"He even took the Gramophone on safari." "Three rifles... supplies for a month and Mozart." "He began our friendship with a gift." "And later... not long before Tsavo... he gave me another." "An incredible gift." "A glimpse of the world through God's eye." "And I thought..." ""Yes, I see." "This is the way it was intended."" "I've written about all the others... not because I loved them less... but because they were clearer, easier." "He was waiting for me there." "But I've gone ahead of my story." "He'd have hated that." "Denys loved to hear a story told well." "You see..." "I had a farm in Africa... at the foot of the Ngong Hills." "But it began before that." "It really began in Denmark." "And there I knew two brothers." "One was my lover, and one was my friend." " It's too cold for champagne." " It's too cold for anything but." "You said you'd be at Klampenborg." "I thought I'd come, but then I didn't." "Was it fun?" "Tanne?" "Tanne, come on." "It's not as though you loved him." "You'd like to be a baroness, that's all." " He lied to me." " Of course." "Would you be in bed with him otherwise?" "My brother's only dull, but not stupid." "Pretend it's Hans." " Where would you go?" " Anywhere." "America." "Ceylon." "I would even go to Australia." "Well, perhaps not Australia." "But I've got to be away from here." "I'll give you all I've got." "That should get you into town." "God, it was fun." " You could marry me." " I have to marry a virgin." "I can't stand criticism." "For the money, I mean." "Probably." "Bror, listen to me." "I've got no life at all." "They wouldn't teach me anything useful." "Now I've failed to marry." "You know the punishment for that." ""Miss Dinesen's at home."" "You've gone through all your money." "You're off seducing the servant girls." "We're a pair, you and I." "I mean, at least we're friends." "We might be all right." "And if we weren't... at least we'd have been somewhere." "You don't think you're being too romantic?" "Am I supposed to think you're serious?" "I had a farm in Africa. at the foot of Ngong Hills." "I had a farm in Africa." " Good morning." " Have you had trouble?" "Now and then." "Have you?" "No." "I'm travelling to Nairobi." "Well, you caught the right train." "Get away!" "Shoo!" "Shoo!" "That's all my crystal." "My Limoges." "They didn't know it was Limoges." "So you plan to stay, then?" "I've come out to marry Baron Blixen." "Do you know him?" " Bror?" "Yes." " We plan to start a dairy." "Are you quite famous?" "They stopped the train for you." "It's rude not to here." "A dairy." "Isn't it a bit soon for milk at the door?" " Aren't you boarding?" " No, I'm going on." "On?" "To where?" "Mention the ivory to Berkeley Cole." "Bror knows him." "I'm Baroness Blixen!" "Not yet." "Finch-Hatton, Denys!" "Msabu, I am Farah Aden." "We can go now." " Where is Baron Blixen?" " He's at Muthaiga." "Please, come." "Where is Muthaiga?" "Muthaiga is a club where British go for drinking." "Please." "Listen." "On the train are my crates with china and crystal." " Do you know china?" " Yes, msabu." "China, it can break." "Stay." "Excuse me." "I'm looking for Baron Blixen." "Rajiv." " Yes." "I wondered if you might..." " Memsahibs must not be here." " I'm simply looking..." " Memsahibs must not be here." "Where have you been?" " Where have you been?" " Arranging things." "How was the trip?" "You can tell me later." " Would you like to change?" " My luggage is still on the train." "Room "D," head of the stairs." "I haven't done anything about a ring." " Do you care?" " Did you think I wouldn't come?" "I didn't think you'd want to spend the money." "You will love it here." "Servants are wonderful." "Shall we get a drink?" "We've got almost one hour before the wedding." "One hour?" " Is it all right?" " I wondered what colour you'd choose." "It's ivory." "Oh, my God." " I've got this man's ivory." " Whose ivory?" "I'm Sarah, Lady Belfield." "Shall I stand up for you?" " Thank you." " Short or long?" "Long, please." "Give me time to adjust to it." "Settle down, all." "By the authority of His Majesty's government vested in me..." "I declare that the Baron Bror Von Blixen... citizen of Sweden, and..." " What's your name, my dear?" " Damn it, Henry, I told you her name." "Karen Christentze Dinesen. a female subject of the King of Denmark... are henceforth united man and wife." "God save this company." "God save the king." "Thank you for this." "Did you hear about Shuttleworth?" "No, I said." ""He's living up country," he says "in a tree with a baboon."" ""Male or female?" I said to him." ""Female, of course." he says." ""There's nothing queer about old Shuttleworth."" "Sarah, where's your muddle-headed husband?" "The governor's at the punch bowl hoping to avoid you." "Would you like to meet the bride, or did you just come for the whisky?" "Not for the company, God knows." "Lord Delamere, may I present Baroness Blixen?" "Baroness Blixen, Lord Delamere, such as he is." "Baroness." "A Swede, are you?" "No." "Danish, actually." "The little country next to Germany." "If it comes to war, where will Denmark stand?" "On its own, I hope." "We do have that history." "Is there something we can call you that gets around this "baroness"?" "What do they call you?" ""D," if I'm lucky." "My stupid name's Felicity, but I do like your dress." "Oh, thank you." "That's not much of a hat, though." "It's meant to be stunning." "We die of sunstroke here." "At least I'm safe from the mosquitos." "The big ones." " Good Lord." " You nervous?" "Should I be?" "You know." "Wedding night and all that." "So they're both naked and not a shrub in sight." "Karen, have you met Vicky Gresham?" "Hello, Baroness." "I'd curtsy, but I'm drunk." " May I see you, please?" " Excuse me." "If you want any friends, I'd make them here." " There's no one else." " I want to see my house." "You may want to change." "It's a two-hour ride." "Excuse me." "My God, these people drink." "I'm sorry." "I was just..." " I'm afraid..." " No, it's all right." "I'm afraid you've caught me snooping." "It's not my room." "It's Denys's." "And Denys won't mind." "That's the thing about Denys." "Are you Cole?" "Berkeley Cole." "I brought the ivory with me on the train." "Well, thank