ARTICLES 17, PROTEST fOEM_ by Richard Greenfield 1* Irs verse, surface or apparent The Ethiopian literary tradition, in Ge'ez and iof-er in Amharic, is a long one: too long to be discussed here,/ Suffice If to say that both Ge'ez and Amharic, now the first official language of Ethiopia, value flie double entendre os a form of wit. meaning is referred to as 'wax' and underlying Innuendo, often more Important # os sgold!. Traditionally, great freedom of comment has been permitted even orally at court, always provided the 'fester' was witty In this manner. as 0 central theme around which to write a study of Amharc society. ever, ail this Is not to say that verse and prose written In Amharic cannot also be quite direct; writing surviving from the reigns of Emperor Eyasu (1911-1916), Empress Zaudifu (1916-1930) and particularly Emperor Haiie Seliassle (1930- ) and from the Italian Occupation has been so. Yet an element of 'wax and gold' Is seldom entirely absent. Indeed the little social criticism and genera! 'protest1 Indeed, so important is 'wax and gold' that if has been taken How- Also Important Is the fact that ?n Northeastern Africa, ess In Arabia^ poetry, especially spoken poetry, has Immense culforal significance, it has long been a custom in the University College of Addis Ababa for the best poems of the year to be read aloud over the loudspeakers to the crowds surrounding the football field on college open days. Programmes of culture! activities run together with athletic events. Almost always the Emperor and his entourage, members of the royal family and government, attended these 'College Days' and custom has not changed since the absorption of the University College Into the forger structure of the Halle SelSassie First Mr. Richard D, Greenfield Is a Senior Research fellow In Ethiopian History and Politics, ARTICLES 18, University in December 1961 , However, a newer precedent was set early in 1961 when a poerrvread before the emperor and entitled "The Poor Man Speaks", was written and delivered in a manner which could easily be inter- preted as severe criticism of the government and ipso facto therefore (in Ethiopia) of the gmperor. A limited number oTcopies of the poem were sold to the public and their black market price by that very evening in the nightclubs and bars of Addis Ababa had risen as never before. Attempts were made to suppress the poem and the author found ft prudent to retire somewhat into the background. This fairly minor incident was remembered the following year when the students announced their 'College Day', to be held on Saturday, the 9th of June, 1962. The security forces discreetly asked for copies of the new poems that would be read to the public presumably in front of the Emperor. The student leaders — not only the poets — protested this 'aritont' to their 'freedom', and refused to supply them. Either the Security Chief or the President of the University, the Emperor's grandson- in-law, conveyed this fact back to the palace, and the gmperor did not attend the College Day, The student newspaper stated that this was because of the question of 'censorship' of the poetry and termed the problem one of "protocol"* Even so, three Amharlc poems were read and sold at 5 Ethiopian cents per duplicated copy* By evening She exchange value of these poems was 50 cents and it subsequently rose even higher. These poems are in the tradition of "The Poor Man Speaks" of 1961. The first,"Submit to Cross Examination" or "Prepare to Answer Questions",is discussed in this paper. The seeond,enHtled "LifeH,dwells on the uneven distribution of wealth in Ethiopia, — the rich, It points out,are few and the poor multitudinous. The third,"You Are Lost on the Plain",seeks to examine the purpose of a soldier's life and the nahtm of his duty—d significant question not so many months after the abortive ARTICLES coup d'etat of 1960 and the Army crisis oi: 1961 which rhfi writer has described elsewhere.^ A synopsis of fhe poem "Submit to Cross Examination'1 might au as follows:- Questions come lo the mind of the poet over and over again and he is puzzled, troubled, and frustrated. He seeks answers from ofc-oni*- of all ages, occupations, and status, bur none ore of any heip *o him. He even goes to the fores! to seek answers from different species in the? animal world but they too foil him. Finally — and this has a "goid" significance, since several leading radicals or progressives died in or following the abortive coup d'etat of December I960 — rhe poet- travels to the "country of the JeacPand csks rhe Inhabitants there his series of problem quesrions. With the first question begins the main body of the poem which is concerned with social criticism. The significance of the more disquieting aspects of contemporary Ethiopia — from the poet's poinr of view (which is not untypical of many young intellectuals) — are surveyed; the description of weairh and the gap between fhe haves-ond the have-nots; the oppression of man by man and the despair and burdens which affMef the intellectual in the system^ are a!! touched upon —- more perhaps than the nature of the political strucrure itself. Criticism of civil servants who are able to odjusf to a semi-feudal society are quffe common in modern Ethiopian protest writing. problems of beggars and displaced youths in city society, of the pear>anf farmers, and the problems presented by the attitudes of the clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church, rhe government iecunry services, by censorship and control of the press,, by prostitution, etc.,have fre- quently been discussed and this pvem k thus again iyprcal. The pos?