Read Hunger Eats a Man for Free Online Page A

and think deeply, you will see that there is so much we can do. We should stop thinking too much about our grandeur and power, and consider what options we’ve got.” He pauses for a moment and then continues, “Who can tell me that they have tried to seek work at the farms and were unsuccessful?”
    When he poses this question, everybody nods their understanding. Everybody in the church today is moved by Priest’s sermon. Many people reconsider their opinions about farm work and their present situations. Many listen and are touched, though some already have jobs. They feel the truth of what Priest says. It is not him who is talking to them, but it is God Himself. No mortal man can utter such words of wisdom without intervention from God. Some can even refer to the Bible: “At the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God.” Priest knows his way around words. This has contributed to his promotion from a mere churchgoer to his present position of priesthood.
    Before dawn on Monday, MaDuma wakes up and prepares food for her husband to eat before going to the farm. She also packs lunch for him to eat if he is lucky to be employed. Priest, like everybody who knows farms and farm work, knows that he has to leave his household as early as possible. So by six o’clock he leaves and heads for Manhlanzini Stop where Johnson’s truck is going to fetch them.
    As he walks, he thinks he may be the first to arrive at the stop, but he is amazed to see that there are many people already waiting. Four hundred people at least, ranging from youngsters of thirteen to men and women of his age.
    “Dear Son of God! Where are all these people coming from? Why aren’t they seeking employment somewhere else?”
    Priest considers the possibility of trying to hide the fact that he is going to the farm and realises that he cannot. His physical appearance – the old boots and a tattered creamy-white overall – testifies to his being prepared for farm work. His lunch box, carried in a Shoprite-Checkers plastic bag, tells everyone that Priest has food to eat at the farm.
    Recognising the position he is in, Priest starts to blame himself for giving in to his wife’s selfish demands. Almost all the people already waiting here at Manhlanzini Stop know Priest. He is a renowned man. They direct their gazes at him as he drags himself towards them. The sudden silence of those staring at Priest makes the others do the same. They want to find out what is going on.
    The people standing at Manhlanzini Stop look so much alike that Priest cannot recognise any particular person, yet he knows that he is familiar with many of them. This makes it hard for him to choose his sitting position. He simply remains standing and gazes at the people with a confused and worried face. Some are whispering:
    “The Priest!”
    “Father Gumede!”
    Some even go so far as to state the reason for their encounter with such an eminent personage: “Father Gumede is going to work on the trees with us.”
    Priest hears these words and sees the expectant looks of others. He does not know whether to greet everybody and sit down, or to sit down and greet only those who are seated next to him. But, somehow, he feels as if these people expect more than just a greeting from him. He wishes the truck would arrive right now and save him the humiliation.
    “For how long must we suffer like this?” The words slip out of Priest’s mouth as he puts his lunch box down next to him. There is something about Priest that makes people feel secure as they listen to him. The whispers that occurred earlier have ceased. All want to hear as Priest wrestles the Word from God. He has won it. It now belongs to him.
    “Why is it that we should come here, as miserable as we are, to offer ourselves to work as slaves for the white man? Is this what we voted for?” Priest stops for a while, turns his head to observe his audience. He can tell by their serious countenances that his