The Servant by S.T. Semyonov

Long Walk to Freedom

-by Nelson R. Mandela

Complete Summary with Word Meanings

TENTH May dawned (of the day began) bright and clear. For the past few days, I had been pleasantly (giving a sense of happy satisfaction) besieged (to be surrounded) by dignitaries (a person considered to be important because of high rank or office) and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects before the inauguration. The inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil.

The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone (sedimentary a rock consisting of sand or quartz grains cemented together, typically red, yellow or brown in colour) amphitheatre (an open-air theatre) formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of a white supremacy, (the state or condition of being superior to all others in authority, power, or status) and now it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government.

On that lovely autumn day, I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani. On the podium, Mr de Klerk was first sworn (Sworn- given under oath) in as second deputy president. Then Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as first deputy president. When it was my turn, I pledged (Pledged- committed by a solemn promise) to obey and uphold the Constitution and to devote myself to the wellbeing of the Republic and its people.

To the assembled (gather together in one place for a common purpose) guests and the watching world, I said: “Today, all of us do, by our presence here... confer (grant) glory (honour) and hope to new-born liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud. We, who were outlaws, (because of its policy of apartheid, many countries had earlier broken off diplomatic relations with South Africa) not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil (in our own country). We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession (ownership) with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity (the state or quality of being worthy of respect).”

"We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation (the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions). We pledge ourselves to liberate (free; release) all our people from the continuing bondage (the state of being a slave) of poverty, deprivation (the damaging lack of material benefits considered to be basic necessities in a society), suffering, gender and other discrimination (being treated differently or unfavourably).

Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression (prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority) of one by another. The sun shall never set on so glorious (having, worthy of, or bringing fame or admiration) a human achievement. Let freedom reign (rule; govern). God bless Africa!"

A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe (amazed) as a spectacular (beautiful in a dramatic and an eye-catching way) array (an impressive display) of South African jets, helicopters and troop (soldiers or armed forces) carriers roared in perfect formation over the Union Buildings. It was not only a display of pinpoint precision (accuracy) and military force, but a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence force and police, their chests bedecked (decorate) with ribbons and medals from days gone by, saluted me and pledged their loyalty. I was not unmindful (not conscious or aware) of the fact that not so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested me. Finally, a chevron (a pattern in the shape of a V) of Impala jets left a smoke trail (series; chain) of the black, red, green, blue and gold of the new South African flag.

The day was symbolised (be a symbol of) for me by the playing of our two national anthems, and the vision of whites singing ‘Nkosi Sikelel –Afrika’ and blacks singing ‘Die Stem’, the old anthem of the Republic. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics (the words of a song) of the anthem they once despised (hated, had a very low opinion of), they would soon know the words by heart.

On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed (have a strong emotional effect) with a sense of history. In the first decade of the twentieth century, a few years after the bitter Anglo-Boer war and before my own birth, the white-skinned peoples of South Africa patched up their differences and erected (build; construct) a system of racial domination (when people of one race have power over another race) against the dark-skinned peoples of their own land. The structure they created formed the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane (cruel, brutal), societies the world has ever known. Now, in the last decade of the twentieth century, and my own eighth decade as a man, that system had been overturned(reverse) forever and replaced by one that recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.

That day had come about through the unimaginable (difficult or impossible to imagine) sacrifices of thousands of my people, people whose suffering and courage can never be counted or repaid. I felt that day, as I have on so many other days, that I was simply the sum of all those African patriots (a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies) who had gone before me. That long and noble line ended and now began again with me. I was pained that I was not able to thank them and that they were not able to see what their sacrifices had wrought.

The policy of apartheid (a policy or system of segregation on grounds of race) created a deep and lasting wound in my country and my people. All of us will spend many years, if not generations, recovering from that profound (very great or intense) hurt. But the decades of oppression and brutality had another, unintended(not planned or meant) effect, and that was that it produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the Robert Sobukwes of our time* — men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity that their like may never be known again. Perhaps it requires such depths of oppression to create such heights of character. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds.

It is from these comrades (a colleague or a fellow member of an organisation) in the struggle that I learned the meaning of courage. Time and again, I have seen men and women risk and give their lives for an idea. I have seen men stand up to attacks and torture without breaking, showing a strength and resilience (the ability to deal with any kind of hardship and recover from its effects) that    defies (refuse to obey) the imagination. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph (great victory or    achievement) over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest (very serious or gloomy) times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits (pushed to the last point in our ability to bear pain), I would see a glimmer (shine faintly with a wavering light ) of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure(say or do something to remove the doubts) me and keep me going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.

In life, every man has twin obligations — obligations to his family, to his parents, to his wife and children; and he has an obligation to his people, his community, his country. In a civil and humane society, each man is able to fulfil those obligations (a duty or a commitment) according to his own inclinations (natural tendencies of behaviour) and abilities. But in a country like South Africa, it was almost impossible for a man of my birth and colour to fulfil both of those obligations. In South Africa, a man of colour who attempted to live as a human being was punished and isolated. In South Africa, a man who tried to fulfil his duty to his people was inevitably(unavoidably) ripped from his family and his home and was forced to live a life apart, a twilight (half-light, semi-darkness) existence of secrecy (the action of keeping something secret) and rebellion (the action or process of resisting authority, convention or control). I did not in the beginning choose to place my people above my family, but in attempting to serve my people, I found that I was prevented from fulfilling my obligations as a son, a brother, a father and a husband.

I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free — free in every way that I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to swim in the clear stream (a small, narrow river) that ran through my village, free to roast mealies (a maize plant) under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as I obeyed my father and abided (obeyed) by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the laws of man or God. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood (the state or time of being a boy) freedom was an illusion (a false idea or belief), when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory (not permanent) freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned (have an intense feeling or longing for something) for the basic and honourable freedoms of living a dignified life.

But then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers and sisters were not free. I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed (reduce; impose a restriction on), but the freedom of everyone who looked like I did. That is when I joined the African National Congress, and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of my people. It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity (the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect) and self-respect that animated my life, that transformed a frightened (afraid or anxious) young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, that forced a life-loving man to live like a monk (a member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience). I am no more virtuous (having or showing high moral standards) or self-sacrificing than the next man, but I found that I could not even enjoy the poor and limited freedoms I was allowed when I knew my people were not free. Freedom is indivisible (unable to be divided or separated); the chains on anyone of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.

I knew that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred; he is locked behind the bars of prejudice (a strong dislike without any good reason) and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor (dictator) alike are robbed of their humanity.