you." " You taking your quinine?" " Oh, yes." "He has got lovely books." " Does he lend them?" " We had a friend..." "Hopworth, and he'd got a book from Denys and he didn't return it." "Denys was furious and I said to Denys..." ""You wouldn't lose a friend for the sake of a silly book would you?"" "He said, "Nope, but he has, hasn't he?"" " Did you come out through London?" " No, from Rome, actually." "I thought you might have a newspaper." "No." "Sorry." "Oh, nothing in them anyway." "I had a friend who I used to take to the dances at Oxford." "They were in June by the river." "She always wore a new silk dress." "I think you're wearing her perfume." "It's very nice, but it's not the same." "We can go now." "This is Belknap." " He runs the farm." " Good evening, ma'am." "This is your cook." "Name's Esa." "And this is Juma." "Houseboy." "Come." "See your house." "When you leave me, I'm going to marry Berkeley Cole." " A man in trade." " Is that what he does?" "He's thick with the Somalis." "There's a crowd of them on his land who think he's a prince." "He sells Finch Hatton's ivory." "Belknap is a cheery sort." "Had a place of his own." "Went belly up trying to grow flax." " Does he know cattle?" " I didn't buy cattle." "We're going to grow coffee instead." "That's not what we planned." "You were in Denmark." "I had to decide." "We made a decision." "We don't know anything about coffee." " You plant it, it grows." " We said a dairy." "My mother..." "Your mother doesn't care if it's cows or coffee as long as it pays." "You have to be with a herd or things go wrong." "I didn't come to Africa to sit with silly cows." "Just tell her we changed our minds." "Next time you change your mind... you do it with your money." "They bought you a title, Baronessa." "They didn't buy me." "Fetch some wine for my lover's brother." "I think you're tired." "Be careful." "Did I tell you Hans came to say goodbye?" "Where is Baron Blixen?" " He's gone to hunt." " Did he say when he'd return?" "He says he can come before the rain." "Is it going to rain today?" "It can be many days before the rain, msabu." "In Ohio we put up scarecrow to keep the birds away." "Here, you hope there's enough leopard to keep down the baboon." "They'll take your dog too." "But that's Africa." " How much will we plant?" " A thousand acres." " How long will that take?" " That depends on Kinanjui." "He's chief of the Kikuyu." "Gotta deal with him to get your help." " When will be our first harvest?" " Well, these are seedlings." "It'll be three, maybe four years." " Four years?" " If they bear at all." "No one's ever tried coffee this high." " What will we live on for four years?" " Mis Blixen, I'm working to get home." "Now if you haven't got it, be good if you could tell me right now." "We will plant 500." "Chief Kinanjui, I've heard you're wise..." "Farah, not now please." "And I look forward to our dealings." "Your Kikuyu are good workers... and I look forward to dealing with them... honestly and fairly." "Msabu, this chief has no British." " Tell him I am Baroness Blixen." " This chief knows that, msabu." "Well, then tell him what I said." "What did he say?" "He says this Kikuyu can do this work." "What else did he..." "Your leg is very sick." "You must come to the house for medicine." " Does he understand me?" " Yes, msabu." "If you don't come, the other boys will say you are afraid." "I, myself, will think only that you are foolish." "This boy must come to my house for treatment." "See that he does." "What else did Kinanjui say?" "He says coffee must not grow this high." "Never mind, msabu." "He's a chief, but he's a Kikuyu." "If you put a dam here to stop the water... then I can make a pond here." " Do you know how..." " This water must go home to Mombasa." "It can go home after we make a pond." "Msabu, this water lives at Mombasa." "Come, then." "I wouldn't run." "If you do, she'll think you're something good to eat." "Have you..." "Do you have a gun?" "She won't like the smell of you." "Shoot it." "She's had breakfast." "Don't..." " Please, shoot her." " No, let's give her a moment." "Oh, my God, shoot her!" "Just how much closer did you expect to let her come?" "A bit." "She wanted to see if you'd run." "That's how they decide." "A lot like people." " She almost had me for lunch!" " It wasn't her fault." "She's a lion." " It wasn't mine." " Doesn't that outfit come with a rifle?" "It's on my saddle." "Better keep it with you." "Your horse isn't much of a shot." "For Berkeley." "He's brought you presents." "We stopped by your house and them came looking for you." "Good Lord, you're sweet." "On the road, actually." "We're off to Magadi to shoot some ivory." "Now, at least, I have something good to offer you." "Did you intend to tell Berkeley what a fool I was?" " She had a lion a bit interested." " A bit?" "But not enough to bite." "It's all right to take a chance... as long as it's you who'll pay." " Wouldn't you say so?" " It's the sort of thing you'd say." " Thank you." " Not at all." "Where's Blix?" " Hunting." " Has he been out long?" "Yes." "You'll need a good chat, then." "Shall we stay to supper, Denys?" " Blix will have jackets we could use." " Do I have anything to say in this?" " Not really, but we'll hear you out." " Then I would like you to stay." "Good." "Denys." "I don't know." "Do you sing?" "Never." "Can you tell a story?" "I happen to be very good at stories." "I believe that." "What's happened to the cows, to the dairy?" "We changed our minds." "We'll grow coffee instead." " A bit risky, this high." " So I've been told." " Didn't seem to bother you." " I think they just haven't tried." "Every time I turn my back, it wants to go wild again." "It will go wild." " Your man..." " Kanuthia." " He's not Kikuyu." " No." "Shall I see that he's given supper?" "Don't do anything for him, thank you, Baroness." "It's true of all Somalis." "They're the only tribe that knows horses." "They don't drink, charge interest or chase other men's wives." "Got to go to town for that." "Did you know that in all of literature... there's no poem celebrating the foot." "There's lips, eyes, hands, face... hair, breasts... legs, arms, even the knees." "But not one verse for the poor