Talking Money by Stanley Gazembaa silent song & other stories

             The Plot Summary

Short summary - a man sells a piece of land to some shady characters against the advice of his family and friends only to find out that the money he is given as payment is cursed

The story is set in the vast rural expanse of Kakamega, Kenya. It is about a man named Mukidanyi who lives in a rural area and sells land to a wealthy man named Galo.

He is warned against this transaction by his wife Ronika, and also by his brothers, Ngoseywe and Agoya.

Mukidanyi’s brothers Ngoseywe and Agoya give up on him and leave. Obsessed with money in his mind, he refuses to heed his wife’s counsel and instead flogs her.

Despite their warnings, Mukidanyi goes ahead and signs papers, accepting a large sum of money from Galo.

After the papers are signed and the money is received, strange occurrences start happening in Mukidanyi's house.

Voices are heard coming from under the bed where the money was kept.

Frightened by these events, Ronika forces Mukidanyi to return the money and the land back to Galo in the middle of the night.

Mukidanyi, scared and regretful, runs away from the house with the money, and delivers it back to Galo, then he runs away in fear not stopping until he feels safe.

Long summary - When Mukidanyi’s brothers, Ngoseywe and Agoya, try to talk him out of an imprudent decision, he angrily expels them from his home. Their altercation almost erupts into a physical fight.

He makes a conceited declaration that he does not need anyone’s help. He wants to run his household without interference. He is determined to sell his land against his brothers' wish. He is so enraged that the neighbours watch the drama helplessly from afar.

Later on, that evening Ronika, his wife, sensibly tries to dissuade him from selling the land without consultation and urges him to listen to other people’s counsel. He first ignores her before furiously giving her a lashing, promptly extinguishing her fair-minded plea. He ignores her entreaties about the Galos money not being good.

Mukidanyi defies his brothers and his wife and goes ahead to sell the land to Galo. Although he is prepared for a bruising tussle with Galo, Galo accepts to pay half-a-million shillings without haggling.

Because of his intransigence, you will be forgiven to consider Mukidanyi a pigheaded fool. He is however not a complete buffoon. On one hand, he is illiterate since during his school days he would sneak out of school and skip classes and spend his days playing simbi and roasting stolen maize with his errant friends. On the other hand, he is an astute cattle trader with an impressive business acumen.

Because he is unlettered, he is unable to sign the business papers presented by Galo's assistant after the sale of the land. He needs Ngoseywe and Agoya around after all. After the messy paper business is over, Galo hands him a briefcase containing half-a-million shillings in cash. Mukidanyi is too shocked to count the cash in the briefcase. Unsuspectingly, he tells Galo that he trusts him. Besides, would a clansman deceive him?

That evening Mukidanyi is nervy. He does not eat his supper. He cannot sleep that night. He wakes up twice to ascertain that the money is still there – safely chained to the bedpost. He also awakens Ronika, who is still piqued from the lashing she received earlier.

Something curious happens when he tries to go back to sleep. The money in the briefcase starts conversing casually like a couple of frisky school boys sauntering home from school. This bizarre occurrence has the couple scared out of their wits.

The once wilful and ostensibly gallant Mukidanyi suddenly recoils like a panicky chicken. When he hears the strange voices, he is horror-stricken. He shakes and sweats in panic. His assertive voice is reduced into a frightened child-like whisper when he asks: “Who were they?”

An angry Ronika scolds, derides and hysterically laughs at him. She taunts him for failing to listen to other people.

“I warned you about the Galos, didn’t I? Eh? Ngoseywe and Agoya warned you too against this, didn’t they, big man? And what did you eh? Tell me what did you do?”

The money talks again, this time complaining about the couples' argument.

“I don’t like their shouting. It was better with the silence.”

Ronika has had enough. She drags Mukidanyi and forces him to unlock the padlock securing the briefcase. She then snarls at him, hurls the briefcase outside and sends him after it. Their frightened children are stunned to see their mother so agitated and their father extremely scared.  

The journey to the Galos is eerie to say the least. Mukidanyi is haunted by unseen night creatures swimming around him, threatening to harm him. He is nonetheless determined to return the peculiar briefcase to Galo. Galo lives a couple hundred yards away but it seems like a mile. The case gets heavier and heavier as Mukidanyi lumbers on.

The stubborn man eventually returns the money. He also makes a change of tune about selling his land.

“I changed my mind about selling the land. Here is your money.”

Moral lesson of the story - "It is prudent to listen to wise counsel. Failure to heed good advice may result in unwanted consequences."