"Wake up " " Wake up " " It's dawn." "It's been long since dawn." "Almighty God " " Give us a nice day Give us a nice day." "Berihun " " Wake up " " Wake up." "My dear friend water What if we had to pay for it?" "I knew when I chose my house." "You -- staying idle while water serves?" "All must serve " " Some can't remain idle While others serve." "In the name of the Holy Ghost!" "When will I fall " " I keep staggering." "And you -- enter properly always giving me trouble." "And you get washed Enter in your turn." "This is the way to choose a home." "Has your father gone to work yet?" "What's that?" "He went early to farm." "Tend the cattle " " See that none gets lost." "Quick!" "I'm warning you." "If just one is missing, you'll pay with your life." "What a termite!" "Does nothing but eat." "She an her family -- such a burden!" "Fresh air enters from both sides." "It collides an spreads everywhere." "Water, our friend, which we use daily enters here and gushes out this way." "Plants refresh the air and give a final touch to the modern house." "Now this is a modern house." "My friends the italians made this and left." "I fought for those who bragged liberation." "They robbed my land I bled for and dumped me here." "See, the door is open from both sides." "Why no thieves?" "There's no stealing." "All our household -- our leathered wood throne bed intact and still erect." "Why isn't it overthrown?" "No thieves here -- because in this house there is no lock and no fear." "What have we done to you?" "We didn't bother you coming to your home asking for food and drink." "Our bride, our newly wedded bride " "Your 3000 years wedding dress." "How is it possible it is not torn yet?" "Our Mrs. " " Our lady." "Your 3000 year old dress is not torn yet." "Our bride -- our newly wed." "Your wedding dress has not been changed yet." "Our Mrs. -- our lady, your dress -- Your 3000 years dress." "Why is it not changed yet?" "Hurry up." "You there, are you lazy?" "Will you ask the same pay later?" "You -- do the water well right!" "Old ones -- weed good so you get paid." "You -- dig properly" " It's delightful working hard for what you're paid." "One who sweats and labors prospers -- No use to sit and watch other's wealth." "You get the coffee -- Is it good." "With no salt, you call it good?" "There's not even salt in it." "Another parasite!" "Vampire!" "Sucks my blood -- doesn't do anything." "Good morning, Ato Mamo " " How are you?" "How's the family?" "Well, my lord." "How's your wife?" "My wife isn't feeling well." "I've sent her to the church hoping for a cure." "The holy water at Setela Mariam cured Balambaras Ademe's wife - Send her there." "Okay, we'll send her." "We hope she's better." "Good day my lord." "Already?" "" " Stay for coffee." "No, thanks " " I must hurry -- a court case." "Hurry -- the day is almost gone It's joyful when you earn your pay." "One derives a pleasure from working hard -- Nothing's gained from idleness." "you down there -- I warned you." "Okay isn't enough -- You must work harder." "The father was a farmer -- grower of maize." "The son became a sower of bullets." "Take heed -- that black bull will terrorize if provoked." "Watch out -- that black bull surely will terrorize if provoked enough." "For land they should sweat like us, not sit idle." "We won't give them even a piece of land." "You pig " " Always eating like a fat pig." "Kentu, come -- drive him away!" "Here he comes again to insult me." "Known swindler " " With the tricks you learned from the italians you robbed my land." "Now you prosper by it." "Call your puppets " " The fat dog is always protected by puppets." "Why do you come every morning to disturb the master." "Kentu, stay out of this -- You don't understand the cause." "I pity you the slaver you endure " " I'm going." "Stay out!" "Don't be on that pig's side " "He keeps you alive with an empty stomach." "A slave for a piece of bread." "If you understood you would club that pig -- who lives on the land and wealth of others." "ignorance has blinded your eyes, kept you subservient." "Okay, I'll be gone, mind your way." "What a rebellious guy he is." "I drove him away." "I, your servant, would break his head -- but it might cause you trouble." "That's marvellous." "I don't think he's insane " " He chooses his words too carefully." "You call him normal?" "" " In Addis I'd get him shock treatment." "Here the police lock him up one day and let him go the next." "My Lord, he says he's friendly with the police in Addis." "Perhaps