Benjamin Komoetie is a white foundling. The “Coloured” (multiracial) farmer Fiela Komoetie and her husband Selling rescue Benjamin when he’s three years old. His life changes forever when two census-takers arrive and notice the white Benjamin, suggesting that he must in fact be Lukas, the lost child of Elias and Barta van Rooyen, Afrikaners who live over the mountain. Although it’s highly unlikely that a young child could have survived the trek over the mountain to the Komoetie property, this doesn’t stop the magistrate and others in his office from biasing the process to make sure Benjamin ends up with the white van Rooyens. Although Benjamin is reluctant to leave Fiela and her family, he is powerless to resist the decree of the magistrate. Much of the novel centers on questions of Benjamin’s identity, including to what extent he can shape it himself and to what extent people around him control it. Despite the harshness of his new father Elias, who wants to use Benjamin as a way to make money, Benjamin makes the best of his new life, forming a bond with his supposed sister, Nina. When Benjamin is about 20, Elias sends him to track down Nina, who has run away from a job in the village. Benjamin’s trip takes him out to the hills near where the sea meets the Knysna river, and he meets the pilot Mr. Benn and the sailor Kaliel September. Seeing the wider world outside the Forest, particularly the boats (which remind Benjamin of his childhood with Fiela) inspires Benjamin to leave the van Rooyens. Around this time, Benjamin begins to develop romantic feelings for Nina, and he takes this as evidence that Nina isn’t his blood relative. And so, on his journey to discover his identity, Benjamin goes back to where he started, proudly rejecting the name Lukas and embracing Fiela as his mother.
Benjamin Quotes in Fiela’s Child
The Fiela’s Child quotes below are all either spoken by Benjamin or refer to Benjamin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
The day the child disappeared the fog came up early and by midday it seemed as if the Forest was covered in a thick white cloud.
Related Characters:
Lukas, Elias, Barta, Benjamin, The Magistrate
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
Only in retrospect did Fiela take account of the omens—she did not recognize them at first. […] Omens that should have warned her, but her mind was on the ostrich and she did not heed the warnings.
‘Listen here, woman, you know as well as I do that there’s something very strange going on here. This can’t be your child but you gave out that he was yours. Where did you get the child from?’
‘He’s my hand-child.’
Related Characters:
The Census-Takers (speaker), Fiela (speaker), Benjamin, Lukas, The Magistrate
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
‘You’re making a mistake, Fiela, wait another week or two.’
‘No. I’ve kept them apart long enough, I had them out at pasture for weeks, I’ve put paraffin into their ears so that there wouldn’t be a single tick to worry them, I’ve let Kicker starve—I’m not waiting any longer.’
Chapter 7
Quotes
‘Is this a church?’ he asked the tall one.
‘No. It’s a courtroom. Sit there on the bench and sit still.’
Related Characters:
Benjamin (speaker), The Census-Takers (speaker), The Magistrate, Fiela
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
‘Will I still know him?’
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Chapter 9
Quotes
It was late when they got home. His mother took one look at the egg, took down the strap from behind the door and beat their backsides well for them.
The next day she baked a sugar-cake with the egg.
Related Characters:
Dawid, Benjamin, Fiela, The Magistrate
Related Symbols:
Ostriches
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
‘I’m going to Knysna,’ she announced.
Related Characters:
Fiela (speaker), Benjamin, Selling, The Magistrate
Related Symbols:
Ostriches
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
‘What are bigfeet?’
‘Don’t you know? The animals with the trunks, elephants,’ she whispered. ‘You’re not supposed to say the name out loud, they’ll hear you and think you’ve called them and come and trample you.’
Chapter 13
Quotes
‘He’s the forest woman’s child.’
Related Characters:
Fiela (speaker), Benjamin, Barta, The Magistrate, Lukas
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14
Quotes
‘I’m your pa! That’s who I am! Say it! Say who I am!’ He was as tough as a piece of ironwood. ‘Say who I am!’
‘Pa.’
[…]
For every answer he gave him a lash. ‘And who are you?’
‘Benja— Lukas.’
‘Lukas who?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Lukas van Rooyen. Say it!’
‘Lukas van Rooyen.’
