It is my belief that unless he were first addressed, Zikali would have sat all night without opening his lips.

Possibly Cetewayo would have done the same if the impatience of public opinion had allowed him.

At any was rate it was he who gave way.
"Makosi, master of many Spirits, on behalf of the Council and the People of the Zulus I, the King, greet you here in the place that you have chosen," said Cetewayo.
Zikali made no answer.
The silence went on as before, till at length, after a pause and some whispering, Cetewayo repeated his salutation, adding-- "Has age made you deaf, O Opener of Roads, that you cannot hear the voice of the King ?" Then at last Zikali answered in his low voice that yet seemed to fill all the kloof-- "Nay, Child of Senzangacona, age has not made me deaf, but my spirit in these latter days floats far from my body.

It is like a bladder filled with air that a child holds by a string, and before I can speak I must draw it from the heavens to earth again.

What did you say about the place that I have chosen?
Well, what better place could I choose, seeing that it was here in this very Vale of Bones that I met the first king of the Zulus, Chaka the Wild Beast, who was your uncle?
Why then should I not choose it to meet the last king of the Zulus ?" Now I, listening, knew at once that this saying might be understood in two ways, namely that Cetewayo was the reigning king, or that he was the last king who would ever reign.