he feels at home since they're all his kind." "One time in prison, he asked a new policeman -- to store his possessions." "The storehouse began to stink." "After a long search they located the smell." "It was inside a package with a note saying "This is Kebebe's shit"." "Because of this they thought he was crazy and let him go." "Hear that?" "Only a nut would do that -- Send his shit to prison." "He doesn't choose his words carefully, he's insane." "Okay, okay " " Hurry, hurry." "Work had - work hard." "You with the scarf " " I've told you often you'll get a beating." "The cattle are getting into the farm." "Who won?" "It's not over yet." "You cheat -- you shouldn't take an extra one." "I have a speech to make -- turn around." "People are waiting " " I'm expected." "Their sole intention -- to exterminate us!" "Changing personnel is not to help us." "It's to give a chance to those who didn't plunder to plunder " "For those who didn't exploit to exploit -- for those who didn't get fat to get fat." "The plan for progress in Addis now is to erect glittery blinding buildings." "The poor hope for new human, social and economic development with every office that is built." "Instead, the old bureaucracy and inefficiency are dumped on the shoulders of the people again." "If you plant a seed and the sprout gets infected, eliminating one won't help." "since the whole garden will soon be infected." "Instead, if you uproot the whole garden and plant new seeds " "you'll get a flourishing garden." "Likewise don't wait for your chicken to hatch rotten eggs." "Instead, if you destroy the rotten eggs and incubate fresh eggs, they'll hatch an you'll get good results." "No use waiting for bad eggs to hatch." "Humans are like this too." "Today, as usual, exhausted from weeding, I cut the grass and carried it to market." "On the way my head was splitting -- My neck was twisted and painful." "I sold the grass for a half dollar and bought this flour." "Now " " I'm making dinner for my family." "All this to feed my children." "What else can you do?" "" " That's life trying to raise a family." "Mother, last night I had a dream." "Please, I'm so tired!" "I can't listen -- leave me alone." "Don't tell your dreams at night." "It's not proper." "One tells a dream only early in the morning." "Morning?" " that's when we go to work." "Yes -- morning." "That'll do." "We go to work before dawn." "Okay, let her speak -- Let her speak." "My lord, in white, was sitting in his chair in the middle of the field with a white hat and cane." "Kentu stands nearby submissively, cold and lifeless like a statue." "My lord's son, Tenku, was there in his festive white garb." "He has a whip and ties you and father to the oxbow." "forcing you to pull the plough." "You an your dreams." "I never understand them." "It's just a dream." "If you don't let me finish, forget it." "Okay, finish." "You and father pulled the plough, stumbling" " Berihun an I watched." "How was your father dressed?" "As usual -- work clothes." "Good -- that's fine -- fine." "That's a sign of good fortune." "It's good he wasn't in white." "When you couldn't go on, the lord's son made the four of us plough." "When we couldn't hear it, we united and began to free ourselves from the oxbow." "It sounded like lightning." "Then you woke me." "Yes, it rained hard all night." "No, it was the oxbow breaking." "Amazing " " What a ream -- It's because she's still a baby." "Who else would dream such a real dream." "God's miracle at work." "Finish baking the bread so Berihun eats his dinner." "Our bride -- our newly wedded bride." "Her 3000 year old dress is not changed yet." "Our Mrs. -- our lady." "Your 3000 year old dress is not torn yet." "Who told you to cut the grass?" "Who are you?" "How brazen!" "It's mine " " Who's to stop me from cutting my own grass?" "Stop " " I'll call my father." "Everybody knows this is my land." "What a stubborn jackass." "Jackass?" "You're one if you can't tell a jackass from a human." "Stop!" "I'll cut you open." "Come -- come " " You sincerely help your father often, but you must go to school." "Nothing's more important than education or you'll be like me -- enslaved by those pigs." "When my property was stolen unjustly they were deaf to my plea, for their self interest." "Look at me -- in my own homeland." "Should I steal or beg?" "Can't even live by selling grass." "It's a disgrace in our country to beg while still healthy and capable." "Even in Addis, fighting for my land, I never resorted to