Writing for Kenya
Page 33
nĩekũmuongerera matukũ maingĩ aikare muoyo, nĩgetha akenagio nĩ
mwago ũcio wothe.
Tũgũkĩona atĩ gũthũrana na gĩkuũ imwena ũmwe. Na kwendana
na muoyo imwena ũria ũngĩ, na nĩ tugire atĩ maũndũ mothe marĩa
mangĩtũma tũikare muoyo na tũgĩe na gĩkeno nĩ mega, na nĩmo
twagĩrĩirũo nĩ gũcaria, na tondũ ũcio kwendana na kwenda maũndũ
mega, nĩ ũndũ wa gũtũma tũikare muoyo na tondũ ũcio nĩ twagĩrĩirũo
nĩ kwendana na kwenda maũndũ mega, nĩgetha tũikare muoyo.
what should we do, our people?
219
We can see that hating each other is to narrow our mind.127 When
someone keeps on hating one thing aft er another, in the end he will
hate everything and everybody. He will fi nally commit suicide.
To love, on the other hand, is to broaden the mind.128 One will con-
tinue loving one person aft er another, one thing aft er another, and will
see the value of other people and things. One will eventually be fi lled
with much happiness.
He will see the country fi lled with many good things, many of his
friends, and many other beautiful and appealing things. He will wish
that God would increase his life on earth, so that he could take pleasure
in all that joy.
Th
erefore, we see that hatred and death are on the same side and
love and life are on the other side. All those things that can keep us
alive and happy are good, and should be sought aft er. Th
us, loving
good things makes us live, so we should love each other and love good
things so that we can survive.
If we open our eyes and remove hatred from our mind, we will see
that the white people are a wonderful people. We will also fi nd that there
is nothing we can do without them, if only we learn how to acquire
friendship with them these days.
We all know education is good. Th
ere is no education for blacks
and [another] for whites. Knowledge for blacks can only be found by
fi rst learning white men’s knowledge. If you fi nd what is discussed in
this book to be good and helpful, this is because the writer has been
shown how to write by white people, and he then decided to share this
knowledge with black people. Don’t you see that everything is related
to each other? Our problem is our failure to see how one thing relates
to another.
All the wisdom of education129 has been created by the whites up
to the point it has reached today. We black people are borrowers,130
because there is no black person who took some mud to create that
knowledge.131 For all the time during which this knowledge has been
created, we have been borrowing. When the owners of the knowledge
fi nd how strongly we borrow, they get angry and ask: ‘Do these people
know how hard we have worked to create this wisdom? Instead of bor-
rowing it with politeness,132 they borrow from us aggressively.’
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Tũgakĩona atĩ tũngĩhingũra maitho maitũ, na tweherie rũthũro
meciria-inĩ maitũ, no tuone atĩ andũ aya erũ nĩ andũ akũgegania
mũno, na maũndũ maingi mao mahota gũtũguna mũno, ona ningĩ
tũcoke tuone atĩ hatirĩ ũndũ ona ũmwe tũngĩhota gwĩka hatarĩ ũteithio
wao, korũo tuona ũrĩa ũrata witũ nao ũngĩoneka makĩria matukũ-inĩ
maya.
Tondũ rĩrĩ, ithuothe nĩ tũũĩ atĩ gĩthomo nĩ kĩega, no hatirĩ gĩthomo
kĩa andũ airũ, no kĩa andũ erũ. Na ũgĩ ũrĩa ũngĩoneka wa andũ airũ,
no wonekire na njĩra ya kwamba kwĩruta ũgĩ wa andũ erũ.
Tondũ rĩrĩ, angĩkorũo nĩ ũkuona ndeto ici irario ibuku-inĩ rĩrĩ
injega-rĩ, ona icia
Hĩndĩ ĩrĩa mũndũ aigua heho-rĩ, na oirĩrũo nĩ mbura-rĩ, ndetagĩrĩra
Ngai amũtũmĩre nguo ndume yume igũrũ irĩ ng’ima, kana nyũmba
njake yume matuinĩ irĩ njake.
No ũrĩa mũndũ ekaga nĩ gũtũmĩra meciria mau kana tombo ũcio
aheirũo nĩ Ngai, akanyita indo icio Ngai ombire, na nĩcio mĩtĩ na
mahĩga na indo iria ingĩ, agacicokanĩrĩria na njĩra ya gwĩteithia he hebo
na mbura, na mũcokererio ũcio akawita nyũmba.
Ningĩ akoya rũa akehumba atige kũiguo heho, kana akanyita ndigi,
agacithugundania, mũthugundanio ũcio akawĩta nguo akehumba.
