# Houseboy

Houseboy (1956) by Ferdinand Oyono Houseboy is a novel in the form of a diary written by Ferdinand Oyono, first published in 1956 in French as Une vie de boy (Paris: René Julliard)[1] and translated into English in 1966 by John Reed for Heinemann's African Writers Series.

## Quotes

* Life is like the chameleon, changing colour all the time.
* I will be the chief European's boy. The dog of a king is a king of dogs
* He is the kind of man we call mahogany trunk because the trunk of the mahogany tree is so strong that it never bends in a storm. I am not a storm. I am the thing that obeys
* Life, he says, is like the chameleon, changing colour all the time.
** Page 36
* The elephant does not rot in a secret place
** Sophie, Page 41
* Ah, these whites, she burst out. The dog can die of hunger beside his master's meat. They don't bury the goat up to the horns. They bury him altogether.
** Sophie, Page 44
* They lamented 'the Martyr' as they called Father Gilbert because he died on African soil.
** Page 53
* The river does not go back to its spring.
** Page 56
* Truth lies beyond the mountains. You must travel to find it.
** Page 57
* If I talk it is because I have a mouth. If I see, it is because I have eyes. The eye goes farther and faster than the mouth, nothing stops it...
** Page 60
* Since when does the pot rub itself against the hammer?
** Page 62
* Is the white man's neighbour only other white men? Who can go on believing the stuff we are served up in the churches when things happen like I saw today...
** Page 76
* When will you grasp that for the whites, you are only alive to do their work and for no other reason. I am the cook. The white man does not see me except with his stomach.
** The Cook, Page 87
* Our ancestors used to say you must escape when the water is still only up to the knees.
** Page 100
* Sibling,’ he said. ‘Sibling, what are we? What are we blackmen who are called French?
** (Introduction, p. 4)
* Yet, for me, it is more than grieving. I have passed on my first demise. ”
** (After the Memorial service, p. 20)
* “I am not a tempest. I am what obeys. ”
** (After the Memorial service, p. 22)
* He had not remembered me. How might he remember me? All Africans appear to be identical to them. ”
** (After the Burial service, p. 28)
* I was alleviated by this discovery. It executed something within me … I realized I ought to never be startled of the Commandant again.
** (After the Memorial service, p. 28)
* Before them, the statue of Holy person Subside, who had been so darkened by the climate that he could have gone for an African, was roosted dubiously on a sort of steeple at such an edge, that it looked as though in a little while he would come toppling down. ”
** (After the Burial service, p. 33)
* Life, he says, ‘resembles the chameleon, changing shading constantly.
** (After the Burial service, p. 36)
* The elephant doesn’t spoil in a mystery place.
** (After the Burial service, p. 41)
* Ok, these whites,’ she burst out. ‘The pooch can kick the bucket of appetite close to his lord’s meat. They don’t cover the goat up to the horns. They cover him inside and out.
** (After the Memorial service, p. 44)
* Brother,’ he said. ‘Brother, what are we? What are we blackmen who are called French?”
** (Prologue, Page 4)
* But for me, it is more than mourning. I have died my first death….
** (“After The Funeral”, Page 20)
* I am not a storm. I am the thing that obeys.”
** (“After The Funeral”, Page 22)
* "Today, Father Vandermayer came back from the bush. He has brought five women with him. It seems they are Christians that he has taken away from their polygamous husband. Five more boarders for the Sixas. If they knew the work there is waiting for them here, they would have stayed behind with their husband."
** p. 15
* "I shall be the Chief European's boy. The dog of a king is a king of dogs."
** p. 20
* "My master is thickset. His legs have great muscles like the legs of a pedlar. He is the kind of man we call 'mahogany-trunk' because the trunk of the mahogany tree is so strong that it never bends in a storm. I am not a storm. I am the thing that obeys."
** p. 22
* "With that he shot out a kick to my shins that sent me sprawling under the table. The Commandant's kick was even more painful than the kick of the late father Gilbert. He seemed pleased with his effort.
** p. 23
* "At the first alarm I was jostled, then knocked down and trampled on. I could feel the Greek's dog at my heel. I shall never know how I managed to get to my feet and to climb up to the top of the huge mango tree. There I took refuge. The Europeans were laughing and pointing up to the top of the tree where I was hiding. The Commandant was laughing as well. He had not recognized me. How could he recognize me? All Africans look the same to them."
** p. 27-28
* "The Commandant trod on my fingers as he went out. I did not cry out. He did not turn round."
** p. 29
* "Son of a dog," he said to me, "where is your master?"
** p. 35
* "He let me go. Through the darkness I saw his white hands move in a gesture of disgust as if he had touched something unclean."
** p. 42
* "My happiness has neither day nor night. I didn't know about it, it just burst upon my whole being. I will sing to my flute, I will sing on the banks of rivers, but no words can express my happiness. I have held the hand of my queen. I felt that I was really alive. From now on my hand is sacred and must not know the lower regions of my body. My hand belongs to my queen whose hair is the colour of ebony, with eyes that are like the antelope's, whose skin is pink and white as ivory. A shudder ran through my body at the touch of her tiny moist hand, She trembled like a flower dancing in the breeze. My life was mingling with hers at the touch of her hand. Her smile is refreshing as a spring of water. Her look is as warm as a ray from the setting sun. It bathes you in a light that warms the depths of the heart. I am afraid... afraid of myself..."
** p. 47
* "Everybody told his own little African story to refute him and demonstrate that the African is a child or a fool."
** p. 52
* "M. Moreau is right, we must have hard head. Ndjangoula brought down his rifle butt the first time, I thought their skulls would shatter. I could not hold myself from shaking as I watched. It was terrible. I thought of all the priests, all the pastors, all the white men, who came to save our souls and preach love of our neighbours. Is the white man's neighbour only other white men? Who can go on believing the stuff we are served up in the churches when things like I saw today. It will be the usual thing. M. Moreau's suspects will be sent to the 'Blackman's Grave' where they will spend a few days painfully dying. Then they will be buried naked in the prisoners' cemetery. On Sunday, the priest will say, 'Dearly beloved brethren, pray for all those prisoners who die without making their peace with God. M. Moreau will present his up-turned topee to the faithful. Everyone will put in a little more than he had intended. All the money goes to the whites. They are always thinking up new ways to get back what little money they pay us. How wretched we are."
** p. 76
* "There are two worlds," said Baklu, "ours is a world of respect and mystery and magic. Their world brings everything in the daylight, even the things that weren't meant to be."
** p. 81
* "There are things one prefers not to think about but that doesn't mean one forgets about them."
** p. 101
* "Nothing today, except steadily mounting hostility from the Commandant. He is becoming completely wild. Kicks and insults have started again. He thinks this humiliates me and he can't find any other way. He forgets that it is all part of my job as a houseboy, a job which holds no more secrets for me. I wonder why he too refers to me as 'Monsieur Toundi'."
** p. 101-102
* "The Commandant trod on my left hand. He was talking to Madame at the time and he went on talking as if he hadn't noticed. He managed to bring his foot down while I was off my guard, giving his boots a final polish before he went out. He has no memory and no imagination. He forgets he has already tried this on me and it did not make me cry out. As the first time he just walked on without looking round but this time he went jauntily like a man who feels pleased with himself."
** p. 102
* "I went back to the refrigerator and took the opportunity when the Commander was not looking to spit just a few tiny specks spittle into the clean glass I was filling. He drank it down and put the glass back on the tray without looking at me. He waved me away with a nervous movement of the back of his hand."
** p. 103

## External links

* Houseboy
* Goodreads
* freduagyeman
* free books
* supersummary