Something of Value (1957)
Ken Renard: Karanja - Father of Kimani
Photos
Quotes
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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.
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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!