// that our moonlight tales aren’t for the fun of it //
A leper uttered three statements,
I struggled to believe the first two but
the third breathed life into my doubt;
He said, with his shoulders almost touching the roof:
i. A beast reared its terrific head at me,
I picked up a cutlass and struck it
ii. It reappeared and I threw my fists at it
iii. Again it appeared, I stood to my feet,
made a nest of its face and scratched
it with my fingers, the sharpness of dagger.
I travelled into my inmost self
with a question leaping like a cheetah:
Do lepers have [sharp] fingers?
Cast for a hunter who killed four antelopes
and lied to have killed eight antelopes;
Verily, when he’s done eating the four antelopes,
He’ll consume the remaining four lies.
But a gentleman will always maintain his
uprightness, come what may, let heaven fall.