Related Characters:
Elias (speaker), Benjamin (speaker), Barta, Lukas, Nina, Willem, Kristoffel, Fiela, The Magistrate
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15
Quotes
‘The child is back with his rightful parents,’ he said and it seemed as if his jaw had grown stiff. ‘What he had on the day he got lost can make no difference. You can put anything on him now and swear by it in the hope that I will believe you.’
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17
Quotes
In fact Petrus did not come riding up the Kloof until late on Thursday. Alone. A sugar-cake was waiting on the kitchen table.
Related Characters:
Petrus, Fiela, Selling, Benjamin, The Magistrate
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18
Quotes
‘Pa is a dirty swine.’ Just that.
‘Why do you say that?’
‘It was a trap. An elephant trap.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I went there. There’s a dead elephant calf lying in the pit.’
Chapter 19
Quotes
The year moved slowly. Christmas came. New Year. And as he grew out of Benjamin Komoetie, he also grew out of his cloths and had to wear Willem’s old trousers and a shirt of his pa’s.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
She had to give up Benjamin to the forest people, Dawid to the grave. There was little difference in the bitterness within her. The question she put to God was the same: Why, God, why?
Related Characters:
Fiela, Benjamin, Dawid, Selling, The Magistrate
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22
Quotes
Chapter 23
Quotes
‘I am an oarsman too. But I can’t live on what John Benn’s paying. I make a bit of extra on my own. I had to get rid of some of my customers because I only have two hands.’
Related Characters:
Kaliel September (speaker), Benjamin, Mr. Benn
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Chapter 25
Quotes
He was shocked and guilt-ridden. For a moment, his body had forgotten that she was his sister.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29
Quotes
The one wearing the blue shirt.
Related Characters:
The Census-Takers (speaker), Lukas, Benjamin, Barta, Elias
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Fiela’s Child LitChart as a printable PDF.
Benjamin Character Timeline in Fiela’s Child
The timeline below shows where the character Benjamin appears in Fiela’s Child. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Benjamin knows that his parents treat him like a lamb that has to be fed by...
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Chapter 3
...them as bad in hindsight. With her husband, Selling Komoetie, she watches her children, including Benjamin, as they herd an ostrich back home with thorny branches. Fiela and her whole family...
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When Benjamin gets back with the other children and the ostrich, the first thing he does is...
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Fiela worries again about Benjamin when the census-takers begin asking questions about her children. Kittie, their first child was born...
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All of a sudden, while Fiela is answering questions for the census-takers, Benjamin comes back from his boats. The census-takers instantly notice that unlike the rest of Fiela’s...
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The census-takers accuse Fiela of lying to them. She admits she doesn’t know when Benjamin was born but that everyone in town knows he’s her son. The one man goes...
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Chapter 4
...should ask a neighbor for advice about how to make sure the government doesn’t take Benjamin away, but Fiela wants to take care of everything herself.
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Chapter 6
...ostrich kicks. Fiela keeps Tollie inside that day. Since they can’t harvest aloe, Fiela tells Benjamin that after he sweeps up the yard and hen-coop, he can play in the river....
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Fiela shouts to Tollie to close the gate so that Pollie can’t escape. Fiela sees Benjamin and knows that he has some idea what’s going on—he asked about census-takers one day...
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Fiela protests once again that Benjamin couldn’t have walked over the mountains on his own at three years old. The census-takers...
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Fiela debates whether to have Benjamin go hide in the mountains or to prepare to send him to Knysna for a...
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Fiela bathes Benjamin one last time. She instructs him to address the magistrate politely, not tell lies and...
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Chapter 7
Benjamin shivers as the census-takers take him in the horse cart through the mountains. When the...
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Benjamin tells the census-takers he wants to go home, but they say they want no more...
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...Knysna and will reach the Forest in about three hours. One of them asks if Benjamin remembers the Forest, and Benjamin says “No, master.” Eventually, the man once again reminds Benjamin...
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When they finally make it to the Forest, Benjamin finds it beautiful and is excited that elephants live there. The census-takers say he should...
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The woman sees marks on Benjamin’s legs and asks if his previous family used to beat him. He explains the marks...
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Eventually, the census-takers bring Benjamin to a large room full of wooden benches. He asks if it’s a church, but...
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Chapter 9
As Benjamin waits in the magistrate’s courtroom for everyone to arrive, he counts the benches using his...
