[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The "outlander" who came from afar was injured because of helping him, and the people of Eridu were very sorry.As promised, they really took good care of the little Hamti, and applied medicated oil made of conch or clam to his swollen ankle, so that Hamti could smell himself, I also feel like a fragrant seafood.

Ake, on the other hand, didn't say a word except to take care of his companions, walking around the "dock" all the time, observing silently.

The Eridians no longer dared to pile logs on the top of the slope, and they looked around for a suitable place.

Unexpectedly, Ake passed by and only made a gesture: "You guys, turn them... across."

A word of reminder made the people of Eridu suddenly realize that as long as the logs are stacked perpendicular to the slope, the dangerous situation just now would be impossible.

"Young man, thank you for reminding me, your mind is so bright!"

The people of Eridu were very grateful to Ake.

Unexpectedly, Ake continued to speak: "Actually...you don't need to spend so much effort to fish wood from the water."

The people of Eridu looked around: For so many years, they have used fiber ropes to fish up wood from the water in this way; the labor is indeed very laborious, but...is there a better method than this?

The young Ake was obviously clumsy with words, so he just stretched out his hand and gestured: "You guys, looking for logs of this thickness, four, and a stake..."

There were a lot of materials at the scene, and the Eridu people immediately held the mentality of "trying it out". According to what Ake said, they found four logs and tied them into a "well" shape with hemp rope. It rests on a wooden stake fixed deep in the foundation of the slope.

The fiber rope was tied to these logs. The Eridu people found four strong and strong men, each of them chose a position to stand still, and pushed hard in the same direction. In this way, the heavy logs were dragged bit by bit, and slowly dragged ashore.

Sure enough, as Ake said, using this method to drag the same logs, the people of Eridu needed fewer hands and saved a lot of effort.

Now the people of Eridu look at Ake and Hamti even more differently:

"Young man, you are very good!"

Hamti interjected: "Of course, we came here from Uruk..."

This outspoken guy immediately revealed his secrets.

"Uruk? Are you from Uruk?"

"It's not like that!" The Eridians looked at each other and said in unison.

Earlier, the Uruk people had given them the impression of being arrogant and unreasonable, but these young people who were willing to help others, even brave enough to help others, did not match their impression at all.

Ake didn't have any other emotions after his friend "failed to speak", but asked the people of Eridu to continue to work in a new way——

"Go ahead, let me see if there is anything that can be improved about this 'winch'."

"winch?"

The Eridians looked at each other, and they finally knew the name of the brand-new tool in front of them.

"winch?"

Dumuzi asked Yi Nan in surprise: "Did you ask Ake to tell the people of Eridu how to winch?"

Inan nodded.This method has not even been put into use in Uruk. It is just that the tour group came all the way, and Yinan had nothing to do, so he gave advice to Dumuzi and Ake.Both of them have good savvy, and both have done carpentry.As soon as Yi Nan said it, they both understood it when they thought about it.

Unexpectedly, now Inan asked Ake to teach this method to the Eridu people first.

"Yes, I just want the residents of Eridu to know that we have the power to do a lot, and we are happy to share it with them."

Yi Nan did not deny her motive at all—she kept Ake not only to take care of Hamti, but also to express friendship and help the poor with technology.

Dumuzi scratched the back of his head, quickly understood Yinan's intentions, nodded vigorously, and said with a smile: "With Ake here, the people of Eridu must soon know what a skilled craftsman is."

At this time, the "pioneer team" of the tour group had come to a fork in the road.

This is a three-way intersection, and the road in front of you leads in two different directions.On the opposite side of the tour group was a sad-faced old woman, sitting in front of a low wooden house, in front of a flat sand table filled with sand.

The old lady used the branch in her hand to draw repeatedly on the sand table. After painting for a while, she probably felt dissatisfied, so she shook the sand table, and the sand inside was immediately re-leveled, and the surface of the sand table became flat again. Repainted.

At this time, the Eridu guide bowed respectfully to the people in front of him, and then said to Inan and the three others: "If you want to see Enki, the main god of Eridu, you need to ask this mother-in-law for directions."

Yi Nan became curious: There are only two roads in front of me. Could it be that the people who come here are different, and the roads pointed out by her mother-in-law are also different?

The guide nodded very seriously: "Young foreigner, it is indeed the case. Whether you can see Enki or not depends entirely on this mother-in-law. Even us locals are the same."

With that said, the guide said goodbye to the tour group: "Thank you for your selfless help to us today, I wish you good luck, and you can meet the god Enki smoothly."

Yi Nan paid a little attention when the guide was speaking, and she noticed that the mother-in-law's eyelids were raised.

