Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

Tamara carried her glass to the table and sat down. "Well, let us enjoy Olga’s feast. The best is still to come! Right,Konrad?"Alexandra, embarrassed resentment written all over her face, stared at her mother. She was close to crying. Konrad verygently laid his arm around her shoulders. "Come my love," he told her quietly, "let us sit next to each other. This Easternight has taken another unexpected turn. But you will see, all will be well in the end and maybe even better than before."Deda sat across from Konrad. She smiled encouragingly at him. A rustic feast was served, roasted lamb, eggplant puree,cucumbers, tomatoes, bunches of garden greens, mountains of Georgian bread, and two plates of traditional Eastermtsvari, the innards of the sheep crisscrossed with gut strings into a long, roasted sausage.Konrad, happy to have Tamunia’s support, glanced at her. "Father says that you produced this remarkable mystery playfrom an old Svani manuscript, where did you find it and what do you know about its history?"Ilia abandoned his prerogatives as host and tamada. All eyes were on Tamara and Konrad."I discovered this play in David Dadeshkeliani’s library when, newly married, Irakli and I visited him in Svaneti, years ago.It was written in ancient Svani, which you know is quite different from the Kartli spoken here, it seems to be two hundredyears old."She raised her glass to Konrad. "Eventually one of Irakli’s Svani cousins and I translated the text into Kartli. It was aneye-opener as you can imagine. I never blushed so often in my life, and several times we had to consult a friendly kintoin the Bazaar for the appropriate expressions for all the bawdy words the old crone uses."She ate a few slices of mtsvari and continued. "We tried to publish the text, but found that no publisher would touch themanuscript for fear of being prosecuted as purveyor of blasphemous and pornographic literature. I fared no better withthe Russian linguists whom I showed it to. They would gloat over it with large eyes, laugh maliciously, and suggest tohide the text well from His Majesty’s Secret Service."She looked at Ilia with a challenging smile. "The manuscript languished in one of my chests until a few years ago.Encouraged by Ilia’s national Georgian campaign, I offered it to this cousin over there for publication in Iveria. He neverread it, he just held up his hands saying that the Ochrana would put him into jail if he would touch this manuscript."Ilia winced and lowered his eyes, but did not contest her words. Irakli had slowly recovered his composure.Absentmindedly Deda ate few pieces of the marvelous lamb. Olga passed her the plate with the aubergine puree, andthey devoted themselves to the food for a while.Eventually Deda resumed her report. "Because the original was more than three hours long, I finally staged a shortenedversion with Persephone’s help in Zedazeni five years ago. I am afraid dear Irakli has never fully forgiven me this act ofdefiance against the patriarchal order of the land. I chose Zedazeni, because it is hard to get to and because of thephallic post in its choir, which the women from the villages decorate every week."She tossed her head and her hair came undone. "The play was not a success. I guess more because of fear than itsactual content the Tiflis elite has denied its existence and ostracized me ever since. But as you saw for yourself, it hashad a sensational success among the less sensitive, less educated Georgians. They love it and come from far and wideto see it every Easter. It quite simply has become a true Georgian mystery play, which I am proud of. I will not let myshepherds down, no matter how much I upset the good citizens of Tiflis!"A tense silence settled over the table. Konrad watched with curiosity. He had never heard Tamunia-Deda speak withsuch purposeful courage. He risked a glance at Alexandra. She was glowing in admiration of her mother. Irakli wasbrooding in his shell. It would be up to Ilia as the tamada to break the ice.Ilia rose, lifted his glass to Tamara and very seriously said, "To the unquenchable spirit of my beloved cousin!" Trying toput meaning into this cliché he continued, "May you persevere in your courageous attempts to enlighten our Georgianpeasants. I am sorry that we men are still powerless to help you find the recognition your discovery deserves."Konrad, red-faced, had to control himself not to make a cutting remark at this shamelessly stupid toast."Please, Konrad," Tamara said, "don’t get discouraged. All this night I prayed that you would break this terrifying, old icethat covers my family life."Konrad pulled himself together, swallowed his anger, and related the happenings at Zedazeni without being interrupted.He concealed nothing—not even Demeters obscene movements on the phallus and the bloody cloth from which she hadrisen.Ilia kept quiet, he had no more boisterous outbreaks of sarcasm. Irakli sat in grave silence. The play had become a testof their devotion to this woman, and Konrad was well aware of his role as arbiter and judge.When Konrad ended, Ilia made no use of his right as tamada, and Konrad simply continued to explain what he thoughthe knew about the pre-Christian sources of the play."The original manuscript and a usable translation should be published some day. Our knowledge about the Greekmysteries is so sketchy that this late Greek-Christian hybrid would be immensely valuable, quite apart from the light itsheds on the possible origins of Easter in the mysteries of resurrection of pre-Christian times. I am no anthropologist orspecialist in any of the relevant areas, but one could be found in Western Europe.... However, I simply loved the play. Itsraucous drama could only work with these shepherds as the participating audience. Many a theater director would envyyou, Deda, for these people."42