begging." "I can't be forced to beg -- You have to work to live." "So, get your education or you'll stay a slave to those ignorant exploiters." "If your father asks what he can do for you, say "education"." "What to buy for you, say "education"." "What to make you, say "education"." "If he asks "why?", say nothing is more important than education." "With education no one will step on you." "If not, you'll be a slave." "This you'll have to tell him." "Look at Dedgaz Belechew's family." "His children are fighting over the wealth he stole from us." "They crowd the courthouse taking time that should go for cases of the poor." "All this to outsmart an cheat each other." "Oh my Go, almost fell down." "One tries to poison and the other threatens to shoot." "Even Bante's children started fighting at the funeral." "Their father's corpse was still warm " "and the whole town talks about it." "It's simple." "Since they weren't educated, all they wish for is money -- money -- money." "From now on if anyone asks whose property this is, tell them the land belongs to the people." "Help cut the grass." "At this early age falling?" "What will happen when you're my age?" "Our heavenly Father -- Why aren't you working?" "Heavenly Father -- come work." "Why are you standing and staring at me?" "It's because I've been working with you guys that I'm so tired." "Work, hurry, hurry!" "Greetings to all you farmers wherever you may be toiling." "Greetings to all farmers." "Greetings to all farmers." "Wherever you might be." "Children of the same mother." "How are you Kebebe?" "Have a seat -- Please play the Begena." "I'm sorry " " I'm tired." "Don't put it down -- play." "Why are you so late today?" "Eat and play the Begena." "Please, Kebebe, play." "You do it better." "Please, strum the Begena " " Please." "A bird flys in the sky, named Large Bread." "Floating, hanging from the sky." "Riding on clouds -- floating and hanging." "Tempting the people craving her." "The masses, gazing up, eyes wide," "Skinny body, bony legs, sharp and pointing." "Still eyes bulging -- swollen, protruding." "The poor gazing up -- craving, seeking." "Large Bread, still suspended, floating." "Baked with the sun's heat, raised and swollen, but unreachable." "Tempting the people, it remained suspended, ready and ripe to nourish." "My people -- fools -- skinny -- thin like shrubs." "Remained gazing skyward, still like fences." "Eyes bulging like gourds -- But Bread remained floating." "Hanging, a large leaf, cooking in the sun's heat." "The rich, with wealth accumulated, living in high buildings with ladders." "Please, my people, listen the poor live in graves." "The rich in high buildings with ladders." "Amazing " " That's true." "Is it not surprising?" "The rich live in high buildings." "We worked hard and live in graves." "The rich live in high buildings." "We didn't get what we labored for" "I, Kebebe, that's what became of me." "Kebebe, don't be sorry -- God will do something." "We'll get what we deserve." "We won't give up hope." "No, we won't give up hope -- I've enough to eat and drink." "Usually you were brave and patriotic What happened that day?" "I got shot in the leg" " You helped me I returned and fought didn't I?" "Didn't we also capture weapons?" "But we ran out of ammunition so we had to go back to Capt. Gerima and get some" "At that time the Italian Bumburdina was surrounded" "Fighter Gebrehuisot, a brave Tigre patriot, made his way through" "We destroyed them..." "The Italians gave up The English rewarded us for this" "You still made a mistake that day" "How would you know, you were hiding" "I'll tell you" "We were ordered to go through the middle passage" "The others retreated" " That day you were a brave patriot" "I reloaded the machine gun 3 times right in the middle of the field" "What about me?" " Don't talk only about yourself" "Yes, you showed your patriotism..." "Saving me while being fire on" "When Capt. Gerima told you to return, you came back and got me" "Even Maj. Endergiros gave you a prize 100 dollars" "For real" "Please drink" "You are a master of patriotism..." "Kebebe and Capt. Gerima helped us" "While we who shed our blood have nothing those who betrayed us now enjoy the fruit" "Yes, I'm living on only 30 dollars" "The traitors get over 1000 dollars" "I'm living on 30 dollars with my people" "You get 30 dollars but what about us with nothing" "They are sitting here idle gazing right in my eye" "Farm and produce for others Farm and labor for others" "Come" " You're