"Old Music and the Slave Women" is a science fiction story by Ursula K. Le Guin. It was first published in the 1999 collection Far Horizons, edited by Robert Silverberg, and anthologized multiple times in collections of Le Guin's works. The story is set on the planet of Werel in the fictional Hainish universe, created by Le Guin. That planetary system is also the setting for Le Guin's 1995 story suite Four Ways to Forgiveness. The economy of Werel is based on slavery, and during the period in which the stories are set, the society is experiencing upheaval and revolution.
"Old Music and the Slave Women" tells the story of Sohikelwenyanmurkeres Esdan, a native of Hain, nicknamed "Old Music", who appears as a peripheral character in three of the previous stories set in that system. Fed up with a civil war on Werel which has trapped him in the embassy of the Ekumen, he leaves to meet with the leaders of the revolution, but is captured and taken to an old slave estate. There, he is tortured by government agents, and befriends the few women slaves who remain.
As with the stories of the linked story suite, "Old Music and the Slave Women" examines themes related to revolution and reconstruction in slave society. It explores the consequences of war and responses to violence, and suggests that cultural change is a gradual process. The story was positively received. While the length of the story received some criticism, reviewers praised the character of Esdan and Le Guin's depiction of the culture of Werel, with one critic describing it as "painfully real, at once beautiful and deplorable."
Setting
"Old Music and the Slave Women" takes place in the fictional Hainish universe, created by Le Guin. In the alternative history of this universe, human beings did not evolve on Earth, but on Hain. The people of Hain colonized many neighboring planetary systems, including Earth and Gethen, possibly a million years before the setting of the novels. "Old Music and the Slave Women" is set in a planetary system that includes two habitable planets, Werel and Yeowe, which were also the setting for Le Guin's 1995 story cycle Four Ways to Forgiveness. The economy of the system was based on slavery, and is depicted as undergoing upheaval and revolution during the period in which the stories are set.
The story follows Sohikelwenyanmurkeres Esdan, a native of Hain, nicknamed "Esdardon Aya", or "Old Music" in the local language. Esdardon Aya appears as a character in three of the four stories in Four Ways to Forgiveness. By the events of "Old Music and the Slave Women", he has lived on Werel for 33 years. "Old Music and the Slave Women" is set after the four previous stories in the internal chronology of the universe, and tells of a civil war on Werel. Slavery is permitted on the lands held by the government, and seven eighths of the population is enslaved. "Old Music and the Slave Women" takes place three years after an uprising of slaves takes place. Le Guin stated that the story was inspired by a visit to a large plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, that had used slave labor. The garden, house, and haunted ground in the story were inspired by what Le Guin referred to as a "beautiful, terrible place."
Plot summary
Sohikelwenyanmurkeres Esdan serves as the chief of intelligence for the embassy of the Ekumen to Werel. During a civil war on the planet, the government cuts the embassy off from access to the outside world. Esdan is clandestinely approached by messengers of the rebellion, asking officials of the Ekumen to visit them. Esdan, bored by his isolation, volunteers to make the journey across the government lines. He is intercepted by government forces as he attempts to cross into rebel territory, roughed up, and imprisoned on a large slave estate, where he is tortured. He is nursed by an elderly woman slave, and his injuries later treated by another, named Gana. Rayaye, a minister of the government visits him, and offers him his freedom if he helps the government in the civil war.