Oliver Benjamin
contact if the temple was destroyed or would there be a great
diaspora sending them all off spinning in search of new and
temporary alliances? Would they last? Blind tribalism may have been
backward, but at the very least it wasn’t lonely.
“Now I’d like to take you to meet the first lady,” Webele
proposed.
“The president’s wife?”
Webele laughed so loud that he startled the other patrons. After
they finished their coffees, he pulled Roy out of the coffeehouse. Roy
couldn’t believe the clip at which the old man could amble.
They arrived at the decaying Ethiopian National Museum ten
minutes later. “First let me give you a general tour of Ethiopian
culture.” He guided Roy towards a floor full of religious paintings.
Roy observed a preponderance of St. Georges, and also some other
fellow having his eyes pecked out by birds.
“St. George, the patron saint of England, was supposedly born in
Turkey and killed a dragon in Syria, but the original story of George
is an Ethiopian one. The Greeks called him Perseus. The princess
Andromeda, whom he saved from a sea-monster, was of course
Ethiopian. You see, many European fables come originally from our
land originally. Aesop’s, for instance. Many of his tales are ours.
Some even say Aesop was an Ethiopian and that his name was really
Aethiop.”
“Really? And the guy getting his eyeballs pecked out by the birds?
I don’t think we have a version of that. At least I hope we don’t. It
would be a hard one to tell the kids.”
“He’s not being pecked! This is one of the most important
Ethiopian saints, Gebre Kiddus. He was terribly kind and generous to
animals and lepers and went so far as to allow thirsty birds to drink
the water from his eyes.”
“Sounds like Saint Francis of Assisi,” Roy said.
Webele winked and proclaimed, “They are surely the same man.
According to Catholic canon he walked on foot for twenty years
through Africa. He arrived during the reign of Lalibela and served as
the closest confidant to one of our greatest kings. For some odd
reason neither European nor Ethiopian tradition recognizes the
connection.”
They proceeded to the top floor of the museum, which was
devoted to contemporary Ethiopian art.
“Speaking of eyes pecked out,” Roy joked.
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