Introduction
The ‘Miscellaneous documents’ folder in the estate of St. Chrischona Pilgrim Mission founder Spittler contains a testimony about Ruufoo. The certificate was published by the historian Wolbert Smidt. However, his essay only reproduces a fraction of the document verbatim (identicated by “quotation marks”). A considerable part of the testimony was merely paraphrased:
English translation
REFERENCE
for the still unbaptised Chrischona aspirant Ruufoo
from Korntal, a formerly enslaved Oromo
„If we consider that in Ruufoo we have before us a young person who grew up for 11 to 12 years under rough and warlike people (as the Oromo are), then spent several years in the hands of numb slave traders and superstitious Abyssinian Christians, we must not set a high standard for evaluating this young man from the outset. After his ransom in Metamma, he spent some time with Brother and Sister Eipperle and then with Brother Bühler. Still, their influence on him could not have been significant if only because of the language barrier (Rufo understood little Arabic and the brethren little Amharic). So he came to Europe almost as a complete pagan, even though he may have acquired some external formation.“
This is followed by a description of his positive aspects, especially his „learning instinct“, which became apparent soon after he arrived in Korntal. He was astounded by the threshing and flailing in a neighbour’s barn. He was taught arithmetic by the provisor in Korntal, Mr Traub. He also liked to pray and was often moved by God’s Word. The author of the testimony [i.e. Krapf] had to write down German prayers for him „in Amharic letters“. Ruufoo was particularly fond of Pastor [Heinrich] Staudt’s confirmation classes, where he was entirely at odds with his naughty, ungodly and reckless classmates, as he reported their sins to the pastor.
„He often seemed very moved by the Word of God, as far as he could understand it—and such times always filled us with renewed joy and the hope that something right could yet become of the young man. Unfortunately, this mood did not last and was not deep enough; the unbroken old self always gained the upper hand. This leads me to the description of the dark side, emphasising 1. Ruufoo’s disobedience and pride, 2. his pretence, 3. his ingratitude, 4. his greed, 5. his indolence and sweet tooth.“
Disobedience and pride: Cleaning shoes or fetching wood—he only did this with the greatest reluctance, „as if out of pride he was ashamed to do such [p. 504] menial labour. ” Instead of doing the work assigned to him, he often preferred to go to his mates, the journeymen of the carpenter Kolb.
Pretence: When the Chrischona brothers were there, „he was extremely willing and ready to serve“, as he needed a good name with Chrischona. After they left, however, „he was back to his old disobedient, stubborn and sinister self“.
Ingratitude: It made no impression on him when he was told that 80 thalers had been spent on his ransom and 160 guilders were paid for his journey, and that his translation work was only weak.
Greed: He had given four thalers to brother Bühler, who had not returned them, so he demanded them back in Korntal, where he did not realise that much more had been spent on him; he also demanded new nice clothes, although he already had five skirts and three pairs of trousers. „He also has a high opinion of himself.“ He said the brothers who went to the Oromo couldn’t go without him. „They couldn’t do anything without him.“ He became „quite disgruntled and gloomy“ when he heard they were already travelling from Khartoum without him.
Laziness and snacking: he stuffed whatever he could into his pockets. He took large pieces of bread from the table drawer just before the communal meal „when it came to his mind “. In the mornings, he habitually received „a glass of cider with wine mixed in, coffee with bread rolls in the afternoon, and another piece of bread at 5 o’clock—breakfast, lunch and dinner in abundance, of course.
„With other people, he usually appeared very amiable and friendly because everyone fawned over him, praised him and had respect for him, or assumed that he was a converted gentile. This is common when black people come to Europe, where they are typically elevated and gushed over so that they become pretty proud and complacent and consider themselves important, even if they have been minor enslaved people in their country. We first learnt his true nature at home, in our daily circumstances. The proverb says that some people are angels on the streets and little devils at home. We were sometimes reminded of this when we looked at his stubborn nature in daily tasks. Sometimes, we wished someone there could give him a good beating. That would have been healthy for him at times, just as he had been treated when he was enslaved. It is impossible to be enslaved without being beaten.
The writer recommends not being deceived by Rufo’s amiability, which only lasts as long as no demands are made of him. „His will must be broken if you are to be able to rely on him later. He must learn to work as well as to study. He must be brought up to be punctual, diligent and active.“ Therefore, he should work hard at Maienbühl for three months before joining the Chrischona Institute. This should be explained to him as the necessary test for Chrischona. If he did not accept this, he should be told that he would be sent back to Egypt, where he would be enslaved again or have to do menial labour. “We will no longer take care of him.“ [p. 505]
„Unfortunately, very few black people educated in Europe have succeeded in proving themselves afterwards. They usually brought only an intellectual conviction of Christianity to Africa, where they then became quite an obstacle. Brother Hausmann also testifies in his last letter that such people cause great harm. The Catholics educated several people in Vienna with great care, and as soon as one of them came to Alexandria, he bought a stiletto to assassinate his superior. The same thing happened in Carthage, where they did not know what to do with a black man who had been educated and ordained as a priest except to place him in the Egyptian army.
It will also be necessary for the brethren at Chrischona not to be too close with Rufo and to regard him fully as a brother. He can imitate external routines so quickly that one is easily deceived. Only if he submits and obeys when it goes against his will can we hope that things will go well with him.“
He is unsuitable for translation work, as he left his country so early that he had not yet fully grasped the [Oromo] language, and „because he was in Abyssinia for a long time“ and had already begun to forget [his own] language there. Ruufoo would like to learn both theory and craft. However, this should only be granted after a trial at Maienbühl.
The last section reads:
If he „doesn’t want to behave correctly, let the beloved Christoffel at Maienbühl give him a good beating a few times, then it will be better. That’s what he lacked in Korntal. Without a preliminary trial at Maienbühl, I don’t think his stay at Chrischona would be suitable and successful.“
German text
Source: Smidt, Schwarze Missionare, p. 503-05
[based on Krapf’s manuscript in Staatsarchiv
Kanton Basel-Stadt; Ref.-Code PA 653a, B. 9.1]
Notes
» See comments on the reference for Ruufoo