When the guide mentioned "foreigners", the wrinkles on the mother-in-law's face seemed to tremble slightly; when the guide said "giving a helping hand selflessly", the expression on the mother-in-law's face softened again.

Yi Nan thought to himself: Although it is difficult, there is hope.

After the guide left, the tour group came to the mother-in-law.Yi Nan greeted each other politely——

"Grandmother, hello, we want to meet Enki, the Lord God of Eridu. Can you tell us which way we can go to meet him?"

The mother-in-law lowered her head, looked at the sand table in front of her, and spoke tremblingly.

"I have three grandsons, four granddaughters—"

At this time, Dumuzi and Guda also gathered together.When Yi Nan and the two of them heard the old woman's words, they looked at each other in astonishment: They obviously came to ask for directions, not to check the household registration.

But Dumuzi's reaction was quick, and he immediately made a gesture to remind his companions to listen carefully to what the mother-in-law said.

"I have seven cormorants and I want to share them equally for my grandson and granddaughter."

It's simple—one for each person is enough, Yinan thought to himself: After all, it's not about dividing the seventeen cows equally among the three sons①.

"These seven cormorants can catch seventeen fish a day—"

Gu Da has already calculated quickly in his mind: "That's 110 nine fish."

"But the cormorant will eat ten fish by itself—"

Yi Nan suddenly wanted to laugh: "These cormorants have quite a good appetite."

Gu Da clapped his hands together: "It's easy, you can save 49 fish every day."

Unexpectedly, the old lady hadn't finished speaking: "These big fish can eat seven small fish—"

Gu Da quickly calculated: "That's 340 three..."

"Each small fish can lay seven eggs—"

Guda seemed to be particularly excited when he encountered this kind of moment. It was no longer enough for him to rely on mental arithmetic. He stretched out his hand and drew Sumerian numerals and symbols on the ground as an aid.

"Two thousand... two thousand four hundred and one..."

"Each fish egg can hatch seven small fish—"

"So how many cormorants, big fish, small fish, fish eggs, and small fish have I given to my grandchildren in total? What is the total?" The mother-in-law's face was distressed.Yi Nan saw the branches in her hands moving, and drew five Sumerian numbers representing "seven" on the sand table.

It seems that the mathematics of Eridu has the same origin as that of Uruk, but the two cities have developed independently, and the priests of Uruk may be better than Eridu in terms of calculation ability.

The old woman asked the tour group this question, let alone the fact that the question is a bit absurd - after all, the small fish eaten by the big fish can no longer lay eggs, and it is impossible for the eggs of a small fish to hatch so accurately that only seven small fish can be hatched. Little fish come——On this topic alone, this is a problem of summing the geometric sequence with the first term being 7 and the common ratio being 7.

After the old lady asked the question, Gu Gu pursed her lips tightly and counted quickly.

"Sixteen thousand eight hundred and seven little fishes, add all these together, it is..."

"Nineteen thousand six hundred and seven!" After Gu Da reported this number, his face flushed with excitement, which showed that he was very satisfied with his calculation ability.

The old woman's eyes lit up, then darkened again.

In her sandbox, there are still those five numbers.

"Let me show you!" Gu Da enthusiastically said to the mother-in-law that it was rare for him to encounter something that he was very good at.

After he had finished speaking, he remembered that all his calculation abilities came from Uruk. It stands to reason that he should not easily pass on these calculation methods without permission.

Then Gu Da looked back at Yi Nan in panic, only to see Yi Nan smiling like a delicate flower, and nodded to Gu Da with encouraging eyes.

The mid-level priest finally breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at the old woman's sand table, took the branch from her hand, and seriously calculated on the sand.

Yinan and Dumuzi looked at each other, and both of them realized something.

Gu Da's calculation method is very special. He drew five rectangles of different lengths in the old woman's sand table, representing cormorants, big fish, small fish, fish eggs and small fish respectively.

In the sand table, these five rectangles are elongated one by one, forming a ladder.Guda wrote a number in each rectangle, representing each value in the sequence, and after adding up, it was the total number of gifts that the old lady gave to her grandchildren.

Gu Da calculated very quickly. When he had just counted all the small fish that the big fish could eat, the old woman was already a little overwhelmed, so she reached out to stop Gu Da and asked him to speak more carefully.

"But, mother-in-law, we need to meet the Lord God Enki. I can't stay and teach you now?"

The old woman looked very stubborn, stretched out her skinny hand, and clasped Guda's wrist: "My grandson and granddaughter are still waiting for their cormorants, big fish and small fish..."

Her hands are strong, but her tone is very soft: "Young man who came from afar, please clear up my old lady's doubts!"