Na tondũ ũcio-rĩ, nĩ tũkuona o wega wĩra wa Ngai harĩa wakinya, na
wa andũ harĩa wambagĩrĩrĩa. Wĩra wa Ngai nĩ wa kũmba indo ciothe,
hamwe na andũ akamaiga gũkũ thĩ. Nagno wĩra wa mũndũ nĩ kuoya
indo icio na gũitabarĩra na njĩra ĩrĩa ĩngĩmũrehere kĩguni na yakũgiria
akue, kana oragwo nĩ maũndũ macio matarĩ mega he muoyo ta heho,
na mbura, na ũrugarĩ.
Ũgĩ wothe, kana gĩthomo o gĩothe kĩrĩa kĩama, nĩ wĩra ũcio wa gũcaria
na gũtabarĩra maũndũ macio makũguna andũ gĩteithagia.
Hakĩrĩ ũguo-rĩ, hatirĩ mũndũ mũirũ wa gũkũ gwitũ ũteithĩtie gwaka
kana gũtabarira ũgĩ ũcio, no mũndũ mwerũ. Na nĩkĩo hĩndĩ ĩrĩa wona
mũndũ mwerũ mũrutĩre ngũbia, na ũmwĩte Bwana, tondũ nĩarutĩte wĩra
mũnene na wakũgegania ũtarĩ warutwo kinya thĩ ĩno yombwo.
Nawe ũtige kwĩmena tondũ ũngĩonio njĩra wahota gwĩka o ro ũguo,
tondũ ũndũ o wothe ũngĩmenyeka nĩ mũndũ ũmwe, ona andũ angĩ
no maũmenye.
Tondũ rĩrĩ, gũtingĩhoteka andũ othe makorũo bandũ hamwe ihinda
o rĩmwe ũndũ ũgĩkĩka. Kana mone ũndũ o ro ũmwe marĩ othe hamwe.
Tondũ wonagwo nĩ andũ amwe arĩa megũkorũo ho ũndũ ũcio ũgĩkĩka,
nao makera arĩa angĩ matoima ho.
Ũguo nĩguo tũngiuga harĩ ũhoro wa ũgĩ wa comba. Na tondũ ũcio-rĩ,
rekei gũthaithana gwitũ gũtuĩke gwa atĩrĩrĩ:
what should we do, our people?
221
Th
at is why our country has failed to create unity between black and
white. Many black people these days think that the wisdom possessed
by white people is given by God from heaven. [So that] when God sees
the time is ripe, he will send that knowledge to us in the same way.
Th
is is very ignorant. What God does is to create all things, causing
them to exist here on earth. Th
en he creates man and gives him ideas
to know about many things, to give him a presence in the world. When
a person feels cold or is rained on, he does not wait for God to send a
complete set of clothing or a complete house from heaven.
What he does is use the brains God gave him, to get hold of the
things God created like trees, stones, and other things, and then to join
them together as a means to protect himself from cold or rain. He calls
this totality a house.
He then looks for skin and wears it to protect himself from cold.
He then takes thread and sews it together. Th
is labyrinth of thread he
calls clothes.
We therefore clearly see where God’s work ends and the work of
man begins. God’s work was to create everything including man, and
place them on earth. Th
e work of man is to prepare these things in
ways that benefi t him, to p
rotect him from dying from exposure to
dangerous things like cold, rain or heat.
Th
e only true wisdom, or the only education that is truly miraculous,
is the work of preparing those things which help people.133
No black person of this our place, therefore, has helped to build
or harness this wisdom, only the white man. Th
at is why you should
salute the white man and call him Bwana, whenever you meet him.
He has done wonderful work that has not been done before, since the
world was created.
But do not belittle yourself. If you are shown how, you can do the
same things, because if one person learns something, other people can
learn it too.
It is impossible for everybody to be at the same place at the same
time when something happens, or for everybody to see the same thing
at the same time. Th
e people who are there when something happens
witness it. Th
ey then tell the others who were not there.
Th
at is what we can say about the white man’s knowledge. Let our
plea be ‘Show us the way and we will take ourselves wherever the way
takes us.’ Th
at is to say, ‘Show us the knowledge of how to look for
things, and we shall follow that way.’
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chapter four
‘Tuoniei njĩra, na nĩ tũgwĩtwara o kinya harĩa njĩra ĩyo ĩrĩtũkinyia’.
Naguo ũguo nĩ kuga atĩrĩrĩ: ‘Tuoniei ũgĩ na njira ya gũtuĩrĩa maũndũ
na nĩtũkũrũmĩrĩra njĩra ĩo’.
Nĩgethe ũgĩ ũrĩa tũkuona, waturanĩrũo na ũgĩ ũrĩa mũrĩkĩtie kuona,
ona ũrĩa mũrĩonaga, ũtuĩke wa kĩguni kĩnene, andũ othe a thĩ handũ
marũma, magĩe na thayũ na kwage mbara tondũ wa ũmenyo ũcio wa
ũguni kũingĩha.
