Page:Plunder (Perlman).djvu/27

21

INDIO She hates us, Mother. She told me. That crazy old fat woman, you know which, once told her she'd be the death of you and father and me. Pretoria said she wanted to kill the old woman, because she knew the old woman envied her white skin. I wanted to also. But she never killed the old woman/

CHUANA

Stop it! Stop it! Why do you repeat every bad story you hear!

INDIO Pretoria hates us, Mother! She hates us because we're black!

CHUANA She's your sister, Indio!

INDIO If she ran away with an American, then she's not my sister! I hate her! I hate her! I hate the Europeans! I hate Pretoria as much as the Europeans! Why doesn't father want to fight against the Europeans, like Moses Burumba? It's Mr. Neriana that wants to sit alongside them.

CHUANA The Europeans are men too. If your father fought against them, he would lose his spiritual freedom and become the same as they. Then not only his body would be enslaved, but his soul too.

INDIO But father said that in the mines he didn't have any spiritual freedom. So how could he lose it if he'd fight?

CHUANA Indio, you have to show them the way--and you cannot show anything by killing.