Green lessons from parable ala Brecht
My name is Azdak. No, it's not the name my parents gave me. I got it from Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle. And I seek your kind permission write a few words about Azdak. From those who have read or seen the play, I seek forgiveness. But this is important for the other story I have to say.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle, based on a parable, is an example of Brecht's epic theater and is actually two stories (if you can call them that) rolled into one. The first is about Grusha, the second about yours truly.
Both the stories begin in a Caucasian city ruled by a governor, who is answerable to a Grand Duke. The governor's wife (Natella), an epitome of vanity, has just given birth to a son when his brother, the Fat Prince, orchestrates an insurrection.
The governor is beheaded. By a quirk of fate, Grusha finds herself in possession of the child as Natella flees. Grusha escapes the mayhem in the city and raises the child, Michael, as her own son on her brother's farm. Azdak shelters the fleeing Grand Duke without knowing who he is.
Back in the city, Azdak is chosen judge over the Fat Prince's nephew after the soldiers take a liking to him.
He sits on a fat law book placed on his chair. He is corrupt but always uses his guile to rule in favor of the poor. Two years later, the Fat Prince is overthrown and the Grand Duke regains power. Azdak is arrested as a traitor and is about to be killed. But a letter from the Grand Duke arrives, saying a certain Azdak has been appointed judge for saving his life during the insurrection. Azdak is back on the chair.
Natella, too, returns to the city. She is looking for Michael because the governor had bequeathed all his property in his name. Michael is traced to Grusha, and the two are brought back to the city. Grusha and Natella both claim to be the real mother of the child. In court, Grusha accuses Azdak of taking bribes. He has indeed been bribed by Natella to rule in her favor.
But despite all his guile, Azdak cannot decide on the case. So he orders a chalk circle to be drawn and places the child in the middle. Then he orders the two women to pull the child, saying the one who pulls him out of the circle keeps him. If both of them pull, they will tear the child and can then keep their part of his body, he says.
Natella pulls the child with all her might. But Grusha does not, for fear of hurting him. Azdak gives her another chance. But again she let's go of child. Azdak then declares that Grusha is the true mother. Why? Because she loves Michael too much to be able to see him getting hurt.
The fable reminds us about the Judgment of Solomon. And it may remind Chinese readers of Li Xingdao's 14th century play, Circle of Chalk. But the genius that Brecht is, he turns the fable upside down to come up with a just judgment.
Now to my other story. The rich nations claim the Earth to be their own.
They say the have created the world, as we know it today, despite sucking it almost dry. The truth is that they are the real cause of our deteriorating environment and share most of the blame for global warming.
In contrast, the developing countries, and their poor people, have preserved whatever good is left in our world by using as little as possible of its resources. Yet they suffer the major consequences of climate change.
So adamant they are that an agreement on an international policy seems very unlikely at next month's climate conference in Copenhagen. Do we call this justice?
The UN was supposed to be the Azdak of the world. But its decisions have, on more occasions than one, been overruled by the rich countries.
We have the WTO to settle trade disputes. We have the IMF and World Bank to dictate terms to the developing nations. We even have an International Court of Justice to try people charged with war and human rights crimes.
So why can't we have an organization to judge the environmental crimes of the rich countries? Why haven't we thought about seating a real Azdak on the bench of the global environmental court?
(China Daily 11/19/2009 page9)
