Original subtitles

Right behind the tree.

Come on.

That's shaken up the old python a bit.

Poor old python.

We could have warned him.

You be careful, memsabu, not to go too near the rock.

You, too, Matu, my son.

Would he have hurt us?

A year before you came,

he came out and killed a toto who was herding goats.

Comes out very quick. Aah!

Thank you, Matu.

What are the women doing, Njombo?

Making beer.

Are they going to have a celebration?

It is for Sammy's wedding.

He's going to marry.

Who?

That one there. Wanjui.

She was to be my wife.

But now I have no goats.

I cannot pay the bride price.

I'm too poor to marry.

I think it's jolly unfair.

I mean, why did you have to give up all your goats

when you didn't actually mean to kill the Palmers' headman?

It is our law.

The man is dead,

therefore I have to pay the blood money to his father.

It's a rotten law if you ask me.

Anyway, Sammy's already got two wives.

Shall I tell my father

and he can tell the district commissioner?

No, memsaab ndogo.

You are very kind,

but it is better your father shouldn't know

or there could be worse trouble.

ELSPETH: Sammy, why do you want so many wives?

A man who has many wives and many cattle

is an important man.

Yes, but what do you do with them all?

One wife cultivates my shamba here,

and now Wanjui will help her.

I will have more grain and more goats

and more cattle and many children,

which are better than rupees.

My other wife looks after my children in Maasailand.

I am half Kikuyu and half Masai.

Where is Maasailand?

Beyond those mountains.

A long way away, many days' journey.

Come on, Moyale. Come on.

Aah!

I'm all right.

It was my fault.

Memsaab Elspeth, quick!

-Follow me! -Sammy, what?

-Sammy, what?! -Quick!

Shh. Shh.

-Shh.

Won't they come back?

No.

I've never seen an elephant before except in a zoo.

I have not often seen so many myself.

You haven't? Would they have hurt us?

They would have killed us and the ponies.

They do not like ponies.

My father says this isn't elephant country.

Mm. The bwana is right.

But every few years,

the god of the elephants tells them that they must move.

When they move, they go straight, without stopping,

over the mountains, over the railways,

through shambas.

Gosh. We were lucky.

Yes.

I think it were better if we didn't speak of it

to your father and mother.

Yes.

You were very good and brave, Moyale.

Memsaab Nimmo is coming.

Usual thing.

Miscarriage and all sorts of filthy messes applied

to make matters worse.

How these wretched women live at all beats me.

What can anyone do for the girl in a filthy dark hut

full of every sort of infection?

Is it very serious?

She'd be dead by now if she was one of us.

High fever -- puerperal, I should think.

The only thing to do is get her to hospital in Nairobi.

I see.

Sammy, Wanjui is very ill.

She must go to Nairobi quickly.

Yes, memsaab.

We'll need some blankets and things.

Oh, yes. Of course.

MRS. NIMMO: Oh, my Lord.

Here's Granny and all the hags of great-aunts

come with the mumbo-jumbo man.

That's torn it properly, I can tell you.

I am very grateful, memsaab,

but Wanjui's family has come

and they have brought the mundamogo with them.

That girl will die if she doesn't have proper treatment.

I can tell you that.

That is no longer for me to decide.

I'd take her in by force if I had my way.

I am sorry, Maggie.

I could just cry sometimes. They're so pigheaded.

What will they do with that goat?

Kill it, poor thing.

Pull out its entrails.

Much much good that'll do.

Oh, Twinkle.

Nothing must ever happen to you.

Elspeth, what on earth are you doing outside without a hat

when you're meant to be resting?

I was so worried about Twinkle.

Why do they always have to be sacrificing poor goats?

I don't know, darling.

I wish they wouldn't, but it's part of their religion

and really nothing to do with us.

So...back to your rest.

Matu!

Sammy's not so rich now.

That's a horrid thing to say!

Poor Wanjui!

Wanjui is no more.

Her spirit has gone up to the mountain.

She died inside, so it must be burnt.

ELSPETH: Twinkle.

Twinkle.

No, Twinkle.

Naughty.

You're not supposed to be in here.

Oh, Twinkle, come here.

Come along.

Oh.

Come along.

Oh, Twinkle, come here.

I'm sorry about the roses.

I won't let it happen again.

You know, she'll soon be getting big enough

to look for a husband.

Then perhaps we ought to get one for her.

One duiker is quite enough.

Sooner or later, she'll have to go.

You've got to face up to it.

She won't go.

She mustn't go, whatever happens.

What was that?

Oh!

Go back to the house. Quickly.

