Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot

Gondar, Ethiopia – 1846
Author Jane Kurtz
Illustrator Jean-Paul Tibbles
Originally Published © 2003 Pleasant Company
ISBN 1584857471
 

Fear and Disaster

Saba stops moving. She feels her heart flapping wildly as a strange little song comes on again from through the forest. A zar. It has to be a zar because how could anything except a spirit say such haunted, honeyed sweetness?

Saba peers into the trees. Mist from the day’s rain drapes over the branches. She hears a crash in the woods and stands completely still. She can feel the skin on the back of her neck quiver. Is it a leopard? Maybe something even worse? The water and the forest are two of the places where Saytan lives, evil and black as deep darkness. Emama, her grandmother, always used to tell that to her.

“Ayezosh,” Saba whispers to herself. Have courage. Saba picks up a stone. She knows it’s not much of a weapon, but she can throw it with all of her strength. Slowly, Saba begins to move down the slope. Her feet slip on the wet clay of the ground. Saba catches herself by the stream. She sets her huge pot against some roots that jut out from the bank, and uses a gourd to scoop the cold water into the pot. Saba’s older brother, Mesfin, says, “A coward sweats even in water.” Saba knows she’s a coward.

When Saba is done filling the pot with water, she drops the rock. She hoists the pot carefully up onto her back and slips the strap over her head and onto her shoulders and chest. Slowly, on unsteady feet, she begins the climb back up the bank.

As she climbs, Saba smells something pungent in the air. She tells herself not to look, and speeds up. She trips on a root, and the heavy pot pushes her forward until she falls onto hands and knees. She tries to keep the pot in place, but she feels it sliding as the water sloshes all around her. Saba gropes at the pot, but it thuds heavily to the ground and cracks. Saba knows it’s her family’s only pot.

Saba hears something splash into the stream behind her, and she doesn’t turn around to see what it was. She slides the strap back over her head and gets to her feet, and runs to the house as fast as she can. It’s as though Saytan himself is trying to pinch her heels.

The path twists three times through the trees, revealing the fence that Saba’s grandfather, Ababba, made with dry thorn branches. Beyond that is their house. The ground beneath her feet is mostly red mud, and soon it’ll be time for Mesfin to plow the earth again and plant barley and chickpea seeds.

Saba stops and listens, but doesn’t hear anything following her. She doesn’t smell anything strange, but she can hear a hyena’s whoop in the forest. It’s odd, since hyenas rarely come out before dark. She runs the rest of the way to the house, where she throws herself at her grandmother’s feet.

Emama turns and asks if something is wrong. Her voice is silky and old, as if it’s beared much sorrow. Saba’s mother, her daughter, had died. Her daughter’s husband, Saba’s father, had also died. And now her husband, Ababba, has also died. She and Ababba had made homes for them in three different places, each one far from any village “so that no one can find us to hurt us.” Emama would often add that if anything dangerous comes their way, to just remember that Ababba was a great warrior in his time, and he’d protect them. So without Ababba, they are helpless.

Emama’s soothing words calm Saba, and Saba manages to tell her grandmother what happened. Emama says it’s possible the zar was actually a bird. Or maybe a zar in the shape of a bird. She continues on with her typical warnings. Saba should never go into the thickest part of the forest because that’s where Saytan lurks, as well as in deep water, caves, and dirty places. If Saba or her brother see strangers, they must hide in case it’s a barbarian or a buda, someone who has the power to drink their blood through the magic of the evil eye. They mustn’t eat outside because loose zar spirits can fly into their bodies, bringing sickness or seizures.

Then Emama continues, stating that no matter what, she’ll need to go into the market tomorrow to replace the pot. Saba and Mesfin will stay at the house. After all, who will protect them with their grandfather gone?

A voice behind them states he will protect them. Saba hides her face in Emama’s skirts, before she realizes it’s just Mesfin. He exclaims he’ll fight any strangers that come. He’s almost as tall as Ababba had been, but he’s not that much older than Saba is. He mimics slashing a stick through the air as if it’s a sword.

Emama shakes her head, saying that’s foolish talk. They’ll both stay at home tomorrow, for they have no understanding of how strange and fearsome the world can be. Emama turns to go outside to see if she hears anything strange before preparing their supper.

Saba turns to her brother, and in a trembling voice, says they simply must go to the market with her. What if she doesn’t come back? Mesfin responds in a saying that mimics Emama: “When spiders unite, they can tie up a lion.”

Saba faces the fire and pokes at the coals to see the alive red eyes under the gray coverings. She blows on the fire until it glows to life.

Maybe Emama can dig a clay pit near the stream and they can make a new pot. No, that’s foolish thinking. Only budas know how to make pots. Mesfin stands up, saying that Emama should be back by now. He turns to the door. Saba turns, too. Is there still light outside? When sunset gallops across the sky, it pulls darkness right behind it.

Suddenly, Emama appears in the doorway, and Saba feels relief flood over her. Emama crosses to the fire and moves the gourd filled with injera batter closer to the fire. She pours the batter into a griddle that’s perched on the stones. As Saba watches, the injera grows eyes staring up at her, and Saba covers it with the clay top. Emama loosens the injera pancake with hands so leathery they don’t seem to feel the heat. They don’t have any meat for their wat, but the injera will be fresh and delicious.

Emama and Ababba used to eat first, followed by Mesfin and Saba. Now, they all eat together. Now, Emama represents food, warmth, and comfort. Saba whispers into the void, “Don’t go. Or if you do go, take us with you.”

 

A Fierce Longing

The house grows colder as they eat. Saba can hear the wind drumming its fingers against their grass roof. All three of them pull their shammas tightly around their shoulders. Pretty soon, the Maskaram will be here, and the big rains will begin to lift. The streams and rivers will shrink to their normal size and fields will come to life again. The evenings won’t be as cold.

For the whole rainy season, Saba and Mesfin have had to wear capes as they worked. Emama says that Saba looks like a turtle, carrying her house with her everywhere she goes. But soon, the kosso trees will sprout red flames and the maskal flowers will make a thick, yellow cloak for Saba’s bare feet to walk on.

As Saba dips into the spicy lentil wat Emama’s prepared, her mind swirls with questions. Why doesn’t she want to take them with her to the market? What does she fear? Saba feels a fierce longing to go with Emama to market to help her. She wants to see the market for herself.

Saba had only ever been a traveler twice. The first time, she was little more than an infant. They had left the land the emperor had given Ababba and moved to the land of Ababba’s fathers. The second time, they moved to their current house on the edge of the wild forest. Saba watched Ababba cut down a tree for the center pole of their house and smaller trees to put in a circle around it. He dug a pit of clay and Saba helped stomp it to softness and mix straw into it. Then, they all scooped up the clay and used it to build the walls.

Emama and Ababba never told them why they moved and lived so far from other people. These questions often buzz inside of her. But if she vocalized her questions, Ababba would say she is rude. She shouldn’t question elders.

They have almost everything they need at home. Seeds to be pressed for the oil for cooking. A cow that gives milk to make butter. An ox to pull the plow. Red peppers for spices, and gourds and baskets for scooping and storing. The few other things they need, such as blades and pots, both of which are made by budas, Ababba always fetched from a market while out on his yearly travels.

So what is the restlessness inside of Saba? Perhaps it has something to do with what Mesfin said yesterday. Mesfin pointed out that soon, Saba may have a husband of her own to feed. Saba’s mouth had fallen open, and Emama quickly retorted that she’s very small, yet. It’ll take all three of them to grow enough food to survive the next dry season. Saba, picking up flour in her fingers, says she’s not ever leaving home.

The only other things Saba knows of the outside world is from Ababba’s stories and paintings in the goatskin book Emama shows them on feast days. She has a few small memories from their travels, such as a big body of water called Lake Dembya or a village market where she once played with another girl. But can’t someone who loves their home yearn to see the outside world, too?

Every time Ababba came home, he’d tell them stories of different markets he visited. The salt market in Mekelle, the Magnificent Gondar, and a place near Lake Dembya, where he found cotton and lemons to bring home. Saba liked to repeat the names of these places. Now, as she stares at the embers of the fire, she wishes to someday see just one market again.

Emama breaks through Saba’s thoughts. They must stay inside all day tomorrow, and must not leave the house until they hear her coming back. Mesfin is disgusted, and Emama turns to scold him. Saba watches them anxiously, unsettled by her brother’s behavior. She blurts out that maybe Emama just wants to keep all the marvels for herself.

Emama’s face is full of thunder. Saba shouldn’t be disrespectful. Anyone would think her mother forgot to feed her butter and honey to make her voice soft and sweet. Saba looks down and apologizes. But Emama’s words opened the floodgates inside of Saba, and she wants to let more questions pour out.

Emama says she’s leaving only to buy a pot, not to find amber beads to hang around her neck. Emama’s words remind Saba of a time Ababba pointed to the red sunset, and explained someday he’d find amber beads of that color to bring home for her.

Just then, Emama reaches out and pulls Saba closer to her. Saba can feel her fingers stroke her hair. Emama hums softly under her breath, undoing and redoing Saba’s braids.

Carefully, Saba says that maybe Emama will go to the village Ababba told her about, where there’s a big tree in the middle. The tree had butter rubbed into its trunk because of the sacred snake that lived in the tree. Ababba said that sometimes an elder kills a goat or sheep and leaves it for the snake. In her head, Saba wants to stand before that same tree and ask for protection for Emama, Mesfin, and herself.

Emama sniffles. Maybe Saba is a hippopotamus-eater to believe such tales. How can Emama compare her to the people who eat a hippopotamus’ unclean meat? Saba stubbornly wonders if a sacred snake did have power against the terrible things of the real world, and maybe the spirit world.

Emama’s voice rises, and she says it’s important they remember their Amhara blood. A long time ago, the Amhara people worshiped many things—trees, snakes, the sun. But no more. One snake became so powerful that the people had to feed it each day: ten cows, ten bulls, a thousand goats, a hundred sheep, and ten thousand of ten thousand of birds.

Saba knows this story well. Emama and Ababba had their own versions they liked to tell. In Emama’s version, the snake has fiery flame eyes and black eyebrows and a horn. The woman Makeda has astonishing courage. She walks right up to the snake and cuts off its head. Ababba said it was Makeda’s father who cuts off the head. Even in the story the Amharas tell of their own beginnings, the snakes are powerful. But Makeda is more powerful. But, she’s not the most powerful thing in all the earth, water, fire, or air.

After the Ethiopian people made Makeda queen—Queen of Saba—she heard of someone who had greater wisdom than her. She took seven hundred camels and many mules and donkeys on a long journey to find King Solomon of Israel. She saw the light of the king’s heart that was like a lamp in darkness. On her way home, with Solomon’s son growing inside her, she declared the Amharic people would not worship snakes or the sun anymore, but only the one true God. And all Ethiopian emperors were descended from her.

Saba is named after Makeda.

Emama finishes braiding Saba’s hair. Mesfin laughs. It looks just like the field he flowed. Saba laughs, too, but it’s covering a feeling of fear. Can Mesfin plow the earth all by himself? Without her brother’s help, will she be able to throw enough stones to keep the animals out of the fields?

Emama stands up and hangs the baskets and gourds on the cow horns fixed into the walls. Mesfin and Saba step outside and guide the animals through the special door in the back of the house. Four chickens, two goats, the cow, and the ox. Ababba used to have a mule, but he died two months before Ababba.

They tether the animals to their places, and Saba moves over to the corner of the floor where she sleeps curled up in her gahbi. Emama settles on a bench of mud coming out from the wall covered in animal hides and straw. Saba thinks about the strange crawling in her stomach when Emama brought up her mother. Does Mesfin have any memories of their parents? But she can’t ask him with Emama there.

Saba shuts her eyes, feeling mournful and alone. Most of the time, they considered their grandparents as their parents. They’d been with Emama and Ababba since they were little. But now, Emama’s words set off this longing inside of her. When Emama comes back from the market, she must find a way to coax Emama to tell her about her mother and father. She has to know more.

 

Fire in the Night

Saba feels as if she’s only been asleep a few minutes when the chickens wake her up. She scrambles in the darkness and sits up. Mesfin calls her outside. For a moment, Saba sticks her head under the gahbi and curls up tightly. Maybe this is only a dream. But Emama’s commanding voice brings Saba out.

Saba scurries out the door. In the thorn fence, she sees a flickering of small orange flames. Mesfin points toward the stream and says they can run. Emama, shaking her head, tells Saba to bring some coals from the fire, and hands Saba a broad leaf and twig. Saba dashes inside, and in her hurry, trips over a chicken and falls. She crawls to where the fire lives and touches a warm stone Emama uses for balancing the griddle. Saba blows urgently until a coal glows. She uses the twig to push the coal onto the leaf and goes back outside.

Emama looks like a spirit creature, with her face half-lit in shadow. She piles pieces of straw onto the coal. Mesfin grabs Saba’s hand and pulls her as they hurry away. Saba asks Mesfin what Emama is doing, and he explains she’s preparing to make a second fire to run toward the first fire and bite it. But she’ll only do that if she must, to save the house and animals. They’re going to try to prevent the fire from getting near.

They’re very close to the fire now, and Saba can feel the heat on her face. How are they going to keep the fire away? Mesfin lifts a branch and beats the sparks that fly from the fire. Saba lunges at the nearest tree and yanks off a green branch, the bark tearing at her hands. Saba begins to beat the fire. She imagines she is Makeda and the fire is the terrible snake. One of them has to die.

Saba continues hitting the fire over and over until she feels Mesfin’s hand on her shoulder. She stops her beating, and says they’ve conquered this fire. He prods a piece of the fence with his branch and nothing comes out. He smiles, his voice full of pride. Emama thinks they are children, but they were strong enough to beat back the fire. Now she’ll know they don’t need to stay huddled inside at home. She will finally let them go to the market.

 

Call of the Honey Bird

Unfortunately, Mesfin was wrong. The next morning, Saba wakes up coughing. Emama is already prodding the embers, waiting for her to wake up. She says there’s some roasted grain the gourd for them to eat. But now, it’s time for her to leave.

The smell of smoke in the house is thicker than usual, and it overwhelms Saba’s head. She looks down at her stinging hands. Why are all these terrible things coming upon them? First the pot, now the fire. Had a buda stumbled onto their home? A buda can make bad things happen just by thinking about them. She sits up and tells Emama to hurry back.

Emama stands, and wonders to herself what might’ve caused the fire. Mesfin responds there was no lightning. Emama wonders if she should take them with her to keep them safe. Saba’s heart hopes she says yes. But she decides to stay with her original decision. If a buda is wandering about, they’re safer inside the house.

Emama instructs Mesfin to tie the animals outside today instead of taking them to graze. They watch as Emama takes a salt bar wrapped in cloth and hides it in a corner of the basket. That’ll be their payment for the day. Saba wonders how they’ll get more salt to pay for anything else they need.

As if Emama is reading Saba’s mind, she turns and says next she’ll fix kosso flowers in a way that will cure the worms rich people get from raw meat. She can make a medicine for coughing out of honey and pressed seeds. They’ll be all right.

The three of them say their goodbyes in the traditional way of greeting and parting, lips to cheeks over and over. Saba wants to hold onto Emama tightly, but she knows she must not. Before she leaves, Emama tells Mesfin to not leave her sister alone.

Saba helps her brother take the animals outside. They gather grass for the animals to eat, and they go back inside, as they were told. Saba grinds grain in the middle of a large stone until it turns to flour and falls into a basin. Saba looks over at Emama’s spindle. A while ago, Saba used to clean seeds from the cotton Emama spun into thread. Later, she learned how to spin for herself. Now, Emama does all the spinning herself, as Saba is too busy fetching water or pulling weeds to spin. It takes Emama three or four months to fill enough spindles with thread for a shamma. Ababba would take the threads to the weavers who turn it magically into cloth.

Saba glances down at her own shamma. It has a thin border. Ababba used to say that rich people’s shammas have thick, fancy borders made of silk from India and Syria. The weavers would unravel the foreign threads to create their own patterns. Ababba said someday he’d bring a soft, beautiful shamma back for Saba. Now that day will never come.

Saba is considering doing some spinning that day when Mesfin interrupts her thoughts and says that yesterday, he heard the cry of a honey bird. Saba studies him carefully to see what he’s trying to say. They say a honey bird can guide a person to honey that wild bees had hidden in hollow trees. Saba’s mouth fills with the thought of sweet, white honey.

“Ababba will never again be able to follow the honey bird,” Mesfin continues. “But you and I could do it.” Saba responds that maybe they can when Emama gets back from the market.

Mesfin stands up and goes to get the gebeta board that Ababba made for them. Sometimes they dig rows of holes in the dirt and use pebbles to play the game, but now that they’re indoors, they can use the smooth wood board Ababba made.

Saba and Mesfin play the game for a long time, scooping up seeds and dropping them into holes. Suddenly, Mesfin speaks again. Perhaps they could fetch honey for Emama to use to make medicine. Saba wistfully responds it’d be nice to do something to make up for breaking the pot yesterday. But they’re supposed to obey and not bring shame to their relatives.

A shaft of sunlight shines through the door. Afternoon has come and the rains have not. Maybe the rainy season has been milked dry. Mesfin suggests they sit outside the door to see if it’ll be the first day with no rain. Nobody will see them. Saba considers this. It would feel good to see the sun again.

Besides, Mesfin is certain he can protect them. And Saba’s cross necklace can protect them from zar spirits and budas. Saba fingers the cross around her neck. Yes, she will show Mesfin her faith. Cautiously, Saba steps outside under the shade of the overhanging roof.

Mesfin tosses a pebble toward the chickens. Soon, it’ll be the feast day of Maskal, and it’ll be time to put the chickens into the wat. Saba says maybe Emama will return today with a sheep to put into the wat. Mesfin says maybe she’ll return with a Silver Queen to replace the cross that the branches tore from his neck last year.

It bothers Saba that Mesfin walks around without a cross. Saba wears hers on a blue cord. Years ago, Ababba had brought home two silver coins with the face of a queen of a faraway land. The next time he went out, he went to a silversmith and had them melted down and turned into silver crosses.

Saba continues Mesfin’s game. Maybe Emama will bring home a golden pin to put in her hair. Mesfin laughs—Saba was always a dreamer.

The two siblings used to sit on the platform for hours, keeping the animals away. Saba would tell her brother things she had never said to anybody else. All about the horses she sees in the clouds and how the girl in the market told her that the river snakes wrap their tails around farmers’ fences at night so they can reach up to feed on the stars. Mesfin never used to laugh at her then.

All of a sudden, Mesfin stands up. He tells Saba to listen. It’s the sound of the honey bird again. Ababba used to say that birdcalls were signs… that battles had been fought and surrendered based on the cries of birds. Mesfin says it’s an omen, and it’d be wrong to ignore what the spirits are trying to tell them.

Saba says she needs another sign if they’re to go look for honey.

They wait and wait for another sign. The rain clouds don’t fill the sky. The honey bird calls again. Chickens scratch in the sunshine. But otherwise, Saba doesn’t hear a thing. Then, Saba sees something move from the edge of the trees. She grips her brother’s arm.

But then, an antelope bounds out. It runs across the path that leads to the stream. Mesfin says that must be the sign. Ababba always said an antelope running across the path was sure to bring a person success.

Saba studies her brother who has gotten so tall and confident in the last year. Emama doesn’t know how strong they’d both become.

Saba asks Mesfin if he thinks there are zars in the woods. He says of course there are, but they must not be around as much as Emama says. After all, they’d lived there for many years with no issues. Suddenly, Saba realizes that he could indeed be her protector now that Ababba is gone.

Saba fetches a gourd and follows Mesfin down the hill, across the field, and toward the trees in the direction of the honey bird. The call of the bird gets louder as they continue on. They can see the mountain in the distance, tall and green.

Mesfin comments that he’s surprised the honey bird hasn’t flown away. It must be a friendly bird. They continue into the woods, and it didn’t take long for them to be engulfed by a green, warm world. Leaves dance and tremble over their heads. The branches seem to welcome them into the woods.

The honey bird sounds quite close now. It appears to have been waiting for them. Saba stops and bows back to the welcoming branches. Ahead of her, Mesfin cries out and bends down to study his right foot. And suddenly, the trees around them crackle with noise.

“Run!” Mesfin shouts. Immediately, Saba turns to flee. But then out of nowhere, a pair of hands grabs her. Saba twists and shrieks, trying to pull away from the hands, but the spirits, or whatever was waiting among the trees, doesn’t let go. The last thing the leaves and branches hear is the sound of Saba’s desperate screams.

 

Lion Creatures

When Saba awakens, the first word out of her mouth is “Emama.” She says she dreamed that lion beings grabbed her out of the human world. The beings pulled her shamma over her head so she couldn’t see, and she was jostled for hours on animals. But as her eyes open slowly, she knows it wasn’t a dream.

Saba sees a creature a way away, with its human face staring at her under a bushy golden and black lion’s mane. She sees only fur where the shoulders should be. She lets out a wail, and suddenly her brother is beside her. He whispers in her ear that he’ll take care of her. Saba clings to his hands. How will he fight the half-man, half-lion creatures?

Frowning, Mesfin says they’re soldiers wearing lion’s fur. Saba shrinks back as one approaches them. The man kneels and holds out something in his hands. Mesfin urges her to take it. When she doesn’t, Mesfin takes it instead. “For the sake of your father,” the man says in an unusual accent.

Mesfin pulls the skin from the fruit, breaks off a piece, and places it in Saba’s mouth. It’s delicious. Mesfin says he’s not sure what the man means, but they’ve been talking a little to him. But they won’t tell him where they’re taking them, even though they did mention Ababba.

Saba tries to imagine what the men with the strange voices know about Ababba. Mesfin explains they don’t know Ababba is dead. They thought he was home, and that’s why they didn’t come into the house to get them. The men waited in the woods and coaxed them out into the forest.

Saba thinks about the sounds she had heard by the stream. That might’ve been the same men. Mesfin continues that the men set the fire, too, hoping they’d run into the woods where they could seize them.

Saba thinks about Emama. By now, she’s probably returned from the market and came home to find them gone. Saba begins to weep, rocking back and forth, clutching her own arms. Mesfin pats her arm, and comforts Saba. Emama’s spirit is strong, and she must know more about the men than they do. But it’s very important they don’t tell anyone about Ababba’s death. As long as they think he’s dead, they’ll leave her alone.

Just then, Saba hears a shout. She looks up to see a mule running toward them. She notices how beautifully the saddle is decorated. It’s made of wood and covered with goatskin. The saddlecloth hangs down with a small stirrup only big enough for a toe to fit through. Silver dances on the cloth. In the middle of the cloth is an image of a man galloping on a white horse. His hand is holding a spear that’s piercing a snake close to the ground. The man’s brave and powerful face looks like it’s staring straight at Saba. The man must be Saint Giorgis, king of all saints. Saba recognizes him from Emama’s book.

Mesfin helps boost Saba onto the back of the mule. She looks back to her brother, asking where he’ll be. He doesn’t answer, and soon the mule is bouncing so fast Saba has to hold on with all her strength.

After a while, they’re on a path or road winding up a mountain. Below, she can see a glimpse of water. Is it Lake Dembya? When the holy mother, Yosef, and baby Yesus fled from their home in Israel to Egypt, they stayed on an island in Lake Dembya. Perhaps they came along this path.

They ride and ride until all of Saba’s bones and teeth have been shaken loose. Saba feels like she may never be able to walk again. Sometimes the path goes up, sometimes the path goes down. Sometimes the path is so steep that Saba has to lean back against the back of the saddle until she feels like she’s touching the mule with her back. At one point, the man in front of her on the mule calls out in a high voice and a voice far away answers. For a while, all they hear is the sound of men hollering and echoing to each other, followed by silence.

