African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 826 German Fernandez

“Fernandez, Portuguese, 27 years old, what is your expertise? What was your original occupation in Mozambique?”

"Sir, I don't seem to have any expertise! But occupation should mean work. Is it supposed to be a farmer on a plantation before?" Fernandez asked with some uncertainty.

Faced with the questions from the East African staff, Fernandez still seemed a little embarrassed, because the East African in front of him looked more majestic, which even made Fernandez feel a little intimidated.

This East African looks to be less than twenty years old. Although he looks a little immature due to his age, his gray face, which is like dead tree bark, has been through strong winds and waves at a glance, making people subconsciously ignore his age.

However, for Fernandez, it is not so much that this East African makes people feel depressed, but rather that he can feel the looming murderous intention of this East African.

Coupled with the fact that he is wearing an old East African Defense Force uniform that has not yet been replaced, it is obvious that he has "killed people", and it is very likely that he has several Portuguese lives on his hands. This is a shame to the Portuguese present. The deterrent power of words.

 …

Fernandez said: "It's too late. After becoming an East African citizen, we can't leave even if we want to. But our choice is not bad. At least the East African government didn't treat us harshly. They should regard us as their own!"

“Portugal doesn’t go to war, but its economy is in shambles, and various riots and unrest often occur, otherwise we wouldn’t have gone overseas.” Fernandez said.

Fernandez shook his head and said: "Of course not. Now I feel a headache when I think of those weird symbols."

In East Africa, Portuguese is one of the more popular foreign languages. Because there were frequent business exchanges between East Africa and Portugal at that time, and later the two countries became enemies, it was even more important to "know each other and know yourself." Therefore, the scale of Portuguese in foreign language education in East Africa Not small.

Fernandez chuckled and said: "Now we are all Germans, but by filling out a form, we become Germans. If so many countries in Europe follow the example of East Africa, then there will only be one country."

“Yes! I didn’t expect that you need to study to become an East African citizen. This is simply unbelievable. We are not noble lords or businessmen. We don’t need so much knowledge to guard the plantation.”

“Let’s start class. Today we will learn fifty words. Don’t be afraid of not being able to remember them. Someone will help you remember them in the future.”

“Congratulations, you will be a glorious German from now on.” Proust put a mimeograph on Fernandez’s name.

 …

 “That’s the thug!” asked Proust.

“Fernandez, did you understand everything in class?”

"When the economy is bad, most countries are like this, but Portugal is too bad. Now the whole world is developing, only Portugal is retreating, but these have nothing to do with us. We are now considered part of the German people. "What happens to Portugal in the future has nothing to do with us."

In his mind, people like Fernandez should be thugs in the Portuguese plantations. After all, farming does not look like something the Portuguese colonists did themselves. They only need to keep an eye on the black slaves.

After becoming a "German", Fernandez and others were assigned to various plantations or farms around Maputo, but compared to the past, there is now one more required course every day.

However, when it comes to the Boers, East Africa has adopted a completely different strategy from the Portuguese in Mozambique. Currently, the Portuguese in Mozambique have not been separated by East Africa, but continue to stay in Mozambique, but the Boers have spread all over East Africa.

 After class, it was already eight o'clock in the afternoon, a colleague asked Fernandez in Portuguese.

"As a German, it is natural to speak fluent German. East African Standard German is based on Swabian and incorporates some vocabulary and content from other languages. Of course, you don't need to know too much about these. The most important thing now is to be able to communicate with others. Communicate, or understand some words,” a Portuguese translator said to the workers in the plantation.

Fernandez nodded and said: "I have an older brother and my father. As for my mother who passed away when I was a child, I have not been married in these years, so I should be considered alone in Mozambique, but I have a few friends, but they Many have left Mozambique and chosen to return home.”

 “Then what kind of job did you do before coming to Mozambique?”

“The Kingdom of Hechingen is the future country for you and your descendants. Only when everyone loves this country can our lives become better. In order to eliminate various disputes, it is necessary to master German first.”

"Of course, you can also choose to be lazy and not take the initiative to learn. That will only make it difficult to move forward in East Africa. In the future, there will be no room for other languages ​​to survive in East Africa." The words of the East African teacher were unpleasant, but most of the former Portuguese present were There is no objection, this is the awareness brought about by the defeat of the war, and in Europe, population migration and changing nationality are not unspeakable things.

"Before I came to Mozambique, I was born in a small fishing village near the sea in Portugal, but my family mainly farmed land for Mr. Erbak, a noble man in our village. Most of the land in the village belongs to his family." Fernandez took the photo. Said the lower head.

 At the beginning, most East African immigrants followed this process. What really allowed them to learn German in a short time was not the classroom environment, but the German environment in daily life.

 Then the East African teachers began to give lessons to these Portuguese people. The content of the lessons was also very simple, which was to recite the copied words over and over again.

"You must first forget your identity as a Portuguese in the past, because if nothing else, many people will never have anything to do with Portugal in this life. It is not shameful to accept the reality. After all, the decline of the Kingdom of Portugal has been going on for centuries. , it’s not because of you.”

Proust was not aware of the psychological activities of the Portuguese who were present. As a former Wehrmacht soldier who had just been drafted into the army, retired from the army and changed his job, Proust had indeed seen blood.

Fernandez shook his head and said: "I have never bullied anyone. Although my status is higher than that of black people, my job is mainly to inspect the plantation, observe the growth of cotton, and then report to the management."

 “Oh, is your family in Portugal?”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a country, it’s like Europe fighting wars every day.” His colleague said.

The colleague nodded and said: "You are right. Of course, the premise is to draw a clear line with the Kingdom of Portugal. From now on, we will have nothing to do with Portugal at all. But that's fine, there is no hope in Portugal anyway."

 The East African government is organizing immigration work. It will only take no more than a year. By then, the number of East Africans will exceed the number of original Portuguese in Mozambique.

 East Africa defeated Portugal twice, which destined the remaining people in Mozambique to be stubborn. Of course, there are exceptions, such as the Boers who were forcibly conquered by East Africa.

Fernandez nodded and said: "That's it, but the situation in East Africa is hard to say. Let's stay for a while and see! I hope there is no problem with our choice."

There are many people like Fernandez who are worried. They are both familiar and unfamiliar with East Africa. However, in the more than ten years that the Portuguese and East Africans have lived together, one thing is clear, that is, East African cities are developing very rapidly. In the relationship between the two countries, When times are friendly, many Portuguese people will go to cities in East Africa for consumption and entertainment.

 (End of this chapter)