foot." " Why do you think that is?" " Priorities, I suppose." "Did you think you would make one?" "Problem is there's nothing to rhyme it with." " Put." " It's not a noun." "Doesn't matter." "Along he came and he did put... upon my farm his clumsy foot." "We should have a story now." "When I tell a story to my nieces at home... one of them always provides the first sentence." " Anything?" " Absolutely anything." "There was a wandering Chinese named Cheng Huan... living in Limehouse... and a girl named Shirley." "Who spoke perfect Chinese... which she learned from her missionary parents." "Cheng Huan lived alone in a room on Formosa Street... above the Blue Lantern." "He sat at his window... and in his poor listening heart... strange echoes of his home and country..." "They found them there the next morning... in their room above the Blue Lantern... the dead child and the warlord... with Cheng Huan's love gift coiled about his neck." "Had you been to those places?" "I have been a mental traveller." " Till now." " Yes." "Was this England?" "Excuse me." "Denmark?" "I like my things." "When you travelled before in your mind... did you carry so much luggage?" "A mental traveller hasn't the need to eat or sleep... or entertain." "You're right." "Anyway, aren't you pleased that I brought my crystal and china?" "And your stories, yes." "The conquering heroes come" "Sound the trumpets" "Beat the drums" " I want you to come often." " I'd like that very much." " And you must promise it will be soon." " I promise." "Did you save my life, Finch Hatton?" "No." "The lioness did that." "She walked away." "So I'm not indebted, then?" "Ah, but I am." "We pay our storytellers here." "It's lovely." "But my stories are free... and your presents, much too dear." "Write them down sometime." "Take care, Finch Hatton." "You wouldn't rather call me Denys?" "Baroness." "Goodbye." "What are you doing?" "I want you to come home." "We never spoke about children." "Did you..." "Do you?" "Yes." "Is that all right?" "These Kikuyu want to be sick now." "Good Lord." "Your leg has got worse." "You should go to hospital." "This leg may be foolish." "It may think not to go to hospital." "This leg will do as it pleases." "But if you will take it to hospital..." "I will think that you are wise." "And such a wise man as this, I would want to work in my house... for wages." "How much wages would come to such a wise man as that?" "More wages than come from tending goats." "I will speak to this leg." " What about air raids?" " Quiet!" "One question at a time." "The war is in Europe." "How do we know they're going to reach here?" "German East is only 200 miles south." "General von Lettow is there." "I don't want to wait until he joins us at the bar." " Would we engage them?" " Blix, this is our war." "You don't have to be involved, but thanks." "I've got crops coming in." "How long's this thing gonna last?" "We just have to stay and go as we must." "They won't fight if we won't fight." "We could always arm the Masai and point them south." "Do you want the job of collecting rifles from the Masai when this is over?" "What about our women and children?" "Should we bring them into town?" "We will deal with that problem as it arises." " Will they use native troops?" " I'd assume so, but not Masai." "Berkeley, what about your Somalis?" "They'd make very good scouts." "We could cover the area from here to the border." "We could gather information for when the regulars arrive." "What's it about?" "Have you any idea?" " Not really." " Then why do you want to get into it?" " Well..." " It's got nothing to do with us." "They've made agreements we know nothing about." "Victoria and the Kaiser were relatives, for God's sake." "They've divided Africa between them." "Do you know why there's a border?" "Because she had two mountains, and he had none." "So she gave him Kilimanjaro." "It's a silly argument between two spoiled countries." "The sooner we do this, the sooner it ends, the sooner we pick up where we left off." "It may end... but we're not going to pick up where we left off." "You don't have to go." "You want to go." "We've got to live here." "They have made it plain they don't want you." "They don't know where we stand." "I'll have to show them." "I'm not so fond of their empire..." "I'd have you shot for it." "More likely chewed on than shot." "The farm will take care of itself, and you've got Belknap." "The farm will not take care of itself." "That's not the point." "I didn't expect to like you so much." "You're not going to go fall in love, are you?" "Not with someone who's always leaving." "If you need me, send a runner to find Delamere." "That's where I'll be." "That's a fine kiss goodbye." "I am better at hello." "It's an odd feeling... farewell." "There is some envy in it." "Men go off to be tested for courage." "If we're tested at all, it's for patience... for doing without..." "Perhaps for how well we can endure loneliness." "But I had always known that." "It didn't require a war." "I said goodbye to Bror." "Denys left without a word... which was quite proper." "Hello, the house!" "Felicity!" "I thought you might want some meat." " Is there any word?" " No, nothing new." "Not much fighting." "Awful fever, though." "I've got time for tea, I should think." "Are you for the Germans?" "Did they send you out to ask me this?" " We had a row about it in town." " Because of my bad English." "And whose side were you on?" "Yours." "They want to send me home to school." "Mother says I'm growing up wild." " I wanted to ask you about it." " Me?" "You've been round and about." "Someday, I'd like to run my own show the way you do." " Is that what I do?" " You don't seem to need us much." "Baroness, may I ask you something?" "I don't know much about men." "I want them to like me, but I..." "I want to be let alone too." "I'm supposed to want to be taken, aren't I?" "I've got this book." "But how do you know when to do what they want you to... and when not to?" "I suppose you ought to call me Karen." "They need paraffin and tinned food, enough for 300 men." "He wants you to send a white man with the wagon." " Is he all right?" " I assume." "Well enough to send the message." "And where would