[The Silmarillion] Romimus

As expected by Angedil, the mysterious girl in the cave was not an ordinary person, and the passage of decades had not changed her face in the slightest.

But Angedil thought that his changes must be quite big, because the memory of the woman in front of him was almost as shocking as her beauty, and she also showed a dazed expression the moment he saw him.

But it was only two or three seconds before she recognized him.

"It's you again." She said, she didn't seem to be very angry or impatient, and of course she was even less likely to express her welcome. After glancing at Angedil out of the corner of her eye, she started to work on her own, Put him aside completely.

This made Angedil very embarrassed, but in order for the rest of the clan to survive the next winter, he could only risk his face and tell the truth about the current miserable situation of human villages and towns, hoping to win the other party's support. pity.

If it were someone with a little bit of sympathy, an old man in sixties with white beard and hair would cry bloody words in front of him for a long time, almost crying, and he would feel unbearable pity in his heart. He didn't respond, and Angedil didn't know if she was listening, so he continued to speak, until his lips were dry, he stopped and gasped, and Romimos didn't even lift his eyelids one time.

Angedil had no choice but to directly throw out his offer: "Can you help us?"

Romemos snorted: "No."

Angedil knew that the other party might reject him, but he never expected that the other party would reject him so simply. All the words that were still brewing were suppressed in his stomach, and he asked for a long time: "...Why?"

"Does this need a reason?" Romemos put down the pencil and drawings in his hand, and finally raised his head, "Maybe let me ask you, why do you think I should help you?"

Angedil was speechless for a moment.

Frankly speaking, until he was mercilessly rejected just now, Angedil still felt that the possibility of the other party's help was quite high. If you want to say where this confidence came from, it was probably because Romimos had given him His impression has always been quite upright, whether he helped him repel the wolves, or indirectly protected their clan from Orc harassment, although it was unreasonable on the surface, it did give them a lot of help, Therefore, Angedil also felt that the other party was just cold-hearted and warm-hearted. Although he didn't know who the other party was, he had always held a trace of gratitude and respect for Romimos in his heart.

"Because," he said nonchalantly after a while, "you are a good person..."

Romemos let out a chuckle.

"You really didn't guess who I am at all." She asked, smacking her lips, "I thought I was quite famous in Middle-earth."

Angedil's confusion was undisguised, should he guess who she is?

"Let's not talk about whether I am a good person or not." However, the other party did not take advantage of the situation to say who he is, and lightly brought the topic back, "Just take ten thousand steps back and treat me as a good person in your mouth first. So what? The elves are also good people, why don't you ask them for help?"

This is not bad. No matter how you look at it, asking for help from an elf is much more reliable than asking for help from an unidentified "female monster". Linton is far away, but it is only autumn now. It's not too hard to walk back and forth.If it was another human being, there would probably be no hesitation in choosing between the elves and Romimos.

However, the Harris family, alas, how should I put it, has been a very stubborn family since ancient times.When the Beor and Hador families actively and eagerly maintained a friendly alliance with the elves in the first era, the attitude of this family towards the elves and even other human races was always not salty, even in their most critical moment. Goodwill has been expressed to them, but this family has always maintained their arrogance, and has never pledged allegiance to any elf king for protection.

It is such a family with "the heart is higher than the sky, and the life is thinner than paper". Letting them accept other people's charity for nothing is really more uncomfortable than taking their lives.

But why can they ask Romemus to lend a helping hand without any pressure?

Angedil suddenly realized this, and at the same time, his face turned pale.

Because he really felt that Romemos should help them.

For a long time, the people of the Hares family worshiped Romimos as a god who truly protected them. Only Angedil knew that Romimos might not be a god, nor did he really intend to protect them, but She is indeed as mysterious as a god and has extraordinary abilities. In addition, everyone around her firmly believes that she is a god. Everyone says it every day, every year, even if it is a piece of wood that has been worshiped so devoutly for decades. There should also be some "divinity".

If the elves and humans are the same children, and they are not superior or inferior in name, then the gods, their wisdom and strength are beyond the reach of humans, or even incomprehensible. Before them, people seem to be born Even if they are small and humble, then it seems that it is not so shameful to beg for their mercy and alms.

