people together. So the burden of truth is shouldered by crazy
intrepid, lonely fools like you and I. Outsiders. Madmen.”
“There does seem to be a fine line between truth and madness,”
Roy admitted. “If only it was easier to tell them apart.”
“When truth is held in low esteem,” Crash replied, “The seeker is
merely a collector of crap. No better than a bag lady.”
Crash and Roy finished their meals and walked down by the lake.
It was crisp and blue and mild. A few couples sat on the grass and fed
each other from enormous plates of injera and spicy doro wat,a fiery
red stew. They all smiled politely at Crash and then laughed softly as
he passed.
“So then, why Ethiopia?” Roy asked. “Why Lake Tana
specifically? Is there some great lie here for you to expose?”
Crash choked a little on his postprandial cigar. Staccato puffs of
particulate carbon emerged from his cavernous maw. When he could
once again speak he did so carefully, knowing he was treading
unstable waters.
“You’re an Ethiopian Jew?” he said. Roy nodded. “Then you
know that it’s a mystery how your ancestors, a small group of black
Jews, ended up in the middle of nowhere in Africa.”
“Sure,” Roy said. “Most people think they came down through
Saudi Arabia and Yemen.”
Winfield added, “There’s a legend that they were one of the lost
tribes of Israel. The Dan. There are lots of theories.”
Roy smirked dismissively, “My favorite is the Rastafarian one.
They actually believe that the original Jews were black. They think
Ethiopia was the original Israel.” Ah, he thought, the crazy things
people are prone to believe.
Winfield laughed a bit too, then tapered off.
“Only, they’re right,” he said.
“Sorry?” Roy replied.
Crash turned to face him, taking the cigar out of his mouth.
“Western culture has been based largely on the story of a small group
of Abyssinian outsiders.”
“Damn,” Roy said, “Just when I thought I’d found someone sane
to talk to about this.”
“It’s true,” Crash insisted, “The original Jews were black
Ethiopians. Not the other way around.” He swung his meaty forearm
in a wide arc. “This is where they lived for a while. There’s supposed
to be some Jewish sacrificial altars on the islands out in the middle
ABYSSINIA
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