my husband like this wagon sent?" "He's with Delamere on the border near Lake Natron." "That's confidential, of course." "I will bear that in mind, Lieutenant." "I only meant it wouldn't do for it to be talk around Nairobi." "And we're going to have to move you into town." "We can't protect you here." "What do you mean, "move me into town"?" "With the men gone, we're worried about the native element." "We have orders." "Women and children into town." "That is internment, Lieutenant." "Women and children, Baroness." " Is that one category or two?" " You'll want time to gather your things." "I'll send an escort for you Thursday." "And I'm a captain, Baroness." "I'm not paid to fight, Miss Blixen." "Where is Lake Natron?" "It's south, bush country." "It's no place for a white man." "We should have crossed the Sand River today." "I may have got us lost." "God is great, msabu." " What the devil are you doing here?" " I'm on my way to Delamere." "Ridiculous." "We don't send women to war." "Well, I'm going." "We haven't time for this." "You don't even know where you are." "I do now." " And you'll just get lost again." " I'm going on, Berkeley" " Talk to her, will you?" " No." " She could be hurt or worse." " I imagine she knows that." "Right." "I tried." "Here." "Find a spot on the horizon each morning and steer by it." "South, southwest." "About three days." "I see." "Don't worry about us." "We'll be all right." "Farah!" " What is it?" " Masai." "Ismail!" "My rifle!" "Where's my rifle?" "Get away!" "Msabu's bleeding." "She does not have this ox." "This lion is hungry." "He does not have this ox." "This wagon is heavy." "It does not have this ox." "God is happy, msabu." "He plays with us." "Tell Blix his wife's here." "I've brought you some things." "You've changed your hair." " You needed supplies." " Send someone, I said." "You were lucky to get through." " It was really foolish." " But I did get through." "And it was fun." "When are you coming home?" "Not just yet." "You're not going to help at all with the farm." "I could force you." "I could cut you off." "I'll just hunt professionally." "I may do it anyway." "It's not the way we thought it would be." "Is it?" "But I like it that you're honest with me." "I like you too." "Very much." "I had a compass from Denys." "To steer by, he said." "But later it came to me... that we navigated differently." "Perhaps he knew, as I did not... that the Earth was made round... so that we would not see too far down the road." "You've got syphilis." "That's not possible." "Your husband is not ill?" "Not the last time I saw him." "That was three months ago." "He's on the..." "He's on the border with Delamere." "He would have come home." "These cases vary." "He may have just a touch." "You're very ill." "Is he the only possibility?" "Yes." "You'll have to go home to deal with it, you know." "The treatment's difficult, but they have a thing called salvarsan." "Arsenic." "And if I'm not cured... then I will be insane, won't I?" "You ought to go soon." "I'll have to see your husband." "I will send for him." "These ought to help with the fever till you get home." "And what are my chances?" "About even, I'm afraid." "It's not what I thought would happen to me now." " What?" " Your letters, msabu." "Excuse me." "I heard you'd made it." "I'd have paid anything to see their faces." " Would you join us for a drink?" " I can't." "How is it that you are home?" "I brought Berkeley back." " Has he been wounded?" " Fever." "More than usual, but he'll be all right as long as the gin holds out." "And you?" "How is it with the fighting?" "We're taking a beating." "It's likely to last for a while." " I still have your compass." " Why don't you keep it?" "You've earned it." "Besides, I don't always want to know where I'm going anyway." "Please don't let me keep you." " Are you all right?" " Yes." "Take good care." " We're behind a story or two." " Yes." "When I get back." "Back?" "From where?" "When you get back, I meant." " I thought it was malaria." " Well, it wasn't." "You may be all right, but you have to be seen." "And the others, whoever they are." "I hope they've got it." "It's my fault." "No one else's." "I want to go with you." "No." "Someone has to stay here and run things." "And the factory must be finished." " Can you do that?" " That's little enough." "I'm sorry, Tanne." "I'm sorry." "Where is memsahib?" "She can come soon enough." "Later that day, I left for Mombasa... and the voyage home to Denmark." "It was a longer journey this time." "The war went on." "I fought my own war." "Arsenic was my ally... against an enemy I never saw." "I stayed in the room where I was born... in Rungstedland... and tried to remember the colours of Africa." "There was only the medicine... and walks with my mother... along a deserted stretch of beach... and this room in my mother's house." "Denmark had become a stranger to me... and I to her." "But my mother's house I came to know again." "And knew I would come back to it... sick or well... sane or mad someday." "And so I did... after Tsavo." "Almost everyone's got them now." "I am cooking now, memsahib." "Yes, I have heard about this." "Are you well, Farah Aden?" "I am well enough, msabu." "Then I am well enough also." " What will you do?" " I have been thinking I'll hunt." "Safari sort of thing." "They say it'll be quite a business once the war is over." "You wouldn't want to teach?" "I would like these Kikuyu to have a school." "There will be a fight about that." "Tanne..." "Are you all well?" "They say I'm cured." "I won't have children." "Have you thought about us?" "Of course." "Belknap says the coffee will flower after the next rains." "If it does... you'll have start thinking about hiring for the harvest and ... how you'll get to market." " Where would Berkeley be?" " He must be here." "Who won the match?" "Have you got a story for me?" "Finch-Hatton!" "I've been demoted." "I was Denys last time." "Would you care for some champagne?" "They said you went home for a while." "Yes." "Where is Berkeley?" "It's good to see you, Karen." "He's still down with fever." "He'll be all right." "Who are all these people?" "Bror says we'll be a colony soon." "Yes." "They want it settled