Re: Inherently Reflexive Verbs (was: mental masturbation)

On Fri, 4 Jun 1999, FFlores wrote:

>
> As I said above, there's one way to talk to guests and
> another one within the family. Being servants, my researchers
> could hear both kinds of conversations. But the idea of a
> married couple of investigators being invited to a noble house
> could be useful too. If the hosts are not xenophobic, they can
> just say they're scholars from faraway lands studying the ways
> of the local people, and they'll be surely treated with respect,
> though maybe also not left alone -- you see, observing a phenomenon
> changes it, especially if the phenomenon tries to help. :)
>
Ah! The perennial problem of the field-worker! There are
all kinds of tricks to minimise the risk, though, like letting
the tape recorder running before and after the elicitation sesion...

>
> So, are they just symbolic figures? How much power does
> the emperor really have? Does he delegate on ministers,
> governors, etc.?
>
No, not at all. They are just cultural fremdkorper in Charya.  Prior to
the Charyan conquest of the Matraian empire, the Charyan emperor was
a kind of caesar: a military leader first, and a political leader
second. The succession was by appointment by the previous emperor.

After the conquest a lot of Matraian institution were taken over, like
the script, the structure of the army, the institution of the judicial
magistrate, and the heriditary emperor and his court, and the shamanistic
rituals that went with the position of the emperor as a reluctant deity.

What I mean is that the emperor is supposed to be a god who has
to weedled in ruling the country. Every full moon he is drawn
by his mother (the moon) away from his palace, and his soul is
supposed to travel through the void. Shamankas will entice the
emperor's soul back to his body with songs, like the one found at
http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/andal/literature/lied_van_de_keizer.html
(in Dutch).

The emperor employs eunuchs to take care of his household, which
traditionally includes his two noble Matraian wifes. The current emperor,
Rordal Twuindal Sedom'chevir, is perpetually at a domestic war with his
wifes. The eunuchs also gather the pleasure tax levied on brothels and
wine-houses. Furthermore, they have close connections to the Society,
which is a mafia-like criminal organisation that is quite powerful in
the city of Broi. They have political power to the extent that they can
influence and buy officials from other departments, like the military
or the ritual.

The emperor himself is very powerful. If he would want to burn the city,
he can, although it's unlikely that he would want it. He can levy taxes
and use his army to get them, too. On the other hand, if he would want
to favour a certain court official who is not liked by the Chief Eunuch,
that official would in all probability get an accident with a week or two.
If the emperor falls in love with a Vustlani girl, he can probably induce
her to come and live in his palace as his concubine, but he can't marry
her.

> The eunuchs are a curious thing to me -- I remember now
> the eunuchs at the Chinese emperors' court and that I thought
> "What do they do?".
Chinese eunuchs did everything from the lowest menial work to shielding
the emperor from the true political situation out in the country.

Charyan eunuchs make sure there are dancing girls available, that there
are are enough servants in the palace to care for the Emperor and his
family, regulate and order the daily routine of the household, support
the first Consort in her struggle against her husband, steal everything
of value they can get their hands on and generally scheme and plot in
order to get inordinately rich themselves.

Eunuchs are not seen as humans in Charya: they are called _tadan_,
'not man', or, but that's vulgar, _taman_, 'not-prick'. They have to
wear blue cotton, and that means nobody else can wear blue in Charya,
it's a taboo colour.  Eunuchs are 'clean shaven', as they were in
pre-revolution China. There have been references to female eunuchs
(_teyenu_) imported from the far east, but those are rare and do
not indicate in what manner the female eunuchs differ from a female
not-eunuch.  Male eunuchs are produced locally, usually in the palace. The
eunuchs buy young male babies from the poorer parts of the city, or
scoop up any fruit from the female servants they can get their hands on.

The whole institution of eunuchs is abhorred by the Charyans themselves,
and forms part and parcel of the common fear and dislike they have of
the Matraians, who still form a sizeable and recognizable minority in
their cities.


Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt