Monday, June 17, 2013

The Hands of the Blacks by Luis Bernardo Honwana

I don’t remember now how we got on to the subject, but one day, Teacher said that the palms of the Blacks’ hands were much lighter than the rest of their bodies. This is because only a few centuries ago, they walked around with them like wild animals, so their palms weren’t exposed to the sun, which made the rest of their bodies darker. I thought of this when Father Christiano told us after catechism that we were absolutely hopeless, and that even the pygmies were better than us, and he went back to this thing about their hands being lighter, and said it was like that because they always went about with their hands folded together, praying in secret. I thought this was so funny, this thing of the Blacks’ hands being lighter, that you should just see me now. I do not let go of anyone, whoever they are, until they tell me why they think that the palms of the Blacks’ hands are lighter. Doña Dores, for instance, told me that God made Blacks’ hands lighter so they would not dirty the food they made for their masters, or anything else they were ordered to do that had to be kept clean.
           
Señor Antunes, the Coca-Cola man, who only comes to the village now and again when all the Cokes in the cantinas have been sold, said it was a lot of baloney. Of course, I do not know if it was really such, but he assured me, it was. After that I said, “All right, it was baloney,” and then he told me what he knew about this thing of the Blacks’ hands. It was like this: “Long ago, many years ago, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, many other saints, all the angels that were in Heaven, and some of the people who had died and gone to Heaven—they all had a meeting and decided to create the Blacks. Do you know how? They got hold of some clay and pressed it into some second-hand molds and baked the clay of creatures, which they took from the heavenly kilns. Because they were in a hurry and there was no room next to the fire, they hung them in the chimneys. Smoke, smoke, smoke—and there you have them, black as coals. And now, do you want to know why their hands stayed white? Well, didn’t they have to hold on while their clay baked?”
           
When he told me this, Señor Antunes and the other men who were around us were very pleased and they all burst out laughing. That very same day, Señor Frias told me that everything i had heard from them there had been just one big pack of lies. Really and truly, what he knew about the Blacks’ hands was right—that God finished men and told them to bathe in a lake in Heaven. After bathing, the people were nice and white. The Blacks, well. They were made very early in the morning and at this hour, the water in the lake was very cold, so they only wet the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet before dressing and coming to the world.
           
But i read in a book that happened to mention the story, that the Blacks have hands lighter like this because they spent their lives bent over, gathering the white cotton of Virginia and i dont know where else. Of course, Doña Estefania did not agree when i told her this. According to her, it is only because their hands became bleached with all that washing.
           
Well, i do not know what to think about all this but the truth is that however calloused and cracked they may be, Black hands are always lighter than the rest of him. And that’s that!
           
My mother is the only one who must be right about this question of a Black’s hands being lighter than the rest of his body. On the day that we were talking about it, i was telling her what i already knew about the question, and she could not stop laughing. When i was talking, she did not tell me at once what she thought about all this and she only talked when she was sure that i wouldn’t get tired of bothering her about it. And even then,  she was crying and clutching herself around the stomach like someone who had laughed so much that it was quite unbearable. What she said was more or less this:
           
“God made Blacks because they had to be. They had to be, my son. He thought they really had to be. Afterwards, He regretted having made them because other men laughed at them and took away their homes and put them to serve as slaves and not much better. But because He couldn’t make them all white, for those who were used to seeing them black would complain, He made it so that the palms of their hands would be exactly like the palms of the hands of other men. And do you know why that was? Well, listen: it was to show that what men do is only the work of men... that what men do is done by hands that are the same—hands of people. How, if they had any sense, would know that before anything else they are men. He must have been thinking of this when He made the hands of those men who thank God they are not black!”
           

After telling me all this, my mother kissed my hands. As i ran off to the yard to play ball, i thought that i had never seen a person cry so much as my mother did then.


Note: This is not my property.

115 comments:

  1. thanks that i can answer now my assignments

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  2. yey! i can now answer my assignments

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  3. Replies
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    2. ano po yung message of the story????

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    3. ano po yung message of the story????

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    4. What provoked the interest of the narrator?

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  4. meron po ba sa story ng 4 words na same ang meaning?

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  6. ito na ba ang walong version ng hands of the blacks?

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  7. pede ba magtanong kung alin dyan yung mga simple sentence complext sentence ?plsssss

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  8. GAMER GENIDO:

    Hint:
    Simple Sentence contains ONE IDEA
    while Complex Sentence contains One Independent and One Dependent Clauses.

    Please Spread this Blog... BTW You're in Grade 8, Right?

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    1. i am in grade 8 and our teacher taught this to us and she also gave us xerox copies for it

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    2. So what did the author believe?

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    3. So what did the author believe?

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    4. So what did the author believe?

