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READ THIS
A journalist interviews a survivor from the war. He notices that the man is missing an ear and presumes
it has been shot off in some heroic incident.
He therefore asks the survivor to tell this story and finds a very different reason for the ear being missing.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
"You were saying that Egypt is a land of Arabs and you'll always remember it."
"Oh, yes. You see, the Arabs are the ones who enslaved our fathers and grandfathers, destroying our
villages and all that. I'm sure you learn that at school."
"Yes, we do," I replied.
"And you know what? Well," Baba Fule looked around to see if anyone was listening, "you see, I and
some of my friends slept with their women. Well, don't write that in the book." He gave a small laugh.
I felt slightly embarrassed.
"Moreover, for the first time I met a lot of Africans from other countries. It was an unforgettable
experience. I remember I had a friend from Kenya . . . called Murasa.
"One day he was in the bush with a small group of soldiers. In the distance he saw white soldiers. He
ordered his men to fire. The other side also opened fire. Before long, half of Murasa's men lay dead.
Murasa surrendered. You know what happened?"
"No, I don't," I replied.
"The white soldiers were not German but British . . . And Murasa was sent for trial and later
executed. It was a tragic incident."
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"And you know what? Well," Baba Fule looked around to see if anyone was listening, "you see,
I and some of my friends slept with their women. Well, don't write that in the book."
- Explain in your own words the reason for Baba Fule's looking around. (2)
[Need help?]
Baba Fule is about to tell the narrator something which he now finds embarrassing and which he wants
no-one else to know. He therefore looks around to make sure that no-one is listening.
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- Why did he and his friends take such joy in sleeping "with their women"? (2)
[Need help?]
The Arab men had once enslaved the Black people. Baba Fule and his colleagues therefore took great
delight in getting revenge on these men by sleeping with their women.
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- Why does he not want the incident narrated in the book? (2)
[Need help?]
Baba Fule now finds the incident embarrassing and doesn't want anyone else to know about it. Although
he still does like to speak of it!
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- Why does the narrator feel "slightly embarrassed"? (2)
[Need help?]
At the time when this story was written, people tended not to talk about sex.
When Baba Fule tells this story about how they slept with the Arab women, the narrator would find it
slightly embarrassing.
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"Moreover, for the first time I met a lot of Africans from other countries. It was an unforgettable
experience."
- Why would meeting "a lot of Africans from other countries" have been such "an unforgettable
experience"? (4)
[Need help?]
During the period before the Great War, Black people were generally suppressed by the White
colonialists.
They were not allowed to travel much, and seldom met fellow Black people from other countries.
During the war, therefore, when they did meet Black soldiers from other countries, it was most exhilarating
for them.
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"The white soldiers were not German but British . . . And Murasa was sent for trial and later executed.
It was a tragic incident."
- This incident underlines the confused nature of the Great War to people such as Baba Fule and
Murasa. Explain why. (4)
[Need help?]
During the war, the Black people had been enlisted by the British to fight against the Germans. When they
shot and killed German soldiers, therefore, they were congratulated.
To them, however, these soldiers were merely White people. They could not understand the difference
therefore between shooting a White German, and shooting a White Englishmen.
When they did shoot an Englishman, however, they were arrested and executed! They could not
understand the logic of this.
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Baba Fule tells the narrator that most of the Black people were disturbed by the war.
- What would have disturbed them most? (4)
[Need help?]
The Black soldiers did not understand the reasons for the war. To them they were merely shooting an
"enemy" whom they had never met. They did not understand why they were an "enemy".
They saw much hardship as well, and watched the deaths of many of their own people, for which they
could see no reason.
It would also have been disturbing that, on the one hand, they were expected to respect White people
while they were also expected to kill them.
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