Lukas is taking nina to Diepwalle for the job that boswagter kapp organised (elias had asked him to
do so when he came to check up on Lukas). Nina will be a babysitter. Nina is nervous and scared to
work in Knysna. She is worried that the towns folk will mock her because she comes from the bos.
Here we see a main theme – class distinction. Lukas comforts her. He refers to the time when lange
and dike came and took him and when he was identified. He remembers fielas words – as long as your
head does not drop, your heart will also never drop. Whats important to remember here is that Lukas
does not refer to fiela as his mother but rather as the woman who brough him up – it shows that he
has accepted that he is a Van Rooyen. This conversation between nina and Lukas shows their close
bond. For Lukas, nina was always the one who supported him and he felt comfortable around her; he
could trust her. It is also evident that nina feels the same. She tells Lukas to go back home as she
knows the place, but Lukas believes she’ll run away and not go to Knysna. He also knows that then
elias will punish him – he is 19 but still scared of elias. He tells nina that she will learn how to be a
woman and that she will be earning money and things but she tells him that everything is going to be
going to elias. Nina tells Lukas to get her harmonica and send it to her and if she runs away, Lukas
must protect her – she trusts him a lot. We find out via Lukas that nina ran away from her work 1
month ago. We also find out that it was Kristoffel’s job to go every month to collect ninas money for
elias. Remember – the van Rooyen children are nina, willem, kristoffel and Lukas AND the komoetie
children are dawid, tollie, kittie, emma and benjamen. Elias then sends Lukas to Knysna to find nina.
He is now on his way.
Incident 2: Lukas speaks to armstrong
Lukas is sent to Knysna to find Nina. When he gets there he sees that the people are very excited
around the sea. He asks why and he is told that there is a ghostship that appeared in Noetzie with no
crew. Lukas is very interested because from small he likes boats and the sea. Lukas then meets
Armstrong who is like a policeman (veldkornet) who is keeping watch by the ship to make sure tht no
one steals anything. He is also very strict. Armstrong sees that Lukas often looks to the sky and he is
intrigued. Lukas says its because its been a long time since hes seen so many stars because in the bos
it was very dark and you couldn’t see the sky and stars. The stars remind Lukas of nina because she
told him of the shooting star. Armstrong asks Lukas where hes from and he says the bos. Armstrong
says that’s strange because people from the bos don’t normally speak so easily (this is because he
greq up with fiela). Lukas also asks Armstrong why no one is going to save the ship and Armstrong
says it’s a problem for MR JOHN BENN, the person who allows the ships to come into the harbour.
Incident 3: Lukas speaks with ms weatherbury
Someone told Lukas that nina works by ms weatherbury and Lukas goes by her house. She is very
sophisticated and haughty/proud woman – when Lukas speaks to her he calls her “tante”. She tells
him she is not his auntie but she is MISS WEATHERBURY. She asks him why he came to her and he
says he came to find his sister Nina. Ms weatherbury says hes lying because nina told her that she had
no family. Two reasons – she is shy of her family OR she might’ve been scared that Ms weatherbury
would send her back to the bos. Lukas says he doesn’t blame nina for saying that but she also has a
very big imagination. Ms weathebury gave nina work for 2 reasons – she needed a domestic helper
and she wanted to teach nina good manners (make her more lady-like). Remember- when Lukas was
originally bringing nina to Knysna, Lukas told her that she will learn how to be a woman. Also, ms
weatherbury taught nina embroidery (sewing) but she tells Lukas that shes tired of nina because
everytime she tries to teach nina, nina runs away and goes to watch the sea – remember she liked
, nature. Nina would sit on die koppe and look out to the sea. Lukas tells ms weatherbury why he came.
He says from now on HE is going to collect Nina’s money. Ms weatherbury’s reaction is important- she
was livid. She says NO, Nina’s money is HER money – she is very fair and just. Ms weatherbury says
she will NOT allow it. Lukas explains how bos mense live. He says they are different from the townsfolk
– if anyone of them earns money, they give it to the head of the house (in this case it is Elias). At his
point, Nina comes out from one of the rooms. She is shocked to see Lukas. She asked him how he
knew where she was and he says someone from the town told her. Nina is scared because she
believes Elias will come for her – she is still scared of him. Nina tells Lukas “jy moet jou bek hou” – to
shut up. Ms weatherbury tells her that she taught her good manners so she musnt speak like that. We
also learn that Ninas name is KRISTINA. Lukas asks nina nina for a favour. He says nina must go back
to the bos and tell elias that he is finished with the bos – he is not going back. Why? Because the sea
was always a huge attraction/interest for him. E wants to stay in Knysna.
Incident 4: Lukas meets kaliel
We meet a 4th character: Kaliel September. Lukas meets him. He works for john benn. Lukas asks kaliel
to teach him to row a boat – interest in sea and boats. Earlier that day, Lukas did go to john benn to
get a job but he told Lukas he couldn’t give him a job unless he could row a boat so he goes to kaliel.
Kaliel says he saw Lukas speaking to john benn earlier. We see that kaliel and john benn don’t have a
that good of a relationship. This is because he is paid too little and he wants to work on a ship. When
kaliel say Lukas and john benn speaking, kaliel was suspicious because he thought Lukas was going to
take over his job. But Lukas tells him that he doesn’t want his job – he wouldn’t steal someones job
(Fiela taught him morals). Kaliel tells him that the town in knysna will be able to give him a job
because they are building a kaai and need workers. But Lukas says no because he wants to work by
the sea. Kaliel tells him he can give him work but he cannot pay him. All that he can give him is food
and accommodation but Lukas has to help him with his job. For extra money Lukas catches fish, digs
oysters, dries fish and sells it to the townspeople. Kaliel says that learning to row is not for bos mense
– class distinction. He says he will not be able to manage it. He looks down on bos mense. Kaliel also
asks Lukas to set a trap to catch buck because they will get paid a lot for the buck meat but Lukas says
he will not do it.
Incident 5: Lukas meets nina on the beach
She tells him she was looking for him for days. They hug each other and Lukas gets a strange feeling
and its not a feeling that a brother should get when he hugs his sister. He gets angry with himself. He
is conscious of nina as a woman. He thinks hes crazy to have such feelings for someone who you
consider to be your sister – incest. This is very important in the context of the drama. Lukas pushes her
away. This is an important stage in the drama. Ms weatherbury had told Lukas that nina ran away
again but nina tells him why. She had gone back to the bos to tell Elias that Lukas is done with the bos
– a favour. She says that the bos is no longer the same. She says when she dug out her harmonica and
her bottles, it was rusty and dirty so she decided to throw them away. Symbolism – she is also done
with the bos. She stayed in the bos for 2 months and Lukas is very curious (maybe a little jealous) and
wonders why she stayed for so long. He gets a strange powerful attraction towards nina and thinks to
himself that she is so beautiful. Nina tells him that on her way back from the bos she worked in a shop
but she had to leave because the sailors were too forward with her. Now she works for ms
weatherbury again but not as a domestic but as ms weatherbury’s companion. Lukas tells nina she
must live with ms weatherbury because she is safe there – shows his concern for her. Nina says she
was looking for Lukas because she has a message for him from langekloof. After 7 years we hear of
langekloof. The message was that his brother dawid is dead. Petrus zondagh’s son latjie had brough
the message to Knysna and relayed it to nina. Lukas decided to go to langekloof because he is
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