being called" "The master is calling me Take over" "Why is he calling while we're busy?" "This is destructive" "Our bride, our new bride Your 3000 years dress" "Your 3000 years dress is not torn yet" "Has the seed arrived?" "Has the seed arrived?" "Why not?" "What've you been doing?" "We'll plant it when it comes" "When will you plant it?" "When it comes" "After the season is over?" "What's the use" "We'll seed it soon before the rain" "It'll be done" "You waste your time paying condolences..." "Who needs them anyway" "It'll be done" "What about the veterinarians?" "They didn't come?" "Are they waiting until all the cattle die?" "I know you all..." "God find your own fool" "You better work right" " Otherwise..." "If you were invited for a drink, would you be busy?" "Always drinking like a town drunk" "A glass here - a glass there He looks like a ghost" "Do I always have to go after workers kicking their behinds" "You have to be responsible" "No need" " We'll work, my lord" "Either you or your son should go with Kentu to get the seed" "It should be seeded immediately..." "No more delays" "Okay, my lord Will do" "All these trucks full of goods..." "Some go to Mekele, some to Asmara and later to Massawa to be sent abroad" "Addis Ababa is a city of skyscrapers and machines" "The bank there is where all our country's wealth is stored" "If you don't have money in Addis, you're stuck" "If you go up, down, right, left..." "everywhere - skyscrapers and machines" "If you looked, you couldn't find a soul..." "only a useless toy machine" "If you get close, it robs you Touch it, it cuts you" "Addis is a useless toy machine" "Ever seen a plane land?" "Are you crazy?" "When the whole area is filled with skyscrapers, how can it land?" "I was there when a plane tried to land couldn't find a space - got angry and with a loud noise flew off" "Once, exhauste from going back and forth to court, hungry and broke" "I decided to go to the house of God pray" "On the way to church I met Beyene I didn't beg from him but he saw I was hungry and invited me to eat in a big hotel" "When we entered the hotel, he asked me to sit and eat anything I wanted" "As I sat, a handsome young guy... dressed in white, whom I thought to be the owner, asked "What can I serve?"" "Take out the bread!" "Did you break it in half?" "Okay, we'll break it to eat anyway" "Ha!" "Take the pan out Keep the fire burning" "In the old days you'd get a beating for throwing the pan around" "Keep the fire burning You can listen while you do that" "The young man turned out to be a waiter - a waiter for me" "Beyene asked what they were serving" "He read me a list of names so foreign I didn't understand" "At the end he listed Ethiopian food..." "dorowat, alecha, menchetabesh foreign ones on top and ours at the bottom" "That made me say, "We always belittle ours"" "When Beyene looked at me" " I said "Please you order"" "I was confused by the food he read" "I could have ordered a worm So, I told Beyene to order" "Then Beyene ordered a combination..." "I didn't know what combination meant" "But the waiter brought a big plate of our good food" "Then I used my long fingers to do justice to the food" "My stomach at the time had nothing in it but water" "Wait - modern kids are so impatient You only think about eating" "Discipline yourself" " Always munching like an addicted donkey is no good" "Beyene was eating modestly, but I kept dumping it in like an avalanche" "Then we were served water which I drank right away" "Beyene was such a wise gentle person" "I'll break the bread Almighty God, bless our food" "Give me the bigger one" "Eat as much as you can Here, it's better folded" "Pour the tea" "Does he speak foreign language?" "While in the hotel, he and a young man spoke a language I didn't understand" "I knew it wasn't one of our languages" "I know them all, Allebede, Saligelda, Ai Gaftai, and further north Kemeyalch" "About education" " Beyene said foreigners or Ethiopians who've been abroad don't teach us much" "He said on pay days they search for whiskey an go to whorehouses" "When you stare at Beyene through his glasses you see his eyes have become small like a bean from reading too much" "The mystery of the world is clear to him knowledge, not food has made him strong" "What I learned that night penetrated my skull and can even be read after I die" "So polite, so kind, when I slowed down, he'd say..." ""Eat well, my brother, while food is plentiful"" "What is lacking is kindness and good manners" "He said, "As long