Ngũgĩ Thiong - Wizard of the Crow

Tajirika was ecstatic at the apparition of someone with the power to get him out of prison. Nothing was beyond the reach of the Wizard of the Crow, who might even have come precisely to relieve Tajirika’s tribulations. Tajirika did not even bother to inquire as to what the Wizard of the Crow was doing or how he came to be there.

He simply proceded to unburden himself of all that he had suffered since receiving the summons to appear before Kaniürü’s Commission of Inquiry into the Queuing Mania. He told of his arrest, his interrogation by both Njoya and Kahiga, his encounter with Sikiokuu in the minister’s office, and his return to this dark cell. The only thing he could not bring himself to tell was Vinjinia’s shameful betrayal, and especially her posing for pictures with the dancing women.

“Look at what Sikiokuu has done to me! See that bucket? That is the toilet. When did they last empty it? Seven days ago. Luckily I am not shitting much. Still, as you can see, the bucket is almost full.”

“All yours?”

“Yes. No one else has been in this cell since I’ve been here. How dare he do this to me? What should I do about it?”

“What do you think?”

“You know the saying that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers? I feel like that grass in the struggle between Sikiokuu and Machokali for power behind the throne. The problem is that Sikiokuu has not been clear about what he really wants me to do.”

“How much clearer does he have to be, given what you told me he asked you about Machokali?”

“He didn’t even mention Machokali by name. He was circumspect, talking to me in riddles about a disciple of the doubting Thomas, a Frenchman named Descartes. Then he told me to go away and think more deeply about my lust for whiteness.”

“Can’t you see that he just wants you to say in your own words that somebody else infected you with white-ache? But who can you single out and say, This or that one infected me, or, That one is the host of the disease? Is there anyone among those you call your friends who does not suffer from the malady, the white-hot greed behind his self-centeredness? The man was right to ask you to think further about the meaning and implications of what you said. But what do you do after you have brooded?”

“And that is what I want to know. What should I do?”

“First, examine yourself.”

“Of course one must examine oneself to see where one’s interests lie and how to protect them.”

“I mean, look to your heart; find out why you ended up here.”

“I did not incarcerate myself.”

“Who, then, has jailed you?”

“Let me tell you. Sikiokuu and Kaniürü are my enemies. They want me to die in prison. Why? Because they don’t want me to continue as chairman of Marching to Heaven. They want to make sure that I am not around when Marching to Heaven begins. They want to be the only ones controlling the benefits from the entire project. But you wait. They don’t know who they are dealing with, Mr. Wizard of the Crow. Help me. Please help me to break free from prison and I will never forget you.”

“From which prison do you want to free yourself?”

“Mr. Wizard of the Crow, this is a serious matter. How many prisons do you see around here?”

“Two. One of the mind and one of the body.”

“Then break the walls of these prisons with your mirror power.”

“I did not bring a mirror with me.”

“Oh!” groaned Tajirika in despair.

“What if we make our own mirror?” the Wizard of the Crow asked suddenly.

“How?”

“Our minds. Is there any mirror greater than the mirror of the mind?”

“Whatever you say” Tajirika said, happy that the Wizard of the Crow was now talking about using a mirror, any mirror, however made.

“Close your eyes… Paint pictures of Kaniürü and Sikiokuu in your mind.”

He wants to help me by disabling the power of the two ruffians, Tajirika told himself as he tried with all his might to imagine Sikiokuu and Kaniürü. But the images would not stay still in his mind’s dark mirror.

“Now I see them, now I don’t,” Tajirika said. “They are in and out of focus.”

“It does not matter if their images are indistinct,” said the Wizard of the Crow. “Now point at those who are ruining the country. Show me where they are.”

That’s easy, Tajirika thought, as he stretched his hand and pointed in the distance, but the finger kept on moving around like the images in his mind.

“Over there,” Tajirika said, still pointing vaguely in front of him.

“Hold it right there,” said the Wizard of the Crow. “Now open your eyes, and keep on pointing at the corrupt and the greedy.”

Tajirika did as directed. His heart was bursting with joy at the imminent death of his enemies, greedy, corrupt robbers.

“Look at your hand carefully. One finger is pointing at your enemies, and the three others are pointing at you.”

“I don’t quite understand.”

“What don’t you understand? Do you remember the children’s story about the five fingers who set out to rob someone? Pinky says: Let’s go. Where? To do what? asks the finger next to it. To steal, says the middle finger. What if we are caught? asks the fourth finger. Do you know what the thumb says?”

“I am not one of you,” Tajirika answered, playing the character of the thumb, ending with laughter.

“That’s why the fat finger still remains apart from the other four to this day. One thief standing apart from the others and pointing at…”

Tajirika examined his fist again. It was obvious that the pointing finger and the three others were pointing in definite directions. Where and what was the thumb pointing at? One could not tell. And suddenly he thought he knew what the Wizard of the Crow was driving at.

“So even children’s stories can teach us a thing or two about the ways of the world?” Tajirika said excitedly. “Mr. Wizard of the Crow, I now know what you have been trying to make me understand: Like these four fingers, the foolish take definite positions. Everyone knows where they stand. I have been too definite in the company I keep. I should maintain at all times the deceptive appearance of the thumb. Mr. Wizard of the Crow, thank you, thank you a thousand times.”

“No wonder Jesus wept!” said the Wizard of the Crow loudly, as if talking to himself, clearly frustrated.

“Why do you say that Jesus wept?” Tajirika asked, genuinely puzzled by how the mind of the Wizard of the Crow worked. He was now into the Bible.

“Because he told them things, and even though they had ears they did not hear. He showed them things, and even though they had eyes they didn’t see.”

He even uses the Book for his rites. That’s why his magic is so powerful, Tajirika thought to himself. If he puts his mind to it, there is nothing the Wizard of the Crow cannot do for a person like me.

“And that is why it is said that even God can only help those who help themselves,” said the Wizard of the Crow.

“Mr. Wizard of the Crow, how do you want me to help myself so that you can help me?” said Tajirika encouragingly.

“Again, look into your heart. Beview whatever is inside you.”

“How?”

This man cares only about himself, thought the Wizard of the Crow. He hears and sees only what he wants. The Wizard of the Crow, Kamltl wa Karimlri, grew angry, very angry.

He had not forgotten how Tajirika had humiliated him on the premises of Eldares Modern Construction and Beal Estate; he was flooded by the memory at odd times. He had never imagined that a human being could behave toward another with so much evil and malice. Kamltl had long decided not to seek revenge himself, for to do so would erase the difference between him and Tajirika. Don’t argue with a fool, the saying went, for people might not see the difference.