One Most Disagreeable Result Of This Was
That I Excited Terror Alike In Man And Beast.
Wherever I went,
dogs barked, children screamed, women ran away, and men stared as
though I were some strange and terrible cannibal or monster.
Even
the pack-horses on the roads and paths would start aside when I
appeared and rush into the jungle; and as to those horrid, ugly
brutes, the buffaloes, they could never be approached by me; not
for fear of my own but of others' safety. They would first stick
out their necks and stare at me, and then on a nearer view break
loose from their halters or tethers, and rush away helter-skelter
as if a demon were after them, without any regard for what
might be in their way. Whenever I met buffaloes carrying packs
along a pathway, or being driven home to the village, I had to
turn aside into the jungle and hide myself until they had passed,
to avoid a catastrophe which would increase the dislike with
which I was already regarded. Everyday about noon the buffaloes
were brought into the villa, and were tethered in the shade
around the houses; and then I had to creep about like a thief by
backways, for no one could tell what mischief they might do to
children and houses were I to walk among them. If I came suddenly
upon a well where women were drawing water or children bathing, a
sudden flight was the certain result; which things occurring day
after day, were very unpleasant to a person who does not like to
be disliked, and who had never been accustomed to be treated as
an ogre.
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