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Voiceover : There was a weird sound and another of those strange animals with the
round legs appeared. The young boy and a grownup got out of it, and they seemed
very excited.
Xi said, ''Come, sit down. There's enough meat for all of us. '' But the man was
rude and greedy. He took the whole animal.
He said, ''You have very bad manners. If you want to eat the whole thing, I'll
have to shoot another one for myself. ''
The man shouted at him, but he didn't want anything to do with such an uncouth person,
so he ignored him.
Suddenly there was a thunderclap. The animals ran away, and he ran after them.
He was very hungry.
Policeman : Do you speak English? You are free to remain silent until you have
seen your lawyer. If you speak now, whatever you say will be taken
down as evidence
against you.
Andrew : Why are you so beautiful ?
Mpudi : I got to go to court.
Andrew : What did you do ?
Mpudi : No. The cops were here. They say they caught a little Bushman for stock
theft. They say all he can speak is xixo xixo xixo. So they want me to
interpret.
Voiceover : They brought Xi into a place with several people. He smiled at them
in greeting, but nobody smiled back.
Lawyer : Interpreter.
Attorney for plaintiff : You, Xixo, are hereby charged
with wrongfully and unlawfully slaughtering one goat on the 21st of September,
1980, in Oniamatokwe. How plead you ?
Guilty or not guilty ?
Voiceover : Mpudi found it difficult to interpret because, in his language there
was no word for ''guilty. ''
Finally he asked, ''Did you shoot an animal?'' Xi said, ''Yes, I did, but that
man took it. He did not want to share it with me. ''
Lawyer : Well, what does he plead ?
Mpudi : Not guilty.
Mpudi :They gave him the death
sentence.
Andrew : For killing a goat? No.
Mpudi : Three months in jail, same thing. He gonna die for sure. He never seen a
wall in his life. Now, he got walls all around him.
Andrew : But didn't you explain to them ?
Mpudi : They said, ''Silence in court.''
Andrew : But surely they ought to know.
Mpudi : Nobody knows the Bushmen. |