Eventually, the mule slows down, and Saba turns around to see Mesfin riding behind the man on a different mule behind. As they continue on, Saba sees houses in the far-off distance. Sometimes one is alone, and sometimes a few are clustered together. Her mind wanders again and again to thinking of a Emama coming home and finding them gone. They also pass people on the road. A baby is carried on the back of a girl about Saba’s age. The girl looks hungry and worn.

They continue on, past blue mountains in the distance, past a giant tree, past a place where the road drops away on both sides and Saba holds her breath as she peers into the valleys below. Saba wants to turn to look for Mesfin, but she feels like she can hardly move. When they stop to take a break, two more mules come up next to her own. A man comments on how the mules behave poorly—they should be following a horse, but these days, horses are saved for parades and battles.

Saba doesn’t care to listen to them talk. The only thing she’s thinking about is her brother and hoping that he’s on another mule behind them. Then, a man points to Saba, and tells her that she should climb down from the mule. She slides off, and he has to hold her while she gets her legs steady. His hand is rough and it hurts her thin arm, but Saba is glad he’s holding on to her. The ground is rough and rocky, and when the soldier sees how she’s struggling on the rocks he motions for her to sit under a tree. From his bag, he pulls something shaped like a little fish and hands it over to her.

Saba, turning over the item, sees that the bottom is flat. The man explains that a leather worker made these berebaso for his brother. He was going to give them to him the next time he visited family, but he’ll give them to her instead. For the sake of her father. The man shows Saba how to put them on her feet. His own feet are as bare as hers, and she has never worn such things in her life. But they stick to her feet as she stands up and takes a cautious step. At first she stumbles on the rocks even more, but the bottoms of her feet can no longer feel the sharpness of the rocks. After they walk a little ways, her feet start to like these strange berebaso.

The man guides her to a place where water comes out of the rocks. They all sit there, drinking the water they cup in their hands, and eating pieces of coarse bread. Saba shows her new footwear to her brother and he smiles with admiration. No doubt her own face is stained with tears, but he has the look of a bold boy on adventure.

Mesfin explains to Saba that they are taking them to a place called Gondar. It’s another two days’ ride. Saba recognizes this place. Sometimes when a Ababba was plowing, he’d sing:

  Beautiful from its beginnings,
  Gondar, home of the wretched,
  And hope of the great.
  Gondar without measure or bounds.

Saba takes a sigh and whispers to herself a prayer that Emama can make her way to Gondar, too.

The next time they stop to rest and eat, they sit a little way off the road. A group of children stand watching them with wide, longing eyes. The soldiers yell in another language to chase the children away, but they always creep back. Mesfin says he doesn’t know what language they’re speaking, but he knows they’re not Amhara. They say they are Oromoo and that their chief is a very important person. For a moment, Saba thinks she’ll pull the berebaso off her feet, but such a gesture might make the soldiers angry. After all, the man gave her the berebaso out of kindness. But Saba can’t make herself eat another bite of their bread. She holds it out to a child, who runs over and takes it from her hand. Then just as quick as the girl came up, she dashes back and divides the small piece with an even younger girl.

The phrase the soldiers kept saying to Saba sticks in her mind. “For the sake of your father.” The words seem to be some kind of courtesy. Was anyone ever going to explain to Saba what the strange saying meant? And what kind of monstrosity was Gondar if it was filled with hippopotamus-eaters and other barbarians? Saba wishes she could ask Ababba why he spoke such praises of such a place.

 

Escape

From then on, when the soldiers give Saba bread or dried meat, she eats only a few bites. Just enough to dull the sharpest of her stomach pains. She doesn’t want to taste the food contaminated by their hands. When the soldiers notice she’s not eating, one of them gives her a small leather bag, again saying, “For the sake of your father.” He indicates that whatever she doesn’t eat should be placed back in the bag so she can eat it when she’s feeling hungry later.

For the next two days, they travel endlessly. The mountains make Saba feel small and afraid. At night, she cries herself to sleep, full of sorrow to be so far away from Emama. The soldiers make a fire, and Saba curls close to it, trying to shut out their voices. Emama was strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to climb the high mountains and down into the valleys and back again up the steep slopes. Even the mules pant, their sides steaming with sweat.

Late the second night, Saba decides she can bear the pain no more. She’s never made a plan by herself, but gradually an idea comes to her. Moonlight can help her pick along the path they just followed. She didn’t know all the steps to get back home, but she could start by going back downhill. She had a little bread and meat in her bag. And when that ran out, she would stand and stare at someone who had food, the way the girl on the side of the road did with her.

Saba gets up and moves calmly into the bushes. The soldiers watch her go, but no one moves. Saba is determined. She can’t even tell Mesfin, because how can two people slip away? Once she reaches the bushes she just keeps walking. She moves as quietly as moonlight touching this stone and flitting to that branch. She hears nothing behind her.

Then, a shout splits into the darkness. Running feet. Saba starts to run, too, panicked as any small dik-dik that dodges is along the path with Ababba dashing after. Feet slam into the ground behind her, and hands grab her shoulders and arms. Saba weeps and wriggles. The soldiers are stronger than she is.

When the soldiers have carried Saba back to the fire, one of them takes a leather thong from his bag. He goes to beat her, but another man stops him. He says in Amharic, “Let her brother talk to her.”

Mesfin wipes Saba’s eyes, and calms her over and over. He says she can’t put Emama’s life in danger, even if she can get back there. Emama would want her alive, not killed by the soldiers. This is the time to be brave. Saba holds onto her brother for a long time. Slowly, she comes to accept that he’s right. She must go forward. It seems like it was a long time ago that she sat in her house thinking that she wanted to see the glories of the world. She wishes she had never dreamt of such a thought.

 

The Giants’ Compound

Eventually, they see more and more people on the road, until finally, flocks of people walk and stand everywhere. Saba didn’t realize there were so many people in all the wide, flat world. The women stand like butterflies in their gleaming gossamer dresses with bright embroidery. Others wear cloaks glinting with gold. Soldiers stand along the road and shout greetings to other soldiers. Their shields are covered with soft elegant cloth, and trimmed in gold or silver.

As the mules move along, a band of music makers run, keeping up with the animals. A few people sing while another man cries out comments that make people laugh or cheer. A fourth man holding an instrument runs alongside Saba’s mule. Saba wants to shrink away from his gaze. What is he looking for?

As they approach the boundary marker that is wrapped around Gondar, Saba sees a wall of one stone on top of another. Saba stares at the brown stones in the wall and the mountain of rocks that she can see rubbing the sky. She has never felt so small. The man riding in front of Saba explains that there are twelve gates: The Gate of the General, the Gate of the Musicians, the Gate of The Spinners… Then, Saba hears a slap, and the mule with Mesfin on it pushes ahead. A moment later, they’re riding through what the soldier tells her is the Gate of the Judges.

Nothing could have prepared Saba for the wonder that is Gondar. They move forward slowly, and Saba’s eyes try to drink in everything. The stone mountains had doors in them. They must really be huge houses. Apparently, giants live in this place. At least ten houses sit inside the compound surrounded by the thick wall. They have doorways and windows, but they’re not like any house Saba has ever seen. Even the trees are like tiny children, bowing before the great houses.

Saba hears the deep growl of a beast from somewhere behind her, and the soldier says, “Ayezosh. It’s just the lions.” Saba’s voice chokes on the thought of lions. She thought she would never have to look upon a lion, but now she is inside a compound with them. The soldier reassures her that they’re in their house. They are quite tame. How could an emperor not have lions?

Before Saba has time to realize what the soldier is saying, they are now directly in front of one of the stone houses. The house has three doorways, so tall a person doesn’t have to stoop to enter. A man in a white shamma has come up beside her mule, and is telling her to come in. An old woman approaches, and tells Saba it’s not fitting for a lady to dismount in front of everyone. The man has cupped his hands and is holding them for Saba to step into them. The woman says they are entering a castle built for an empress.

Why are they there? Ababba had never said anything of castles or giants. Saba looks around for Mesfin, but the old woman calls orders, and some younger women pull Saba inside the door. The woman cries that all of Saba’s old ugly clothes must be removed and new ones put on. Empress Menen would not want to see her this way.

Saba’s skin is washed and oiled. The smells of the oils make her head feel like it’s floating away. She feels the aches of the mule ride melting, and she begins to relax as the woman takes over. She watches herself being dressed in a white soft dress with bright colors at the borders. A matching shamma is draped around her shoulders. They put the gold of royalty in her ears and a pin in her hair. But she doesn’t let the woman take her cross or berebaso, even after she’s offered another pair of shoes. The old woman places a strand of beads around Saba’s neck. They are amber.

Saba asks again where her brother is, but no one answers. The old woman says that Saba must know nothing of the customs of the emperor’s court. They are there because the emperor wishes so. Soon, she will meet him. When she enters the room, she must sink to the floor by bending her right knee and press her forehead to the floor at the entrance of the room. Saba can barely concentrate. The woman continues giving Saba instructions, but Saba doesn’t ask what she wanted to because she didn’t dare question this woman with authority in her voice. Why was she being taken to meet the emperor?

When Saba asks again where her brother is, the woman finally answers that he will be with her. Then, she asks Saba to demonstrate how to approach the throne. Saba practices how to approach the king over and over until the woman is satisfied. The woman explains that Saba will feed and sleep here in the house. And in maybe two or three days, she go to meet the King of Kings.

The woman tells one of the servants to throw Saba’s old clothes away. Saba clutches them to her and skitters away from the women across the floor of the room. She walks carefully around a thick cloth covered with swirls and designs, and finds the bed. She places the clothes and the bag the soldier gave her under the bed. The woman is still standing and watching her.

Saba goes over to the shoes that were originally offered to her, and picks them up. She holds them out to a girl. As she gives them to the girl, Saba says, “For the sake of your father.” To Saba’s surprise, the girl looks shocked, drops the shoes, and flees the room with a cry. The old woman explains that the girl has no father. She thought Saba was insulting her. The soldiers were talking about Saba’s father.

Saba is shocked. Why would they talk about her own father? The woman explains that Saba’s father was kin to some of the soldiers. His father was a great warrior and respected by all of them. Saba is astonished. Her father’s father had worn the headdress of a lion skin? Her own grandfather was an Oromoo? They spoke in a strange tongue? Saba stands in silence, thinking that perhaps the next earth would open and swallow her in one slurping gulp.

 

In the Walking Dream

Then, the old woman takes pity on Saba. The woman says she will get Saba’s brother. While Saba waits, she studies the shamma they placed on her shoulders. It’s light and delicate. When Mesfin arrives, Saba shows it to him. Mesfin walks all the way around her, making admiring clicks. What would Emama think?

They sit on polished wooden stools in front of an exquisite flat basket. Servants pour water for them to wash their hands, and they fill the basket with white injera. The servants bring in bowl after bowl of food. Saba counts ten different dishes, most of them she doesn’t recognize. Even just one of these dishes would have been sumptuous on a feast day with Emama and Ababba.

Saba asks Mesfin what kind of strange web it is for two humble spiders to dangle from. Will they meet the giants who built the houses? For once, Mesfin looks puzzled. He says he has a powerful feeling that he’s been here before. He doesn’t remember giants, but perhaps these castles were built by human beings.

Saba tears off a piece of injera. The rich oils make her tongue cry out. One by one she tries the different dishes. Mesfin asks Saba if she heard that their grandfather was a soldier for the emperor. As servants told him, their grandfather fought so bravely that a marriage was arranged for him with the Emperor’s youngest daughter. Saba says his ears must have deceived him. That would mean that their grandmother is the daughter of an emperor.

Mesfin explains the soldiers said that once upon a time there were four different kingdoms in Ethiopia. Their grandfather served His Majesty Tekle Giorgis II, the king over all other rulers—the King of Kings. Just then, Mesfin hears someone approaching.

The old woman comes in, and says that it is time for them to eat and grow strong. As they eat, Mesfin asks the old woman many things. The woman answers his questions, about where she’s lived, how long she’s been there, and about Gondar. But whenever Mesfin asks about what Saba is longing to hear about, the woman gently changes the subject. But for the first time in many days, Saba feels a flutter of joy. She now knows more about her grandfather.

That night, Saba can’t rest. The bed is too soft, and the questions in her mind are too puzzling. Finally she climbs out of bed and lays on a cloth in the middle of the room, where she eventually falls asleep.

Over the next few days, Saba learns many things. She discovers that as a member of the royal family, even she can ask questions. No one scolds her for being disrespectful. The castles in the compound house many different emperors. The huge house had been built first, about 200 years ago, to be home of the Emperor Fasiladas. They call the house Fasil Gemb. The beautiful castle where they are was built last, less than 100 years ago and is what is called the empress castle. Their castle sits with two others at the opposite end of the royal compound from Fasil Gemb. From her window, Saba can see its high egg-shaped towers and a small castle beside it.

As Saba gazes out the window, she hears a sudden roar. The girl Saba tried to give the shoes to runs in. She doesn’t speak unless she’s spoken to first. Saba asks her what’s going on, and the girl explains the servants are giving meat to the lions. The old woman had sent the others on errands. The old woman explained that if you treat a servant as an equal, you make him the ruler over you. She also told her that she and Mesfin should not go outside the castle until the time comes to present them to the King of Kings. So, they had many hours to try to untangle the knots of what everyone had told them.

Mesfin and Saba heard talk of powerful people. People spoke in hushed voices about someone named General Ali Alula, the Oromoo chief of the soldiers who was the highest noble in the land. Ababba had been a palace guard, as had her Oromoo grandfather in the compound long ago. When Saba asks Mesfin what else Emama kept from them, Mesfin’s jaw quivers. He says people mostly lower their voices or shake their heads when he asks questions. Many appear to be afraid.

They’d yet to make any progress in figuring out what had happened to their Oromoo grandfather and the princess he married. All Mesfin had learned was that Gondar had thirteen different emperors since their grandmother’s father sat on the throne. Apparently, the tree of people descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Saba had become very wide, and many men had laid claim to the throne as their descendants. Most of the ancient emperors had many children, and some had more than one family.

Kings from other branches of the great tree rule other Ethiopian kingdoms, too. Apparently, this brings frequent challenges to the King of Kings. There’s a lot of fighting. Saba is tired from trying to follow these tangled threads. All she cares about is knowing what happened to their father, mother, and grandparents.

As Mesfin talks, Saba’s heart begins to devise its own plan. If they’re so important, surely they can find a way to ask the King of Kings to bring Emama to Gondar. Until then, Saba must store everything in her heart so that Emama can be told of the many marvels.

Saba has never been this warm, well fed, and this dazzled by magnificence. A whole world parades under her window. Mules are determined, but worried workers. Horses dash and dance. Mesfin and Saba love watching them prance in their beautiful decorations. One of the servants tells them about an ancient emperor whose beautiful horse was captured and carried away to a distant land. In captivity, the horse did not eat or drink or let anyone ride. They called it the soulless horse because it was a shell without a soul in captivity. A royal Ethiopian, also a captive, offered to tame the horse. As soon as the prince leaped on the horse’s back, the horse and rider dashed away. The loyal horse didn’t stop until he had traveled across all the mountains of Ethiopia to Gondar, where he fell dead with exhaustion. After that, emperors and generals began to take their war horse’s names as part of their own. If a horse was named Suviel, the soldiers would call their leader Father of Suviel.

Saba discovered that the music makers they saw on the first day were called azmaris. They walk among the castles singing songs of love and war and playing an instrument called masinko. Sometimes they sing of a man’s greatness, but they can also mock and cut with their songs. They did not care who they scorned.

On the morning of the third day, the old servant wakes Saba. It is time to go to see Emperor Yohannes III, the King of Kings. The woman hurries Mesfin and Saba downstairs to the hall and makes them practice their parts again and again. She takes Mesfin’s shamma and shows him how to wrap it around his waist and cross it on his chest, with the ends up over his shoulders. He is to wear it this way only when he’s in the church and before the King of Kings.

On and on the woman keeps talking. It makes Saba more and more afraid. Head coverings have to be removed in the emperor’s presence. One should not turn their back on the emperor. If the emperor stands, only the empress and the patriarchs of the church can remain seated. No one can walk behind the emperor.

The woman rushes them out of the castle, reminding Saba of one of the chickens that squawks and dances around her chicks. The bright light dazzles Saba’s eyes. From a distance, she can hear the woman saying something of an umbrella to shield her from the sun.

Then, as if they flapped on a bird’s wings, they’re inside the coolness of another castle. Saba doesn’t remember the walk there. She’s vaguely aware of murmuring voices, and the smell of hot peppers and roasted meat in the air. Saba and Mesfin walk into a room at the end of the hall together, bending low as the old servant showed them. The woman instructs them to kiss the emperor’s hem.

The emperor is surprised to see them. He asks why they are before him, and a cold, powerful woman’s voice says that she ordered it. This must be Empress Menen. The woman explains these are the grandchildren of the emperor’s sister, who died while he was imprisoned on Amba Wehni. She explains she has not yet found their father, his sister’s son, but the soldiers are still searching for him.

Such buzzing fills Saba’s ears that she hears nothing more except her own breathing. Mesfin nudges her, and she glances upwards to see the woman addressing her. The woman says that Saba will stay in the empress castle, and learn the things that befit her rank. When the emperor asks about Mesfin, Empress Menen is silent. Slowly, she says that they will find a place for him, for the sake of their father. In her mouth, the words sound different altogether.

 

Angel Voices

Somehow, Saba manages to get herself out of the hall and back to the empress castle. The servants bring her sweet honey tea and honeyed cakes, but she can’t eat and she can’t stop shivering. Two things cling to her. Her father is alive. And her, Saba, is not only the blood of Makeda, the mighty Queen of Saba, but she is somehow related to the King of Kings now on the throne.

Over and over, Saba tries to untangle the knot. Her grandfather had married a daughter of His Majesty Emperor Tekle Giorgis II, and had a son. This son is the man the soldiers are searching for, Saba’s father. But if Saba’s father is not dead, why did Emama say he is?

Saba’s brother had said there were thirteen different emperors between Emperor Tekle Giorgis II and the current emperor, who is Saba’s great-uncle. Where are her grandparents and her parents during the reigns of these emperors? Why did Saba’s brother and Saba live with their mother’s parents, so far from Gondar? And why had Emama and Ababba never said any of this?

All of these thoughts chase around each other in Saba’s head. For the first time, it occurs to her to also wonder whether her brother might be destined to become an emperor. She asks the servants to see her brother, but they do not know where he is. Probably he was taken to one of the other castles. The servants will try to find out which one.

How could Saba, a little spider alone in this big castle, be brave? The answer came to her immediately. Surely Saba, descended from and named after the Queen of Saba, she could be brave. But if only Emama was there to soothe her and whisper “Ayezosh” in her ear. And Mesfin had promised to take care of Saba. Where was he now?

Saba did not sleep well that night. When the old woman came to her room the next morning she told her that today is New Year’s Day and Saba must go to church with the rest of the royal family. Of course! It is now the month of Maskaram. How long it seems since Saba stood at the stream thinking of just this day. She could never have imagined this.

The old woman helps Saba dress. She carefully places the beads of amber around her neck. The woman offers Saba to wear the beautiful shoes, but Saba des not say anything. Instead, she puts on her sturdy berebaso. These shoes, and the silver cross, are the roots to the life that Saba had before Gondar.

When they go downstairs, three servants approach Saba, bow, and put flowers into her hands. The old woman slips Saba three silver coins, and Saba understands that she’s to give one to each servant, along with her thanks. When Saba goes outside, there’s no blinking in the sun because the young servant girl immediately holds a red umbrella over her head and steps with her every step. Saba looks at the small red sky and doesn’t know what to think. Everything that’s happening to her is frightening, and she’s desperate to see her brother. Hopefully she’ll see him in church.

The emperor and empress themselves walk far along ahead of them, sidestepping to the beating of a huge drum. Saba’s heart fills with sorrow; she doesn’t see a head that looks like her brother’s.

Saba had never been inside a church before, and had only heard of Emama’s descriptions as she showed Saba her book on feast days. But all of Saba’s feelings of nervousness fall away the moment she climbs the stone stairs, removes her shoes, and steps into the church. How many times had Saba asked for a miracle and nothing happened? Now one did. Saba gazes in awe at the ceiling. Angel after angel after angel looks down, catching Saba’s gaze in their own. Saba didn’t know that angels have such kind faces, with wings curling up at their cheeks. She didn’t know their eyes are so wide and warm with encouragement.

In the round church, Saba listens to the ancient language of Ge’ez for the first time. She hears the low chanting and soft thrumming of the priests using the palms of their hands on drums. She sees their dance and smells the incense that fills the church with a sweet and pungent mist. Above it all, Saba seems to feel the fluttering feathers of hundreds of angel wings.

They stand through the whole service. When it’s time to go, a priest stops Saba. Saba kisses his cross and he whispers a blessing. As they leave the church, Saba smells lovely, dark juniper trees with a spicy smell. Beyond them, sun pours down like rippling gold, and pink, red, and orange flowers spray out of the earth and tumble over the walls.

Saba thinks of the angel voices. Why should she be afraid? No one made any move to hurt her. On the contrary, they fed her well, and put her in wondrous clothes and jewelry. As Saba walks home, she feels as if she has one foot in another world. It was the first day of the week—Wednesday the day Yesus Cristo was born. It was the first day of a new year, and Saba is blessed and new, too.

 

Hope of the Great

After the day at the church, the whole world seems wonderful and new. Saba is in beautiful Gondar and, although she hasn’t seen her brother since the day with the emperor, she knows he is somewhere close by. Also, Saba has created a plan to bring Emama.

Now, Saba is free to move around. She spends the next day outside, with the girl holding the red umbrella over her. She creeps as close as she dares to the house of the lions. They’re behind strong bars, but she can’t stop shaking as she stares at their swiftly padding, clawed feet and their swishing tails. The smell of rotting meat and blood ensures she doesn’t linger.

Their house in the countryside was made from clay and mixed with straw. The roof was made of grasses caught together at the top and hanging down low over the sides. In Gondar, every building is made from rock. Some castles have round houses floating high in the air, but even those are made of stone. Saba sees many of the castles have places where towers have tumbled, or rocks have slumped. She wanders into one and sees it’s full of books, but it has a musty smell that makes her want to run out. In another, a rat runs by Saba’s foot, making the girl and her scream at the same time.

At home, they made or built or grew things for themselves. Here, the compound bustles with people bringing in whatever is needed: wood for fires, meat for meals, shields and harnesses, jars and cloth. A number of small houses are used for cooking. Servants rush into them and delicious smells drift out. Saba sees the trees and gardens where someday, Emama, Mesfin, and Saba will walk and talk for hours.

The empress castle where Saba stays is near the Gate of the Pigeons. For a while, Saba stands and listens to the sound of the pigeons as they chuckle and coo. Saba stays far away from the lions, with the smell of death. It makes her cringe to watch those powerful tawny beasts pace constantly from one end of the cage to the other. What castle is Mesfin in? Is he seeing the same things as she is? Saba longs to talk to him. Perhaps by tomorrow the old servant will know where they’ve taken him.

When the old woman comes to Saba’s room the next morning, she tells her that she’s been invited to receive instruction from one of the teaching priests. Saba thinks about the loneliness that sits heavy on her shoulders. What she wants most is to see her brother. Still, it’d be good to have someone, anyone, to talk to. When Saba asks if Mesfin will be taught with her, the woman responds no. He must have his own teacher.

The priest that comes to teach Saba that morning wears a turban wrapped around his head. Under, he has a lively face and eyes that remind Saba of the angels’ eyes in the church. He sits quietly with his flywhisk, asking her if she knows her Psalms and if she knows the 231 characters of the alphabet. She responds that she doesn’t. But, when he asks if she can tell him the story of Solomon and the Queen of Saba, she says yes. After she’s done, he praises her. The story has many versions he tells her, but all agree on the important points.

The priest says Saba may ask him a question. She asks how many angels there are on the ceiling of the church. He smiles. The artist painted so many that no one has been able to count. Then, Saba asks him about her grandparents. Maybe they died while in prison on Amba Wehni. Can he tell her about that?

