Patrick O’Brian - Caesar & Hussein

Then my master attached the end of my chain to a ring in the wall, and said very slowly and impressively: ‘Stay there, Cæsar’; and I knew from long weeks of training what he meant.

He had taught me to obey him absolutely, and I would have as soon thought of flying as of disobeying. Then he went to the occupied stable and led out a great beast like a buffalo, but taller and less thick. Its tail was composed of long hairs and its head was bent at right angles to the neck and it had no horns. This extraordinary animal was evidently tame.

On seeing me it reared up and made a loud noise, and I growled, but my master said: ‘Be quiet, Cæsar.’ The animal would not be calmed, so he got it back with difficulty to the stables. Then he came to me, and after he had unfastened the chain, he said:

‘Well, Cæsar, and what do you think of my horse?’

I did not understand what he said, but afterwards he said ‘horse’ a great many times, so I concluded that the creature was called a horse, and I wondered what it was for.

When we reached the cage I went in as usual after he had removed the chain, and he remained a little while outside talking to me. I did not understand what he said, but I liked the sound of his voice. The word horse kept re-occurring, and I thought he was trying to make me understand something about it. Although I went over all my ideas of his words I could not get his meaning. Soon he went away and left me to puzzle over this animal.

Before nightfall I came to these conclusions:

First, the beast was tame;

Second, my master had shown signs of liking it;

Third, he had stopped me from hurting it by chaining me up.

On the following morning after cleaning the cage he took me to the courtyard, and after fastening my chain to the ring in the wall he brought out the horse, and after a while he took it back again, and then we went back to my cage. This happened on the next day and on the one after that, and so on until I lost count.

At the end of all this time the horse and I got quite used to each other, and at last I comprehended that my master wanted me to like the horse, and he also wanted the horse not to be afraid of me. Then after a month had passed the horse didn’t fear me any longer, and I no longer wanted to kill and eat it.

Then one day my master brought out a kind of seat made to fit the horse’s back, and after strapping this on he brought from the stable a piece of metal and some leather thongs. The piece of metal he passed under the horse’s tongue, and the horse, who seemed quite used to it, stood still. Then to my amazement he jumped on the horse’s back, which by means of the leather straps was entirely under his control. Then they went out of the gate, and he said to me:

‘Stay there, Cæsar.’

Soon he returned, and after he had put the horse back we went back to my cage.

One day in the next week we went out through the garden to the horse’s stable, and when my master had put on the harness as he called it, he took a longer chain and fastened it to my original one; then he mounted the horse, and taking my chain in his hand he rode out of the gate and I followed. At first the horse was very excited and tried to get away from me, but he soon calmed down, as my master spoke to him soothingly. We emerged on to a grassy plain, extending in short bushy folds as far as the eye could see.

How good it was to have the crisp grass under my feet and to see an uninterrupted horizon all round. As we went I reflected on the remarkable conditions under which I was existing, and observed to myself how strange it was that anyone like myself should be found fastened by a chain to an animal of which he should be making a good meal, and obeying every word of a man seated on the back of this horse.

My reverie, however, was cut short by a hole in the ground, in which I half tripped. My master laughed, and saying ‘Come on, old boy — keep up,’ made the horse gallop, and we tore along at top speed for a while, which was very pleasant because for a whole year I had not really exerted myself. Having covered three-quarters of a mile we stopped, and I looked at the horse with new respect for it did not appear in the least fatigued, whilst I was panting and sweating a little.

Meanwhile my master had climbed a tree, very clumsily I thought, and was looking round and round as if searching for something, and he came down looking as if he had not found it. Just then the wind changed a little, and I smelt game. My master must have seen it, for he looked pleased and pointed in its direction.

Then an antelope came into sight, feeding on the short grass, and my master crouched down at once so as not to be seen. Then he unfastened my chain and said to me: ‘Fetch it, Cæsar.’ I understood what he meant and determined to show him what I could do. I was off in a moment, wriggling through the bushes in my most skilful fashion. At first I was so clumsy that I was afraid the creature would see me, but soon all my old cunning returned and I got within killing range.

The antelope saw me and I charged. Though the beast was very fleet, and I had to exert myself to my utmost speed, I soon secured him. Having broken its neck, I began to lap up the warm blood; but in a few moments I was checked by hearing my master’s voice calling: ‘Leave it, Cæsar.’

Looking up I saw him standing about twenty yards away, looking at me steadily.

I thought: ‘Why should I give up my kill to this man?’ Then a remembrance of all his past kindness made me hesitate to disobey; but a smell of warm blood was wafted up from the antelope and almost killed my better feeling.

Then the habit of implicit obedience which I had formed came uppermost, and I picked up the animal and going to him laid it at his feet. He did not do much; he just said ‘Good, Cæsar,’ and patted me on the head, but I felt amply repaid for my sacrifice.

After this he picked up the antelope and went back to the horse which had been tied to a tree. Having slung it on to the horse’s back, he mounted, and we went back to the house. When he had put the horse back into its stable we went back to my cage, and my master gave me a large piece of the antelope’s shoulder, and I remembered that I always used to begin my meal at the shoulder of my prey instead of at the haunch, as I had seen some animals doing.

After I had eaten every scrap I paced up and down my cage pondering over the curious chain of events which had made up my life so far, and I wondered why I did not escape when I had the chance. In a way I was glad that I had not, but on the other hand I thought how pleasant it would be if I were back again in my old cave where I was born and going wherever I wished and feeding at my own time. But on reflection I thought it would be even better if my master were with me.

My thoughts occupied me until nightfall, when my tail was suddenly seized by the ape, who had thrust his hand through the bars of both his cage and mine and got a grip on my tail when I turned during my walking up and down. I tried to jerk it away, but the ape had a firm hold, so I whisked round and before he could withdraw, my teeth had sunk to the bone in his arm.