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    5. I wonder why Emil John's comments gets removed by the author haha. In conclusion, thanks

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    6. Ahhh OK salamat po kuya Emil John mila


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  9. (~^_^)~ Tnx po for the info.. It's really appreciated :-*

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  10. hi! thank you for posting this, helped a lot, also i am very happy to see grade 8 students (like me) putting much effort in running an educational blog rather than doing other things! thank you once again and kudos!

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  11. Thank you! This tale is so pretty. I Like it!
    Now i know why,
    By the way, Hi Grade 8 students like me, Study hard and godbless. ;)

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  12. Thank you! It helped me a lot. =)

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  13. meron ba dyang examples ng a Cline kasi kailangan namin un...

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  14. what do you think mother mean when she said that God made the hand of blacks lighter "to show that what men do is only the works of men. that what men do is done by hands that are same...?

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  15. why do you think did the mother cry after explaining to her son why the hands of blacks are lighter than the rest of their bodies?

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    1. Its just very simple po dahil sa mga taong tinatawanan sila dahil maitim sila because na experience na ng mother nya yung na experience nya that's the explanation of my teacher.

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    2. what is the meaning to the bernando honwana

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  16. is the selection ab essay or a short story? why?

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  17. im a grade 8 student so ask ko lang po kung ano po ba ang general theme ng story na yan ?

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  18. Can i Ask about the summary of this tale?

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  19. . .is this the full story >??? or just a summary??

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  20. For you guys, on Father Christiano's part. Can you explain it?

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  21. what is the main question of the author ???

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  22. What is the conflict of the story??

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  23. What is the conflict of the story??

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  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  27. hi! ano po yung message of this story? answer me please?

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  28. hi! ano po yung message of this story? answer me please?

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  29. Thank you ! That was so helpful !

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  30. what do you think did the mother when she said that did made the hands of the black lighter???

    thanks...^_^

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  31. Gosh! Im so wondering why my teacher told us to search this story. In every comment/asks. It was like magkakaroon kami ng works about this. Grade 8 here 😭😭😂😂

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  32. Hello What Does The Story Wants Us To Tell About

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  33. ano po ba ng mga cline words nitong hands of the black?

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  34. ano po ba ng mga cline words nitong hands of the black?

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  35. Ano po yung first of the process netong kwento?

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  36. Ano po yung first of the process netong kwento?

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  37. anu po ung mga vocabulary words n ginamit s story at meaning nito?

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  38. Umm... I have a question why do you think the mother kissed the hands of her son and cry at the end of a story please answer my question

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  39. Thank You Because I'll Answer My Assignment :)

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  40. Where is the afro-asian countries?

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    Replies
    1. Africa, Japan, China, Israel, Egypt and Arab-countries

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    2. Africa, Japan, China, Israel, Egypt and Arab-countries

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  41. what men do is only the work of men

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  42. Ano po ung first hanggang 4 process?

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    Replies
    1. alam mo na ba kung ano ang first to 4th process?

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  43. ano po ba statement ng hand of the blacks

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  44. Ano pong ibig ipabatid ng story

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  45. Ano po yung 1st to eight process

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  46. Ahh!Can you help me find to a group of Cline in the story?

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  47. Hi im grade 8 student can you help me about the hands of the blacks give me 10words and meaning each of one

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  48. Ano po ba yung 8 reasons jan??
    Pleaseee answerr meee

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  49. Unfamiliar words
    Baloney: nonsense ridiculous
    Kilns:a furnace used for pottery
    Cantinas:canteen or cafeteria


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  50. Sino po si señor friaz,puwede po bang idescribe nyo po sya in one word?

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  51. Why is the story entitled like that?

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  52. this is my assignment but i need a question and answer in here

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    Replies
    1. Racist po ba yung teacher sa The hands of the Blacks?

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    2. Racist po ba yung teacher sa The hands of the Blacks?

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  53. Grade8 po ako tanong ko lng po..why did the mother of the boy cry so hard?

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  54. What happend to character involve?

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  55. Please give me answer . What happening to character involve

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  56. question lang po galing sa grade8 student
    Full story na po ba ito?

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  57. question lang po galing sa grade8 student
    Full story na po ba ito?

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  58. After reading the story, what do you think the hands symbolize about man's relationship with the other creations of God?

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  59. Can u help me guys to my activity
    What is the story all about

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  60. hi I just want to ask. is the "I" in the story is the author himself?

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  61. And also, What makes this story an example of tale?

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  62. I really loved reading your blog. It was very well authored and easy to undertand. Unlike additional blogs I have read which are really not tht good. I also found your posts very interesting. In fact after reading, I had to go show it to my friend and he ejoyed it as well! 검증사이트

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  63. Why is it entitled hands of the black plastic.help po

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  64. What global issues are being implied in that whole story

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