The priest brushes his flywhisk slowly back and forth. He explains that in ancient times, the male relatives of an emperor were traditionally imprisoned on a flat-topped mountain called an amba. Some emperors made sure their relatives were well cared for. Others did not. At this point, the practice has fallen out of use. But their current emperor had spent a few years in prison on Amba Wehni. His sister, Saba’s grandmother, joined him with her husband. The chronicles say they both died there.

When Saba asks more questions, he states he’ll tell her the history of their land, beginning with a story.

Once, an emperor was brought down from Amba Wehni and crowned about a hundred years ago. He was beloved because the land was calm under his rule. Once, with the help of his sister, he almost escaped from Amba Wehni while wearing a disguise. So after being crowned, he wandered the countryside in old, tattered clothes. He did that so he could find out who his enemies were and what his people thought of him.

One day, he saw an old man throwing sticks into a pond, as a means of divining the future. The emperor asked what the sticks were saying. Because of the disguise, the old man assumed he was speaking to a peasant. He said the sticks say the emperor will have a son, but they also say a person named Wallata Giorgis, that is not the son, will govern the kingdom after the emperor’s death.

One day, the empress bore a son to the emperor and he remembered the sticks. He explained to her the prophecy. His wife sat the emperor down and explained that her name by baptism is Wallata Giorgis. If he dies when their son is young, she will govern, even though she is not his descendant.

One day, while in the countryside, the emperor came across an Oromoo peasant. He gave his shamma to the peasant to wash. Then, as a test, the emperor began to say rude things about those in power. The peasant threw the emperor’s shamma back to him, saying, “I was washing your cloak as a kindness to a poor man. Wash your own shamma. That will give you less time to criticize your superiors.” When the emperor got back home, he summoned the man to Gondar and made him one of his most trusted servants. Thus, the Oromoo people came to the court of Gondar and have been here ever since.

Indeed, the emperor fell sick soon after. When he died, his son was still young, and his wife did indeed rule.

When the priest was finished with his stories, he got up to leave. If the queen and the emperor could have courage, then Saba can, too. Both Saba and the priest are very pleased with the day’s lessons.

 

Needles and Cloves, Dates and Silks

Although Saba’s teacher, just like everyone else, doesn’t speak to Saba directly of her family, the next day, he tells her enough of Gondar history for her to begin to understand a few things she is hungry to know. She learns that her grandmother’s father, Emperor Tekle Giorgis II, spent his whole life in a struggle for the throne. He was knocked from the throne six times.

When he was deposed for the final time, the throne did not go to his son but was given to one of those thirteen emperors Mesfin had told her about. In fact, Tekle Giorgis’ son, Saba’s great-uncle, hadn’t been crowned until six years ago. The priest made Saba see just how shaky power is.

One thing is clear though. Through birth, one could sometimes become the King of Kings, but it is not a simple thing to stay the King of Kings. Saba feels sure that her teacher is trying to tell her that the struggles for the throne are the reason why Mesfin and Saba have been brought to Gondar.

The next day, Saba discovers that her teacher has many numbers and years in the palm of his hand. One interesting thing is that her grandmother was born during her father’s fifth reign. He also knows the day she gave birth to a son, though her father, the emperor, was an exile by then. Rejoice secretly filled the land because the boy was the son of a princess and a popular warrior. Saba’s teacher says that when the boy grew to be a man, he was married to the daughter of one of the Amhara palace guards. Soon his wife had a son, and quickly after that a daughter. That’s Saba and Mesfin. Saba can see that she and her brother are part of their land’s history. And based on the dates, Saba is twelve years old. That’s a very interesting thing to know.

Around this time, people began to murmur that their emperor was no stronger than a cut flower held by a child. There was talk of a prophecy where a great emperor would be raised up, strong enough to overcome his enemies and truly become King of Kings over all of Ethiopia. Some wise men said a child would become that emperor. This talk made danger for all royal children, and many of them suddenly disappeared.

Saba gasps. People must have thought that Mesfin and Saba had been killed. But actually they’d been hidden with Emama and Ababba all this time. Saba feels great sadness for her mother and father. Although she didn’t remember them at all, they must have been wise and brave to come up with such a plan to save their lives.

Then, Saba realizes. Her great-uncle is not young. His empress is not a young woman. They must want either Saba’s father or her brother to take over the throne next. Now Saba can guess where Mesfin is. He must be studying even harder than she is. Someday he might rule Ethiopia.

The old servant woman is pleased to have Saba’s teacher coming to the castle. She says he has so much goodness. When not studying, Saba should lie on the bed and give orders to the servants, or spin. Gondar’s known for its beautiful cloth, and the servants who live in the empress castle spend much of their time spinning thread.

But Saba doesn’t want to give orders, lie on the bed, or sit and spin. She wants to see things. She’s finally allowed to go out of the Royal Compound. Now that she knows what Mesfin is doing, she wants to see the city of Gondar. Each time she goes out, the girl holds the umbrella over her head, and a soldier or two stays close behind her. Other servants carry whatever is needed, or walk behind them. Even if Saba tries to pick something up, they hurry to take it away from her.

Every day for two weeks, when she’s not studying, Saba climbs over one of the seven rainbow-shaped bridges that connect the Royal Compound with the city. It makes her laugh to remember that she longed to go to the village market with Emama. What would that market have? Perhaps peppers, pottery, and some iron. Here, caravans with donkeys, mules, and camels stream into the city each week loaded with goods. Saba sees honey, wax, butter, and horses, and also things she never knew existed, such as bottles and beads, needles and cloves, and dates and silks. For the first time, Saba holds a mirror in her hand and looks at her own face. Such a strange and magical thing to be able to see herself.

Saba also sees Oromoo soldiers and nobles. It’s obvious to her that Emama is wrong, with her fear of the Oromoo and others she called barbarians. Why did she say such things when she knew her other grandfather was Oromoo?

By now, Saba has learned of other Ethiopians who are neither Amhara nor Oromoo. The Tigray have a kingdom to the north of Gondar. Muslims live in their own section called Eslam Bet. The servants tell Saba that many of the Muslim men are weavers, and others are traders. Ethiopian Jews live a little way outside the city. The women make glossy black pots. The men work as builders of castles and churches. The servants and Saba quickly turn away if they hear the whooshing sound of bellows or the clinging hammering of metal pieces from the blacksmiths. Everyone agrees with Emama that such people are likely budas.

Meanwhile, Saba’s lessons continue. Her teacher shows her manuscripts so her eyes drink the shapes of ancient letters. By now, she can recognize the shape of a “b” on a parchment. But which of the seven forms of “b” was it? “Be, bu, bee, bah, bay, bi, bo.” Sometimes, he’s impatient and scolds Saba, calling out, “What did I just tell you yesterday?” But other days, he’s gentle.

One day, during a history lesson, Saba tells him that it’s hard to learn about things that happened so long ago. All the names and dates. What makes them stick to a person? Perhaps it comes easier for someone like her brother… someone who will be King of Kings someday.

Saba’s teacher doesn’t speak sharply at this. Instead, he taps his flywhisk thoughtfully on the floor, and responds to let him tell her this story, and to not speak after he is done.

Once, there were three boys traveling in a forest, when a menacing hyena leapt onto their path. He asked them whose protection they were under. The first boy said he was under the protection of God. The second said he was under the protection of the earth. The third boy, trembling with fear, said he was under the protection of the hyena.

The hyena looked at the first boy and said if he ate him, then God would be angry. If he ate the second boy, then he couldn’t find any place to sleep and hide. But, the third boy is under his protection. So he should come inside his stomach so the hyena can protect him fully. And the hyena ate the third boy.

Saba frowns, waiting for her teacher to tell her more or explain. But instead, he just gets up to leave. Saba hopes for her stomach to make wise bread quickly.

 

At the Top of Fasil Gemb

After her teacher leaves, Saba wanders the room. She feels like one of the caged lions; she just has to get out. When she leaves, the girl appears with her umbrella, but Saba waves her away. She just has to untangle this knot. Her teacher’s words spin around her head. What did they mean?

In Emama’s stories, there’s usually some kind of lesson. What would she say? She can’t figure it out on her own. Where is her brother? Why is he too busy to call for her? Saba closes her eyes, trying to think. She becomes aware that the compound is starting to wake up. The azmaris are standing nearby.

One of them pushes a pointed stick into the ground and attaches a doll to it. Then, the musician moves the horsehair bow up and down the string of his fiddle. The doll begins to dance. There’s a string that goes from the doll to the bow.

Suddenly, the compound explodes with noise, and a crowd of soldiers appears. A musician announces that General Ali comes to Gondar to hold up the King of Kings. The general’s face is calm and impassive, but he looks as if he’s used to giving orders and being obeyed. Saba watches him dismount his horse and enter Fasil Gemb.

Saba’s teacher told her that Fasil Gemb was once beautiful, with a mosaic of colors on the ceiling and plates of ivory. Now, many of the decorations are smashes, but the castle is still quite elegant. Of course! Mesfin must be studying in this castle.

Taking a deep breath, Saba turns and walks purposefully up the steps of Fasil Gemb. A guard looks up as she marches through the door, but he doesn’t stop her. Nobody speaks to her as she walks down the hall. She glances into the room where they previously met the emperor, but now it’s empty. Saba can see the remnants of ivory and pearl patterns on the couch, but cotton is peeking out of the cloth. Nothing is as beautiful as it once was in Gondar.

Some rooms have velvet hangings or tusks of animals, or glistening black pottery. Other rooms are bleak and empty. When Saba and her brother come to live here, she’ll order all rooms are made beautiful again. She begins to get nervous. She is sure she’ll see a sign of Mesfin soon. But as she goes from room to room, she doesn’t see anything signaling to her that he is or had been in this place.

Soon, Saba finds herself climbing a staircase higher and higher. When she emerges to an opening, she can see the trees that crowd the castle. She can see mountains in the distance. Saba tastes salty tears dripping down her cheeks. She knows that she and Mesfin came from somewhere over those mountains. They stood between Emama and her. What was Emama doing now? Was she planting the crops? Maybe now she’s moved to the village to be closer to people.

A movement catches Saba’s eye. She peers down carefully and sees Emperor Yohannes III walking with two others. One is his wife, and the third is General Ali. Guards stand respectfully at a distance. Saba studies their motions as they talk. They all look quite unhappy with each other. In fact, they appear almost angry. At any moment, Saba is sure she will see her brother slip out of the castle to join them. Mesfin may still be a child in their eyes, but he has his own power.

But, as Saba waits with hope in her eyes, her brother never comes out. Instead the three people in the garden scatter in different directions when they’re done talking. They remind Saba of the hens that she pushes from their nests in search of eggs. Saba sighs and starts carefully down the stairs. Emama once said, “Boys and smoke both disappear.” How true her words are in Gondar.

 

The Hyena’s Foot

Saba intends to start searching the other buildings for her brother. Each day she’ll tackle one building. But before her plan can commence, she is interrupted by the arrival of Maskal, the celebration of the finding of the true cross. It has now been seventeen days since New Year’s. As Saba stands at the window watching the people running through the streets of Gondar, Saba’s heart aches. Ababba must have lived in this very city and seen these same torches. He left this to protect her brother and her.

The next morning, the old woman servant rushes into the room calling out orders. The royal family is to go together to the bath of Fasiladas. She says it is not far away, but Saba must be dressed and made beautiful to look upon. Saba’s stomach leaps with excitement. The whole royal family. That means Mesfin would not be too far from her. How pleased he would be with all she was learning.

Saba stands still while they oil and dress her. It’s always the gleaming white of the soft cotton and the beautiful embroidery at the borders. Today, Saba is giving gold anklets and a second string of beads is placed around her neck. Red amber, this time. What would Mesfin think of Saba when he saw her?

