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In the beginning
Ngai lived alone atop the mountain called Kirinyaga. He created three sons, who became the fathers of the Maasai, the Kamba, and the Kikuyu races, and to each son, he offered a spear, a bow, and a digging stick. The Maasai chose the spear The Kamba chose the bow. But Gikuyu, the first Kikuyu, chose the digging stick. To reward him for this Ngai not only taught him the secrets of the seed and the harvest but gave him Kirinyaga, with its holy fig tree and rich lands. -
Kirinyaga
Koriba kills a newborn child because traditional beliefs dictate that it is a demon. He must then convince Maintenance, the people who maintain the environment and regulate the orbit of the planetoid Kirinyaga, not to interfere with their traditions, no matter how much they dislike them. -
hyenas
hired a hunter to reduce the hyena population. The hunter’s idea of utopia differs radically from Koriba’s. The mundumugu must demonstrate that, although the Kikuyu are a farming society, they are not powerless against predators. the woman wanting an escort also had a lot to say abut the tradition of killing a baby who come feet first. -
meeting
A runner from Koinnage arrived a moment later, asking to attend a meeting of the Council of Elders. Maintenance forbids the killing of a firstborn now and if they do then Maintenance will make us leave Kirinyaga. -
balance
In the meeting, he started to talk about balance when they suggested not killing the firstborn anymore for maintenance.
"This stick," I said, "is the Kikuyu people, and my finger is Kirinyaga. They are in perfect balance." I stared at the neighboring chief. "But what will happen if I alter the balance, and put my finger ?" I asked, gesturing to the end of the stick. "The stick will fall to the ground." -
Ndemi
he looked to the future, which he could see more clearly than Koinnage or the elders. he walked through the village until he found the bold young Ndemi, brandishing his spear and hurling it at a buffalo he had constructed out of dried grasses. Ndemi said he would not hunt a gazelle and that for children. he will slay mbogo the buffilo. -
the children
he told Ndemito "You must find ten friends, none of them yet of circumcision age, and tell them to come to the pond within the forest to the south. They must come after the sun has set, and you must tell them that Koriba the commands that they tell no one, not even their parents, that they are coming." -
before Kikuyu
Once before the Kikuyu have had to fight for their freedom. Under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta, whose name has been forgotten by most of your parents, we took the terrible oath of Mau Mau, and we maimed and we killed and we committed such atrocities that finally we achieved Uhuru, for against such butchery civilized men have no defense but to depart. -
Story of the lion and hare
He told a story to his people of a lion and a hare. where the hare was chosen by his people to be sacrificed to a lion so that the lion would not bring disaster to their village. In the story, the hare tricked the lion into thinking another lion stole the honey and that he was down a deep hole and the lion jumped down it and was never seen again. His lesson about the story is not a concerned lion and a hare, but that it shows that the weaker can defeat the stronger if he uses his intelligence.