35. Ũhũni na ahũni
Matukũ maya kwĩ andũ mekwĩĩta ahũni, naguo ũhũni ũcio nĩ wa
mĩthemba mĩingĩ. Tondũ harĩ ahũni a kũiya, a mbara, a kũragana
na ibindo, kana a gwĩka waganu o wothe matarĩ na guoya waũ kana
waũ.
Ũguo nĩ kuga atĩ mũhũni o wothe ndarĩ ngero atangĩgera, tondũ we
ndarĩ ũndũ kana mũndũ angĩtigĩra. Hindĩ ĩrĩĩ tũkuga atĩ ndarĩ ũndũ
angĩtigĩra-rĩ’, nĩ kuga atĩ we ndarĩ ndini kwoguo ndoĩ Ngai.
Ningĩ hĩndĩ ĩrĩa tũkuga atĩ ndarĩ mũndũ angĩtigĩra-ri, nĩ kuuga atĩ
mũhũni ndoĩ thirikari na kuohwo kana kwaga kuhwo harĩ we no ũndũ
ũmwe, kwoguo ti mwathĩki.
Tũgũkĩona atĩa? Nĩ tugire atĩ, mũndũ o wothe ũrĩa ũyaiga kana
ũgeraga ngero o yothe njũru, nĩ rũrĩrĩ rũake amenithagia. Ningĩ mũndũ
ta ũcio meciria make mahana ta ma nyamũ, gũtigana kwao no atĩ we
nĩekwaria.
Tondu nyamũ o yothe ndĩũĩ. Ngai na ndĩrĩ ndini nake mũhũni nĩ
tuonire atĩ ndoĩ Ngai na ndarĩ ndini. Ningĩ nyamũ o yothe ndĩũĩ watho
na ndĩri ũndũ ĩngĩhingĩa, namo maũndũ macio nomo mena mũhũni.
Kwoguo mũhũni nĩ nyamũ, na nĩ thũ ya rũrĩrĩ ruitũ. Na ũrĩa
kwagĩrĩire nĩ maninwo na monererio njĩra ya gũtuĩka andũ, mathomitio
magĩe na ũgĩ wa maũndũ mega, na wendani, na kĩyo kĩa wĩra o wothe,
nĩgetha mathũre kũgĩa na kĩndũ matarutire wĩra makanogera.
Rekei kwĩrirĩrĩa na gũtanya gwitũ gũtuĩka kwamaũndũ mega, namo
maũndũ mega monagwo nĩ andũ ega.
36. Ũiru nĩ kĩĩ?
Ũiru handũ harĩa wonekagĩra wega wĩ njaga-ri, nĩ kũringana na andũ-
a-nja, tondũ mũndũ angĩnyitwo kwa mũtumia wene, ahũragwo akenda
kũragwo. Kĩrĩa gĩkoragwo gĩgĩtũma andũ acio mahũre mũnyitwo na
hinya mũingĩ-rĩ, ona mamũgũthe na hinya-rĩ nĩ Ũiru.
what should we do, our people?
223
Th
e knowledge we [Africans] will fi nd, combined with the knowl-
edge you [whites] have already found, and that which you have yet to
discover to be of benefi t, [will mean that] people all over the world
should be peaceful and prevent war as a result of all the increase in
benefi cial knowledge.
35. Discontent and the discontented
Some people today call themselves ahuni, the discontented.134 Th
is dis-
content is of diff erent kinds, because of theft , war, penknife murders,
and all other sorts of crimes that are committed without fear.
A discontented loafer can create trouble of any kind, for he fears
nothing and no one. When we say he fears no one, we mean he is
profane and does not know God.
When we say the discontented fears no one, we mean he fears neither
government nor imprisonment, so he is rebellious.135
What do we fi nd? We have said that anyone who steals or causes
disaster of any kind discredits his community. His mind is like an
animal’s, the only diff erence being that he can talk.
Animals do not know God and have no religion. We have shown
that a hooligan does not know God and has no religion. Furthermore,
animals do not know the law and can accomplish nothing. It’s the
same with the loafer.
Th
erefore, a discontented man is an animal and an enemy of the
country. What should be done is [either] to eliminate them136 or
show them how to be human, training them in knowledge of good
things, love, and hard work, so that they will hate what they have not
worked for.
Let our aim be for good things, and good things are seen in good
people.
36. What is jealousy?
Where jealousy is best seen in its naked form is in [men’s] association
with women, since if a man is caught with another man’s wife, he is
beaten to death. Th
e reason people are beaten when caught in such an
act is jealousy.
