The Eastern Matter
| Author | ṯemad |
|---|---|
| Country |  Soptemia |
| Language | Soptenese |
| Set in | Soptemia, The Heavenly Realm |
| Published | 1615 |
The Eastern Matter (Soptenese: kụsro eṉesatvorketẹil kụsro eṉesatvorketẹil ) is a Soptenese play by 17th century playwright ṯemar. It is considered to be the first literary work in modern Soptenese. It achieved wild popularity, and was one of the first works of its type to be accessible to the masses. It is a farce that was written as an allegory to the corruption in political and religious leaders at the time, and to make fun of the silliness of the corrupt policies they make, and the justifications they give.
Synopsis
The play revolves around the journey of a poor farmer, Klinkos, his wife, Zolisi, and his son Jamisos.
Act 1
Klinkos curses a rock in his field that broke his plow, and prays several times to Thagha to give him the strength to remove it, but to no avail. Finally, he removes it and he finds that it had been holding together the world, and the two halves of the world folded in on each other, crushing Klinkos and his family to death. While ascending to The Heavenly Realm, he meets Zarasa, and asks why Thagha refused to answer his prayer at first, and then let him die. For this insult of Thagha, Zarasa condemns Klinkos and his family to stand trial in the court of Thagha. To avoid this fate, Klinkos and his family jump off of the way to heaven, landing in a time and place alien to them. A cultural exchange occurs, with all the weird rules that govern the land, and Klinkos ends up dueling a local man. He wins, but everyone gets mad at him, so he takes the advice of a local magician, and climbs up a ladder to heaven, in order to go back down to his home. While on the ladder, Klinkos and his family are accosted by servants of Thagha, and are sent to a dungeon in The Heavenly Realm.
Act 2
In the second act, three of Klinkos’s friends wonder where he went, and resolve to look for him. They discover a message on a stone in a river that Klinkos carved when he was in the alien land, and find out that he is in The Heavenly Realm. Resolving to rescue him, they go to his farm and discover a hole where it used to be. They jump down it, and end up at the bottom of The Heavenly Realm. They decide to climb a tree next to it to reach the top, and find a window near the top, and jump in. They enter a room with a piano in it, and, hearing someone coming, they hide inside of the piano. Inside of the piano is an entire society. One of them accidently says “abohi” (noise) which is a banned word inside of the piano. They are forced to stand trial in a ridiculous court with nonsensical rules. They are found guilty but are given an option to fight the other society inside of the piano. They win the war, and exit the piano. They break into the cell of Klinkos and his family, and are able to escape because the guards of Thagha are poorly organized, and have to follow nonsensical rules. They escape to home and the play ends.