those diamonds.

(End of this chapter)