By Aida Edemariam

在回忆录《妻子的故事：一部个人史》（The Wifes Tale： A Personal History）中，《卫报》记者艾达·爱德马里安（Aida Edemariam）通过回忆奶奶Yetemegnu的一生，从侧面讲述了埃塞俄比亚20世纪近百年的历史和社会动荡：从意大利入侵到抵抗、解放、政变、反叛、饥荒，从君主制、社会主义到现代民主的尝试等。

奶奶Yetemegnu1916年出生于埃塞俄比亚的西北部城市贡德尔（Gondar），十几岁就嫁给牧师Tsega，三十多岁时已生育了九个孩子，其中有七个存活了下来。她的丈夫出身卑微，但凭借自己的天赋和过人的努力得到了女皇的赏识，之后一步一步成了重要的宗教领袖，后因受到诬陷而在狱中含冤去世。

书名The Wifes Tale源自乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》中的一个故事：一名骑士被派去探索女性最想要的东西，最终他找到了答案：女人最想控制自己的丈夫。作者的奶奶前半生生儿育女、操持家务，后半生则为了恢复丈夫的名誉和财产而坚持不懈地上访、打官司，展现了个人的命运在历史的滚滚车轮中的无奈和微不足道。

During the day the students scattered across the countryside， composing their own poetry and begging， as the church provided no food. Tsega hated this aspect of his calling. He was proud， afraid of dogs， and quickly resorted to tall heart-tugging tales（夸张的、打动人心的故事）. In the late afternoon the students returned to their teacher， who listened to their verses， then easily， deflatingly（沮丧地）， disassembled them. Near the end of the five years Memhir Hiruy， famed throughout the country for his skill with qiné（宗教诗）， visited the Gojjam（戈贾姆省）school to teach. The students vied（竞争）amongst each other to impress the master， who after a couple of weeks singled Tsega out for praise. Would he like to come to Gondar（贡德尔，埃塞俄比亚西北部城市）to continue his studies？ Of course he would. And， ignoring the protestations of his mother， he went.

Not long after they arrived at Baata， the priest asked Memhir Hiruy to perform a qiné. ‘Ask him， replied the scholar， pointing to his new acolyte（侍僧，助手）. They were insulted. Recent experience had only confirmed their deep suspicion of outsiders. And who was this anyway？ A youth from the sticks（乡镇，边远地区）—from Gojjam， no less， where everyone knew the evil eye（魔眼，邪恶之眼）flourished. Why was he here， assessing them with his noncommittal（不置可否的）gaze， threatening them with his very presence？ Why， he hadnt even finished his studies. But after a glance at Memhir Hiruy for reassurance， Tsega stepped forward to puncture their scorn（回击他们的嘲笑）.

When Memhir Hiruy left for the new capital， Addis Ababa（亚的斯亚贝巴）， Tsega stayed， learning the recondite（深奥的）church dances and committing to memory all the books of the Bible， the Old and New Testaments， their interpretations and commentaries， and the books of the Fitha Negest1， the law of kings handed down from Byzantium（拜占庭，古羅马城市，今称伊斯坦布尔）and from medieval Egypt. He became a teacher himself， and， ambitious in the way of people who know they have only themselves to depend upon， quietly but steadily made connections， travelling across the city after church services（礼拜）to read to the families of increasingly important personages； for Tiruneshs husband， among them， and for her oblivious（健忘的）niece.

Less than a year after his wedding， Tsega deposited his young bride at her grandmothers house and was on his way south. The mules were watchful on the long trek（艱苦跋涉）down into the Lake Tana（塔纳湖）basin. Their riders， too， looked around， into shaded copses（小灌木丛）， up at the lips of ravines（峡谷的边缘）， and once they had arrived at the Blue Nile（青尼罗河）gorge（峡谷）and were picking their way down its steep sides， into anything that even suggested it might be a cave. Everyone knew， from childhood stories， from scarred survivors， that this fertile country ran with bandits（土匪）who regularly stripped mule-trains（骡车队）of their valuables then pushed off in low reed boats（芦苇船）， poling through the mud-coloured lake to islands and promontories（岬，海角）， or disappeared into caves. They were all grateful when they scrambled up onto the wide cool highland plateau and then down， through aromatic juniper（芳香的桧属植物）and newly imported eucalyptus（桉树）， down into Addis Ababa.

Once there her husband took his time， acclimatising（适应）， visiting Memhir Hiruy， attending services， listening to gossip about the empress（女皇）， and especially about her subtle regent（摄政王）Ras Tafari2， who had recently returned from an extended tour of Egypt， Jerusalem（耶路撒冷）， and the European capitals （where， among other things， he had wisely declined to sign a treaty that would have allowed Italy to build roads， rails， and a port into Ethiopia）. The regent also managed—daily， it sometimes seemed—to announce the institution of new-fangled（新奇的，最新流行的）things： a modern school， a printing press， a newspaper. Every decision of any importance passed through his hands， which was a useful thing to know， but for the moment was not what most interested the new-minted（新造就的，新成为的）priest. Tsega presented himself at the head offices of the church， and was given the care of a country parish（教区）called Gonderoch Mariam. He travelled the city to read aloud in the households of great men， among them Ras Kassa， the regents pious cousin. And he joined the throngs that arrived daily at the palace， looking for an audience with the empress.

Meneliks daughter Zewditu， crowned after the brief reign and ruthless deposition of Meneliks grandson Iyasu，3 was phlegmatic（冷漠的，无兴趣的）， conservative， uncomfortable in the presence of men and overwhelmingly pious， and had only once bowed to pressure to preside at the courts that operated in her name； she had hated the work， and never returned. She preferred， wrote her chronicler， kindly， to confine herself to ‘spreading spiritual wisdom by fasting（禁食）， prayer， prostrations（跪……