Lakunle will not give Sidi the pail back until she agrees to marry him. He does say that he will make things as they are in Lagos. Sidi asks what Baroka has done to Lakunle, and he does not reply. He will begin with Baroka, the crafty Bale (leader of the village). Sidi says this turning her world upside down, but Lakunle sees it as turning it inside out.
Lakunle explains that soon machines will do all this work for them. Sidi asks if weak women are not the ones that pound yams and plant millet. Lakunle begs her not to be angry, because it is science that says women are inferior to and weaker than men. Sidi grabs for the pail he’d taken and tries to leave. He is patronizing and adds that he cannot be drawn into an argument with her because it goes over her head. Sidi is furious and shakes her fists at him, but he says this is natural because she has a smaller brain than he does. Lakunle is surprised, but claims he is above the taunts of savages. Sidi replies that in reality everyone knows Lakunle is a madman and is full of words and curses he is the one people call a fool. He asks if she does not care about the names or the jokes or the lusting of men. Also, he adds, she ought to cover her shoulders because people look at her and lust after her.Īnnoyed, Sidi replies that she has already fixed the fold on her dress and cannot do more or she wouldn’t be able to move her arms.
He agrees but says it is unwomanly to carry loads thusly. He admonishes her that she should not carry things on her head because her neck will be squashed, but she retorts that he said he did not care about her looks before. Lakunle tries to help Sidi with her pail, but she refuses. He is 23 years old, dressed cleanly but in older clothes. The schoolmaster, Lakunle, looks out the window, then shuts it and comes outside to Sidi. Sidi enters, carrying a pail on her head. There is a bush school with children chanting arithmetic. The setting is a clearing on the edge of the market with a large “odan” tree this is the village of Ilujinle’s center.
0 kommentar(er)