- h also concerned by 'rhe conception of freedom and its interpretation m o society which uses the scm© Arnharic word for that concept as for the concept of national independence. In ':he 1960h particularly, rhe ARTICLES 20. Finaiiy, the poet, exhausted by the fact that no one, including the dead, supplies immediate answers, Oiks his audience to remain silent. Significantly, in the sense of the "gold", he re marks that they are not "completely" dead, i . e. rheir ideas are a clue—even an inspiration — to such as he. The poet concludes by expressing his satisfaction that he |s reaching an audience and that his words (interpreted in the "gold1* are, in fact, a vehicle for the ideas of people now dead'. Even so the force of this poem lies less in its use of traditional "wax and gold" and rather more in its somewhat unusually bold enum- eration of the uglier aspects of iife in Ethiopia,, s the poet sees them. The poet uses symbolism and extended metaphor but the AmharJc h nonetheless that of the common man charged with emotion and concern for socfal reform and an attempt has been made to convey this in the English. Some degree of paraphrasing in the translation has therefore been unavoidable. Submit to Cross-examination I am puzzled and worried because I cannot find an answer to a question in my heart. The laughter in me is turned into earnest sadness. I am supposed to know more than the ordinary man - i am counted among the learned men of my time - My thoughts soar above the clouds- But a l l, all in vain', My knowledge has been wasted- I am unable to realize the hopes Socked in my breast. ARTICLES 2 1. I have gone in search of the solution to my problem. I thought that children might know the answer; Then I thought, if children do not, older people might know; I went to servants and maids too; I went to great landlords and also to mere squatters; I went to men and to women; To the handsome and the beautiful; To learned men and to illiterates; to rulers and to subjects; To urban dwellers and to country folk. I asked them a l l- everyone of them. Then I went to the woods and asked every species of animal In the vain hope of finding the answer to my problem. It was then that I determined not to seek help from any living being. Dejected and tired, I started out on a different journey. A journey to the country of the dead. The dead will be able to help me, I thought; And I started to ask questions one after the other. Inhabitants of the land of the dead'. Men of the remotest world1. Tell us about your country- About its limits and boundaries; ARTICLES 22. Its differentiating characteristics. How is your country different from ours? jealousy, intrigue and outright meanness- We have these in our country1. Do you have them there, too? We entreat you to tell us all about your country- Lest we arrive there all unprepared. We are convinced that we cannot outlive time. We only drift along. Oh for a meeting with a man who has returned from the land of the dead*. 1 would like to ask him a thousand and one questions'. What is the political set-up in the realm of the dead? Does it have a real pattern? Or only a pattern without a design? How about its riches? Are they collected into the hands of the few? Does oppression, slavery and the torturing of man by man abound there? Are there people who dance while others weep? Or do people hold meetings, discussions and strikes for a superior end? Are there engineers, doctors, lawyers and such there? J ARTICLES 23. What Is the number of people inhabiting that world? Do the people five at peace with thefr leaders? Or do they quarrel and rise up against (-hem? Are rhe ruled silent, afraid and timid? Or do they speak up about their grievances? Are people's lives partly hidden for fear of murderers? Is the sky rhere above the ground? Do flowers bloom? Do birds sing at harvest time? Do people have freedom of expression? What happens to man if he express complaint against the rising sun And the coming of daybreak- For such phenomena, as he sees them, Signal but the beginning of a day without food and drink? Can he complain about having to walk in the mud barefoot? Is he free to express his views on another man's merits and demerits? Are actions such as these tolerated? What do the people of the country of the dead value? Do people sleep there? Do boredom and despair abound there? Is work taboo? What Is the mental state of people there? ARTICLES 24. Are the paopie brave? Do they revo!f# after deliberation,, when there is such necessity? Do people fhsre go for the glittering and the superficial- rv«s cars bought