The old servant places a red velvet cloak around her shoulders. “You must wear these slippers,” she pleads. If she doesn’t look her best today they will take away her life. For the sake of Saba’s Emama and her respect for all those who had lived a long time, Saba agrees to take off the berebaso. Instead she puts on the awkward slippers with their pearls. The woman instructs servants to dab kohl around her eyes, and her hands are painted with red dye. The woman tells Saba she must think of a village girl whose father has decided it is time for her to be married. She sits at the doorway of her house spinning or cleaning corn so everyone can come look at her. Before Saba can ask what she means, the woman rushes off again.

Saba’s stomach whirls with the thoughts of what the woman said. What did Emama say when she had been grinding grain back at the house? Those times seem so far away. If Saba is indeed twelve years old, is she supposed to be approaching the age of marriage? Mesfin would be able to explain it all to her. As they walk, drums pound in salute to the emperor, and her heart leaps in anticipation with every beat.

Saba searches the crowd for Mesfin’s face. What will happen when they reach Fasilada’s bath? A servant responds that now the rain has stopped, it is time for the soldiers to begin their fighting season. All the soldiers will parade before the emperor.

A sudden, thunderous crash drowns out the drums and batters Saba’s ears. Only the calmness of the servants keep her from throwing herself to the ground and covering her head. A servant says it’s just the soldiers firing their guns. It means the Maskal festivities have begun. Perhaps everyone else in Gondar has a happy Maskal. But hers today is spent in misery. She watches thousands of soldiers parade before the emperor, his empress, and General Ali. The soldiers look beautiful in their capes made of leopard and lion skins, but after the first hundred, even such glories seem commonplace. Saba only wants to see the wondrous sight of her brother’s face.

Next, the great chiefs came through the parade, bringing tributes to be placed at the feet of General Ali or Empress Menen. This shows Saba that her great-uncle is as caged as the lions; the true power lies with others. As the chiefs pass by her, Saba keeps her eyes downcast. They look at her carefully, studying her as any village father looks for a bride for his son.

When the priests come out with their gorgeous umbrellas, she looks for the face of her teacher, but all she sees is swirling colors so bright she gets dizzy. And as the last priests pass her, she admits to herself that Mesfin must be in trouble. She remembers Empress Menen’s voice and shivers.

While the torches turn to the bonfire that evening, and girls and women fill the air with happy cries and singing, Saba stands as if a stool made of wood. Her joy and hope has fallen to a choking fear. And the next morning, that fear would be replaced by terror.

 

Wax and Gold

The day starts calmly. When Saba’s teacher arrives, she carefully states that she wants to learn more of history. When did the emperors of Gondar lose their great authority?

Carefully, the teacher responds with Emperor Tekle Giorgis II. He placed an unpopular tax on honey. The nobles didn’t want to pay it, and they went to the general and said they’d be loyal to him if they didn’t have to pay the tax. When Saba asks if they have enough power to put new emperors on the throne and take ones off, he doesn’t respond yes or no.

For a moment, Saba questions why the generals don’t put themselves on the throne. Then they realize, because there’d be great destruction if someone ruled who wasn’t a descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Saba. Yet, she has seen that her great-uncle, the emperor, is like the azmari’s doll that danced for a fiddle bow.

The teacher gives Saba a riddle. Who has more power: a hyena or the mother who gave birth to the hyena? Ali was twelve years old when the generals and chiefs decided he’d become the head of all of them. He was so young his mother, Empress Menen, ruled for the next ten years. And what tastes does a mother develop when her child is the most powerful person in the land? Where would she stop? Would she seek to marry a man the people say was destined to be emperor? If he already has a wife, would such a hyena stop at poison? Might the man have to flee with his two young children?

Saba stares in horror. Wait. He can’t be saying that. “Forgive me,” he says. “I’ve said too much.” And the priest rushes from the room.

Saba stares after him with pain and fury in her heart. What did the hyenas have planned for Mesfin and her now they’d found them? Where is Mesfin?

The silence is interrupted by a great clattering outside the window. Saba rushes to the window to see General Ali, mounted on his horse and shouting at the guards. At another side, she sees the azmaris, playing their instruments and putting poetry to music. They always sing the truth of what they see.

With new eyes, Saba studies General Ali. She was told he rarely became angry or upset. But today, he seems both angry and upset. The girl who carries the umbrella comes up behind Saba. She says they shouldn’t be watching today, but even her own gaze is fixed on the ruckus below.

Together, they stand and watch the disagreement between General Ali and his soldiers. After a while, the azmaris begin to sing.

Now, Saba knows why she doesn’t always understand what they sing about. It’s the art of wax and gold. The goldsmiths make models of wax and cover the wax in clay. When the clay is heated, the wax melts out. Then, they can pour in molten gold. Just like with poems and songs. Words or phrases can mean more than one thing, and the azmaris are masters at these double meanings. The obvious meaning is like the wax mold. But a person who is listening carefully can also hear the hidden gold.

This morning, Saba listens very carefully. “When lions and elephants fight, it is the mice who must tremble.” The girl explains the kings and nobles of Ethiopia are all fighting against each other, but none of them are strong enough to unite everyone under their own power. The land is in such a tumult that many peasants have abandoned their villages and become beggars or attacking rich travelers.

“When the mice dig ditches, the birds of prey starve.” The girl continues that the soldiers survive by seizing corn and grain from peasants. So, the farmers fight by hiding the grain. After a while, the azmaris sing of General Ali. They sing that he didn’t crush his enemies when he had the chance, and many of the nobles of Gondar didn’t pay proper tribute on Maskal. Even his own relatives are threatening to rise up and support a new ruler. Saba can see this is making General Ali furious.

Saba forces herself to remember her teacher’s words. If this man already had a wife, would a hyena stop at poison? He had to be talking about Empress Menen and poisoning Saba’s own mother, in the hopes of marrying her father. Now, it is Saba’s turn to squirm under the hyena’s foot. And what of her brother?

Saba had been wrong in thinking Mesfin was being trained to be the next emperor. The hyenas have no reason to want a popular ruler near Gondar’s throne. Saba now sees why they wanted Saba and Mesfin near. Anyone who found Mesfin or their father would have a powerful weapon on their side. The hyenas didn’t want them to fall into the wrong hands. And trading Saba in marriage could gain them more power. So where was Mesfin?

Suddenly, a loud shouting made Saba rush back to the window. The azmaris sing: “The table needs a strong man at its head. But when the servants call the master to dinner, they discover he has gone on a long journey.” Saba sees some of the guards dismount their horses. They lay down on the ground, refusing to move.

And then, so quickly nobody has time to move, Saba sees General Ali’s arm drop in a terrible motion and he gives a command. And in one awful moment, Saba sees the soldiers still on horseback obey his command. The courtyard becomes a mass of trampling horses and screaming people.

The girl beside Saba cries and falls. Saba kneels beside her and calls for help, but she knows the people outside will need the help more.

 

Horror

Saba kneels beside the girl, her unfettered frightful cries sounding like a hyena. Another servant says she’s clearly under the influence of a buda. But Saba’s not sure. Saba asks if her aunt is still alive. She must send someone down to find out. Had General Ali punished not only his own guards, but also the truth-speaking azmaris? Now the girl lies completely still. One of the other servants pinches her, but she doesn’t even twitch. When the servant comes back into the room, she explains that all of the musicians ran. Some of the guards are dead. She doesn’t know yet how many.

When the young girl is taken away, Saba slips out and flees from the castle, through the Gate of the Pigeons, and away from the terror and confusion of the compound. She doesn’t know what she needs, but she needs something. She ends up at the church. She gazes up into the angels’ eyes until her trembling stops. She didn’t realize it before, but there’s a powerful painting of Saint Giorgis the protector, dressed in red and gold and riding on his white horse near the ceiling. Saba silently cries to him. He, the slayer of dragons, must have seen how ruthless the powerful can be.

Had Saba really understood her teacher’s words about Empress Menen? Had she truly seen General Ali’s mouth shape deadly words? Her anxiety about Mesfin turns into a river of fear that pours through her body. Where is her brother? Is he helpless? Is he trapped by hyenas who can decide in an instant whether he lives or dies? Perhaps they carried him far away to some high amba. What could Saba possibly do to help him?

General Ali is not known for being a cruel or angry man, but he thought nothing of using his power against his own guards when they refused to obey him. If a guard with a shield made of hippopotamus hide could not stand up against the hyenas, how could Saba?

Saba hears the murmuring of the voices of the priests at their devotions. She smells incense and it comforts her. Saba feels a touch on her shoulder and turns to see it’s her teacher. He doesn’t say a word, but Saba can see the compassion in his eyes. They walk back to the compound together. For once, Saba has no questions for him.

The land around them is beautiful. The pastures are covered with bright, beautiful carpets of flowers. Birds call to each other in the sky. Saba can hear the clanking of a cowbell and the bleeding of goats being driven to pasture. The peace of the moment makes the terror of the last hours seem unreal.

When they reach the castle, Saba says, “I think I have come to understand the lesson in the story you told me about the three boys in the forest. I will never again trust a powerful person.” The priest gives a slight bow and turns to look at the same sad sight. The compound lays in an eerie quiet except for the lions, which are pacing and growling in their house, no doubt stirred up by the smell of blood.

 

The Kosso Seller’s Son

The castle swirls with sound and motion when Saba walks inside. The servants seem clearly upset and afraid. General Ali had not reigned since he was twelve years old without gaining much cleverness. He has commanded bloody and swift punishment with one hand, and he’s now moving so swiftly to hold out a gift with his other hand to try to maintain the loyalty of the rest of the soldiers.

General Ali has declared that tomorrow there will be a feast for the soldiers. Saba wishes they refuse him, but she can see how impossible it is to defy such power.

That night is an anguished one. General Ali orders the bodies of the dead left where they were, and hyenas are drawn to the compound by the smell of death. No one dares to go outside. There’s no music or poetry. Only the weird whooping of the hyenas right outside the window.

Saba tosses in her bed, thinking about the spiders who sit on the walls, hoping to not be noticed as lizard tongues flick closer and closer. Perhaps it’s the spirit of the empress who built this castle many years ago. She must have once been as horrified as Saba was, watching a general give an order to kill azmaris. Finally, Saba sits straight up, knowing she must not crouch under her gahbi waiting for destruction, as she had done the night of the fire.

Saba searches under the bed and finds the things she put there so long ago. She pulls on her old clothes, lifts her torn shamma over her head, and heads downstairs. Most nights, the compound is filled with sleeping soldiers, and there are watchmen at every gate. But tonight, the compound belongs to the hyenas.

The moment Saba steps from the castle, she sees one nearby. It raises its head and growls. Saba can see the sharp teeth and the bristles on its neck. Although she wants to shriek in horror, she does not. She shakes a piece of dried meat from the bag and throws it close enough so the hyena can smell it. While the hyenas tears at the meat, Saba is already through the gate.

Perhaps there is a person somewhere in Gondar who can help her, but just as the emperor of old went to the countryside, so does Saba. She sees the light of a fire far away and heads in that direction. As Saba nears it, she hangs back. She watches the cloaked figures huddled close to its warmth. She had seen how easy it is to appear and disappear in darkness, and now she moves with care.

The people glance at her, but no one says anything. She’s wearing poor clothing, so no doubt they assume she’s another peasant. When she pulls stale bread from her bag, everyone gnaws at it, even though it’s hard. Food is food.

The people are talking of politics. She hears them recall what she had seen from her window that day. She doesn’t speak up to correct any misinformation. Then, the men talk of another named Kassa. They say that Kassa has gathered hundreds of men and many guns. He started as a robber, but he lived simply among his men. Kassa claimed that they should harm the rich merchants who traveled through the land instead of the poor. Kassa then turned his attention to land his uncles and brother had once tasted or received tribute from. General Ali had seized these lands and given them to his mother, Menen. Saba notices that these peasants don’t call her “empress.” When Kassa took back the land his relatives had tasted, Menen and General Ali tried to subdue him, but he was too brave and too bold. When they saw the power Kassa was gaining, Menen called him to Gondar and granted him the right to rule the land. Even more surprising, she arranged for Kassa to marry General Ali’s beautiful and delicate daughter. To their surprise, General Ali’s daughter is devoted to her husband. Now, everyone calls him “the kosso seller’s son.”