now." "They've got a lottery." "Buy a ticket, win a farm in Africa." "Did you really think it would stay the way it was?" "I thought it might." " Where is Kanuthia?" " He's dead." "How are you?" "Would you join us for a drink?" "It's time to find a pillow." " Another night then?" " Yeah." "Have a good Christmas." "Christmas." "So it is." "This Chief says children higher than this... must not learn to read." "Tell him all the children must go to school." "No." "This is a chief." " You are not a chief." " That's absurd." "It's not good for tall people to know more than this chief." "When these children are tall... then this chief can be dead." "Bror, yes." "But Denys hired out to tourists?" "I can't imagine." "He's got no other trade." "Besides, we've got no choice." "The government's put a stop to the ivory." " What will you do?" " I'll concentrate on the farm." "Hello, the house!" "Felicity!" "How is it you're home?" "I'm out." "Look." "I didn't learn a thing, but I'm wonderfully clean." "I'll come see you." "You save me a dance, Berkeley." "What's this nonsense I hear about a school?" "I've taken on a young missionary." "He's promised me to do the alphabet first and save God for later." "Wogs can't even count their goats." " It's none of your business." " Who the devil are you?" "I wonder if you'd dance with me?" "You are about to apologize." "You do like to stir things up, Baroness." "When they said they liked to read, how did they put that, exactly?" "Do they know they'd like Dickens?" " You don't think they should learn to read?" " I think you might have asked them." "Did you ask to learn when you were a child?" "How can stories possibly harm them?" "They have their own stories." "They're just not written down." "And what stake to you have in keeping them ignorant?" "They're not ignorant." "I just don't think they should be turned into little Englishmen." " You do like to change things." " For the better, I hope." "I want my Kikuyu to learn to read." ""My Kikuyu." "My Limoges." "My farm."" "It's a lot to own." "I have paid a price for everything I own." "What is it, exactly, that's yours?" "We're not owners here." "We're just passing through." "Is life really so damn simple for you, Finch-Hatton?" "Perhaps I ask less of it than you do." " I don't believe that at all." " Happy new year!" "Should old acquaintance be forgot" "And never brought to mind?" "Should oldld acquaintance be forgot for the sake of auld lang syne?" "For auld lang syne, my dear" "For auld lang syne" "We'll drink a cup of kindness here" "For the sake of auld lang syne." "We'll drink a cup...." "God save our gracious king." "Long live our noble king" "God save our king" "Send him victorious" "Happy and glorious..." "Happy new year, Karen." "And for you too." "God save the king" "Someone has left her underclothes in the back." "I want you to take a place in town." "Are you sure, Tanne?" "Eat." "Elephant." "Give me work." "We've got peace." "Where is the prosperity?" "Why should prices fall now just because we're not killing anybody?" "Well, tea's down just as bad." "Do they always have to whip them so?" "Look." "They finally made a machine that's really useful." "Listen." "It's for you." " I can't accept it." " Why not?" "Bror's moved to town." "That's a private matter, I imagine." "Did you think you would spend the night?" "Can't, thanks." "I have to go down to the Mara." "I've taken up safari work, and I've got to find a camp." "There's country there you ought to see." "It won't last long now." "No." "I would be wasting your time." "Why don't you get your things?" "If you like me at all... don't ask me to do this." "What's your word?" "Shoo?" "Is that it?" "Shoo?" "That's a fine word you've got there, Baroness." "Crank it again, will you?" "Almost." "Crank it again." "Again." "Once more." "Well done." "We're off." "I don't know the scientific basis for it... but I know you can see further in the African night than any other place." "And the stars are brighter." "It's about the tents." "When I'm out with Kanuthia... it used to be we didn't use them." "I remember him." "There was something..." "Masai." "He was half Masai." "That's what you remember about him." "They're like nobody else." "We think we'll tame them... but we won't." "If you put them in prison, they die." " Why?" " Because they live now." "They don't think about the future." "They can't grasp the idea that they'll be let out one day." "They think it's permanent." "So they die." "They're the only ones out here that don't care about us... and that is what will finish them." "What did the two of you ever find to talk about?" "Nothing." "So." "You knew I would come." "It's an early day tomorrow." "Why don't you get some sleep?" " And what happens tomorrow?" " I have no idea." " Good night." " Good night, Karen." "You would think they would run off." "You didn't." "Think of that." "Never a man-made sound, and then Mozart." " Have you clients already?" " In a week." "A man from Belgium and his daughters." "His letter said, "We'd like three of everything."" "It'll be an interesting trip." "I'll be gone a month... or an hour and a half." "Why are you doing this?" "I don't know how to sew." "Do you know what they're made of?" " No" " Cloth." "Where will he land?" "Trick is not to." "It must feel amazing." "It's how I imagined America to be." " Have you been to America?" " No, but my father was there." "And he always told me stories about it when I was a little girl." " Are you still close?" " He died." "He killed himself when I was ten years old." "I can fix that, I think." ""Laughed loud and long... and all the while his eyes went to and fro." "'Ha ha' quoth he, 'full plain I see." "The devil knows how to row.'" " Farewell, farewell..."" " You're skipping verses." "I leave out the dull parts." ""Farewell, farewell... but this I tell to thee, thou wedding guest."" "Lay your head back." ""He prayeth well... who loveth well both man and bird... and beast."" "That's better." "Will it be so different, hunting for hire?" "Not for the animals." "Well, maybe for the animals." "Do you really prefer them to people?" "Sometimes." "They don't do anything half-heartedly." "Everything's for the first time..." "Hunting, working, mating." "It's