II
Introduction
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Khazar šedeni khustenga iha.
"The sun hides until wanted."
This phrase literally refers to an old belief that the sun will not, in fact, rise if no one desires it to do so. Rage Nasko (King Nasko) took this izanyoža to heart during his reign, and forced all his subjects to awaken at four in the morning, that they may assemble and sing praises to the sun. Once the sun had risen, his subjects could go about their business, but they were not allowed to go back to sleep, as Rage Nasko believed this would be disrespectful to the sun. On cloudy days and rainy days, Nasko and his subjects would remain outside for hours singing and chanting, in hopes of driving the clouds away. It was not uncommon for seven or eight people to die mid-song on such days.
Seventeen years after the death of Rage Nasko, the anenthal (philosopher) Lapažel reasoned that perhaps it was not in the power of human beings to change the will of the sun. That is, no matter what humans themselves did, it was up to the sun to decide whether or not it was wanted. This filled the populace with relief, coupled with a disquieting sense of foreboding. After all, if nothing could be done to please the sun, then what was to stop it from crashing down to the earth and destroying them all?
Today, this expression is often used to indicate that one shouldn't dwell on what one can't change. It's frequently employed by parents when their children complain about being treated unfairly. They tell them Khazar šedeni khustenga iha!, and then leave them to ponder what that phrase has to do with anything. By the time they figure out that the phrase itself has essentially nothing to do with their situation, the parents generally will have gone to sleep, or gone out to the market, leaving the children alone with their resentment, mulling over how miserable and unfair this life they'd inherited had become.
Vocabulary List
- izanyoža (n.) saying or aphorism
- khazar (v.) to hide, to be hidden
- šeni (n.) sun
- khustenga (conj.) until
- iha (v.) to want, to be wanted
- rage (n.) ruler, monarch
- anenthal (n.) philosopher
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