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- Chapter 2

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Ngai, who sits alone on His throne atop Kirinyaga, which is now called Mount Kenya, gave men the gift of flight, so that they might reach the succulent fruits on the highest branches of the trees. But one man, a son of Gikuyu, who was himself the first man, saw the eagle and the vulture riding high upon the winds, and spreading his wings, he joined them. He circled higher and higher, and soon he soared far above all other flying things. Then, suddenly, the hand of Ngai reached out and grabbed the son of Gikuyu. "What have I done that you should grab me thus?" asked the son of Gikuyu. "I live atop Kirinyaga because it is the top of the world," answered Ngai, "and no one's head may be higher than my own." And so saying, Ngai plucked the wings from the son of Gikuyu, and then took the wings away from all men, so that no man could ever again rise higher than His head. And that is why all of Gikuyu's descendants look at the birds with a sense of loss and envy, and why they no longer eat the

- Chapter 2 Back | Next Contents 2. For I Have Touched the Sky [January, 2131] There was a time when men had wings. Ngai, who sits alone on His throne atop Kirinyaga, which is now called Mount Kenya, gave men the gift of flight, so that they might reach the succulent fruits on the highest branches of the trees. But one man, a son of Gikuyu, who was himself the first man, saw the eagle and the vulture riding high upon the winds, and spreading his wings, he joined them. He circled higher and higher, and soon he soared far above all other flying things. Then, suddenly, the hand of Ngai reached ou

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