From Chief to Ball

The thirteen sacrifices seemed very cumbersome, but there was no problem for the clansmen at this time to take them out. Some clansmen were also thinking, if they worshiped their ancestors a long time ago, what could they come up with?

In addition to these, Chen Jianyong and the women sewed fiber cloth to make shapes of various beasts, filled with grass, and dyed strange colors with stones or grass leaves and flowers outside, giving full play to the imagination of the tribe.

The old grandmother, together with the stone and some older people, carefully used charcoal to draw the imprint of their ancestors on a huge fiber cloth.

Chen Jian looked at the things piled up around him, and then at the busy clansmen. The fly in the ointment was that the men in the clan were still shirtless. Occasionally, some of them were covered with fiber cloth, which was also strangely shaped.

However, the nettles and hemp will be harvested soon, and they will be able to wear clothes at the next sacrifice.The level of weaving fibers of the clansmen has improved a bit, and the cloth will not be a problem when finer twine appears.

After Wolf Pi and the others came back from hunting, Chen Jian discussed with the women and asked them to steam or bake the food for tomorrow's use.

The men followed Chen Jian to the riverside. Chen Jian took out the pottery drum, covered it with pigskin, and knocked it twice. The clansmen were startled, thinking it was thunder, and looked up at the sky.

When they realized that it was the sound of Chen Jian's drum, they were so curious that they crowded around to hit it with drumsticks.

Some people thought that when Chen Jian was digging the toilet, he said that he would have the power of lightning and thunder in the future. These people thought that this thing was dug out of the toilet.

Chen Jian explained for a long time, and then talked about the purpose of playing the drum.

After more than half a month of running-in, the clansmen were finally able to stand in a queue. Although they were still uneven, at least there would be no situation where they didn't know where to stand.

After a burst of rapid drumming, the clansmen immediately stood in three piles in a chaotic manner.Ten people with shields and stone axes lined up in three rows; those with empty hands formed a group of five, three in front and two behind; those with bows and arrows also formed a long row.

Chen Jian felt his heartbeat and counted the time to see when the team began to disperse. After about 5 minutes, the team began to become disorganized.

Hastily knocked again with a long and loud sound, it was agreed before that this is to disperse each other.

After practicing seven or eight times, I gradually became proficient, and it was getting dark. Today was a day of ten-day rest, so Chen Jian asked everyone to leave early.

The village in the evening was different from the past, shrouded in an atmosphere of anticipation and seriousness.Maybe it was infected by today's various preparations, maybe it was because I really felt the importance of the ancestors' guidance when arranging the sacrifices, in short, I lost the usual frolic.

After dinner, the clansmen all sat by the fire, and somehow the conversation turned to life.In new-found terms, who would have thought two months ago that this kind of life was possible?Who would have thought that there would be days when people would get tired of eating fish and would not want to eat fish?

The day when Chen Jian promised that a piece of grass could fill the stomachs of the clansmen, although they could not see it yet, they felt that it would not be far away.And this year is another big year, whether it is apricot, peach, hazelnut or pine nut, there is a good harvest, which is a good year.

The moon on the first day of the lunar new year is round and quietly shines on the village. The clansmen point to the moon in the sky, and the absinthe smoke tells of a good year, and they hear the sound of frogs.

Chen Jian took out the bone flute and played the simplest piece of music in the moonlight. No one said he was out of tune, and his slightly skewed voice melted in the moonlight, making it particularly intoxicating.

Chapter 36 A Simple Offering

The first day of the peach month is the first day after the clansmen have a simple calendar.

Whether it is the particularity given by the calendar or the fact that ancestors are to be worshiped, today is destined to be an important day for everyone living in the village.

Shitou and the tribe are now members of the village, and this day is equally important to them.

She woke up early, and the hot kang was covered with hay and furs, which was much more comfortable than when she was in the cave.The number of furs is much less than that of the tribe next door. After all, the family background of her tribe is very thin, but she is still very satisfied.

The tribe next door has everything, the only thing that is less than their own tribe is the surname.Many results were discussed, but everyone insisted on their own opinions.Some said Tao as their surname, some said Gong as their surname, and some wanted to take Xiong as their surname. They argued for a long time without any result.

At that time, Jian was holding a handful of grass seeds called Ji, claiming that pottery, bows, nets and other things would be eclipsed in the near future, but the clansmen still waited and watched before seeing it, and some people habitually agreed, But after all, it is still less convincing.

As for the proposal of bears, Jian said that it was the ancestors, and that every yellow-skinned and black-eyed person in the future will be the descendants of the ancestors, the land under our feet is the land with bears, and the village we live in is a village with bears , Wherever ancestors are sacrificed, there are bears, and those who wear their hair in a bun like us are the descendants of bears, and this cannot be used as a surname.

Shitou doesn't know the concept of country and group clan, only the concept of surname and blood clan, but he still understands the meaning of Jian.He is also a descendant of Black and White Bear, but in order to distinguish bloodline and offspring, he took Shi as his surname.

If Youxiong is the surname, and only the tribe next door is the descendant of Black and White Bear, what reason do you have to worship Black and White Bear?

The only person in my clan who has more people than the clan next door is this surname.The rest are not as good.

