“That night I could eat nothing, and the ‘umdhlemnyana’ sickness seized me so badly that old Palelo became quite frightened, and said he would fetch the witch-doctor next day to see who had bewitched me. When I felt better I lay down to try and sleep, but it was of no use. I dreamed of Lamla’s coming, but when it got late and he had not come, I felt like a long-tailed finch trying to fly against the wind on a wet day. I kept wondering as to where he was, and the thought that he might be at a feast at another kraal where there was a girl who I knew liked him, troubled me so much that I got another ‘umdhlemnyana’ fit, and when old Palelo came to me with a pot of water, I threw the water all over him, and broke the pot. This made me feel a little better, so I lay quiet, pretending to be asleep.
“Old Palelo went to sleep on his mat, but I lay long awake, until at length I felt I could not stay in the hut any longer; something seemed to draw me outside. I took my kaross and left the hut. The moon was large and yellow. The stream of water in the kloof just below was making a noise exactly like some one speaking, and at length I found out what it was saying. It was ‘lam-lam-lam-la-la-la-lam-la-la-lam-la-lam-la-lam-la,’ that the water was calling out over and over again as it ran over the stones. Lamla seemed to be all about me, and I kept looking behind me to see if he was not there.
“A jackal up on the hill was calling out ‘yonk, yonk, yonk, yow-a-a-ow,’ like a man singing through his nose. The bats and night-jars were flitting about, and two owls were crying out to each other among the tops of the yellow-wood trees.
“I first sat down near the hut, but old Palelo was snoring like a big frog, so I walked away beyond the cattle kraal, and laid myself down on the short, green grass, which was cool and wet with dew.
“All this time I could think of nothing but Lamla, and I kept wondering why this should be so. Why did I feel so strange and so changed? My thoughts went back to the first time I had seen him. It was at the wedding feast of one of Palelo’s daughters. I remember thinking I had never seen any one dance so well. Then I went over, one by one, all the occasions upon which we had since met. Although they were many I think I remembered every one of them. I began to laugh when I thought of the way he used to mimic my husband. Then I thought of the long talks in the hut at night, so I lay back and covered myself up with the kaross, looking through the same little hole at a post standing near me, and trying to imagine it was Lamla, giving his ears to Palelo and his eyes to me.
“Next I remembered his coming out of the bush with the yellow flowers, and this set me thinking of what had been strewn on the path. Then I suddenly understood the whole thing—I was bewitched. Lamla had said the flowers were for medicine, and this was what he had meant, the rogue.
“When the thought first struck me I felt very much frightened, and I jumped up, meaning to run into the hut at once. However, I remained where I was for a little time, and then my fright seemed to pass away. Then I walked on a few yards and sat down on the grass.
“I listened to the water calling out Lamla’s name, and thought seriously over the whole matter of Lamla and his doings. After considering for a while I concluded that in spite of the ‘umdhlemnyana’ sickness, being bewitched was, after all, not so very terrible. I had often heard of girls being charmed in this way, and I knew that one cure for it was to follow the man about, and make him take off the charm. ‘Ah, ha, my friend Lamla,’ thought I, ‘I am up to your ways and tricks, and will let you know it the next time we meet. You have not got a silly girl to deal with this time, but a woman who has been married nearly two years, and who can take care of herself very well, in spite of the “umdhlemnyana.”’
“The dogs suddenly began to bark all together, and then they rushed round to the back of the cattle kraal, where they all ceased barking. Just afterwards a man walked out into the moonlight from behind the kraal-fence, and came slowly towards me. It was Lamla. The dogs knew him, and were running after him and fawning.
“He came up to where I was sitting, and without saying a word took my hands in his and drew me gently towards him. I stood up, and then he walked on, and I followed. I could not have resisted then, even if I had wanted to, but I do not think I wanted to at all. You see, the charm had influenced me more strongly than I had thought. I was no longer myself, but just Lamla and nothing else.