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| THIS SITE |
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EATING MOSES
WHEN THE ENTRANCE was wide enough, Salt pushed his head and shoulders
through and barked in the hole.
There was a sudden quiet from within. We got down on our knees and put our
ears to the ground to listen. We heard the sound we had heard once before, the
rumbling of approaching thunder. The sound grew louder as it came nearer, and
the earth shook.
We jumped to our feet and prepared to run. Then Salt gave a yelp. He shot
backwards out of the hole and went spinning in the air. He crashed into Pepper
and both dogs went down in a cloud of dust.
Old Moses stuck his head out of the burrow and shook his tusks at us. Then he
retreated and crashed to the bottom of the hole with a thud.
The dogs picked themselves up from the dust. They were shivering from the
shock. Salt limped over to Nigel, but Pepper dove angrily into the hole, pushing
his way in until only his tail was left wagging in the air.
Again the deep, expectant silence. Pepper was older
and wiser than Salt. He did not bark in the hole. He listened, as we did, to the
start of the rumbling that would warn us of the approaching thunder.
We heard it coming, the ground shaking from its force, and we jumped back as
before.
Pepper wriggled out of the hole and sprang away from the mouth of the den at
the very last second.
With a loud whooshing sound, Old Moses shot out of the hole and into the air.
Pepper had timed the moment just right. He leapt onto the old warthog's back
and sank his teeth into the massive mane. They landed ten yards away from
us. Pepper was still on top, trying desperately to sink his killer fangs into the
warthog's thick neck.
Old Moses charged on through the grassland. We waited for him to turn around
and come charging back to his den.
It took us a moment to realize that he had no intention of returning to his hole.
Then we ran.
Salt had by now fully recovered from shock and he dashed forward to help his
brother.
Then Old Moses stopped so suddenly that Pepper flew off his back and went
crashing into the dust. Old Moses veered to the right and made for the first line
of bush, about half a mile away along the river valley. When the dust cleared,
we saw Pepper pick himself up and go furiously after Old Moses, with Salt right
behind him.
We ran after them. I stepped into a mole hole and fell down. Nigel was fifty
paces behind me and doing his best to keep up. I stopped to wait for him. He
was panting heavily, and his arms and his legs were almost black with sweat
and dust.
READ ON ...
WHEN THE ENTRANCE was wide enough, Salt pushed his head and shoulders
through and barked in the hole.
There was a sudden quiet from within. We got down on our knees and put our
ears to the ground to listen. We heard the sound we had heard once before, the
rumbling of approaching thunder. The sound grew louder as it came nearer, and
the earth shook.
We jumped to our feet and prepared to run. Then Salt gave a yelp. He shot
backwards out of the hole and went spinning in the air. He crashed into Pepper
and both dogs went down in a cloud of dust.
Old Moses stuck his head out of the burrow and shook his tusks at us. Then he
retreated and crashed to the bottom of the hole with a thud.
The dogs picked themselves up from the dust. They were shivering from the
shock. Salt limped over to Nigel, but Pepper dove angrily into the hole, pushing
his way in until only his tail was left wagging in the air.
Again the deep, expectant silence. Pepper was older
and wiser than Salt. He did not bark in the hole. He listened, as we did, to the
start of the rumbling that would warn us of the approaching thunder.
We heard it coming, the ground shaking from its force, and we jumped back as
before.
Pepper wriggled out of the hole and sprang away from the mouth of the den at
the very last second.
With a loud whooshing sound, Old Moses shot out of the hole and into the air.
Pepper had timed the moment just right. He leapt onto the old warthog's back
and sank his teeth into the massive mane. They landed ten yards away from
us. Pepper was still on top, trying desperately to sink his killer fangs into the
warthog's thick neck.
Old Moses charged on through the grassland. We waited for him to turn around
and come charging back to his den.
It took us a moment to realize that he had no intention of returning to his hole.
Then we ran.
Salt had by now fully recovered from shock and he dashed forward to help his
brother.
Then Old Moses stopped so suddenly that Pepper flew off his back and went
crashing into the dust. Old Moses veered to the right and made for the first line
of bush, about half a mile away along the river valley. When the dust cleared,
we saw Pepper pick himself up and go furiously after Old Moses, with Salt right
behind him.
We ran after them. I stepped into a mole hole and fell down. Nigel was fifty
paces behind me and doing his best to keep up. I stopped to wait for him. He
was panting heavily, and his arms and his legs were almost black with sweat
and dust.
READ ON ...
| For young Kariuki, life in a small village in central Kenya is one great adventure. And when he meets Nigel life becomes even more interesting. Nigel is from England and he has come to visit his great grandfather, the fearsome Bwana Ruin who owns the farm where all the villagers work. The villagers call Nigel the mzungu boy, and they view him with suspicion and fear. Nevertheless, Kariuki becomes friends with Nigel and the two spend happy days exploring the forest together. Then one day the two boys decide to hunt down Old Moses, the biggest, ugliest, oldest and meanest warthog in the forest. The hunt takes them deeper into the jungle than Kariuki has ever gone, and his beloved forest becomes a frightening place, filled with dangerous creatures, including the mau-mau, the mysterious men who have guns and are plotting against Bwana Ruin and the white soldiers. And when Nigel suddenly disappears, Kariuki realizes that it is up to him to save his friend. |
| Meja Mwangi's novel captures a child's-eye view of village life in Kenya in the late 1950s - a time of innocence, wild beauty, and the growing violence that would change the entire structure of colonial Africa. |
| The Mzungu Boy |
| "[The] Mzungu Boy, with its play of light and dark, innocence and experience, goodness and evil, is a superb achievement on the part of its author, Meja Mwangi." - Globe and Mail |
| "Mwangi's characterization is accurate and insightful..." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books |
| "...many readers will easily connect with the friendship, the exhilarating freedom of exploring nature, and the boys' bewilderment at the adult world." - Booklist |
| US $ 7.95 |
| The Mzungu Boy groundwood books 2005 |
| CHILDREN'S AFRICANA BOOK AWARD |
| Society of School Librarians Honour Book 2006 |
The Mzungu Boy
