Something of Value (1957)

Ken Renard: Karanja - Father of Kimani

Photos 

Quotes 

• Crown Consul : Swear him in.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : Which god, please?

  Crown Consul : The Christian God.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : I worship Ngai, the god who lives on Mount Kenya. I will swear by our sacred Githathi stone.

  Crown Consul : Your word will suffice.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : Oh, no, no. If I lie before this symbol of God... my children and their children and my home and my land will turn to dust. And when I die... I will have no life hereafter except to live forever in eternity... by the cursed hyena, cowardly eater of the dead. i speak the truth.

  Crown Consul : You're the father of the dead baby in question?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : Yes.

  Crown Consul : Did you tell the midwife to kill the baby?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : Yes. It was born feet first, it was cursed.

  Crown Consul : Then what was done?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : What is always done according to custom.

  Crown Consul : Tell His Honor what that is.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : We smothered the child and buried it under a pot.

  Crown Consul : You know that killing is against the law?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : God says to murder is wrong.

  Crown Consul : And when you had that newborn baby smothered, was that not murder?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : No. A child cannot join the tribe until he is 1 year old. Therefore, he's not really born until his second year. What was killed was a demon, not a child.

  Crown Consul : And then what did you do?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : We sacrificed a young ram.

  Crown Consul : Mm. And that , I suppose, got rid of the curse.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : No, no sir. Not yet. I am still here, therefore the curse is still at work.

  Crown Consul : Would you do the same thing if another child were born to you feet first?

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : [very slowly looks around at everyone]  Yes... yes... It would be my duty.

• Kimani Wa Karanja : I told you. He will not help you.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : Our Mathanjuki will purify you. he will drive the curse from your body... and I will be free.

  Kimani Wa Karanja : No!

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : You do not believe in god?

  Kimani Wa Karanja : Yes, yes! But I do not believe in our witchcraft and black magic.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : When Bwana Jeff struck you...

  Kimani Wa Karanja : He struck a black man to prove that the white man is master, nothing else! You are not in jail because of a curse... but only because we are judged by their laws! And that is the truth. And I must follow where then truth leads me.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : And where does it lead you?

  Kimani Wa Karanja : To strike back! We're men, not animals.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : You have much to look forward to my son. You will become headman as I was.

  Kimani Wa Karanja : Is that to be my life? Headman for a white boss? "Yes, bwana. No, bwana. Yes, bwana." This land can serve me too. I want my own land.

  Karanja - Father of Kimani : Then you must earn it.

  Kimani Wa Karanja : I will, Father... I will!