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Dawid grabbed the ostrich egg and gave it to Benjamin, but just then, Dawid shouted that the male bird was chasing them. Benjamin panicked and...
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Back in the present in the courtroom, Benjamin has been waiting for a while and wonders if they’ve forgotten about him. He considers...
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The magistrate asks Benjamin if he remembers ever having a name other than Benjamin Komoetie. Benjamin doesn’t. The magistrate...
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Chapter 10
Meanwhile on that Friday, Fiela works on extracting aloe and worries about how Benjamin’s trial is going. She feels that her hand-lamb child is about to be slaughtered. Selling...
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...sees the horse cart coming toward her property. But then all of Saturday passes without Benjamin coming back, and Sunday passes too. On Monday, Fiela begins making plans to go to...
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Benjamin walks back to the Forest with Elias and Barta. The people in the courtroom told...
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Elias and Barta make it with Benjamin back to the house. Elias asks “Lukas” to greet his brother Willem and sister Nina....
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Chapter 11
...as she walks to Knysna. Still, she prefers walking to waiting around for news of Benjamin. Before Fiela left, Selling warned her not to get angry at the magistrate, since this...
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...At one point during those years, she slips him a note about her discovery of Benjamin. Eventually, Selling’s health becomes too poor for him to contribute much work. The convicts are...
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Chapter 12
Benjamin has been away from Wolwekraal for five days and has stopped crying and complaining because...
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Nina come to Benjamin and says she wants to show him a secret. He agrees to go with her,...
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Benjamin gets mad at Nina for wearing his nightshirt like a dress and ruining it in...
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Nina leads Benjamin down to the creek where she has started a collection of glass bottles. She likes...
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Meanwhile, Elias thinks about how Benjamin has caused trouble by being stubborn. He wants to teach Benjamin how to do real...
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That night, when Benjamin returns from the Forest with Nina, Elias thinks he’s behaving better, even if he’s still...
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...over to check on Elias. He tells her about how he’s put both Nina and Benjamin to work, but she says it might take more than just that to keep them...
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...story from Aunt Malie before and isn’t impressed by it. Elias goes to check on Benjamin and Nina’s progress with the beams, only to find they’re both gone and have barely...
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Chapter 13
...a place to sleep for the night. She agrees but sleeps uneasily worrying about where Benjamin went and what will happen if the magistrate finds out about Selling.
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Chapter 14
After catching Benjamin, Elias sets Benjamin and Nina to work on making wooden beams. A few days later,...
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Benjamin dedicates himself to his work so that Elias will leave him alone. More than 20...
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Chapter 15
...in Wolwekraal for two days, and she’s full of sadness for everyone. Selling worries that Benjamin will die in the Forest because he isn’t used to it, but Fiela tells him...
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...Selling looks unhealthy. Fiela doesn’t want to tell Petrus or anyone else in Kloof about Benjamin, so she avoids his questions. Selling, however, is angry when he hears she didn’t tell...
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Fiela tells the magistrate that she has a way to prove Benjamin’s parentage. They can bring in Barta and ask her what Lukas was wearing on the...
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...be too proud, and Selling joins in. At last, Fiela admits that the census-takers took Benjamin away.
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...could help, although he thinks it inevitable that the government would eventually come to take Benjamin away because he’s a foundling. Fiela clarifies that the government only cares because Benjamin is...
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Chapter 16
...forester named Mr. Kapp shows up to see Elias—the magistrate sent him to check on Benjamin. At the time, Benjamin is out with Nina, and so Elias invites Mr. Kapp to...
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...that back to the magistrate. But eventually, Mr. Kapp says that he can’t wait for Benjamin any longer and will have to go back. He promises to give Elias and Barta’s...
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Chapter 17
...by rain, and no one knows for sure when he’ll be back with news of Benjamin. When Petrus finally does come back, it’s two days later than expected. Fiela has prepared...
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...a reasonable man. He says the magistrate sent a forester (Mr. Kapp) to check on Benjamin, and all was well. Petrus now believes that Elias and Barta are Benjamin’s rightful parents....
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Chapter 18
After 41 days with Elias and Barta, Benjamin begins to believe that Fiela is never coming for him. Elias has been away for...