He died during the operation.

The surgeon said it was just as well.

There was a big chip of stone inside the brain.

These people will never learn.

You know as well as I do

they love anything shiny to make into ornaments.

It was putting temptation into his way.

I didn't put temptation in his way.

Anyway, that boy was quite bright,

and he'd actually seen the detonators being used

to blow things up.

How on earth did he get into the shed in the first place?

I've no idea.

Do you always lock the key up?

Yes.

Well, almost always.

Was it locked up today?

As a matter of fact it wasn't, no.

But I was only out of the office for a few minutes.

Anyway, someone would have seen him taking it.

The real trouble is that Sammy and no doubt some of the others

have keys forged in the village.

It's easy enough.

I notice things missing all the time.

Don't you?

Not often.

It seems to me it's a great mistake

to trust Sammy with the key anyway.

And it would be much better

if you always saw that it was locked up yourself.

Yes, of course it would.

Now, for heaven's sake, let's just...drop the whole subject.

ROBIN: There's no point in having an inquiry.

It won't help Matu to come back to life.

Let's hope it will teach everyone else a lesson.

My wife and I are very sad for you, Sammy.

Thank you, bwana.

There is a curse on my family.

Would you like a few days off?

TILLY: Robin.

Sorry to interrupt.

Njombo has disappeared.

No one's seen him anywhere,

and the ponies haven't been fed or groomed or anything.

Did you know Njombo wasn't here, Sammy?

Is he ill?

Perhaps he has gone to the village.

Njombo is as foolish as a chicken.

He is not a good man.

I-I'll find another to take his place.

He's a damn good groom.

And what's more, he's one of my servants,

and I'm not having him or anyone else just wandering off

when it takes their fancy.

Chief Kupanya is his uncle, isn't he?

I'll have it out with him.

As you please, bwana.

All right, Sammy.

He's says he'll send for this man of yours

but it may be that he's sick.

If he was sick, he should have come to me for treatment.

Yes.

Yes.

The chief says there are doctors for white men

and doctors for black men.

He says perhaps Njombo has gone to consult a black man's doctor.

Well, you know what that means. One of their damn witch doctors.

Look, Robin.

From past experience, I wouldn't advise you

to get into a medical argument with these chaps.

I can assure you we'll be here all night.

Just thank the old boy and come and have a peg at the hotel.

What have you been doing?

It was my family.

You're not ill?

You do not just run away without telling me.

If you have family problems and want a day off,

you come to me or the memsabu.

Tell us. But don't just run off.

Do you understand?

And that's the last warning I shall give you.

Next time I will not take you back.

He looks rotten, doesn't he?

Looks as if he's been attacked by vampires.

Or a very great thirst for beer.

I hope you'll stick to your word.

Yes.

Of course I will.

Robin, could you put matches on the list?

I almost forgot.

Oh, right.

TILLY: And, um, don't forget to call in at the Norfolk

for any messages.

ROBIN: I won't.

I don't think Njombo's very well at all.

He really does look rotten.

I mean, I've tried everything from Epsom salts to castor oil.

Nothing does any good.

I really don't know what's the matter with him.

He ought to see a doctor -- a proper doctor.

He'd never come into Nairobi with me

if he knew I was taking him to the hospital.

Why not pretend you want him to look after the mules?

Yes. Good idea.

Yes. All right.

Njombo!

I'll certainly take him in,

but don't think we have any miracle cures.

There are dozens of tropical diseases

we haven't got names for, let alone a treatment.

And new ones keep turning up daily.

I'm most grateful.

Njombo.

Yes, bwana.

This is a bwana doctor who wishes to help you get well.

Come along.

There we are. Good show.

Come on.

Off you go.

As-salaam aleikum.

As-salaam aleikum.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil al-amin.

Juma, please may I have the ends for the ponies?

Yeah. Of course.

Daddy's taken Njombo to hospital.

Mm. Njombo cannot get well.

Yes, he can.

The doctors will give him medicine.

The medicine of the doctors is not strong for him.

Yes, it is.

There are bad men here, witch doctors.

They have great powers and wickedness.

Do you really believe that?

When we first came here, you said they were all hopeless.

Savages and cannibals.

Njombo was foolish to bring harm to Sammy's wife

and then his son.

But Sammy's son was silly to hit the thing like a cartridge

with a rock -- and wicked to steal it.

It hurt no one else.

Njombo was seen to dig up the stone that killed the boy.

And all of you really believe that?

Where is he?

Outside.

He can hardly stand.

I'm going to put him in the sick hut and nurse him myself.

Njombo, here.