on credit and sophisticated clothing? What is the attitude of public servants towards their democratic responsibilities? Are they honest and upright men? Or are they mere slaves to their own selfish desires *V;c) stooges of the powers that be? Are them poor men in the country of *he dead? How do they earn their livelihood? Are they literate or illiterate? Do they beg in the streets Arid sleep on open verandas And on flights of steps exposed to the cold and the weather Or do they support themselves? What is rhe life of the farmer there? What kind of plough does he have? Does he own o farm of his own Or Is he merely c tenant farmer? Dees he merely farm for subsistence or for more? Tell me about the average man's home'. Does If consist of a conical tukul with a thatched roof ARTICLES 25. A fireplace open and central With cows beifcfe It? Are there priests, deacons and clergymen fn tha country of the dead? Aniwer only of that kind which knows not what ft talks of. What of their number? Overwhelming great? And do they slrtg the some rhyme year after year? Do they ever harp on prayer and fasting? Two things whose significance they understand not one Jot*. Do they teach the observance of a thousand and one holy days? Today h Sunday,' Tomorrow fs St» George, the next Abo* Then comes St. Gabriel,, St. Michael and St. Mary, Then St. john# Kldane Mihrer, Bishop Talc 16 Haymanat, St. Steven and the rest1, If your people observe all fhes® for their louts' talvaMon, How con they five from day te day? And what of those who do not conform and! holiday? Art they excommunicate - ostracised from society? Doe» your church yse these weapons too? What do your priests reach of hell and heaven? ft hell soW f© b® full of worms with no sleep them? And fires that burn without end? Dorheyamwer Yes1,- No1, Black1. Whit®1. - no grey? ARTICLES 26 And the educated there, are there any? Is theirs too a life of fear and conflict? Are they productive and resourceful r,i-sterile? Committed - or fickle? Changing like the chameleon? is the educated man in the country of the dead regarded as an outcast from society? An eccentric ? Or is he recognized for what he is? Where does he live? in a room In a hotel, or an apartment, or where? What does he do if he cannot sleep? Smoke, drink and frolic? Play chess? Or just drift along? Are there a great number of city slickers in your country? Are your cities crowded with informers and secret police? -immarure end inexperienced, doggrng the weak and the innocent -watching government citizens with evil intention? What do they find? >« s A ., * ARTICLES What do they report? Do they really know what they cue doi:.a ? Do they realize the consequences of ihfii- or-.'loir;? They sow the seeds of fear And distrust among the people. What principles can they be following? What do they live for other than to ruin tf•'ift ' i' ives o» Are there prostitutes in the country of the dead? Do they stand by their doorways bidding t!-.r passers-by to enter? Working at night and sleeping duiing fh* day? How do they dress at night? Do they look like scarecrows with their short skirts? Or do they have beautiful national dresses? What do the rich of the country of Hie dead think of the lives of these prostitutes? Do they think their lives are full of luxury or hardship? The ability to earn the bare necessities of life- Food, shelter and clothing. Getting and spending; Living from hand to mouth; -Sequential misery; Caught in a net of necessary evii. ARTICLES 28. Selling themselves to the beat of music. Tel! me, is the country of the dead aiso a city of prostitutes? . The misery of you no, girk; The cancer of a whole people; Thai" is what prostitution is. A fast spreading disease \\ Is. What laws are made to check it? And what replaces it? What holts its devastation? Is there censorship Irs yotir country? Does it pass for wisdom to organise to kill The flowering author And Intentionally to belittle his work? Is your heritage of literature mature or infant? Of what do your authors write? Do they merely plagiarize themes of flattery, eulogy and hero worship? Of what do your poets sing And your politicians propound? And the reading public? Is it sick of If - of this great garbage heap? M * „ * * V" % , « * ARTICLES 29. Do you censor literature to glorify the fatuous To bury the sublime? Is there freedom In the country of the dead? What is this Freedom? Has it the image of chauvinism - Cheap nationalism- Or naught but hollow, bragging, lip service? Or has it form without shape, Solidify without Rigidity? Is the tradition of freedom roofed in your past? Or but an irmovafion of the tfme? If it is not alien to your culture, On what criteria do you fudge it? Could you mean merely 'territorial integrity' When you think of Freedom? Could that be what you mean by Freedom? Can mere physical survival be called freedom? Does hunger, poverty, suffering and complacency surround you And you call It freedom? Do common m®n In the country'of the dead ARTiCfrS 30. Know thor ofhers moke light of their freedom And exchcii gr> it for ">ei' ov-.i vested interest? "cople, > could go on askint; y~'