"But... these calculations will become more and more complicated. I will explain them all clearly. I may not be able to do it until the sun goes down." Gu Da knows how time-consuming it is to teach a person with a weak foundation to master these calculations thing.

The old woman didn't let go of Gu Da's intentions at all: "But, my old woman has four granddaughters and three grandsons - all of them are very smart, there must be one who can understand from you, right?"

Gu Da looked up at Yinan and Dumuzi as if asking for help, and asked in an uncertain tone: "Miss Nan, how about...you two go first, and I will stay here first, and come after I have learned all these things. Catch up with you?"

Yi Nan looked at Gu Da, besides being in a dilemma, this mid-level priest also had an expression of eagerness to try.

Based on Yinan's understanding of Guda, this middle-level priest should be best at arithmetic. In this field, he is slightly better than others in the team, and only this field can give him enough satisfaction.

Before Yi Nan could speak, he saw the old woman pointing to a road on the left.

"Gu Da, be careful yourself." Yi Nan agreed decisively, "It won't be too late to catch up with us after you have taught everything you can."

When Gu Da heard the words, his face immediately became happy.

When Yinan said, "teach everything that can be taught", he naturally meant that after the immediate cormorant problem was solved, there would be other guidance for the old woman and her family.Yi Nan has never been stingy in these aspects, and Gu Da understands it, and is sure that he can make full use of his strengths and be respected and praised by others. How can he be unhappy?

If Gu Da stays here, there must be someone to take care of the food and drink. There is no need to worry about accommodation, and Yi Nan is more at ease.

Unexpectedly, just as she and Dumuzi were about to start their journey, the old woman suddenly said, "Let the horses stay too!"

Yinan: So you know it's a horse.

She had never seen a camel like a horse or a donkey in Eridu, but now hearing what this granny said, she felt that she knew a lot, and she couldn't be just an ordinary old woman.

She and Dumuzi looked at each other, and they both nodded.

The old lady must have intentions in saying this, maybe the road ahead is not suitable for horses.

So Dumuzi took off a rucksack on his body and handed it to Guda.He himself patted the horse's back lightly, leaned into the horse's ear and talked for a long time, as if saying goodbye to the bay red horse.

In the end, Dumuzi did not forget to tell Guda to take good care of the bay horse.

Gu Da looked embarrassed: "I dare not!" The bay red horse is a strong horse that even ordinary horse trainers can't control.

Dumuzi laughed immediately: "Look at what's in your backpack?"

Gu Da took a look: "Maltose?"

With this gluttonous horse's favorite snack, what's he got to be afraid of?

Gu Da immediately smiled, held his backpack and said, "Miss Nan, Dumuzi, don't worry, I will take good care of this little guy."

The bay red horse also seemed to understand the master's arrangement for him. When Dumuzi told Guda to hand over the rope around his neck, he didn't express any strong objection, but just wagged his tail, looking a little bored .

But when Gu Da reached into his rucksack and took out a piece of malt candy, the bay red horse immediately showed an extremely affectionate attitude. After eating the candy in one gulp, he rubbed his neck next to the flattered Gu Da.

In this way, there were originally five people and three animals in the tour group, but now only Yinan and Dumuzi remained, plus a shepherd dog.

"Are you sure you can meet Enki?" At this moment, Dumuzi talked to Yi Nan without any scruples.

"As soon as I entered the fishing village of Eridu, I felt that I had a chance to meet Enki." Inan replied honestly. "When I met that mother-in-law just now, I feel even more confident."

The tour group traveled all the way, stayed in the Eridu villages, traded with them, helped them, and got their help——Inan always felt that someone was watching them secretly.

This feeling has become more obvious just now: how can the old woman who is responsible for guiding people bother about property distribution in the street?Obviously, this is testing the ability of the tour group and whether the tour group is willing to share this ability with others.

If they don't give a suitable answer, it is very likely that any of the two forks will make them return to the original point without success.

It was precisely because of this that when the old woman specifically reminded Yi Nan that they should keep the horse, Yi Nan decisively agreed.She realized: the road ahead should no longer be suitable for horses to walk on.

If she guessed right, the road leading to the Temple of Enki should be a waterway, a very long waterway——

Sure enough, not long after, Yinan and Dumuzi came to the end of the road, facing a vast expanse of water.

The two exclaimed at the same time: It seems that today's journey has gone from the salt fields by the sea to the Euphrates River - the mouth of the river is in front of you, where two different colors of water meet and converge.