Here.

Please try and swallow some, Njombo.

It will make you well and strong again.

And Bwana Grant and I need you to help us.

And so do Memsabu Elspeth and the ponies.

He won't touch a spoonful.

It's as if he's being poisoned by something.

I don't see how he can be being poisoned

if he's not eating anything.

They all -- I mean Juma and the boys --

they all think that Sammy thinks

it was somehow Njombo's fault that his wife and son died.

How on earth?

I don't know.

It's just what they think.

Perhaps Sammy asked a mumbo-jumbo man

to put a spell on poor Njombo.

Well, if it's that, it's a sickness of the mind,

and no amount of beef broth is going to cure that.

We must convince him that this spell or curse

or whatever it is is pure imagination

and has no real power to hurt him.

That's going to be rather difficult

when it so obviously has.

But only because he thinks so.

If we could just make him believe he was being silly.

That's exactly what it is -- a question of belief, of faith.

Why don't we put our own mumbo-jumbo man onto the job?

Oh, Robin.

No, no.

I mean the little fathers at the Italian mission over the hill.

That's what they're there for, isn't it -- to save souls?

Beat the local wizards at their own job.

I'm not sure that's exactly how they'd put it,

but it's certainly worth a try.

You see, Father, we were hoping that one of you would come over

and -- and, um, as it were,

drive out this evil spirit, like the...

-The Gadarene swine. -Exactly.

Um, please.

Has the sick man had the water of God?

I think he means has Njombo been baptized.

-Definitely not. -No.

Ah.

Then I'm afraid we cannot drive away the bad spirit.

We are very sorrowful.

But don't you preach that the word of God

is stronger than the Kikuyu magic?

Isn't that what you are here for?

You see, if God has not caught a man,

then he does not belong to God.

He still belongs Kikuyu custom.

If the -- the water of God has not been placed on his head...

Supposing you came over and gave him the water?

First he must wish for the water and then learn, understand.

And then, perhaps in a month or two...

He'll be dead in a few days.

I am sorry. We cannot help you.

Uh, perhaps if you had come a little sooner...

Well, what useless little men.

They can't save Njombo's life because he hasn't been baptized,

and they won't baptize him because he's dying.

If that's their idea of Christianity, I...

Well, I do see their point.

Unless Njombo really believes, they can't save him.

And now he's too far gone to take it all in anyway.

Well, we're a pretty hopeless lot.

That's all I can say.

With all our education, knowledge, and civilization,

we can't do a thing to cope with a...

with an obscure, ignorant, heathen old wizard

with nothing but a bag of bones, beans, and powders.

I mean, Njombo's not just our servant.

He's one of us.

He's been with us right from the beginning.

He's under our protection, and we're letting him down.

ROBIN: I know.

It's getting damn serious. I'm really worried.

Yes, I've seen this sort of nonsense

often enough before now, in all parts of the world --

India, South Africa, North Africa.

Up there, they call it the evil eye.

No, your man's a goner -- unless you can get at Sammy.

Now, the first thing to do is to look for his Achilles' heel.

His cattle, you mean?

Yes. How many has he got?

I mean on your shamba.

About 10 or 11, I suppose.

Ten or eleven.

Right.

Well, you tell Master Sammy

that you'll cut their throats unless Njombo recovers.

Or better still, you'll hand them over to Njombo's father.

That should bring him to heel.

Of course, in the old days, we'd have knocked the fellow down

and given him 20 of the best with a whip.

But nowadays we like to think ourselves a bit more civilized.

I'm very angry with you, Sammy.

You're behaving not like a man who can read,

a civilized human being,

but like one of the savages you pretend to despise.

We are all very sorry about your troubles,

but get this quite clear --

Njombo had nothing to do with them.

Nothing whatsoever.

Do you not understand

that these customs are bad and old-fashioned?

If Njombo dies, you are his murderer.

I do not understand what you're saying.

Well...

perhaps you will understand

when I take all your cattle and shoot them.

I shall shoot them myself. Every one.

If by tomorrow evening Njombo does not begin to recover,

that is what will happen.

Every one of your beasts will die.

Very well.

Finish Njombo's illness or your cattle die.

That's all.

I don't know what I shall do if Sammy doesn't dewitch Njombo.

I can't really kill 11 head of cattle in cold blood.

The trouble with the major is he's still living

in the rip-roaring days when you could get away with murder.

Apart from anything else, I'm sure it's quite illegal.

So is bewitching people to death.

We could get Samny run in.

Run in?

We have as much chance

of getting a conviction in a witchcraft case

as of a mule winning the Derby.

