Allan Quatermain Stories · Chapter
Long Odds explained
Allan Quatermain tells the story of a lion encounter while stranded alone with his wagon after his oxen stray.
What happens
Allan Quatermain tells the story of a lion encounter while stranded alone with his wagon after his oxen stray. He shoots an impala ram, but later a lion kills his ox Kaptein and, along with its mate and cubs, feeds nearby while Quatermain lies frozen on the wagon, terrified but unharmed.
Themes in this chapter
Adventure and Danger
Quatermain's harrowing encounter with a lion and its family while stranded alone highlights the constant peril of life in the African wilderness.
Courage and Heroism
Quatermain's composure under extreme threat, lying motionless as lions feed nearby, exemplifies quiet courage.
Fate and Mortality
The sudden attack and the precariousness of Quatermain's survival underscore the theme of fate and the nearness of death.
Characters to notice
- Allan Quatermain
Narrator and protagonist; recalls a dangerous lion encounter in Sikukuni's country in 1869.
- Sir Henry Curtis
Quatermain's companion; present at the telling of the story.
- Captain Good
Dining with Quatermain and Curtis; prompts Quatermain to tell the lion story.
- Kaptein
The ox that is killed and eaten by the lion and its family.
- Tom
Quatermain's driver; sent to find the stray oxen.
- Lion
Large black-maned lion that kills Kaptein and, with its mate and cubs, feeds near Quatermain.
Key passages
“I felt him, I say, sniffing at my left leg that was hanging down. My word! I did feel queer; I don't think that I ever felt so queer before.”
Quatermain describes the terrifying sensation of the lion sniffing his dangling leg, a moment of extreme fear unlike any he had experienced.
Captures the visceral terror of the encounter.
“There were four of them within eight feet of me, growling and quarrelling, rending and tearing, and crunching poor Kaptein’s bones; and there I lay shaking with terror, and the cold perspiration pouring out of me, feeling like another Daniel come to judgment.”
Quatermain compares his helplessness while the lion family devours his ox to the biblical Daniel in the lions' den.
Highlights the dramatic tension and Quatermain's sense of vulnerability.