Matigari

by Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o

‘I know who she is! ’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Who is she? ’ Muriuki asked.

  ‘This is a photo of her! ’

  ‘Of who? ’

  ‘The woman in the car. She is the wife of the Minister for Truth and Justice. ’

  ‘How do you know? ’

  ‘I’ve seen her photograph in the papers. She always appears on telly, and she is always in the papers. Who wouldn’t recognise her? You should hear her on the radio talking about the role of women. She is a fine one to talk! She tells people how women should live in the home: Women are the corner-stones of the home. That is her favourite tune. She even once said that all barmaids and all prostitutes should be locked up in prison because they are the ones who were causing a lot of homes to break up. And now there she is — stark naked in the wilderness! She never fails going to church! She goes to the cathedrals; she usually bums a golden candle... ’

  ‘This world is upside down, ’ Matigari suddenly said. ‘The robber calls the robbed robber. 'The murderer calls the murdered murderer, and the wicked calls the righteous evil. The one uprooting evil is accused of planting evil. The seeker of truth and justice ends up in prisons and detention camps. Yes, those who sow good seeds are accused of sowing weeds. As for the sell-outs, they are too busy locking up our patriots in gaols, or sending them into exile to let outsiders come and bask in the comfort wrought by others. Those we have left in the wilderness are not the only ones doing evil. Yes, this world is upside-down. Those to whom it belongs must set it to rights again! ’

  ‘When she gets home, whatever will she say? ’ Guthera asked, her thoughts still on the woman. No one answered her.

  They drove in silence. Each was preoccupied by their own thoughts. Each time Muriuki shut his eyes, he saw the frame of his Mercedes-Benz take to life and fly like an aeroplane or gallop like a horse. He was in turn the driver and the rider. Matigari was planning how he would take up arms to fight for his house yet again. The failure of one crop does not deter one from sowing seeds again. Guthera was still deeply engrossed in her thoughts. She kept on thinking about the woman, feeling very sorry for her. What problems we women have to, go through wherever we are! _When that woman goes home, her husband will beat her, demanding to know what she was doing to the wilderness with a man. When her lover goes home, he will beat his wife for demanding to know what he was doing. in the wilderness with a woman.

  Matigari now turned on the radio. After a bit of soft music, the news came on.

  USA has rejected the recent proposals by the Soviet Union for the domination of all nuclear weapons on earth*... USA has decided to militarise space... USA and Soviet Union have launched more spaceships...

  'They are forever reporting on the USA and the Soviet union! ’ Guthera exclaimed.

  ‘And also His Excellency! ’ Muriuki remarked. ‘Just wait, listen! ’ But for a time, the radio did not mention His Excellency, Ole Excellence. Guthera laughed.

  Guerrillas in El Salvador have blown up a railway bridge in the capital city. They said that they will never relinquish their arms until the USA and its lackeys in El Salvador accept the democratic process... local News: Reports say that His Excellency Ole Excellence...

  ‘ I told you! I told you! ’ Muriuki cried out triumphantly, glad that he had been proved right. Guthera and Muriuki burst out laughing. Their laughter was short-lived.

  As you may have heard in the news earlier, one of the madmen, Nguriro Kiriro, died earlier today in hospital after being shot... Nguriro was shot down by police after threatening them with violence.

  God! No! ’ Guthera exclaimed.

  This was written in 1983, a few years before Reykjavik.

  They went on in silence.

  They drove through huge coffee, tea, sisal and pineapple plantations. Later they went past narrow strips of land which were parched and over-utilised.

  Matigari spoke again.

  ‘There arc indeed two worlds, ’ he said, as though echoing Guthera’s words. ‘The world of patriots and that of sell-outs. '

  They came to a golf course. Endless lawns could be seen, with jets of water streaming from fountains, watering the grass in mock defiance of the sun.

  ‘If there was famine, would people eat this coffee, or this tea, or these lawns? ’ Guthera sadly yet bitterly asked.

  ‘We are nearly there! ’ Matigari announced. ‘This golf course was there in the days of Settler Williams and John Boy. ’

  ‘And it is still here today in these times of Robert Williams and John Boy Junior, ’ Guthera replied.

