Mandela's Garden(曼德拉的菜园)

Mandela's Garden

Nelson Mandela

1. In early 1977, the authorities announced the end of manual labor and arranged

some type of

work

for us to do in the courtyard, so we could spend our days in our section. The end of

manual labor was liberating. I could now spend the day reading, writing letters, discussing issues with my

comrades, or preparing legal documents. The free time also allowed me to pursue what became two of my

favorite hobbies on Robben Island: gardening and tennis.

2. To survive in prison, one must develop ways to take satisfaction in one's daily

life.

One

can

feel

fulfilled

by

washing

one's

clothes

so

that

they

are

particularly

clean,

by

sweeping

a

hallway so that it is empty of dust, by organizing one's cell to save as much space as possible. Just as one

takes pride in important tasks

outside of prison, one can find the same pride in doing small things inside prison.

3.

authorities for permission to start a garden in the courtyard. For years, they

refused without offering a reason. But eventually they gave in, and we were able to cut out a small garden

on a narrow patch of earth against the far wall.

4. The soil in the courtyard was dry and rocky. The courtyard had been

constructed over a garbage dump, and in order to start my garden, I had to

remove a great many rocks to allow the plants room to grow. At the time, some of my comrades joked that I

was a miner at heart, for I spent my days in a wasteland and my free time digging in the courtyard.

5. The authorities supplied me with seeds. I at first planted tomatoes, chilies, and

onions

—

hardy plants that did not require rich earth or constant care. The early harvests were poor, but they

soon improved. The authorities did not regret giving permission, for once the garden began to flourish, I

often provided the warders with some of my best tomatoes and onions.

6. While I have always enjoyed gardening, it was not until I was behind bars that I

was able to tend my own garden. My first experience in the garden was at Fort Hare where, as part of the

university's manual labor requirement, I worked in one of my professors' gardens and enjoyed the contact

with

the

soil

as

an

alternative

to

my

intellectual

labors.

Once

I

was

in

Johannesburg

studying

and

then

working, I had neither the time nor the space to start a garden.

7. I began to order books on gardening. I studied different gardening techniques

and types of fertilizers. I did not have many of the materials that the books

discussed, but I learned through trial and error. For a time, I attempted to grow peanuts, and used different

soils and fertilizers, but finally I gave up. It was one of my few failures.

8. A garden was one of the few things in prison that one could control. To plant a

seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction. The sense of

being the owner of the small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom.

9. In some ways, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life.

Leaders must also look after their gardens; they, too, plant seeds, and then watch, cultivate, and harvest the

results. Like gardeners, leaders must take responsibility for what they cultivate; they must mind their work,

try to drive back enemies,

save what can be saved, and eliminate what cannot succeed.

10. I wrote Winnie two letters about a particularly beautiful tomato plant, how I

made it grow from a tender seedling to a strong plant that produced deep red fruit. But then, either through

some mistake or lack of care, the plant began to wither and decline, and nothing I did would bring it back to

health. When it finally died, I removed the roots from the soil, washed them, and buried them in a corner of

the garden.

11. I told her this small story at great length. I do not know what she read into that

letter, but when I wrote it I had a mixture of feelings: I did not want our

relationship to go the way of that plant, and yet I felt that I had been unable to nourish many of the most

important relationships in my life. Sometimes there is nothing one can do to save something that must die.

曼德拉的菜园