ABSTRACT
If a member of the family squatted on the terrace outside the farm living-room to wash his hands, it was Atja' s job to fetch the metal bowl, soap, and jug, and pour water for him. When her father and half-brothers came home it was her duty to get them a change of clothes and shoes, or the pyjamas which they wore in the house. She had to stand at the table where I had my meals with an adult member of the family and whisk away the flies. In the face of all my protests she dragged water on her frail little back into my room. The common washing facilities down by the garden pool I had soon found too involved, and so a few days after my arrival I had got some bowls in the room where I slept. But they regarded it as an insult to the house if I tried stealthily to fetch my own water. Unfortunately, one soon grows accustomed to being waited on.