No, if anybody's going to be run in,

it will be me if I destroy those cattle.

You know how the government people love us settlers.

Poor darling.

It's rotten for you.

Well, it's rotten for all of us.

I sometimes wonder

what we're doing out here in this damn country anyway.

It's like two whole separate circles

revolving 'round each other -- their world and ours --

and only just touching occasionally.

I suppose we'll get used to it one day.

He's committing suicide by sheer willpower.

And the saddest thing is

none of his family have been to see him.

Usually they come up from the village in droves

if anyone's ill.

Yes.

They won't come this time.

They're too afraid.

Of what? Of us? Sammy?

Of getting the sickness.

He's a sort of pariah to them, you see.

How is he?

A bit worse if anything.

They're quite tough, these fellows.

They hang on in the most amazing way.

He doesn't want to, though, does he?

The bluff's not working.

And no one's doing a hand's turn on the farm.

They're all as sullen as the devil.

Look. I'll tell you what.

Why don't you and your good lady and Elspeth

have a day or two off?

Go down to Nairobi, do some shopping.

You can borrow that old thing if you like.

Oh, that's awfully kind of you, Major.

Mm. I'll keep an eye on things here.

I'll rope in Alec Wilson to give me a hand.

At a time like this, things can get rather nasty.

And I'm an old hand at this game.

I'll sort things out.

It'll blow over in no time.

But you wouldn't guarantee to save Njombo's life?

No.

Look, I know very well one can get damned fond of these boys,

but the fact of the matter is

there are always plenty more to take their place.

Well, it's jolly nice of you, Major,

and we much appreciate it,

but I think we must stick it out here, one way or the other.

I think we ought to go and see old Chief Kupanya.

Jambo, Chief Kupanya!

-Habari aku? -Nzuri.

Memsabu?

Jambo. Habari aku, Chief Kupanya?

Nzuri. Nzuri.

He says he doesn't know this man Njombo.

But he's his own nephew.

He says when a man goes to work for Europeans,

he is his no longer.

Listen, Tilly.

The old devil doesn't speak any English.

But I think he understands well enough,

though he pretends he can't.

Why not put your case to him yourself?

Keep it simple.

Chief Kupanya, my husband, Bwana Grant, and I

much respect you, but we are angry.

Someone is trying to kill Njombo with bad medicine.

Listen carefully.

If this does not stop now,

if the magic is not taken off Njombo

and he's not better by tomorrow, the DC will hear of it.

Did he understand?

Every word, I think.

He says it's got nothing to do with him.

If the DC comes, he'll be ready to meet him.

It is not the DC who will come.

It will be armed askaris with bracelets for your wrists.

Have you not heard?

It is King George himself

who has said there will be no more magic.

He will put you in prison and fine you hundreds of goats.

Your staff of office will be taken away from you,

and you will no longer be chief.

I have warned you.

If Njombo dies, the DC will know you murdered him.

I say. You did damn well.

You handled the old boy splendidly.

I bet he hasn't had a wigging like that in years.

And never from a memsabu. I'm sure of that.

I only hope he doesn't call our bluff.

Looks like we're going to have a big storm.

No, I don't think it's going to come to much.

Don't worry.

Lizzie won't let us down.

I'll get her started again once this lot blows over.

They don't think we'll win anyway.

They're waiting for Njombo.

None of the boys have turned up for work.

Not a soul.

Sammy's vanished.

That could be good. It could be bad.

Thank you.

Bwana, Sammy wishes to speak to you at the office.

Well?

I've come to see Njombo.

All right.

Well...

Daddy, look.

Come on. Let's get on with our breakfast.

It's a good sign, anyway.

Let's pretend, for heaven's sake,

that we haven't noticed.

We've all gone off our heads.

The whole thing is a lot of tomfoolery.

I've brought you some beef tea, Njombo.

Thank you, memsabu.

Well, whatever the old wizard did certainly saved Njombo.

No doubt of that.

TILLY: I'd never have believed it

unless I'd actually seen it with my own eyes.

-Soda, if you please. -Ah, yes.

Anyway, Robin,

I hope you're going to read the riot act to Sammy

in case it ever happens again.

Well, we haven't any proof that it was Sammy.

Ah. That's the beauty of the whole thing.

There's never any proof.

My head boy is married to one of Chief Kupanya's daughters.

Apparently, Kupanya didn't give two hoots

for Tilly's threats about the king and governor or the DC.

But Kupanya was a bit reluctant to take on the Almighty himself.

That thunderstorm put the fear of God into him.

It's always a good thing to have friends in high places.