The Heinemann book of South African short stories

Editors: Denis Hirson and martin Trump

Number of pages: 248

About the book: it compasses 45 years of apartheid regime since the National Party came into powere in the 1940’s– to the release of former president Nelson Mandela

Three short stories of The Heinemann book of South African short stories

1.      The prophetess by Njabulo Ndebele

The short story is about a staff nurse named Masemola who sent her son to a well-known prophetess to fetch for her the holly water which was to heal her ailments. As the old saying goes; “Boys will be boys,” he delayed his return from the prophetess’ house as he chatted along with some old friends whom he met on his way back. As it grew darker, a picture of his ill mother flashed in his mind.He then surged through the wind with his feet running before him and moments later he found himself on the ground– wounded.

Being aware that the holly water was no more because the bottle burst open as he fell to the ground; deceit was his last resort. He was to cheat his mother into healing as he picked up a bottle which was identical to the one which carried the holly water and made his way to the communal tap which was a few metres away from his home. As he returned home to his ill mother, only hope encored his spirit as he remembered the very words of the prophetess “Go and heal your mother”.

The author brings a glimpse of a lesson to the reader’s attention, that it takes a like hope, a little step of faith to perform a miracle. And so it was that the boy’s mother’s face lit up as she drank the so-called “Holly water”. From that day the boy new that the very tap in Mayabastreet was his stream of holly water to hill his mother.

2.      Familiarity is the kingdom of the lost by Dugmore Boetie

As most writers turn to show off how much they know the English language; Dugmore Boetie takes the opposite curve as he displays skill, simplicity and pun in his writing. It is as if he is telling the story verbally. Fiction or not; the author takes the reader into a mind trip on how an 11 year old boy by the name of Charlie who  grew up on the streets and the adventurous experiences he went through.

For most of his life, Charlie did voluntary work at a bus depot in exchange for a four hours sleep inside the last bus which knocked off at 12 o’clock in the evening. This was a daily life routine for him until one day he met up with Krommie; a shallow man who saved him from being cough by a baker after stealing a couple of loafs. The two had something in common; they were both thieves and gutter tunnels were rooms were they place their heads to rest.

Amongst other interests, Charlie was a passionate lover of music. He loved it so much that he went through all the trouble of stealing it from the shops; this however led to his arrest in which he had to serve six months in the reformatory. “When I came out, I was bitterly reprimanded by my father [Krommie] for stealing records instead of food.” The gramophone was the cause of all of this and there was one thing left for Krommie to do to bring his son into order; he got rid of the gramophone. This revoked anger and bitterness in Charlie’s life and decided to run away from his stepdad to join a circus.   

From the streets of Sophiatown to a first time glance at the city of Cape Town; Charlie figured that the circus job he got was not for him. He saw much potential in himself than settling for washing the feet of elephants. It was back to the old ways of life; being street wise. Being in a new city, his first attempt to cut off the moneybag form the bus conductor did not succeed and that resulted to serving two years Tokai reformatory.

In this climax of this short story the other drags a solid point to the fore; that there is no place like home. It was after that went Charlie was given work span of weaving fishnets in the reformatory that he learned that there was a fish train which journeyed from Cape Town to Johannesburg stopping only at Bloemfontein for a water break. For him it was a chance to escape from the reformatory and leave Cape Town. Not even a single thought of enduring a non-stop trip plus chunks of ice which the line coaches carried to keep the fish fresh– stopped him to make his way to Johannesburg. For him being frozen alive in a 13hour trip; it was a small price to pay.

3.      The brothers by Ivan Vladislavic

In this short story the author tries to educate his audience of the fact that there are opportunists out there, who stand watching at the sidelines when one seems to battle with hardships of life. And the moment when one is in a trance of fatigue and s/he is tired of pushing to make it through in life; it is a moment when one is at a brink of his or her success. It is unfortunate for the fact that what we go through as a people we turn to be fragile in certain stages of our lives and turn to be misled and manipulated by opportunists.

In this short story two brothers by the names of Oswald and Blokjan who own a pig farm in Nooitgedatch are the main characters. As the brothers made their way back to their farm from a business meeting they had attended in the provincial capital; Oswald tripped and kicked a yam. Being unable to walk, his brother Blogjan carried him until he got blisters on his feet and couldn’t walk any further; on so did his brother Oswald returned the favour.

Throughout their journey the brothers interchangeably carried one another as the other grew weary. “Don’t fret, brother, it’s just around the corner. I can carry you,” the other would say. Along the way the brothers got rid of some of their clothes they wore such as shoes, a shirt and a jacket as they progressed to reach their destination. The author achieved his goal of bringing a life lesson to the fore; that when one goes through the tangles and sways of life, the world turns to watch and follow your tracks; picking up bits and pieces you left behind [like the brothers’ shoes, shirt and a jacket] to present them as gifts, with the intentions of luring you in their trap.

The shoes were too hot that they gave you blisters, you had a running stomach and so you had to ‘use’ your shirt to wipe your behind and you got rid of the jacket for it made you look silly walking barefoot with a jacket on but with no shirt to complement the jacket. And you got rid of those things not because you were confused but you just had to.

As the brother came closer to their destination the wearier they became as they saw the obstacles which lay ahead. Being aware of the precious opportunity, a stranger presented himself as a solution to the brothers’ problem and made them to believe that they were a burden to one another. Although the brothers pinpointed loopholes in the stranger’s speech that he was up to no good; they agreed to being separated from one another on the verge of their breakthrough.

“It happened that they had stopped on the edge of the valley of disenchantment, through which they would have to pass to reach their salvation.” Being aware that you are in the most fragile stage of your life and you are about to cross through into your destination; opportunists know when to lure you into their harness knowing that your big break is just around the corner.

 Blokjan lives his weak brother behind with the idea that he will return for him with help when he gets to the other side. And it turned out it was all in the stranger’s plan to cross over with Blokjan hence Blogjan was the stronger brother and that he would carry him as they crossed over.