"You may have misunderstood something." Romemos poured himself a cup of tea, "I didn't object when you wanted to settle here, because I was only staying here temporarily. This is not my territory, so I naturally There is no reason to drive you away, but this does not mean that I want to have anything to do with humans, you don't have to be grateful to me, and you don't have to offer sacrifices to me to pray for blessings, and likewise, don't expect me to be as kind as Vera."

Besides, even Vera didn't respond to every request, Romimus murmured silently in his heart.

"You don't need to say anything, I understand what you mean." Angedil interrupted Romemos, his voice was trembling, as if he was extremely embarrassed, but he still straightened his back, "I took the liberty, Since you are not willing, we will naturally not force it. Even if there is not a single grain of rice in our granary this year, the dignity still hangs on the faces of the Harris family."

After speaking, Angedil bent down to Romimos with difficulty, turned around and left decisively.

Romimos raised his eyebrows as he watched his back disappear.That's right, it's useless for her to talk nonsense, among other things, she still likes this kind of straightforwardness.

Then she picked up the pen and once again concentrated on drawing the sketch on the table.

Soon, half a month passed, and no one came to bother her as expected.

On this day in previous years, from early in the morning, people should have offered offerings to the gods next to Romemos' cave one after another, but this year, as expected, the place is deserted and deserted, and no one cares about it.It's not because Angdil preached "Stop offering sacrifices to that hapless 'god' after he went back, he doesn't care about anything at all", it's purely because they can't even fill their stomachs, how can they There is something to offer.

Romimos didn't care about this, the offerings were of no use to her other than piled up at the door to block her way, but now they were happy and quiet.

It wasn't until the sun was about to set that the first believer of the year finally appeared.

It was just a child, who looked about seven or eight years old, with short brown hair hanging curlyly around his ears, and his face was flushed red by the sunset glow in the sky.

He didn't see any adults or friends with him, only he came to the cave of Romemos alone, stared blankly at the dark and deep cave entrance for a long time, and finally offered himself to God He put the candy on a stone in front of the cave, so as not to make the sugar dirty, and put his handkerchief under it.

According to the tradition of previous years, when the sacrifices are offered, the sacrificial ceremony is over and the child can leave.But the child didn't intend to leave at all. After serving the candy, he continued to stare at the cave in a trance. When he was tired from standing, he even sat down directly outside the cave!Holding his knees and shrinking himself into a small ball, he sniffed his nose from time to time.

To be honest, Romimos didn't want to care about this child, he just stayed there if he liked, he couldn't see her anyway, even if he saw her, Romimos would have saluted everyone for his beauty. His eyes are used to it, and it doesn't affect it at all.

But seeing that the sky was getting dark, and the little brat remained motionless, Romimos couldn't help frowning.

Which family's child is this?Whose adults are so irresponsible?Did you know there are wolves in this woods?When the time comes when the child is taken away by wolves and gutted, don't come and cry to her again why God doesn't come to bless you...

10 minutes later--

Romemos waved his hand and signaled the crows to scare the child, and they would know to go home if they were scared.

The crows got the order, and began to make a loud noise in front of the cave, and at the same time flapped their wings and flew around, and several times their feathers even brushed the top of the child's head. It looked extremely eerie, and as expected, the child burst into tears, and his little face was blue with fright, but even so, he still sat there, motionless!

15 minutes later--

Romemos stood up resignedly.

"It's getting dark, you should go back," said Romemos.

She suddenly appeared like a ghost, startling the child, but the other party shivered, and the disbelief flashed in his eyes, and then he was full of surprises.

"Goddess! Are you a goddess?"

"It's dangerous in the forest at night, it's better for you to go home as soon as possible." Romemos ignored the other party's question and said expressionlessly.

The boy pursed his lips and muttered softly, "I don't want to go home..."

It turned out to be a child who had run away from home after quarreling with his parents, thought Romimos.She is no stranger to this kind of child's temper. When Elendil was a child, he would get into trouble and be scolded, and would occasionally run out of the house in anger. At that time, he was still close to Lan Wen, and he was willing to come to her when he was unhappy, and Lan Wen Wen often has a way to make him temporarily forget all the unhappiness. She likes children, as long as they don't get in the way of her, children are the cutest things in the world. Compared with most adults, they are more pure and better at absorbing from the world. Nutritious, but also more courage and enthusiasm to change something.