only man that does it badly." "It's only man that tires of going through it." "Who says, "See here." "Now I know how you feel about me... and you know how I feel about you... and we understand each other, so let's lie down and get on with it."" "Why am I here?" "Because I wanted you to see all this." "I wanted to show it to you." "I thought you'd understand it." "Do you think much about death?" "I think about getting old." "Be like living with a cranky, demanding old bastard." "Well, you are a cranky, demanding old bastard." "I had syphilis." "That's why I went home." "I know." "I never seem to get anything." "German measles once." "They say I'll have a normal life now... but no children." "So, the school?" "So, the school." "The farm." "That's what I am now." "We'll need meat for the camp tomorrow." "I'll wake you at dawn." "Good night." "Good night." "We might scare up a gazelle or two, but we'll be going through buffalo country again." "They get cocky when you're on foot." "Supper." "Good size, but..." "Lion." "Careful, the wind's behind us." "Back up." "Slowly." "If there's a charge, drop flat... and let me do it." "Reload!" "Dinner in a while?" "I'm glad you came." "To rose-lipped maidens." "There was a very young girl from Denmark... who took passage on a steamer bound for Suez." "There was a storm... off Morocco... and she was washed ashore... onto a beach." "Onto a white beach." "Onto a beach so, so white..." "I'd like to do that." " Will that hurt?" " No." "If you say anything now, I'll believe it." "I need to know how to think about this." "Why?" "Your clear soup, the new lettuce... chicken, just the breast." "I trust this meets with your approval?" " Who is coming?" " Bwana Cole is coming." "I will think on Bwana Cole." "I've got myself in real trouble now." " Now you think they should vote?" " No, worse." "Get Kamante." "He is out of hand entirely." "Does this look like a chicken?" "Here is not a chicken, memsahib." "Here is a fish." "Go away." "What do you think?" "It's quite good, isn't it?" "Be careful." "When the old map makers got to the edge of the world, they used to write..." ""Beyond this place there be dragons."" "Is that where I am?" "He likes to give presents... but not at Christmas." "He hasn't even said when he's going again." "If he's going again." "Would you divorce?" "Then I would have no one." "Men who missed moose in Alaska... grizzly in America, tiger in India... are all at sea now, bound for here." "Berkeley is going to farm." "You could do that." "No, thank you." "You ought to look in on him, though." "He didn't look all that well." "Can you stay?" "For a day or so." " Is that all right?" " No." "You don't need two guns on safari." "Then do the town work." "Meet the clients, do outfitting, there's mail." "I don't know that I'd be right for that." "You've got to do something." "I don't, actually." "My water's gone black." "We've got to get you to a hospital and get you some proper care." "I'm being cared for properly." "It's... some years now." "She's fond of me, I think." "Why didn't you tell me?" "I suppose..." "I thought..." "I didn't know you well enough." "There's money left in the trading account." "I'd like my share to go to Mairiamo." "Listen." "George Martin had black water fever, and that was five years now." "You might take along that 12-bore you're so fond of." "The trigger seems a bit..." "The Rigby." "Get Karen to try the Rigby." "It's a nice-size gun for her." "Would you like..." "Would you like me to take you home?" "I am home, I suppose." " "F." - "F."" " "G." - "G."" ""G" for girl." "Are you packed?" "Yes." "How was town?" "Crowded." "I've been thinking." "With all the safari work, I have little use for the room... at the club." "I don't know that I'd be any good at this... but how would it be if I kept a few things with you?" "You would come and go from my house?" "If that's all right." "When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers." "Berkeley's dying." " What?" " Black water fever." "Oh, my God." " I'll go to him." " No, he wouldn't want you there, Karen." "Why?" "There's a woman there." "She's Somali." "She's been with him for some time." "You never told me this." "I didn't know." ""...with each one of us now and forevermore." Amen." "Strange that Denys isn't here." "I think he is off with Berkeley." "In the days and hours that Denys was at home... we spoke of nothing ordinary." "Not of my troubles with the farm... my notes due and my failing crop... or of his, with his work... what he knew was happening to Africa." "Or of anything at all that was small and real." "We lived disconnected... and apart from things." "I had been making up stories while he was away." "In the evenings, he made himself comfortable... spreading cushions like a couch in front of the fire." "And with me sitting cross-legged like Shahrazade herself... he would listen, clear eyed, to a long tale... from when it began until it ended." "Where did you get it?" "Mombasa." "Get in." "When did you learn to fly?" "Yesterday." "Don't move." "I want to move." "Don't move." "Tanne, may I see you?" "Well, I'm broke too, you know?" "I wouldn't ask, but tips were a bit light." " Are you all right?" " If I get a decent crop." "I could shoot him." "I've got this terrible urge to kiss you." "He is smarter than I am." "It may go well." "Good luck, Tanne." "You might have asked, Denys." "I did." "She said yes." "If I get eaten up some time, bury me here, will you?" "Whatever's left." "Just there, at the crest of the hill." "When are you leaving?" "Tomorrow." "Doesn't it matter to you that I'm another man's wife?" "No" "What matters to me is that you tried so hard." "What time tomorrow?" "Goodbye again." "How many acres under cultivation?" " Five hundred." " The rest of it's wild?" " Well, the Kikuyu live there." " Why don't you move them off?" "Because they live there." "We'll take it over should you default." " We've got another year." " God is great, msabu." "He's charging three percent." "This chief says... tall children can come to school now." "Tell Chief Kinanjui that reading is a valuable thing." "His children will remember him well." "This chief says, "British can read, and what good