  ‘Surrender! ’ shouted Muriuki, still dreaming of a gun fight.

  ‘We must work out how we are going to get to the children’s village without being seen, ’ Matigari said.

  ‘We should go one by one, ’ Guthera suggested. ‘I’ll drop off here, and I will see you there later. ’

  She got off between the gate to the factory and the road leading to the market.

  Muriuki and Matigari drove on, Muriuki dropped off, leaving all the joy and comfort of the Mercedes behind.

  Matigari drove on alone, in search of a parking space. ‘The best way to hide something is to leave it right under the nose of those looking for it, ’ he said again to himself.

  He suddenly remembered the Esso petrol-station he had seen earlier, next to the Sheraton Hotel, and drove towards it.

  All the cars parked there were Mercedes-Benzes. Matigari found a space and squeezed the car into it. He opened the boot and put the clothes, shoes and handbag in it. He put the keys in his pocket.

  He first walked towards the factory. When he got to the spot where he had met Ngaruro for the first time, Matigari took his hat off and stood there for a minute or two.

  Before he got to the road, he heard two raised voices, talking as if they intended him to hear what they were saying.

  ‘Did you listen to the news? ’

  ‘What news? That His Excellency visited some school or other, or that he received some donation, or that he has warned people against rumour-mongering, or that he has paid some place a visit? His Excellency here, His Excellency there, His Excellency everywhere! I am tired of all that! I don’t listen to the radio any more! ’

  ‘Jesus will find you asleep... when he returns. ’

  ‘ Look, if you have nothing better to talk about, don’t talk to me about Jesus. ’

  ‘You know the minister’s wife? The Minister for Truth and justice? She and her driver were attacked by thieves, who stole their car. ’

  Really? ’

  ‘ I hear that they were going to the races... to see the horses which this woman bought jointly with the Aga Khan compete... ’

  ‘So AFRICAN PEOPLE DO OWN RACING HORSES? ’

  ‘ Maendeleobya muafirika, maendeleo ya wanawake... 1 And that is not the end of the story. I hear that the thieves were armed to the teeth.

  Matigari controlled his laughter with difficulty. He crossed the road.

  Just wait till the night falls. I will get my AK47 from under the mugumo tree, Matigari said to himself, and then they will see me truly armed to the teeth.

  16

  By the time Matigari got there, Muriuki had already told the other children everything except about the guns. So the children did not clap or cheer, nor did they jump up and down for joy, for fear of drawing the attention of passers-by. But despite their efforts not to draw people’s attention, they could not hide the admiration they felt for him.

  Matigari went into one of the cars, a Peugeot model. Guthera went into a wreck of a Ford, and Muriuki went to his Mercedes- Benz. They were all very tired. It was a very hot day. They slept.

  The children kept guard. They arranged themselves so that some were strategically placed on the road, others at the shopping centre and others in the restaurants. They agreed that whoever saw the police would rush and inform the others, or whistle a signal to warn the others. Those who were left behind were to collect heaps of stones. These were for defence, in case the police came to invade the
ir village. They would defend the three while they slept. They were spoiling for a fight. Some of them started making catapults and slings.

  They turned on the radio and listened to some music. This was followed by a religious programme. It was run by an American priest, of the Jesus Is My Saviour sect. This was followed by the news.

  ... An American nuclear carrier has called at the port on the coast of ... about ten thousand Marines are said to have come ashore for rest and recuperation... The ships have sailed from South Africa, heading for the Middle East. The mayor of the town and all his councillors paid a visit to the carrier. In his address to the officers, the mayor thanked the marines for the foreign exchange they would bring to the town... The tradesmen in the town are reported to have sold a lot oj condoms.

  Reports from the town say that a girl has been repeatedly stabbed with a bottle by her lover, an American Marine. She died on the spot.

  ‘How comes it that these Americans are all over the world? ’one of the boys asked,

  ‘Let’s listen to music on the other channel, ’ another said.

  Guthera and Matigari were startled from their sleep by Muriuki’s screams. The other children also came running to see what was going on.

