Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Photographic Section
- Introduction: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: Reflections on His Life of Writing
- Ngũgĩ at Work
- Part I Serenades & Beginnings
- Part II Memories, Recollections & Tributes
- Part III Working with Ngũgĩ
- Part IV The Writer, the Critic & the World
- Part V The Other Ngũgĩ
- Appendixes
- Appendix A Review of Wizard of the Crow: Ngũgĩ's Homecoming Gift to Kenyans
- Appendix B Directing the River Back to its Course
- Appendix C For Grant Kamenju
- Appendix D Intellectuals, European & African Languages: Between Enslavement & Empowerment
- Appendix E A Riddle of Love
- References
- Bibliography of Ngũgĩ's Primary Works
- Works Cited
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
Appendix E - A Riddle of Love
from Appendixes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2019
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Photographic Section
- Introduction: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: Reflections on His Life of Writing
- Ngũgĩ at Work
- Part I Serenades & Beginnings
- Part II Memories, Recollections & Tributes
- Part III Working with Ngũgĩ
- Part IV The Writer, the Critic & the World
- Part V The Other Ngũgĩ
- Appendixes
- Appendix A Review of Wizard of the Crow: Ngũgĩ's Homecoming Gift to Kenyans
- Appendix B Directing the River Back to its Course
- Appendix C For Grant Kamenju
- Appendix D Intellectuals, European & African Languages: Between Enslavement & Empowerment
- Appendix E A Riddle of Love
- References
- Bibliography of Ngũgĩ's Primary Works
- Works Cited
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
Summary
Take this riddle
Of love
And hold it tight
Or take a forfeit
For being wrong is not ignorance
And the wise one is well advised
I was told by an elder that
When a man and a woman
Choose to love each other
It is like a person and their shadow
You chase the shadow
It disappears from you
You think the shadow is lost
But it is behind you
But you and I
Have seen it all
And know it well
Drinking from the same cup
We know its weight well
And because we know
That the chaser
And the chased
Eventually get tired
Let you and I
Merge our hearts
Make them one shadow
Where we can feel the rain and sun
We will be each other's support staff
In the cold or wind
Supporting each other slowly
Sharing the riddle of love.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- NgugiReflections on his Life of Writing, pp. 221 - 222Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2018