has it done them?"" "Miss Felicity Spurway, clear round." "She's quite something, that Felicity." "Yes, indeed." "The next competitor, Mr John Sutton on Castano." "How are you?" "Getting old, I think." "Not you." "How is the hunt?" "I'll make a living." "Where is Denys?" "Uganda." "Some potentate." "I thought you might be wanting a divorce." "Has she got money?" "Of course she's got money." "Is this important, Bror?" "I suppose." "Well, I'll have to accuse you of something." "Or did you think you would have it the other way around?" "Fire away." "Whatever." "I have surely done it." "Thank you, Tanne." "How do you manage it..." "to keep us friends?" "We started that way." "Well, I'll be happy for you, if I can." "I remember that quite well." "When you go away on safari... are you ever with someone else?" "I'd be with you if I wanted to be with anyone." " Do you ever get lonely?" " Sometimes." "Do you ever wonder if I am lonely?" "No, I don't." "Do you think about me at all?" " Often." " But not enough to come back." "I do come back... all the time." "What is it?" "Nothing." "Bror has asked me for a divorce." "He found someone that he wants to marry." "I just thought we might do that someday." "Divorce?" "How..." "How would a wedding change things?" "I would have someone of my own." "You wouldn't." "What's wrong with marriage, anyway?" "Have you ever seen one you admire?" "Yes, I have." "Many." "Belfields, for one." "He sent her home for the rains in 1910." "Didn't tell her they were over till 1913." "It's not a joke." "People marry." "It's not revolutionary." " There are animals that mate for life." " Geese." "You use the damn animals for your own argument." "You won't let me use them for mine." "I'd mate for life." "One day at a time." "I'd just like someone to ask me once, that's all." "Promise me you'll do that, if I promise to say no?" "Just trust you, eh?" "When you go away... you don't always go on safari, do you?" "Just want to be away." "It's not meant to hurt you." "It does." "I'm with you because I choose to be with you." "I don't want to live someone else's idea of how to live." "Don't ask me to do that." "I don't want to find out one day that I'm at the end of someone else's life." "I'm willing to pay for mine." "To be lonely sometimes." "To die alone, if I have to." "I think that's fair." "Not quite." "You want me to pay for it as well." "No, you have a choice, and you're not willing to do the same for me." "I won't be closer to you... and I won't love you more because of a piece of paper." "See if you can shore it up." "Move away." "Let it go." "This water lives in Mombasa anyway." "I flew as far as Narok." "You could see all the ruts where the lorries had been." "The Serengeti was still good." "Take a week just getting there." "And Samburu is still good." "Where's Belknap?" "I haven't seen him." "He must be in America by now." "I let him go." "I had to." "But you don't want to hear about the farm, do you?" " L..." "Have you got any buttons?" " What are you doing?" " Mending your shirt." " Don't." "Don't do that." "You don't have to do that." "Maybe I'll try Samburu day after tomorrow." "You just got back." "You know, Felicity asked to come along... and I almost said no because I thought you wouldn't like it." " There's no reason for her not to come." " Yes, there is." "I wouldn't like it." "You want her along?" "I want things that don't matter not to matter." " Then tell her no." "Do it for me." " And then?" "What else would it be?" "Why is your freedom more important that mine?" "It isn't." "And I've never interfered with your freedom." "No." "I'm not allowed to need you." "Or rely on you, or expect anything from you." "I'm free to leave." " But I do need you." " You don't need me." "If I die, will you die?" "You don't need me." "You're confused." "You've mixed up need with want." "You always have." "My God." "In the world that you would make, there would be no love at all." "Or the best kind." "The kind we wouldn't have to prove." " You'll be living on the moon then." " Why?" "Because I won't do it your way?" "Are we assuming there's one proper way to do all this?" "Do you think I care about Felicity?" "Do you think I'll be involved with her?" " Then there's no reason for this." " If she's not important... why won't you give it up?" "I have learned a thing that you haven't." "There are some things worth having... but they come at a price, and I want to be one of them." "I won't allow it." "You have no idea the effect that language has on me." "I used to think that there was nothing that you really wanted... but that's not it, is it?" "You want to have it all." "I'm going to Samburu." "She can come or not." "Then you will be living elsewhere." "All right." "Is that a prince in there?" "I think that you had better get up, memsahib." " What?" " I think that you had better get up." "I think that God is coming." "All gone." " How did it start?" " I think God had a hand in it." "He gave me my best crop ever, and then He remembered." " Insurance?" " That's for pessimists." "Where is Denys?" "Who knows?" "Doesn't matter." "The baroness is broke, "D."" "It's over." "I've got to find some land before I go, for my Kikuyu." "You've trouble enough, Karen." "Just a chunk somewhere, so they can stay all together." "We're just out of coffee... but I can give you tea." "There is no arable land that size outside the reserve... and if there were, we'd not put natives on it." " Since it's theirs." " It belongs to the crown, Baroness." "What you want is quite impossible." "Yes, it always is." "Who must I see next?" "You've run through us all, I'm afraid." "We have a new governor, haven't we?" "Sir Joseph?" "He hasn't arrived yet." "But will soon, I'm told." "You do still ask me to things?" "Captain Jacques Llewllyn." " Your servant, sir." " Mr Llewllyn." "The honourable Hugh Chomondeley, Lord Delamere." " Your servant, sir." " Lady Delamere." " How do you do?" " Lady Delamere." " Commissioner." " Baroness." "The Baroness von Blixen." "I'm sorry to know that Kenya will be losing you." " You have heard of my trouble then?" " Yes." "I regret it." " And do you know of my problem now?" " Baroness." " This land you want from us." " Will you help