However, Romemos is not in the mood to coax the child right now. The design drawing in her hand is almost finished, and she is rushing to work in the dark. If there is a more direct and straightforward way to get the boy home, she will Of course you can't ask for it.

"The gods of the forest will be unhappy if you don't come home," she said threateningly to the child.

The child blinked, not afraid at all, but excitedly: "Then if I go home obediently, will the goddess be happy?"

What kind of child logic is this? What is there for her to be happy when you come home?Who said that the opposite of unhappy must be happy?

But Romemos just wanted the child to go home quickly, and nodded casually: "Well, yes."

"Then the goddess is happy, will she help us?" The child asked innocently again.

This time Romemos didn't speak for a long time, and under the shadow of the hood, her eyes became a little cold.

After a long time, Romemos stretched out his hand and patted the child's head lightly.That child is really a small stove, and his whole body is burning with heat.

"No." She said softly, "Go back and tell your adults to stop having unrealistic fantasies. Gods don't all care about humans."

Want to use the child to trick her into sympathy?Oh, they misjudged the person.

She was really confused for a moment, if it wasn't arranged on purpose, how could a half-grown child come to her alone when it was getting dark, and he was obviously afraid of dying but still lingering?

Pretending to be pitiful has always been her forte, but this time she was used by others to tease her, Romimos sneered at herself.

"Go home." She turned around, "This is the last warning, otherwise if something terrible happens later, you'd better cry out of my hearing."

The child pursed his lips, and Romemos was really afraid that he would start rolling and crying on the ground in the next second. Fortunately, although the disappointment in the child's eyes could not be concealed, he did not play tricks, and walked home dejectedly. go.

"Wait." Romemos suddenly stopped him, and when the child turned his head hopefully, he stuffed the piece of maltose holding the handkerchief back into his hand, "Take this back."

The child looked down at the candy in his hand, and put it back stubbornly: "This is for the goddess."

"It's useless. Even if you offer 100 yuan or 1000 yuan of candy, even if you move a mountain of candy, God will still be indifferent to your request. Your candy can't be exchanged for anything."

The child swallowed at the idea of ​​"a mountain of sugar" and said, "It's okay, this is a gift from me to the goddess, and the gift does not ask for anything in return."

"Huh?" Romimos raised half of his eyebrows. Is this kid stupid? "Do you think God will be rare for your gift?"

"Of course." The child looked innocent, "When I receive gifts, I will be very happy. In the past, Lady Goddess would receive a lot of gifts every year, but this year everyone has very little bread, and there is very little rice in the porridge. There is nothing to give to the goddess. The goddess must be very sad now."

Romemos snorted coldly: "No. One of the reasons why gods are different from humans is that gods don't need to eat and drink like humans. The messy things you send every year are worthless to her."

What made Romimos angry was that the child looked at her with more sympathy: "Hey, can't gods eat?"

"Of course you can eat food, but gods don't rely on material like humans, and their spiritual power is enough to support their bodies." Romimos said, "Ordinary mortal diets can indeed provide some energy, but relatively It is really insignificant in comparison. Besides, even for small things like eating and drinking water, using a physical body to interact with other materials in the world will deepen the connection between this body and the world to varying degrees. This body..."

She explained a lot, and the child probably only understood the first sentence - God can eat.

"That's great, if you can't eat anything delicious, then God is too pitiful."

The veins on the forehead of Romimos twitched: "Do you not understand other people's words? Taking a step back, even assuming that God also needs to eat, such a small piece of candy can't even fill your own small stomach. What else can it be used for?"

"I also want a lot of candy, but this is the only one I have." The child was yelled at and felt aggrieved, "Although sugar is always not enough, when you are in a bad mood, a small piece can make you happy. You Just try it, it tastes sweet."

I didn't know sugar was sweet!Romemos can’t laugh or cry, this is a bit of a headache for children, they have their own unique logic, for example, they believe that as long as a piece of candy can change people’s mood, and they firmly believe in it, the truth of adults is the same as that of them No way.

In the end, Romimos didn't return the candy, because the child insisted on giving away things and couldn't take them back, and Romimos didn't force her. She wrapped the candy and put it back, she thought, wait until then When a child can't stand hunger and cold, he knows to take the candy back.

A week later, Romemos finally finished drawing her design, and when she was free, she thought about it again.