So, Kassa is the pinching hand that makes General Ali and Empress Menen clutch frantically at their power. Kassa’s boldness is the reason they became determined to root Mesfin and Saba from their place of safety.

By this time, another girl has come up around the fire. She has with her a bundle of firewood. When the men ask to have some for their fire, she says no. She’s collecting it to bring to Gondar to sell. Saba watches the girl go back and forth with the men around the fire, and she likes her boldness and confidence. Saba inches closer to the girl. Saba whispers that if she goes to Gondar and goes to the castle of the ancient empress, she can give her wood as a gift and tell them she heard there is a need for a girl to carry an umbrella.

Then, the men around the fire begin another story. A long time ago, there was a battle. From where General Ali watched, he saw many of his horsemen fall and he fled. But his enemy general also saw many of his men fall and also fled. The enemy general was first to get word that the both leaders had fled, and he returned and entered General Ali’s house for a feast, but was captured by General Ali’s men. The only problem was that General Ali was not there. His own men had to use spies to find him and tell him the power was his. They now call this the strangest battle in all of Ethiopia.

Now, Saba understands what the azmaris were saying. General Ali was so furious when they sang about the feast. Slowly, as silently as she came, Saba turned to make her way back home.

 

Spiders Unite

By the next day, Saba has turned from a spider into a lion—pacing, growling, and snapping. Saba waits and waits for her teacher, but he doesn’t come. Finally, a servant tells her that he had to leave Gondar quickly because his mother fell ill. Saba doesn’t believe this, but it doesn’t matter. Saba demands that they find someone to carry her umbrella. Saba wants to go outside. She makes her voice as much like the voice of Empress Menen as possible. The servant explains the women are all very busy. General Ali’s feast is today. Good. It is just as Saba wanted it. She does her best to show displeasure.

From the window, Saba can see the girl coming with her load of wood. She’s thinner than Saba remembers from the night before, but she can see the determination in her stance and hears the same voice from last night. Perhaps Saba is making a mistake to trust such a person with her life, but Saba doesn’t have a choice.

The castle will need the wood for all the cooking for the feast. Saba can smell the onions and butter and spices. Then, she turns to the door at the polite cough of the old woman. The old woman brings in the girl and says the girl can carry her umbrella. Saba asks the girl what her name is, and the girl responds Negatwa. Her name means the “coming of the dawn.” The girl doesn’t look directly at Saba, but she sees her gaze flick across Saba’s face. Perhaps the girl recognizes Saba’s voice, but she doesn’t give any signs. Saba demands they get Negatwa some clean clothes.

Saba did not dare talk inside the castle. Instead, she takes them to church. Saba forces herself to walk slowly, as she has learned important people must. Inside though, she’s trembling. They have almost reached the gate when Saba hears a voice that makes the blood inside of her turn thick. It’s the empress.

Saba turns to Empress Menen immediately and kneels to touch her head to her feet. Although Saba doesn’t know how to greet the empress, she knows that lower is better. But what is she doing outside of her castle? Empress Menen suspiciously asks where she’s going. Saba meekly says she’s going to kiss Saint Giorgis. Empress Menen demands that she comes right back. She calls a soldier over and tells him to go to the church with Saba.

When they reach the church, Saba tells the soldier to stay at the gate. Fortunately, he obeys. As soon as Negatwa and Saba are among the junipers, she begins to pour out her story in a low voice. It may not be wise to give Negatwa all the information, but what else can she do? She needs to find her brother, and there’s no one to turn to. Emama always says that spiders united can tie up a lion. So even if the help is more helpless than Saba, together, they are spiders.

Saba’s relieved to see that Negatwa quickly understands. Negatwa says servants always talk amongst themselves, so she’ll see if anyone knows anything about Mesfin. As they enter the church, she whispers that the forty-four churches of Gondar are famous for giving sanctuary. They can start by seeing if he has been able to flee to one of them.

A priest approaches and Saba kneels to kiss his cross. Overhead, the angels sour and sing of comfort. Saint Giorgis’ horse towers over Saba and she seeks shelter between its hooves. But then she sees something new. Saytan! The most evil of all evil beings. The artist had painted him on one of the walls. He’s glossy black with huge staring eyes and horns. A third ear stands up in the middle of his forehead. His massive feet have six claws. But what makes Saba gasp is that he had a girl’s head caught between his teeth.

The priest says that Saytan was roaming the Earth as he was allowed to do every thousand years. The girl fell in love with him. The girl was young and easily fooled. Before she had time to get older and gain wisdom, she died and went to heaven. Even in heaven, she longed to be with Saytan, so she went before God and asked whether it was possible for Saytan to come to heaven. It was obvious that instead, God sent her to be where Saytan was. And now she was condemned to stay between his ferocious teeth for all of eternity.

Saba’s heart is so full of the evil thing she saw that even the angels could not give her strength that day. As they leave the church, Negatwa says to the soldier that now Saba will go to kiss Saint Mikael. They are well on the path toward another of the churches when they hear someone calling. The soldier explains it’s not a robber, but another soldier. Saba wants to run, but she knew how quickly a girl could be overcome by a soldier. The news he carries is just as Saba fears. Empress Menen has ordered that Saba come back to the castle at once.

When they reach the castle, the old woman is there to meet her. She says that Empress Menen tells them that arrangements are being made for Saba’s marriage. Saba looks away. The woman is using a formal tone that Saba has never heard from her before. Mice and spiders. The empress gave her enemy her own granddaughter in marriage. Now she’s sending soldiers against the man. Saba is not sure what the hyenas plans are for her, but no doubt they have nothing to do with happiness. Empress Menen is most likely trying to tie some other powerful man to her through Saba.

Saba says she should be able to leave her home, unless the wedding is planned for that very day. The old woman sighs. Saba must stay inside the castle until the empress sends for her. Saba angrily asks when that will be. Will it be on her wedding day? From the way the old woman silently guides Saba up the stairs, Saba guesses that she is right. Now her home has become her prison.

 

Caught Between Saytan’s Teeth

All day, Saba lays on her bed, refusing to eat. Negatwa and the old woman bring buttery wat and sugar cakes and almonds and figs, but Saba only turns them away. Negatwa finally whispers that Saba cannot give up. At least she’s imprisoned in a castle. What if Mesfin is on top of a high amba with only the wind and clouds to hear his cries. What hope does he have except for Saba?

Of course Negatwa is right. Mesfin is depending on her. From then on, Negatwa is Saba’s eyes and ears. Negatwa goes out when she can, but they also spend many long hours with their cotton at Saba’s feet. When Saba leans close to Negatwa, she quietly tells her when she has discovered.

Unfortunately, for many days, Saba’s eyes are blind and her ears are deaf. Negatwa goes to all the churches in the area. Only one of them has a roof that was covered with red cloth and mirrors so it flashes magnificent praise to the sky. However, none of the priests know anything of Mesfin. Servants, soldiers, townspeople, and peasants talk to her willingly about what they know. Kassa is growing stronger daily. Although Kassa’s relatives tasted the lands around Lake Dembya, his mother lived in Gondar in great poverty. While she sold kosso on the streets, she sent her son to study at a monastery on the lake.

Saba thinks of the water she saw that day when they were riding to Gondar. Many churches and monasteries sat on Lake Dembya’s islands. Did a frightened young Kassa once travel the same path that brought Saba and Mesfin to the city?

During the battle that the men at the fire described, the soldiers burned the monastery where Kassa was studying to the ground. But he escaped. That’s when he became a bandit, robbing the rich traders. So it was the injustice that he had seen that drove him to be a bandit. Saba hopes that now his soldiers are defeating the soldiers of the empress.

Negatwa says that Kassa learned to love books and Ethiopian history from his stay in the monastery. And from being a bandit, he learned to lead. But the empress despises him. The people say General Ali and his mother are doing everything they can to stop Kassa but more men flock to his side each day. And even though he is related to the general and the empress by marriage, Kassa is pressing on. The so-called empress has brought much of the trouble on herself.

One afternoon, Negatwa comes rushing into Saba’s room. She is bursting with news. But when Saba asks if it’s over her brother, she says no, but she’s found another person from Saba’s family, long lost. Saba asks if it is Emama. Saba wants to leap and sing. She knew Emama would find her way to Gondar. But Negatwa hangs her head and says it’s not Emama. It’s Saba’s father.

Even though Saba had heard the empress talk about him, she didn’t really think of him being alive. Negatwa says there’s news everywhere among the people that he has found his way to Kassa’s camp. More and more people are saying “let Kassa come.” They’re ready for change. So a bird had escaped from a snake. God willing, maybe a spider could as well.

Then comes a time of silence. Negatwa comes back from her errands, and Saba can see by the way she holds her shoulders, that she heard nothing new. Instead, they talk of other things. Negatwa tells Saba of their house and land. The soldiers had often come for many years, demanding goats, bread, and lodging. After one particularly good growing season, the farmers came up with a plan. They dug a pit in the middle of the field and plastered the bottom and sides of it with mud until it was smooth. The next time soldiers came their way, people rushed to put their grain and other things inside the pit. Then, they covered the pit with wood and earth was laid on top. Even Negatwa’s father could not tell where the mouth of the pit was. But the soldiers became angry to find so little grain. So the soldiers and farmers fought each other. Negatwa’s father and mother…

Saba could guess the ending of the story, and they sat, grieving together for some time. With both of Negatwa’s parents gone and the lands around her home in uproar, her uncle brought Negatwa to Gondar. Because the forests near Gondar have been cut down for firewood, there was great need for people who would go far away and bring wood to sell. And that is how Negatwa had been managing to eat. But at least now, she is here, where she has plenty of food. And she doesn’t have to bend her back under the weight of the wood. Although it feels good for them to be together, Saba wonders what would happen when the time for her dreaded marriage came.

Then comes a week when the air seems to be drenched with fear. A weasel had scratched its way into the house of pigeons and killed most of the birds, so the days are silent. Negatwa brings back news or rumors every day. They are never sure what the truth is. One day she hears that soldiers of General Ali and Empress Menen had completely vanquished Kassa and he is being dragged back to Gondar in chains. The next day, she hears that this is not true at all. Kassa had captured the leader of the soldiers and made him drink kosso until he died, in revenge for the empress’ taunts.

The bodies of the men that were trampled are long gone, but hyenas still lurk around the edges of the compound at night. Now that they’re hungrier, they’re fiercer, and the night’s silence is broken by hyena howls. Some nights, Saba thinks she might join them in their cries.

Eventually, the day comes that Saba feared. Negatwa is told to take the spun cotton to one of the weavers to have a new shamma made for Saba. She comes back quietly. Today, there is news about Saba. The general and empress are strengthening ties with a prince of another region. A merchant says the prince will soon march north with his soldiers and end the threat of Kassa for the last time. At the same time, General Ali is reaching out to a lifetime enemy, a man who ruled most of northern Ethiopia and none other than the other general who had run from the strangest battle in Ethiopian history. If all else failed, the two of them would join their armies into a force that would surely crush Kassa. Some say Saba to be married to the son of the prince. But others say no, it is to the son of the general. But all say it will take place on the first day of the next week.

Next Wednesday. Now Saba’s doom has indeed come down upon her head. She is to be like the girl with her head caught in Saytan’s teeth.

 

Song of the Dawn Singers

That night, Saba doesn’t sleep. Oh Gondar. Both majestic and stealthy, full of whispering servants. Both beautiful and terrible. Luxurious and yet falling to pieces. What is going to happen to Gondar? What is going to happen to her?

Before the sun hatches from its dark shell, Saba listens to the songs of the lalibelotch, the dawn singers. Most are lepers and thus cannot mix with other people, for fear others will catch the skin disease that chews their faces and hands. Just before dawn every morning, they stand like shadows, wrapped in shammas so only their eyes can be seen, and singing at the gates of the rich.

This morning, the songs seem particularly sad and mournful. Saba feels tears gather in the corners of her eyes. She knows what she must do. Before she loses her courage, she must goes to Negatwa’s room and tell her to find some poison. Saba will die as her mother had surely died.

One of the servants has no doubt been sent to the gate with scraps of food for the lalibelotch. In a few moments dawn will leap into the sky, and the dawn singers will slip away. Saba rouses herself from bed and stiffly moves out of the room into the next. But Negatwa isn’t in bed. So she must have decided it is better to go back to being a wood carrier than be dragged far away to a strange place with Saba. She shuffles out of the room and goes to lie down on her bed again to think of who would be willing to help her now. A few moments later, Negatwa comes into the room.

Negatwa explains she went down to talk to the dawn singers. The other day, Negatwa stumbled in the street and dropped the package she was carrying. A man stooped to help her and whispered that she should go to the lalibelotch. This must be dire indeed. Even the sons and daughters of lepers are afraid to get close to diseased figures. Saba is ashamed that she ever doubted Negatwa’s loyalty.

Negatwa glances over her shoulder and sees nobody there, but yet still speaks in the softest tones. The man told Negatwa to bring word from Saba’s teacher. The empress sent him far away, but he never forgot about Saba. When the teacher heard of the marriage he managed to make his way back to Gondar. Saba’s teacher is willing to meet Saba in the dark of night after the moon goes down tomorrow. He’ll bring mules and will help Saba make her way to sanctuary. When the lalibelotch sing before the roosters in tomorrow’s dawn, she must go to him with Saba’s answer.

Saba asks if the teacher mentioned her brother. Negatwa doesn’t meet Saba’s eyes. The teacher said to tell Saba that God will console Saba. Saba is under the protection of God and the earth. Saba’s brother is in the belly of the hyena.

All that day, Saba cries. Negatwa whispers over and over, “May God console you.” But God does not console Saba. When tiredness finally overcomes Saba, she wakes in the middle of the night, moaning. With the wails of the hyenas in her ears, Saba mourns Mesfin as she had mourned the death of her grandfather. Saba has lost Ababba, Emama, and now Mesfin, and even now that she might escape her dreaded marriage, it is terrible to think about being completely alone.

The next morning, Saba tells Negatwa to tell her teacher that she will accept his help. But not to go to the sanctuary. Saba wants to go to Empress Menen’s enemy. To Kassa. There at least she will find her father. When Negatwa returns, she gives an answer back with one word. “Yes.”

 

Riding the Soulless Horse

They would have to escape out of the compound at night again, and the hyenas are hungry. Saba tells Negatwa that it will be very dangerous. Negatwa explains that in her village, the girls would join together to go out to gather wood. One evening, when the girls were coming back, a hyena caught a young girl at the end of the line and tore her nose from her face.

Negatwa says she will go out now and get as much dried meat as she can. The cooking is done in many different houses around the compound. Perhaps she can get each cook to give her a little bit by explaining their journey will be long. Saba forces herself to go through the day as if it were like any other day. Little by little the egg will walk, but not if she gives away her plan too soon. When it comes time for evening meal, Saba didn’t want to eat but she knew she must. What Negatwa told the cooks was true. Their journey would be a long one.

Negatwa serves Saba, and Saba feeds Negatwa bites of wat and injera from her own basket. Before Negatwa lets Saba drink, Negatwa always cups a little bit of honey water in her palm and tastes it. A person never knows where enemies lurk.

After they’re too full to eat anymore, Negatwa carries scraps away where servants would eat them. When she returns, her face is stricken. Negatwa says a man came up to her. He has a plan, and it has to do with Mesfin.

Saba feels a giant hand squeeze all the breath out of her. Is Mesfin alive? Negatwa says the man did not identify himself, but he might be one of the palace guards. He told her that his cousin had been killed the day General Ali’s horses trampled some of the men. He wants revenge.

The man said he plans to flee to Kassa’s camp tonight. After many weeks of searching, he managed to find out where Mesfin is. In Negatwa’s palm, Saba can make out the dark shape of a key, which the man had given to Negatwa. Saba snatches it. Negatwa says the lock that fits this key is in a solitary and dangerous place. But even if it was the stomach of the earth, Saba would go there for her brother.

Mesfin is imprisoned where one of the rivers falls into a gorge. The falling water hides a cave. The empress has long used that cave to store some of the Silver Queen dollars that people give her for tribute. Now she’s using it to hold other treasure.

The two girls talk and then their voices die away. And then they sit and talk some more. The man had explained where the gorge was. It’s not too far. Finally the two girls decide that Negatwa must first must help Saba find the right place. Then, Negatwa would leave to go to their appointed spot to meet Saba’s teacher. They would wait for one hour. Saba would go into the fearful place close to the earth’s stomach to get Mesfin. But first they had to get past the hyenas.

The moon rises early and bright. They wait for it to sink back into the western sky before they dare to creep down the stairs. Negatwa fixes a tiny leather bag around Saba’s neck saying that the key is in there, along with a knife in case Mesfin is bound with some sort of cord. Saba did not dare think ahead to that moment. Even if Saba died that night, she was glad to have met a girl like Negatwa. The two say their prayers, and then Negatwa says it’s finally time.

Carefully, they leave the room, their bare feet not making a sound on the stones. Carrying her berebaso and the old leather bag the soldiers had given her, Saba moves ahead and starts down the stairs. The large castle seems to breathe when it’s asleep. In its many rooms, the servants have closed their eyes by now, and would hear nothing until morning, when it will be announced that Saba is gone.

Outside, Saba can hear a lion’s grumble. Somewhere, a hyena’s voice rises in a wail. Then Negatwa gasps behind Saba. Coming through the door behind her is the old woman. She holds a burning candle, and for a long moment, Saba and the woman look at each other. They simply watch each other. Saba is sure the woman will send up a cry that will bring the soldiers, but then she bows slightly, and Saba can see tears on her cheek. Saba says, “For the sake of my father.” The woman quietly responds, “And for your grandmother. I served her when I was only a child. May God give your feet speed.”

Negatwa kneels and puts the berebaso securely on Saba’s feet. She stands, and they pull the meat from their bags. Before Saba can breathe, they’re under the stars and the moon. Softly and quickly, they go to the gate, where the teacher paid the guard some gold so he would look the other way. They rush through. The hyenas wails rise in a chorus. Just then, Negatwa and Saba throw the meat, and run.

In Saba’s worst fears, she never imagined she would run headlong through the dark night, not caring what she ran into. But Negatwa and Saba run until they can’t take another step. Negatwa had been outside in the dark many times since she fled her home. Negatwa takes Saba’s hand, and leads her forward. As they grope their way, a breeze blows up, making Saba’s shamma flap against her face. For some reason, it makes her think of that long-ago day at the stream. She had been afraid of zar. She should have been afraid of humans and their plans instead.

Negatwa says that it’s just a little bit farther. They need to go down into the gorge. Saba might as well have been blind and lame, but Negatwa’s feet, for once, are sure. And after a little while, they stand silently, listening to the churning water. They search in the dim light for the cave. Finally, Negatwa touches Saba’s arm and points to the rocks. Saba takes off her berebaso and puts them in Negatwa’s hands. She says it will be better for her feet to be bare and the berebaso will protect Negatwa’s as she hurries to tell Saba’s teacher to wait. Saba tells Negatwa that she’s been a very good friend. Negatwa lets her fingers close around the sandals. Finally, Saba says, “May the speed and protect your feet from stumbling.” And with that, Saba is left alone.

Saba listens for a moment to the sounds of Negatwa scrambling away. Saba can faintly see what she needs to do. The ledge isn’t terribly narrow or long. In the rainy season, it’d be treacherous with the water making the rocks slippery. Even now, Saba can feel the spray of the water on her face, and knows she’ll have to stay close to the wall. Saba clutches her cross and feels her fingers tremble against her neck.

Saba puts her foot on the cold ledge. Her hand reaches for the wet wall behind it. She feels the soft moss and the solid stone steadies her. She puts her second foot up and cautiously begins her journey. After a few long moments, she’s actually behind the waterfall. Her clothes are wet with the drops that were flung at her by a giant, unseen hand. She takes a step. Then another. Suddenly, a weird wailing rises from the rocks. Saba shrieks, but her voice is drowned by the thundering water. Her bare feet still feel the hardness under them though. It’s only the wind. Saba can hear her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Slowly, Saba wiggles her fingers forward on the cold rocks. And in this way, creeping slowly ahead, she moves the last few meters until she sees the Iron Gate that blocks the mouth of the cave. Saba’s shaking fingers tremble for the key. She pulls herself up using the bars, until she’s standing. She hears the clink as her shivering fingers tap the key against the iron. Then she’s pulling the door open.

Inside, the cave smells dank and old. She calls quietly out for her brother. He responds! The opening of the gate must’ve awakened him. His voice doesn’t sound far away. Saba moves forward slowly until she almost stumbles and falls on top of her brother. He’s wrapped in a thick blanket, but his hands and feet are tied. Saba smiles at her brother, and reaches for the knife.

A short time later, Saba’s teacher and Saba are on their mules. Saba’s brother had insisted he could ride his own mule, but he looks pretty unsteady. “Let him try it,” Saba’s teacher said. He can ride behind the teacher when his weakness overcomes his resolve. But now, Mesfin is sitting on the ground, gathering his strength. Negatwa digs in the leather bags for food. Negatwa is riding on the back of Saba’s mule, with her arms around Saba’s waist. This time, Saba will be the one to sit in front.

The teacher says they should be getting on soon. But they must think about this one last time. Is Saba sure she wishes to go forward into a strange land? The teacher can take Mesfin on to Kassa, but it’s not too late for Saba to turn around. Saba thinks of everything she has learned about royalty. Sometimes, General Ali and Empress Menen seem to be on each other’s sides, supporting each other. But at other times, they circle wearily like two wild animals ready to claw and bite each other to death. The people said General Ali and his daughter loved each other deeply, but now, the daughter is urging her husband, Kassa, against her father and grandmother. And Saba’s great-uncle, the emperor, the only one among them who carries the blood of Solomon and Saba, is no more than a puppet.

No, the hyena life is not for Saba. Saba responds that she is the great-granddaughter of an emperor. Saba has the blood and name of the Queen of Saba, and she is not afraid. Her teacher responds that she has great courage. Saba looks up towards the sky. Did she really have courage? No, Saba decides. She does not have great courage. But she has learned that fear is not fought in the stomach but simply by taking one stumbling step in front of another.

The teacher says that he knows priests and others who will help them along their way. There will be many places where they can hide and take food. But reaching their destination will not be easy. These are mistrustful times. When they do reach Kassa’s gates, they must depend on Saba to explain why they’ve come. She will need to have someone quickly to find her father, who can speak to Kassa on their behalf. Now, Saba is the protector. Saba agrees that she can do it.

Now, Saba knows that strength means that when you fall off your horse, you walk. And if you can’t walk any further, you crawl until you can stand again. Mesfin gets to his feet and slowly climbs onto his mule. Negatwa scrambles onto another mule behind Saba. Saba likes knowing she’s there at her back for whatever dangers lay ahead.

And now, their new journey begins. And a moment later, the sound of their mules’ footsteps send a song of soft thudding up to the star-filled sky.

 

Then and Now: Ethiopia

Discusses life in Ethiopia in the 1840s for both the poor, and the royalty. Topics include:

  • Descriptions of what it was like growing up in the northern highlands, where Saba and Mesfin’s story begins
  • Descriptions of the heavy taxation, raiding soldiers, and dangers
  • Descriptions of the royal palaces of Gondar, what clothes and jewelry they wore
  • Descriptions of the ethnic groups of Gondar, which included the Amhara, Tigray, and Oromoo
  • Explanations that orthodox Christianity was embraced by Ethiopian emperors in the fourth century, and was the official religion of Ethiopia for more than fifteen hundred years
  • Descriptions of what activities and education a girl in Ethiopia would’ve had
  • Explanations that Saba’s royal blood put her at the center of a murderous battle for power
    • In 1855, a Robin-Hood style warrior named Kassa became Emperor Tewodros II
    • Ethiopia’s last emperor, Haile Selassie, was overthrown by the military in 1974
    • Today, Ethiopia is governed by elected officials
  • Descriptions of the ethnic groups and languages in Ethiopia today
  • Descriptions of what Ethiopian girls may experience today
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