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Tondũ ũcio-rĩ, ũngĩnyitwo nĩ andũ erĩ kwa mũtumia wene-rĩ tuge
mũrũme na mũndũ ũngĩ-rĩ, andũ acio erĩ ũrĩa wĩna ũiru mũnene nĩ
mũthuri wa mũtumia ũcio. Na hĩndĩ ĩrĩa marĩirĩka gũgwĩkĩra mĩtĩ
mwĩrĩ-rĩ, mũtĩ ũrĩa ũrĩringagwo nĩ mwene mũtumia ũrĩkoragwo
wĩgũmĩirũo mũno gũkĩra wa mũndũ ũcio ũngĩ, tondũ o ũrĩa ũiru ũigana
noguo nacio ciĩko cia mũndũ ciigana.
Na tondũ ũcio-rĩ, ũiru kũringana na andũ-a nja nĩwagĩrĩire. No harĩa
ũiru ũtagĩrĩire-ri, nĩ kũmena mũndũ tondũ wa maũndũ make mega
gũkĩra maku. Ũiru wa mũthemba ũcio wonekaga kaingĩ tondũ wa
kwĩiganania kana kwĩgerekania. Tondũ hĩndĩ ĩrĩa mũndũ ona egũkĩrũo
no tonga kana ũndũ ũngi mwega, nĩ ũiru agĩaga naguo.
Na ũiru ũcio nĩ rũthũro rũru mũno, rũrĩa rũingagĩra ngoro ya
mwene ũiru ũcio o thĩ-inĩ makĩria. Na nĩwega ũririkane atĩ rũthũro rũa
mũthemba o wothe nĩ tuonire atĩ rũrĩ mwena ũmwe na gikuũ tondũ
worĩa tuonire atĩ mũndũ angĩthiĩ akĩmenaga andũ ũmwe ũmwe, no
rĩrĩ rĩngĩ nake emene eite.
Ũguo noguo tũngiuga harĩ ũhoro wa ũiru, tondũ ũngĩtonya harĩ
andũ ona arĩkũ, arĩa mangĩkorũo makĩrutithania wĩra ona ũrĩkũ, wĩra
ũcio ndũngĩcoka gũthiĩ na mbere.
Hĩndĩ ĩrĩa mũndũ ena ũ
iru ũyũ mũingĩ o kũigana harĩ mũndũ
ũngĩ-rĩ, wahota kũigua akiuga atĩrĩrĩ: niĩ ndiendete kuona ng’ania, ona
ndĩendete akĩgwetwo hakuhĩ na niĩ. Ona rĩngĩ nĩkuonekaga atĩ mũndũ
ahota kũraga ũrĩa ũngĩ tondũ wa ũiru guo mwene.’
Rĩu-rĩ, tuonire atĩ ũiru wonekaga tondũ wa kwĩiganania kana
kwĩgerakania, na mũndũ ũrĩa ũngĩ, gwakorũo nĩ indo mũndũ akenda
agĩe na nyingĩ gũkĩra ũcio ũngĩ. Kwoguo kwenda gũtonga o wee wiki
nĩkuo kũrehaga ũirũ. Tũgakĩona atĩ, tũngĩenda kũnina ũiru, no tũtigire
kwĩiganania, kana kwĩgerekania na mũndũ ũrĩa ũngĩ. Ithenya rĩa kwenda
gũtonga ithuiki twende tũtonge ithuothe, na ũiru nĩũgũthira. Tũgakĩona
orĩngĩ atĩ mũthaiga wa ũiru nĩ wendani.
Ũiru nĩ thũ ya andũ, mweneguo o hamwe na andũ arĩa angĩ, na ni
ũtũmaga andũ aingi matũre thutha ũgatũma andũ amwe mathĩne na
angĩkorũo nĩ matonga, ningĩ makaga gĩkeno tondũ worĩa megũthĩnio
nĩ ũiru ũcio meciria inĩ mao.
Na tondũ ũcio nĩ wega kwendana ũiru ũninwo, maũndũ mothe nĩ
manogagia mũndũ ũtonga, gĩkeno. No ũndũ ũtanogagia mũndũ nĩ
wendo, no ti Wendo wa mwena ũmwe, nĩ wendo wa maũndũ mothe
mega. Tecirie.
what should we do, our people?
225
If you are caught by two men, one being the husband of the unfaithful
wife, the man who demonstrates most jealousy is the husband. When
they start beating you with sticks, the husband will wield the stick with
more power than the other man, since jealousy is his spur to action.
So far as women are concerned, jealousy is justifi ed. However, jeal-
ousy is not justifi able when someone is hated because he owns better
things than others do. Th
is kind of jealousy comes from trying to
measure oneself against others, or from trying to imitate them. When
a man sees that others are earning wealth while good things are passing
him by, he becomes jealous.
Th
is jealousy is a very bad form of hatred that reaches right into the
heart of a person. As you will remember, we said that any kind of hatred
is on the same side as death, because when someone hates one person
aft er another, in the end he will hate himself and commit suicide.
We can say the same about jealousy, since if it gets into people who
are working together, that work will not continue.