Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot

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.