196 - We do not want to stop raising Chevengas

We do not want to stop raising Chevengas

Opinion of Kariya Echena : Terera Pages, atakina 70, 1556

In future years—and centuries—Fourth Chevenga Shae-Arano-e will be cherished as a national hero, and held up as one of our finest examples of dedication and self-sacrifice to admire and emulate.

But if certain of the recommendations of the Chevengani Mental State Assessment Committee become law—a matter currently being debated by Assembly—he might be the last semanakraseye of such character.

The Committee recommended that all those involved in raising future ascendants “avoid excessive strictness, harsh punishments and expectations other than the semanakraseyesin” and “persuade no child ascendant to enter warriorhood who himself objects.” As well it recommended that Assembly study the effects of the customs—and presumably the laws—that govern the conduct of semanakraseyel has affected their mental states through history—presumably in contemplation of changing those laws.

The implications should send a shiver down every Yeoli spine.

In 1548, all but enslaved as a province of the empire of Arko, we looked to Chevenga as our only hope. He fulfilled that hope spectacularly. Would he have been capable of it, if he had not been raised as he was? Would he have had the discipline, courage and ruthlessness necessary, without an upbringing strict in its emphasis on duty to his people? Would he have been willing to put his own life on the line as a fighting commander if he had not been raised firmly in the principle of semanakraseyeni self-sacrifice, as epitomized by the Kiss of the Lake?

There is undeniable evidence that, if the Committee could have its way reaching backwards in time, Chevenga would not have been a warrior at all. To borrow the Committee’s own wording, he himself objected, at the age of seven, but was convinced to stay with his training by his shadow-father. Had Esora-e Mangu been restrained by such a recommendation, we would be the slaves of Arko now. In its deliberations, the Committee seems not to have not to have taken this into account.

Sympathy is natural in a small group of people working at length and intimately with a person, especially one who has suffered greatly. We would not be Yeolis if we had no appreciation for those who have paid such huge prices on our behalf, or compassion for those in pain. But in taking Chevenga’s part, the Committee seems to have lost the greater view of the benefit of the people it serves.

Its members’ concern is not that the traditions can drive a semanakraseye insane to the point of being unable to hold the position; they have repeatedly noted Chevenga excelled at it. It is more a matter of personal mercy, that no one should be treated harshly as a matter of ethics. But over our history, the people of Yeola-e have made a series of collective choices, the most significant one after the War of the Travesty, to hold the semanakraseye to extraordinary standards since he wields extraordinary power.

That sometimes requires a waiving of the ethic of mercy. Yeolis have been willing to impose that, and semanakraseyel have been willing to endure it. In fact Chevenga himself, asked whether he wishes he’d had his childish way and been untrained in war when the Arkans invaded, has said no.

The argument made on his behalf, and that of future semanakraseyel, is that it was his life itself, and could be theirs, in jeopardy. So it may be, though it is hard to imagine, when no law or custom limits the years of a semanakraseye to thirty, how law or custom can be faulted in his case. But the tradition requiring him to lay down his life if necessary, and to demonstrate his willingness and ability to do so on three four-yearly occasions, has been firm for two centuries. Is the Committee implicitly recommending cancelling that?

For that matter, is Chevenga doing so himself, in choosing to go asa kraiya? It is not unprecedented for a semanakraseye, of course, but none has done it so early in life, forty-one being the youngest age previously. The act conveys a weighty message to his own young, and indeed to all his descendants. Will the Shae-Arano-el cease being a warrior line? Even the most powerful of our enemies are thoroughly cowed, currently, but they could regain courage in a moment on learning that our greatest military genius has laid down his sword while his heirs are still young and impressionable.

It has always been recognized that the most deeply-held ethic of selflessness begins with the stream-test. Perhaps wisely fearful of political repercussions, the Committee made no recommendations on that. But Chevenga himself has renounced the notion of exposing any further children of his to it, including the one soon to be born, in violation of a custom held firmly by his and other semanakraseyeni families for the entire millennium and a half of our history. We cannot count this a result of the temporary insanity that took him on remembering his own testing, since his resolve has not wavered despite recovering.

In light of this willingness to further unravel the latticework of practices that keeps Yeola-e strong and safe, perhaps it is time to consider relieving the Shae-Arano-el of the position and granting them a well-earned rest, and allow a fresh and willing family to take it on. That would mean Yeola-e losing the full benefit of gifts and talents that have been carefully bred into the Shae-Arano-e bloodline over centuries, due to the choices of one man, but still might be for the best.

After his matchless service, the Champion of the People is deserving of no opprobrium. These are questions that should be approached dispassionately, and with the good of the people as the one and only consideration. He will be judged fit or unfit for reinstatement in a national vote one more time. As we take up our chips to mark chalk or charcoal, we should not allow our emotions, even love and appreciation, to taint our vote, but choose carefully and by pure reason, in consideration not of Chevenga’s past, which by his own choice will not be his future, but of Yeola-e’s future, both immediate and far-reaching. In our hands lies the fate of our descendants, to whom we owe our love.

And when weighing whether to soften the upbringing of semanakraseyel-to-be, we should consider very carefully how defenseless we want those beloved descendants to be.

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