The chief of the tribe, tall, stately, is not an old man at all. He walked importantly around the village, dressed in long white clothes and tied his clean-shaven head with a bright red ribbon. He was tall and broad at the shoulders. Even now, alone, this man could cope with a buffalo, armed with only a sword, which his father once gave him, as a symbol of male prowess.

His name was Matomat. Today he married his eldest daughter, Maru, to the son of a leader of a neighboring tribe. For this event preparing for a month. Women sewed a dowry - luxurious dresses of the finest silk, which, almost without arguing about the price, were traded from merchants. Men tracked game to the night before the wedding to hunt her. Mara herself spent the whole week at Zaara, the shaman of the tribe, listening to the wise instructions of his many helpers and taking cleansing baths with incense and firming herbs.

Mato turned his head to the noise coming from the edge of the forest, and realized that the hunt was successful. The strongest men who went fishing before dawn, were now dragging two roe deer and a wild goat on the long thick poles, and their comrades were walking alongside, shouting loudly and shaking their spears and bows.

- Today, the feast will be glorious! - announced Mato with a lively bass, - Our hunters brought rich booty!

- Oh. Yes, father! - The youngest daughter Dana ran up to the leader, - Women have already begun to smoke sea bass, and my friends and I brought two baskets of carp and eels from a mountain lake. And the old Lugunya kneaded dough for cakes.

“Soon the bridegroom will come for you,” said the leader, and sighed sadly, “And then I can safely go on a long journey to our ancestors.”

“Do not, father,” the girl clasped Momato’s hand and pressed her lips to his shoulder, “I haven’t chosen a groom yet. And if I fall in love with a man from our village?

- Then you will have to leave and live separately, - the leader smiled, - That is our custom. You will create a new settlement, and then our people will multiply.

The feast was in full swing when four large boats piled on the shore with people armed to the teeth, commanded by a high officer in a richly embroidered coat and a huge hat with a luxurious plume. Pulling out the muskets from behind the belt and exposing the blades, they rushed to the village with wild cries, destroying everything that came their way under their arms.

Panic broke out in the village. People, having forgotten about the bridegroom and the bride, rushed into the forest, but it turned out that the way to the salvation was often cut off. The robbers, who knew the habits of the local people, surrounded the settlement from all sides, and no one managed to slip out. Gradually squeezing the ring, the bandits drove all residents to the center. A separate detachment dragged out of the light reed huts of those who hoped to escape in their native walls, and set fire to the shacks themselves.

- Who are you and what do you need from us? - shouted the leader, but got hit in the stomach and fell to the ground.

- Quiet, macaques! - shouted the leader, when his people, wielding whips, drove everyone to the center, - My name is ... And in other, it does not matter. You, rather, those whom we will keep alive will call me the Master. And the rest of my name to know nothing. Do you have this big guy?

“This is our leader,” the old gray-haired Lugunya stepped forward. “The great and wise Mato.”

The gangsters burst out at once with wild laughter, followed by shots and swinging sabers. The leader, after waiting a few minutes, raised his hand up, and his team immediately fell silent. Nodding in the direction of the leader still lying on the ground, he ordered to put him in front of him.He himself sat down at the place where Matomat himself had recently sat.

Well, what, monkey? - the leader asked with a grin, when his people with their whips and whips lifted the leader and put him on his knees, - You are said to be the most important and wisest here?

“I am a man,” answered Matmato, proudly, trying to get to his feet, but was beaten again.

- Shut your mouth, nigger bastard! - roared the main thug, - You have no right to call yourself a man! Because here I am - a man, and you - a dirty stinking creature.

Mato proudly threw up his head and suddenly spat a man in a hat right in the face. He turned red with anger, and his henchmen froze in mute bewilderment, not knowing what to do next. The leader, leaning forward with his whole body, hissed like a snake, ready to attack:

“You will be hanged by the legs on the tallest palm, macaque!” Your death will be long and painful, and no one can help you, because I, before jerking you off, will finish with all your kindred. Hey, what are you waiting for? Line up this whole rabble in front of me!

The pirates rushed to carry out the orders of their captain, and after a couple of minutes the whole tribe was lined up in a long line. Ataman slowly paced along this line, sometimes stopping in front of one of the natives, examined him from head to toe. After finishing the inspection, he sat down again in the place of the leader.

- All males - to that tree! - ordered the leader, pointing to a thick palm tree.

In a matter of seconds the order was executed. All the men gathered around the trunk of the coke palm and put up a reliable guard. The captain smiled mischievously and abruptly raised his hand. The next moment, shots rang out, and one by one the natives fell to the ground with prostrated heads.

Women raised a cry, wringing their hands and sending curses on the heads of the murderers. Nerves Mato failed. Throwing aside the gangsters who were standing behind him, the leader rushed at the captain, but he deftly pulled his sword out of its sheath, lunged, and the blade pierced the giant's body, coming out on the other side.

Mato stopped for a second and fell with rolling eyes, making a long, drawn-out moan.

- Father! - Mara jumped out of the crowd of villagers and rushed to the body of the leader, but two pirates seized her and dragged her away.

- Killer! - screamed the girl, trying to escape from the strong paws of the robbers.

The captain of the gangsters grimaced again in a brazen smile. Whispering something to his adjutant, he, as if nothing had happened, grabbed a piece of warm, roast meat and began to eat. He nodded shortly and called two burly pirates to himself and pointed to a tree.

The body of Matomat was dragged by the legs to a palm tree and, throwing a thick rope over his ankles, hung on a strong bitch upside down. A howl arose among the surviving villagers, but he did not care about the captain. The pirate quietly enjoyed the meal, grinning on him with a malevolent smile.

Having stuffed his belly, the ataman ordered all the remaining provisions to be loaded onto boats and sent to the ship on the roadstead. Having wiped his mouth with a palm leaf, he again walked through the rows of natives, selecting the most beautiful and sturdy girls, whom his men immediately grabbed and took to the side. There they were stripped to the goal, their hands tied behind their backs with pre-prepared thin rawhide belts and kicks and blows of whips were sent to the boats.

The hold was dark and damp. The prisoners were put on thick rough collars and fastened with short chains to the walls of the bulkheads. Hands untied, but immediately handcuffed. The legs were also shackled. Twice a day, slaves were brought food, from which the stomachs, accustomed to pure, natural food, reduced convulsions, and some of the unfortunate began to vomit. Pirates responded to all complaints only with laughter and whip blows.

On the fifth day, two captives died. Glancing indifferently at the emaciated calfs, the gangsters, having removed the chains, dragged them out of the hold and threw them overboard.

“We are exhausted,” Mara whispered with a sob, and no one objected to her.

Swimming continued. After two weeks, only five slaves remained in the hold.They were thin, their once smooth, velvety skin wrinkled. The ribs are visible.

Once a captain came down to the hold accompanied by two ... Read more →