Teza Page #6

before you return.

What do you mean?

This is between you and me.

I'm not hiding anything from you.

It's time for me

to get back to my own life.

They're sending me to East Germany.

I won't be coming back.

Be careful...

- I'm not worried about me.

It's you.

- What's there to worry about?

I don't mean it that way.

You remember I was so eager to come

here. I infected you with my passion,

saying we'd do big things together.

Now everything's topsy-turvy.

The day you arrived,

we talked about bacteria and

I said we'd even help other countries.

Alright then.

- See you tomorrow.

After convincing me to return,

he now wanted to defect!

At first I felt betrayed.

But then I thought about

Gabi and Teodross

and I was happy

about his decision to leave.

Get that reactionary!

Get him, don't let him slip away!

Get his friend too!

Get him! Get him!

Tesfaye had been orphaned

by the Italian war.

No mother and no father.

His crime had been

wanting to help his people.

All he'd ever wanted had been

to cure all those diseases.

I wonder what he's done.

He was kind.

I think this'll be the end of him.

The hyena will gobble him up.

Yes, Minister.

Show the doctor in.

I'm really pleased

to find you alive and safe.

Please take a seat.

We're deeply saddened

by Dr. Tesfaye's death.

We immediately took

revolutionary measures

and executed all of his killers.

You see, our Revolution will get

nowhere without you intellectuals.

That's why

we want you to go

to East Germany in Dr. Tesfaye's stead.

Okay.

But I had been granted leave

to visit my mother and relatives.

Doctor,

you must do your share of duty

for the Revolution.

After all, many fighters have died,

have given their lives for it.

To locate Tesfaye's family,

as soon as I got to Leipzig,

I went to West Berlin to find

some of our old friends.

After all, Gabi and Teodross

were his only surviving relatives.

The world's gone topsy-turvy

since Gorbachev came to power.

Thank you.

What do you mean?

Communism can't just disappear!

Anbe, you look good, you

haven't changed. He's exactly the same.

Listen to this joker.

You're the one who hasn't changed.

Life in exile has been hard on us.

There's nothing left of us,

we're worn out.

So, what's new?

I was really saddened

by Tesfaye's tragic death.

Tesfaye's fate

is really very sad. It's awful.

Please, don't bring that up.

I really mean it.

I tried hard to get

Gabi's telephone number, but in vain.

Will you break it to her?

- What?

If you break it to her,

can we come along?

Have you ever paid them a visit,

or taken our brother's son out?

Why all the fuss now?

Anberber, our good old doctor!

Are you here to spy on us?

- What?

I said you're a spy!

- F*** off, you bastard!

What is it between you two?

This is no way to behave!

After what I'd been through,

I couldn't live the life of an exile.

I had to stay away from those

who had accepted that kind of life.

I just couldn't sit around in

bars or cafs blathering on like them.

They were out of touch with reality.

Look!

- What is it?

Do you remember this?

- Yes, exactly.

I'll get the tea.

I couldn't bring up

Tesfaye's death.

With the racism Teodros was facing,

they were upset enough as it was.

Cassandra's prediction

had come true.

At around 1 a.m., crowds in Berlin cheer

as locals begin to tear down the Wall.

All night and

all the following day, I practiced

telling them

of Tesfaye's death.

"Your husband... your father...

my friend... Tesfaye

has passed on. "

F***ing n*gger!

As I lay there,

my only regret was

not having told Gabi and

Teodross of Tesfaye's death.

When I saw Worku's mother,

a child on her back,

her wounded son

being carried on a stretcher,

I was reminded of Brecht's play

"Mother Courage".

She told me she'd found him

after a long search,

lying among other wounded veterans

in a hospital yard in Gondar.

And all he'd asked her had been

to bring along his military boots,

his payment for his service.

In the face of Worku's suffering,

my own became less important.

I realized that I did not

have to know why I was attacked.

Let them worry about the

consequences of their act.

The issues I was faced with

in my village were more important now.

Let me bear your pain, my son.

Have courage!

What's the matter, Gashe?

- The whole thing with Worku...

Snatching away someone's son,

sending him to the front,

and tossing him aside all mangled up.

Don't worry, our child will be a girl.

She won't be sent to the front.

Stop it. Pregnant women

shouldn't be tickled. Stop!

Let me bear the pain for you.

Have courage.

My God, what in the world is this?

What am I seeing there?

I've suspected it all along,

but nobody believed me!

This woman's bewitched!

I can't watch quietly

while this happens to my brother's son.

I'll catch her red-handed

and hand her over like a mule!

Good morning, sir.

How are you, sir?

- Fine.

We've been waiting since early morning.

Please come this way!

I don't care about myself, but I don't

want to bring more trouble on you.

Don't worry, I'm here at your side.

Don't be afraid.

We're standing at a crossroads.

Our patriotism is being tested!

It is time we lived up to our promises.

If they want to tear Ethiopia apart,

I am determined to fight

alongside the forces of unity

until my head is blown off!

Oh my God,

what happened to the teacher?

We found it on the ground

and didn't know what to do with it.

We're uneducated.

- What do you want from my Anberber?

We thought your son

might have some use for it.

Where did he go?

- Nobody knows.

He just disappeared. We're worried.

We need to find a teacher,

for our children's future.

Well, have a good day.

Whatever happened to the teacher?

He just up and vanished!

I hope nothing bad's happened to him.

Do it carefully.

You be careful.

What in God's name

is happening to you?

I think the grain in your

recurring dream stands for our people.

Grain stands for our people

and the granary stands for our country.

The holes

in the different parts of the granary

represent

our country's chronic problems.

Your attempt

to block a hole and stop the leak,

and your rushing

to stop even more holes and leaks,

all this represents your frustration

with the existing situation.

The grain pouring from the granary

is the people.

The book you tear up

and use to plug all those holes

is a symbol

of the knowledge you absorbed.

As it appears to me,

the nightmare

that haunts you day and night

shows

you've found your education useless

for confronting the realities

you're faced with.

Have courage, my son.

Let me bear your pain.

Please, stay seated.

- Please do something for my son!

Worku...

Hold on, son,

Gashe Anberber is here.

Boil me some water

and give me a cloth,

a clean cloth.

Be strong. I'll elude them,

and then I'll be there for you.

Be strong.

Tadfe, as you can see,

this gentleman is here to demand

that you hand over that worthless woman.

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