  ‘I was dreaming that I was in an aeroplane, ’ he said, ‘But then it was not an aeroplane, it was a Mercedes-Benz. Then it changed into a winged house. Then I saw two birds come in through the window. But they weren’t exactly birds. It was a man and a woman — they had no clothes on,.. Then I saw

  Guthera and Matigari. They were bleeding from head to toe, ’

  Guthera shuddered.

  'It is getting late, ’ she said casually. ‘The sun has already set, hasn’t it? Have any policemen been around? ’

  ‘No! ’

  'Why didn’t you wake us up? ’ Matigari asked, and he started preparing as if to leave. ‘We had better go before it gets dark, ’ he said to Guthera.

  The children stood around Matigari, They were all very anxious. They touched his clothes. Then they told him what was happening. From their story, he gathered that everybody was heading in the direction of the house,

  'Which house? ’

  'Oh, Boy’s! ’ one of the boys said.

  'To the house! ’ another added.

  'But what are they going there for? ’ Guthera asked.

  Rumour has it that Matigari will return today, because it was only this morning that the Angel Gabriel, the same one who let him out of prison, let him out of the mental hospital. There will be a lot of policemen there too. ’

  SOME PEOPLE STARTED GOING THERE LONG BEFORE YOU TWO GOT HERE, ’ ANOTHER BOY SAID.

  "They want to see a miracle! ’ said another.

  ‘Some people have posters with slogans, ‘Expect a Miracle’.

  ‘Will you be going there? ’

  ‘Yes, I will, ’ Matigari answered.

  ‘We are coming too, ’ they all said together.

  ‘Tell us, are you the one whose Second Coming is prophesied? ’ asked one of the boys.

  ‘Jesus Christ? The Lord who will bring the New Jerusalem here on earth? ’ added another.

  Matigari hesitated for a little while. He looked at the children. Then his glance went beyond them to the car wreckages, and beyond those to the mountains.

  ‘No, ’ he answered them. ‘The God who is prophesied is in you, in me and in the other humans. He has always been there inside us since the beginning of time. Imperialism has tried to kilt that God within us. But one day that God will return from the dead. Yes, one day that God within us will come alive and liberate us who believe in Him. I am not dreaming.

  ‘He will return on the day when His followers will be able to stand up without worrying about tribe, race or colour, and say in one voice: Our labour produced all the wealth in this land. So from today onwards we refuse to sleep out in the cold, to walk about in rags, to go to bed on empty bellies. Let the earth return to those to whom it belongs. Let the soil return to the tiller, the factory to the worker,.. But that God lives more in you children of this land; and therefore if you let the country go to the imperialist enemy and its local watchdogs, it is the same thing as killing that God who is inside you. It is the same thing as stopping Him from resurrecting. That God will come back only when you want Him to. ’

  The children looked at one another in surprise. Matigari spoke in an even voice, but his words touched their very souls. He spoke as though he could read into their very hearts.

  Matigari, Guthera and Muriuki went a little distance away from the children and whispered together. They discussed what they were going to do next. Matigari came up with an idea.

  ‘Since there are a lot of people at the house now, this is what I have decided to do. You go to the house, with the rest of the children. I shall go and check if that Mercedes is where I left it. I shall drive to the mugumo tree, where I shall arm myself and then come and join you. Right now, I am not afraid of dying for the just cause — our heritage!

  ‘Supposing the Mercedes isn’t there? ’ Guthera asked. ‘Don’t worry. I will still come to the house. ’ he said. ‘What did I tell you? Boy will never sleep in my house again. He and I cannot both sleep in the same house tonight. I would rather build a new house altogether from scratch — a bigger house, a house with proper foundations, a firm foundation! ’

  ‘You had better hurry, then, ’ Guthera said.

  ‘And bring me a pistol! ’ Muriuki added. He was still thinking of cowboy films.

  Matigari went away, leaving them all staring after him. Guthera and Muriuki disappeared among the children as they streamed with everyone else in the direction of the house - the house where they would all witness a miracle.