On a whim, she went stealthily to the village to see how the boy was doing, whether he was beaten up by his parents because he came home too late, and maybe he was still locked up at home thinking about it.

But she went around the whole village twice, but couldn't find the child again.

"Where is that child?" Romemus asked the crows.

"You mean the boy who came here a few days ago?" said the crows. "He's dead."

As if time had stopped flowing, after six or seven seconds, Romimos blinked his eyes slowly as if he had just reacted.

"Dead?" she asked. "How? He was fine a few days ago."

"No, that boy had a fever that day," said the crows. "He was ill."

"Is he sick?"

Romemos didn't know this, she thought of the child's flushed cheeks, she thought it was the redness of the sunset; and the body temperature was indeed slightly higher than ordinary people, she thought the child's temperature was higher .She hadn't dealt with humans much before, and she didn't know what a sick person looked like.

"Humans are easy to get sick, especially children among them. They are like freshly grown flower bones, delicate and fragile. If you don't pay attention, you may get sick." The crows said, "For example, if the weather is too cold or too hot, It is hot, eats too much or too little, drinks water that humans consider unclean, wounds rot after injury, and even a bite from rats and mosquitoes may kill them. Since the flood not long ago After it passed, a lot of people in that village were getting sick."

"Since you're not feeling well, why are you still running around?" Romimos frowned, "Does his parents not care at all?"

"His father is not at home." "It should have gone to the mountains to dig wild vegetables with other men in the village." "They have nothing to eat, they can only eat those things." "His mother is taking care of his sister, and the girl is still there." By the age of two." "And that woman seems to have a child in her belly." "When a human being gets sick, the humans around him may also get sick. His mother told him to stay in the room obediently and not to run around. ’” “But he opened the window and escaped by himself.”

The crows chattered so loudly that Romimos had a headache.

"why?"

"We don't know about it. Human beings are always complicated, and so are children." The crows said, "But two days later, his condition suddenly became very bad, and he died before the sun came out."

Romemos didn't ask any more questions.

This was originally a matter that had nothing to do with her, but two days later, the image of the dead child was still lingering in Romemos' mind.

It's not that she's sad about it. Reasonably, what's there to be sad about?That child had nothing to do with her, and they only met once before he died.

But it seems that she really misunderstood the child. The child came to her spontaneously, not at the instigation of the adults in the village.

Romemos may have felt guilty for blaming him for a while, but it was only for a moment, she is not a person who would feel guilty about her mistakes, not to mention that even if she knew it in advance, the result would not be any different , she still won't change her mind to help humans.

What kept Romemus thinking about the child was curiosity and confusion.

She couldn't figure out what the child was thinking. He was so sick, why did he come to her alone?

Perhaps he thought that as long as he was devout enough, his god would appear and heal him.Hmph, then he really begged the wrong person, let alone whether Romemos wants to save him, even if Romemos is willing, there is nothing she can do to help, Maia and the elves will not get sick, and Romemos can save people from illnesses. Scott didn't understand anything.

But the child didn't tell Romemos about his illness, and he didn't even say a word to hint how uncomfortable he was. When he spoke, his voice was indeed nasal, but his eyes were too clear. In the end, he got nothing from Romemos, and even took a piece of candy in vain. Even so, he never showed a trace of resentment.

So what the hell is he here for?It can't be just to send a piece of candy, right?That's ridiculous.

She should have been more patient and had a talk with the kid.Why did he sneak out alone to find her when he was seriously ill?Why don't you want to go home?Did he foresee the imminent death upon him?Is he afraid?At the moment before he died, did he still hold on to the hope that God would come to save him, or did he just accept his fate?

These questions became a complete mystery as the child's eyes were closed, and Romemus knew that he would never see him again in Ardane, and this was the death of mankind.

Romimos walked out of the cave silently. At this time, half of the autumn had passed, and the ground was covered with dead branches and fallen leaves. The surroundings were desolate, and there was no laughter from the village not far away.

There was still that piece of sugar on the stone beside the cave, which had been put there for several days, and it had already melted and became sticky, sticking to the handkerchief. In the mouth, after a while, the sugar melted in her mouth.

It's too sweet to taste anything other than sweet.

How could a child as sweet as sugar melt away in an instant like sugar?