But life needs to be compared vertically, not horizontally. She probably understands this simple and simple truth.And every time the pigs and sheep brought back from hunting next door are sometimes distributed to them.

As the leader of the Shi surnamed tribe, she is more sensitive than others, so she clearly distinguished the difference between borrowing and giving away early.Now my tribe still owes a lot of fish to the tribe next door, but the other side didn't ask them to pay it back now.

The lives of the clansmen are much better than before. They are full of food and the place where they live is no longer humid.My youngest daughter was ill a few days ago, and the tribe next door brought me boiled eggs and water boiled with bitter grass.In order for the youngest daughter to drink it down, the girl named Yu Qian'er gave her a piece of maple syrup and a bowl of boiled apricots.

At this time, the apricots had already fallen, but Jian put the boiled apricots in a clay pot, covered the lid, sealed the lid with turpentine while it was hot, and put it in the dug cellar. Not bad yet.

Now my daughter has recovered from her illness, and she is still sleeping soundly on the kang. Last night, she was arguing to listen to brother Jian playing the flute, and she didn't fall asleep until midnight.

In fact, she herself liked listening to the sound of the flute. At that time, the moon was full and rising from the edge of the cliff, and the tribe did not speak, only the long flute sound and the beeping of the bonfire.

Listening to the sound of the flute, I seemed to fly into the sky and turned into a white cloud.

Watching the emerald grass river meander down, watching the white waves rolling on the river, the breeze blowing through the willows and reeds by the river, wrinkling the moon shadow in the lotus pond.The village stands tall, the children laugh, the smoke curls up, and I live by the river.

Thinking of the scene of building the house a few days ago, it seems that the labor of the clansmen has awakened the mountains and rivers.The former hillside has now become a village, the former creek has been dug in a different direction, and the wild pigs and sheep are quietly grazing in their nests...

The clansmen have their own different understandings, not just purely nice, and finally someone stood up and asked Jian what the flute was playing?

Shitou remembered that Jian stood up and pointed at the village and the Caohe Road in the distance: "Our village also has that big river."

She was a little surprised to find that not only herself, but more people had thought of this just now, and the flute seemed to be able to read other people's minds.

After a night, the melodious sound of the flute still seemed to echo in my ears.She stretched her waist, pushed open the door with the bark hanging down, and looked at the sky outside. Many people had already woken up. Many people must have not slept well last night, looking forward to today's sacrifice.

As usual, she picked up a bar of soap, tied up two short ropes, and went to the river to wash.Fetching water from upstream and freshening up downstream are things agreed upon by the clansmen, and those who violate them will be fined to carry stones.

The moss on the platform built of bluestone slabs has been trampled off by too many people, so it is not slippery.A few small fishes were chasing the white foam, and a few women were carefully arranging their braids. They were very good friends with the men in their clan these days.

Shi Shi found that these small changes are changing the lives of the tribe little by little. She is a generation younger than her grandmother, so what she thinks is that she should also adapt to such a life and pass on these experiences to the next generation instead of I feel like I'm getting old.

In the distance, Yu Qian'er ran over dragging her two neat braids, telling her that her old grandmother invited her to stew fish together, and tied the black and white bear drawn with charcoal yesterday with a rope.

By the time she finished preparing these things, the sun was already high, and Jian said that when the shadow of the house shrank to the slate that recorded the daily harvest, she would go down the mountain to prepare.

She was holding a large clay pot with fish patterns engraved on it, and there was a big fish in it, which was stewed with pepper leaves and dogwood and chive flowers, and it smelled very fragrant.A few wolf cubs followed behind, biting her calf, and were scolded by Yuqianer who followed behind, and she couldn't bear to beat her.

At the foot of the mountain, everyone was already there, and the men were standing disheveled as they usually practiced on the river beach.

Stone carefully placed the clay pot on the wooden platform, which was already filled with various food and some tools. The long bow was also there, and a piece of ochre-red cloth was hanging on the bow. Dancing with the wind.

dong dong dong...

A rush of drums suddenly sounded, like thunder in a dry day, a little more heavy and solemn than the light flute last night.

As the drums sounded, the men immediately stood in a few rows, and they were extremely shocked by the sound of the drums.Her heart also throbbed heavily with the sound of the drum. She raised her head and looked at the huge black and white bear banner that she sewed and was now hanging on the treetop, filled with admiration in her heart.

Amidst the thundering drums, she turned around and quietly looked at the distant village, and she had even more faith in the guidance of her ancestors.

The drum sounded for a while, and finally stopped, and then there was another hasty sound. All the people present knelt down on their knees, expressing their heartfelt gratitude to the flying black and white flags.

Slamming the palms of both hands on the ground, and lightly touching the palms of the head, this is the most defenseless posture, because they know that the real ancestors will not harm themselves, but will only guide them to live better.

After worshiping the ancestors, it is time to worship the heaven and the earth.Thank God for the sunshine and rain, and thank the earth for the prosperity of vegetation.

It's just that when worshiping, the fists are slightly clenched, and the head is not so low.Because the world not only has sunshine, rain, dew and lush vegetation, but also lightning, thunder, hail, frost and snow.In addition to being grateful, if there is a flood and frost, the clansmen will not close their eyes and wait for death, but will clench their fists and fight against it with hard work.