as the educated are few and... the ruling illiterate block our country's development - have courage"" "Mother, last night I saw a dream Please, I'm tired" "Good morning How are you?" "Fine, how are you?" "My lord sent this eucalyptus to be planted before the roots dry" "How's the lady?" "Is she well?" "No, she isn't better." "She can't sleep Her eyes are wide open" "My lord's son sent me a photo" "Who'd send you a photo from abroad?" "He did" " He said I'd be his servant when he returns" " I'm happy" "You probably stole it" "No, I'll show you" "Why are you proud of becoming a servant?" "I'm happy" " I wish he'd come He promised me" "Why don't you go to school?" "You aren't going either!" "I'll go soon" "I'll go" " I hope" "I won't serve someone like my father I'll run away to school" "He promised" " I'll be his servant" "Let me play too" "You're a girl You can't play like us" "There's nothing wrong with being a girl" "No, you're a girl" "Please let me play" "No" "Enough!" "I'll play!" "My lord's chair is comfortable No wonder he sits all day and doesn't work" "He's never cut a blade of grass I know why now" " It's so nice" "I feel like the lord" " If only I had the switch to keep the flies away" "Never done a thing - never planted a tree All he knows is telling us to work more" "We always wondered why he never got sick Because he's so comfortable" " I like it!" "My master promise me his shoes when they wear out" "Mother, last night, I saw a dream Please, I'm tired" " I've had it" "Soldier" " March" " March" " Soldier To the left" " To the left" " March" "About face" " To the left" " To the left" "3000 years" " March" " Backwards" " March Backwards" " Backwards" " March" "March" " March" " To the left" " To the left 3000 years journey" " Backwards" " Backwards" "March!" "March!" "To the left" "To the left 3000 years journey" " Backwards!" " Backwards!" "Leave him alone, you jackasses Go away" "Leave them alone" " They're innocent You always cared about me" "In Addis, my relative Germachew starched his uniform daily" "Today inspection" " Tomorrow inspection Everyday inspection" "How can you iron with starch?" "Easy" " Sprinkle the clothes with it and iron" " Wear it only one day" "The khaki is smooth" " The creases are erect like a cross" "At inspection they look like poles Always inspection" "On Sunday they patrol - come home exhausted and go out to get drunk" "Why would I join the military?" "I'd have given all the uniforms to my wretched people" "Then the government would fire and imprison me for misusing state property" "No, I wouldn't join the army" "Yes, like young men today, he runs away instead of caring for his aging family" "Modern children are irresponsible Do everything to keep him here" "We can't - it's too late" " After we struggled to raise him, he's abandoning us" "You struggled to bring him up Tell him he can't forsake you" "You can't find anyone who helps his parents these days" "Modern times have spoiled them It's happening to everybody" "What at time!" "We tried and we were abandoned" "When I ask her how I can help she says bake a dung" " You're a girl" "I'm tired of being told I'm a girl You're a girl" "When I ask them what I can do, they say I'm a girl" " I'm sick and tired of this" "When you're criticized you call me mad That's all you know" "Don't hurt my Begena" " It doesn't matter about me" " You say that I'm a swindler" "Treat me bad - but if you break my Begena I'll get you" "What a bold girl she is" "Even if I'm a woman, I won't submit I'm not afraid" "Beletech!" "Beletech!" "Come!" "Run!" "The calf is in the middle of the flood" "Oh, my misfortune I wish I hadn't gone to play" "Oh my bad luck!" "What's going to happen to me?" "The flood is coming!" "Come quick!" "Hit it!" "Hit it!" "Flood is coming!" "Flood is coming!" "Quick!" "No, No, I don't want to get up..." "I don't want to go" " Please let me be" "Imprisoned?" "It looks like the prison is his home" "Did they plant the trees today" "How many?" "Thousands" "Good - did they also plant some around the fence?" "Beginning today, inspect every cow Deliver all the milk eac morning" "Some is being stolen..." "make sure my children drink" "The farmers are stealing." "They steal a lot" "Good evening" " My lord is sad about the child's death" "He says to skin the dead cow and bring him the hide" "Berihun, milk the cow every morning and deliver the milk" "Don't cry, mother" " So she died." "All this will pass" "That's enough, mother We all will die" "Don't mourn" " Death