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Later that day, Barta comes over to Benjamin and offers him coffee, which he declines. She asks him if he’s really happy with...
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...come back, he seems dazed and barely notices how little work Nina accomplished. He instructs Benjamin and Nina that they are both going out into the Forest with him. They’re confused,...
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Elias tells Benjamin and Nina that if they hear a branch crack, indicating that “bigfeet” are nearby, they...
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One evening, when Nina and Benjamin come back to the house, Elias informs Benjamin that Fiela stopped by to drop off...
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From then on, Elias always goes to accompany Benjamin and Nina when they work on the pit. Elias tells them they must not tell...
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Benjamin talks with Kristoffel, who says that it seems like Benjamin has become Elias’s favorite assistant...
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Chapter 19
By October, Benjamin feels like a snake that has to shed its old skin in order for him...
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...with his clothes torn. When Nina hears the news of Elias’s close call, she tells Benjamin that she hopes her father is so injured that he’ll die. Nina suggests that if...
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One Sunday morning, Nina shows Benjamin Aunt Malie’s daughter Bet. Nina says that eventually Benjamin will have to marry Bet, just...
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Nina and Benjamin go to the Forest, where Nina pulls out the hidden mouth-organ (harmonica) that she stole...
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Nina begins to bother Benjamin less after he makes the threat about tattling about the mouth-organ. Still, one Sunday, he...
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When Nina and Benjamin finally return home later that Sunday, Mr. Kapp is sitting at the table with Elias....
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All of a sudden, Benjamin hears Nina shouting as if she’s being attacked. Elias is running around punching her, while...
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Elias puts Benjamin in charge of escorting Nina to the village to start her job. As they walk,...
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Nina wants to live alone in the Forest, but Benjamin convinces her not to. She agrees to go to the village but says Benjamin should...
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Chapter 20
...only option is to buy a gun to hunt elephants. Still, he’s glad that “Lukas” (Benjamin) and Kristoffel have been so easy to deal with.
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...Willem gets the family that fired her to take her back, but three months later, Benjamin finds Nina by the creek and learns that she’s been fired from her job again...
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Chapter 21
...white and “Coloured” mourners attend. It’s been seven years since Fiela had to give up Benjamin, and Dawid helped her through much of that period. She now has 12 ostriches for...
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...hoping to get married soon. In the present, Fiela decides she must get news to Benjamin about Dawid’s death, ideally for him to make the funeral but at least so he...
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Dawid used to believe Benjamin would come back one day, even when Fiela herself had doubts. At Dawid’s funeral, Fiela...
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Chapter 22
...gone missing, and with Willem and Kristoffel away, Elias has no choice but to send Benjamin to find her. Benjamin figures she must be hiding in the Forest again, having yet...
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...are stalking him. But so far, the guns he’s bought have been broken and useless. Benjamin knows this is why Elias wants Nina back, so that he can put her to...
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When Benjamin arrives at the village near sundown, he finds that something strange is going on. Some...
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At the ghost ship, Benjamin runs into an army sergeant. Benjamin asks him questions about the ship, but the sergeant...
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Benjamin goes back to the village and asks about Nina. An old man tells him that...
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Miss Weatherbury tells Benjamin that she took Nina in because she took pity on her, but Nina generally refused...
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Miss Weatherbury asks why Benjamin is looking for Nina. He explains that he has to collect her money, and this...
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Eventually, Benjamin gets tired of waiting for Nina and goes out walking on his own. He walks...
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Benjamin continues to walk over hills, taking in the scenery and marveling at how big the...
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Chapter 23
Benjamin finds a place to take shelter for the night. He wakes up the next day,...
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Benjamin keeps walking and comes across a boatman and asks the man to teach him to...
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The boatman tries to persuade Benjamin to give up looking for work on the pilot-boat, but Benjamin remains persistent. At last,...
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...feels that he has the sea in his blood but that a Forest person like Benjamin should be careful around water. Benjamin introduces himself to Kaliel as “Lukas.” Kaliel explains that...
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Benjamin is impressed as Kaliel September shows him around the area and points out his house,...
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Kaliel September leads Benjamin around for three days, showing him his new responsibilities. Kaliel complains that he knows as...
