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Chapter Twenty. With Pangsha's Enemies |
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feast continued all nigh;, drink |
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Long after we have returned to our camp the dance continues, finishing finally with a feast in which Chingmak takes part. It is not until late in the evening that he comes home with a glowing nose and tottering steps. In the morning we hear that he excelled himself the night before, making great plans with his drinking companions. Full of pride at his successful negotiations with Pangsha and Noklak, and stimulated with quantities of rice-beer, unusual even for a Naga chief, he manifested himself as the great diplomat, establishing peace and concluding agreements with other villages, forging alliances and negotiating Panso's relations with their neighbours. But this morning he says he can remember nothing, and when Nakhu calls him to account for his altogether too far-reaching political conceptions he is most astonished by the stories of all these peace plans. |