has always been with us" " It's the way she died" "After all her service - carrying milk back and forth" "I thought my lord would give her a decent burial" "He never keeps his word" " He never gave me his old shoes" "When we die, he'll treat us like dogs" "Isn't it late for you?" "Why don't you leave?" "During the italian war, my mother urged me to run away" " I was Beletu's age" "Whenever I stopped running, since i didn't want to go, she would say, "Escape!"" "When I returned, I saw them taking ammunition and guns from the boxes" "We ran into Italian troops locking the way" " It was night" "Isn't it late fo you?" "It's like asking us to bring her skin to him" " It's a sad thing" "If I asked to go to school they'd hang me" "You're lucky" "I'll send you to school when I finish" "Kebebe, if you hadn't lost your wife and children and if they hadn't taken your land, what might have happened to you?" "Berihun, you must be naive" "Actually, losing my land opened my eyes" "While in Addis for my land, they were preparing to greet the Queen of England" "Since the Queen might get a headache if she saw poor people thousands were herded into concentration camps like cattle in their own country" "I've see many amazing things in Addis Ababa" "Many friends there for the same reason were herded into the camps" "I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't God's desire that I die in my homeland" "Berihun, it's ironic... those skinny wretched Europeans were fattened with our own milk" "Mind you, imprison the poor as if it's their fault" "If you'd witnessed that, you'd have lost your sanity like me" "What saddens me most is that when students protested this horrible camp... they were brutally clubbed by the police" "Think!" "Is there any place where there are no flies and no Europeans?" "Why should our poor be herded into a barn as if the Europeans had no poor" "Imagine!" "Isn't it our oil and gas that they sell back to us at higher prices" "Those swindling Europeans come here disguised... calling themselves Dr. Pepsi-Cola, Mr. Coca-cola to exploit us" "Have the poor created the poverty they're being jailed for?" "What amazes me is the new blind creature in Addis Ababa who couldn't comprehend this and imprisons his own people when the Presidents and Queens come for vacation." "Please leave me alone It's opressive" "Load it quickly" " Hurry up!" "It's getting late" "My lord, what's my family to live on?" "After working so many years, what will we eat?" "As usual after it's stored, you'll get your share" "Forget everything and hurry Show me!" "The year before last was better but this is okay" "You don't even greet us anymore?" "Here comes insanity himself" "Don't you have any fear of God?" "I don't talk to madmen" "Me" " Mad?" "Occupying my land and exploiting the labor of these peasants" "You've reaped the harvest to fill your large stomach" "Go away" "It's not your fault" " The state is yours The state is on your side" "Today I'll deal with you even if it takes my life" "You blood sucker" " All your life you lived on the sweat of others" "Kentu, stay out of this!" "I've tolerated you for a long time" "Help!" "Help!" "He killed the lord!" "He killed the lord!" "Be careful" " He has a gun" "Call the Police" " Don't let him escape" "Come on" " Try me!" "I'll blow your heads off" "You thief - rumor mongering priest" "Just pray for your own friends and brothers" "Your friends think you're a saint they believe this" "You cheat" " Trying to ass me over to those evils" " I won't surrender" "Guys, he's hanged himself!" "Doesn't even have a club, let alone a gun" "The landlord is dead" " The state might give us the harvest" "How could you think of such a thing..." "so soon" "All that I want is my share just my share" "Soldier, take the harvest to the station" "Class exploitation" " In Eritrea, Tigrea, Wollo, Kaffa, Gojam, Harrar, Shoa, Bale" "I thought the exploitation was limited to my family, but it's everywhere" "I am your servant" "I am your shoeshiner, shoemaker, your coolie" "Your messenger - janitor - servant" "I am your nurse - laborer - maid" "I am your blacksmith, steelworker, foundryman" "I am your guard, your protector, your soldier, protecting your boundaries" "Your baker - your feeder" "I am the weaver - maker of you clothes I make your comfort possible" "I am your builder" " I am your farmer - Who brings in your harvest" "With our labor - with our backs - with our sweat" "With our labor - with our backs - with our sweat" "Harvest Three Thousand Years"