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Reluctantly, Benjamin helps Kaliel September set some blue-buck traps. Benjamin remains determined to get a job on...
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Benjamin wants to go back to check on Nina at Miss Weatherbury’s. Kaliel September accuses him...
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Chapter 24
...his frustration over losing “Lukas.” Barta had a strange feeling from the second day after Benjamin left to look for Nina. Eventually, Nina arrived to give the news that “Lukas” had...
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Chapter 25
Benjamin continues working long hours for Kaliel September. Kaliel instructs Benjamin in rowing and in other...
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April and May pass, and eventually it’s June. One day, Kaliel September tells Benjamin that he just saw someone who looked like Nina around the area lately, just an...
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Benjamin finds Nina standing on the beach. She is wearing new clothes, and he doesn’t recognize...
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...a companion servant who eats at the dinner table with her, hence the new clothes. Benjamin warns her that Elias and Barta had better not find out about where she’s staying,...
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That night, Benjamin struggles with his new sexual feelings toward Nina. He wonders if it’s truly possible that...
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Benjamin thinks he can use Kaliel September’s absence to somehow get on a boat, but then...
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Chapter 26
Three days later, Benjamin starts walking back to Long Kloof, not entirely sure why he’s going. He would’ve left...
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It’s a long journey for Benjamin back to Long Kloof. He remembers being Fiela’s hand-child and wonders if he’s actually 20...
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Chapter 27
...the distance. All of a sudden, she sees a white man who reminds her of Benjamin. When he calls her “Ma,” she can’t believe it and starts to cry. They kiss...
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Fiela can’t afford to kill a fatted calf or to celebrate Benjamin’s return, but everyone is happy to see him. Benjamin is exhausted and goes to sleep...
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As news of Benjamin’s return spreads in the Kloof, Petrus and many others come by to visit. Fiela tells...
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Eventually Benjamin builds a real boat from wood. Fiela is worried about him using it, but Selling...
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Eventually, Benjamin admits to Fiela that he’s troubled that he still can’t shake the feeling that, even...
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Fiela wants to put her land in Benjamin’s name so he can inherit it, but Benjamin insists it belongs to Tollie, Emma, and...
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Benjamin then confesses to Fiela that he’s somehow in love with his “sister” Nina, though she...
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Chapter 28
Benjamin sets off back toward the forest with mutton for Barta and ostrich feathers from Kicker...
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Benjamin and Barta go to see Elias, who is seriously injured from wounds he got from...
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Benjamin tells Barta he’s been back to Long Kloof. Barta seems surprised but doesn’t say anything....
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Against Elias’s protests, Benjamin and Kristoffel carry him outside into the sun. Elias says Benjamin ran away like a...
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At last, Benjamin gets the opportunity to talk to Barta alone. He asks if he is truly Lukas....
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Chapter 29
Two days later, Mr. Benn gives Benjamin a position on the crew of his pilot boat, since Kaliel September is gone. Book...
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Eventually, Nina confronts Benjamin about how he talks to her less. Benjamin struggles to explain his conflicted feelings, and...
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...it has run out of freshwater and needs help from a pilot, but Book tells Benjamin it may be a trick. Book feels a storm coming and waits for Mr. Benn...
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...of a sudden, he points out a seaman from the brig in the water, asking Benjamin to try to save the man with his oar. Benjamin tries, but the seaman has...
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On the shore, Benjamin tells Nina he saw a man die. She tries to comfort him by holding him...
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Soon after, Kaliel September suddenly comes back, looking sickly. Benjamin breaks the news to Mr. Benn that he has to go to the Forest for...
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Benjamin goes back to the van Rooyen house. Elias, Barta, and Kristoffel are all sitting around...
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...the room, one of the census-takers whispered to her “the one wearing the blue shirt.” Benjamin was the only one wearing a blue shirt. In the present, Benjamin thinks about how...
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Benjamin feels a storm inside him. He decides he needs to see the census-taker who determined...
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Chapter 30
Fiela asks Kittie to help her write a letter to Benjamin. She writes that he should come home if things ever get to be too much...
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Chapter 32
The sun rises, and Benjamin wakes up beside the sea. He ponders over recent events and who “Benjamin Komoetie” really...
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Benjamin goes to Mr. Benn and tells him that from now on, his name is Benjamin...
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