|
Reader question: Please explain this sentence: “If talks fail, you can always dig up the hatchet.” What hatchet? My comments: If peace talks fail, you can always take up arms and renew fighting. We may infer that at least some in the peace talks don’t believe in securing permanent peace. They’re ready to rediscover their weapons and go back onto the battlefield. We may safely thus infer because that’s basically what “dig up the hatchet” means. “Dig up the hatchet”, you see, is a variation and opposite of the American Indian idiom “bury the hatchet”. When American Indian tribes stop fighting each other and make peace, one of the rituals in the ceremonies is that the chiefs come together and literally bury the hatchets brought from both sides. Hatchets are small axe-like weapons that can be held in one hand. In the ceremonies, the hatchets are used as a symbol for all weaponry. By burying the hatchet, therefore, the two tribes are agreeing to put down all weapons. And when they do that, giving up all forms of weaponry, they certainly are serious to give up violence and make peace. Think about it, what a great idea this is, burying the hatchet in order to secure peace. If America and North Korea all give up nuclear weapons, for example, the current nuclear tension on the Korean Peninsula is diffused instantly. It will not happen, but you get the picture. Burying the hatchet is a powerful gesture. It’s like in ancient China, some armies let all their battle horses loose – to graze freely in the woods, in the wild, signaling this time, peace was sought sincerely and permanently. | 