  17

  It was true that everyone was expecting a miracle on that day. Soldiers and policemen were everywhere. They wanted to catch Matigari alive or dead but in the presence of the crowd. That would quell all the rumours about miracles, angels and Christ’s Second Coming, ‘People must be allowed to see it all, ’ were the instructions of the police chief.

  Robert Williams’s house where John Boy had gone to hide was heavily guarded. Boy sat very close to the telephone so that he could be the first to get the welcome news of Matigari’s arrest or death. And so, like everybody else, the two, Williams and Boy, anxiously waited for a miracle.

  News editors waited.

  Radio reporters waited.

  Television crews had brought all their equipment to the scene. They waited.

  The whole country waited. '

  They all snared the same hope: that a miracle should take place. But at the same time all wondered: who really was Matigari ma Njiruungi? A patriot? Angel Gabriel? Jesus Christ? Was he a human being or a spirit? A true or false prophet? A saviour or simply a lunatic? Was Matigari a man or was he a woman? A child or an adult? Or was he only an idea, an image, in people’s minds? Who Was He?

  People from all religions and denominations continued streaming towards the house. They carried Bibles, crosses, Korans, rosaries of all sizes and colours. They sang and beat drums. They all waited for Jehovah’s sword to fall from heaven ... the Final Judgement...

  Whatever the whispers of doubt, it was better to be on the safe side, just in case...

  18

  Matigari hurried towards the Esso filling-station where he had parked the Mercedes.

  Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. Except for the minister’s car, not another Mercedes was in sight, nor any other model for that matter. Was this a trap perhaps? He looked around him, thinking that there might be a policeman somewhere. He saw no one.

  He walked to the petrol-station and asked for some fuel in a jerry can. All the while, he kept on casting surreptitious glances around.

  In the inner office sat a man smoking a cigarette. Matigari could not see his face clearly.

  ‘Where have all the cars gone to? Matigari asked the forecourt attendant.

  ‘Haven’t you heard? ’

  ‘What? ’

 
; ‘The whole country has gone to Boy’s house. ’

  ‘Is there a party there or something? ’

  ‘Do you mean to say that you really haven’t heard the news? ’

  ‘What news? ’

  ‘People believe that a man called Matigari ma Njiruungi who escaped from the mental hospital this morning might be trying to get into Boy’s house by force. The police want to catch him alive in front of everybody. If you ask me, I would say that the man is not crazy. ’

  ‘Why? What is he like? ’

  ‘Some people say this, and others say that. Some say that he is as tall as a giant, and that his head touches the sky. Others say that he is as little as a dwarf. Some say that Matigari is a woman, and others maintain that he is a man. Some people think that he is an adult, and others that he or she is a child. Nobody knows what nationality he derives from. It is rumoured that he speaks many different languages. I have heard people say that he is a solitary person, but then others say that he is always led by a boy and followed by a woman. You might see him this minute, then all of a sudden he is nowhere to be seen. All you see is a woman and a boy. He is here, he is there, he is everywhere. You never know what to believe. If it were not for these foreign-owned companies that we work for, I would be there. ’

  Matigari paid for the petrol and walked towards the Mercedes. Before opening the car door, he turned around. He saw the man he had earlier seen smoking a cigarette leave the office.

  Their eyes met. It was Giceru, the informer, the man he had been to prison with — the same man with whom he had shared a cell.

  Matigari saw him speaking with the garage attendant. Then both men turned towards the car.

  Matigari made a quick calculation. There was no other car in sight. So the only other possibility for the informer was to telephone. He reached a quick decision. He got into the car, started the engine and drove off.

  The informer could do as he pleased. Death comes but once!

  Giceru made for the telephone.

  19

  He took the main road. There was still a hint of daylight, although the sun had set. He pressed harder on the accelerator, and the car leapt forward. Matigari wondered whether he should first go to the house if only to see the people who were gathered there. He resisted the temptation. Justice for the oppressed springs from the organised armed power of the people. Matigari had already laid down the belt of peace. He would now return to the forests and the mountains and wear his belt of arms for a second struggle. To whom would his people otherwise turn? How could he continue sweating, only for the breed of parasites to reap where they had not sown? When, oh when, would that day come when