me, Sir Joseph?" " Baroness, this really isn't the time." " That's quite difficult." " Baroness." " Please, get up." "Kenya is a hard country for women... so there is a chivalry here, of a sort." "You are a powerful man, and I have no one else to turn to." "Let's discuss this in the proper way." "You mustn't be embarrassed." "I've lost everything." " It costs me very little to beg you." " Wait." "Give her a moment, please." "This land was theirs, you see." "We took it, and now they have nowhere else to go." "I'll look into it." "We'll do the best we can." "May I have your word, sir?" "You have mine." "Thank you." "I hope you will be happy here." "I was." "I'm sorry I won't know you." "I didn't hear it until I got to the border." "It seems I'll do almost anything to get your attention." "I've nearly got you packed." "And my poor family, I've got them near bankrupt." "Now I have to ask them for more money." " Let me help you." " You would keep me, then?" "No." "I want to be worth something now." "What will you do?" "After my rummage sale, leave." "Friday for Mombasa, and then... the boat to Denmark." "Thank you." "You must have them ready to leave before the rains." "It is good land, enough for all." "But they must not fight about it or be any trouble to the authorities." "Do you understand?" "Or they will lose it." "You must make them understand that I will not be here... to speak for them." "This land is far?" "Not too far." "How can it be now with me and yourself?" "You will have some money." "Enough, I think." "I do not speak of money." "Do you remember how it was... on safari?" "In the afternoons I would send you ahead to look for a camp... and you would wait for me." "You can see the fire... and come to this place." "Yes." "Well, it will be like that." "Only this time I will go ahead and wait for you." "It is far, where you are going?" "Yes." "You must make this fire very big... so I can find you." "Take that out to the lawn." "Have you had dinner?" "Yes." "Your things..." "I packed your things." "I thought I would send them on to the club." "Is that all right?" "This wasn't a very good idea." "I think we should have had it this way all the time." "I don't know." "I was beginning to like your things." "And I was beginning to like living without them." "You've ruined it for me, you know." "Ruined what?" "Being alone." "Have I?" "I'd like to come with you to Mombasa." "Can I fly you there?" "Aren't you going away again?" "I have some things to do tomorrow at Tsavo, but I'll be back on Friday." "Will that be all right?" "Of course." "I've got this little thing that I've learned to do lately." "When it gets so bad... and I think I can't go on..." "I try to make it worse." "I make myself think about our camp on the river... and Berkeley... and the first time that you took me flying." "How good it all was." "And when I'm certain that I can't stand it..." "I go one moment more." "And then I know I can bear anything." "Would you like to help me?" "Yes." "Come dance with me then." "You were right, you know." "The farm never did belong to me." "I may have been wrong." "I had a farm in Africa." " Friday." " Yes." "Would you like a drink?" "Please." "Denys has been killed." "His plane crashed at Tsavo." "There was a fire." "Can I take you into town, Tanne?" "Why did they send you?" "I thought I should." "My God, you are brave." ""The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon at night." "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil." "He shall preserve thy soul." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in." "From this time forth and even forevermore."" "Amen." ""The time you won your town the race... we chaired you through the marketplace." "Man and boy stood cheering by... as home we brought you, shoulder high." "Smart lad, to slip betimes away... from fields where glory does not stay." "Early though the laurel grows... it withers quicker than a rose." "Now you will not swell the rout... of lads that wore their honours out." "Runners whom renown outran... and the name died... before the man." "And round that early laurelled head... will flock to gaze the strengthless dead... and find unwithered on its curls... a garland... briefer than a girl's."" "Now take back the soul of Denys George Finch Hatton... whom You have shared with us." "He brought us joy... and we loved him well." "He was not ours." "He was not mine." "If I know a song of Africa... of the giraffe... and the African new moon lying on her back... of the ploughs in the fields... and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers... does Africa know a song of me?" "Will the air over the plain quiver... with a colour that I have had on?" "Or will the children invent a game... in which my name is?" "Or the full moon throw a shadow... over the gravel of the drive... that was like me?" "Or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?" "You cannot come where I am going." "There is no cooking where you are going?" "You would not like it there." "You must trust me about this." "Letters you can send on to this address in Denmark." "When you sell the car, if you would send the cheque to Hunter and Company... and anything else you don't know what to do with." "Yes, ma'am." "Baroness, I've been sent to ask if we may stand you a drink." " Who is "we"?" " Well, the members, actually." "All right." "Whiskey, please." "Two whiskys, please." "Baroness?" "Rose-lipped maidens, light-foot lads." "Hear, hear." "Thank you." "This is very dear to me." "It has helped me to find my way." "Thank you, msabu." "I want to hear you say my name." "You are Karen, msabu." "The mail has come today... and a friend writes this to me:" ""The Masai have reported to the district commissioner at Ngong... that many times at s unrise and sunset... they have seen lions on Finch Hatton's grave." "A lion and a lioness have gone there... and stood or lain on the grave for a long time." "After you went away, the ground around the grave... was levelled out into a sort of terrace." "I suppose that the level place makes a good site for the lions." "From there they have a view over the plain... and the cattle and game on it."" "Denys will like that." "I must remember to tell him."