On the freshwater side of the Euphrates, an island appeared in the wide mouth of the river.From a distance, there are many houses on this island in the river.These houses were exactly the same as the ones Yinan and the others had seen in the fishing village earlier. They were based on wooden piles and nailed into the solid ground under the water.The foundation of the house is built on these strong wooden piles.

The whole island is self-contained. Although the houses on the island are not tall, they can give people a solemn and solemn feeling.

It is very different from the Temple of Inanna - the Temple of Inanna has been built over thousands of years and has been built higher and higher. It is located on the skyline of Uruk and has become a holy place in the hearts of Uruk residents.

But this island, located at the junction of the Euphrates River and the freshwater and seawater of the Persian Gulf, seems to echo the identity of the owner-Enki, the legendary water god of the Sumerians, who is in charge of both freshwater and seawater.

There is no better place to build a sanctuary belonging to Enki, and the island itself is the temple of Enki.

Yi Nan, Du Muzi, and Xiao Hei stood on the shore, looking at the small island in the distance, but found that they seemed to have no way to get to the island.

"Do we have to wait for the low tide?" Yinan said to himself, "But the low tide doesn't necessarily mean that there will be roads out of the water?"

After all, this is the mouth of the mighty river, the Euphrates. It is very unlikely that a road will automatically appear on the riverbed leading to the island after the tide ebbs.

Dumuzi looked left and right, seemed to find something, and let out a "huh".

At this moment, Yiye Xiaorao responded to Yinan's question, and the raft came down from the upstream and slowly along the river bank.A middle-aged man stood on the raft and asked Yi Nan, "Guests from afar, may I ask if you plan to visit the god Enki?"

Yi Nan looked at the raft under the uncle's feet in amazement, and almost forgot to answer.

I saw that this raft was different from the rafts they used to cross the river all the way—under this raft, there were seven or eight things that looked like air bags.

"It's the skin of a whole sheep—"

Dumuzi was a shepherd by profession in the past, and he recognized these inflated sheepskin airbags at a glance. ②

So this coin that suddenly appeared before their eyes was actually a sheepskin raft?

Yi Nan understood at a glance: the rafts they saw earlier were all used as tools for crossing rivers between relatively calm and narrow rivers.But now on big rivers, sheepskin rafts are obviously lighter than wooden rafts, less strenuous to paddle, and easier to reach small islands in the middle of the river.

Yi Nan hurriedly nodded to the uncle on the sheepskin raft.

The uncle stretched out his index finger to Yinan: "Alone!"

Yinan and Dumuzi looked at each other.

"Only one person!" The uncle waved what looked like a wooden oar in his hand, "Whoever gets here and wants to meet Enki must pass me. But my raft can only carry one person."

Yinan and Dumuzi looked at the sheepskin raft together: the airbags made of sheepskin were densely packed together one by one, and the area of ​​the raft above the airbags was indeed very small. Excluding the paddling uncle, it was true that only one person could board. raft.

"Uncle, after sending us there alone, can you please go back and pick up another person on your raft?" Yinan asked kindly.

"No, young man," the uncle on the raft shook his head. "This is the will of the gods—if you want to visit Enki from here, you must obey his arrangement."

"He said my raft can only take one person, just one person."

"You mean, according to Enki's words, your raft can only accommodate one person?" Dumuzi suddenly interrupted and asked.

"Isn't that so?" The uncle seems to be outspoken, he can say everything, and he can't stop talking, "I'm afraid you have encountered many difficulties and obstacles along the way, right? But even so, if you go against your grace According to Ji's instructions, even if you are in front of the gods, the gods will not be happy to meet you."

"Come on, young man, tell me your decision - girl or boy, which one of you will take my raft and go to meet the god Enki?"

Yinan turned to Dumuzi, and the two of them put their heads together, discussing in a low voice.Yinan said: "It was my idea to come to Eridu, and it should be me to meet Enki at the end..."

She didn't know what would happen when she went to Enki's island, but she felt that it would be better to go by herself - after all, she has an immortal body, she is not an ordinary person, at least there is no problem in getting out of the body.

Dumuzi hesitated: "But I..."

Yi Nan hurriedly said, "If you don't have a better idea, then listen to me!"

This has almost become an agreed way between the two of them to make a decision.Dumuzi immediately shut up, no longer opened his mouth, thinking silently.

Yi Nan stretched out his hand, patted Dumuzi on the shoulder, and said in a low voice, "Go back and see if everyone is well. Believe me, we will be reunited soon."

Dumuzi was obviously reluctant, but he held back, didn't say anything else, just opened his arms and hugged Yi Nan gently, and finally whispered: "Then, dear Nan, please believe me too! "

Yi Nan got on the sheepskin raft, and the raft traveled half the distance from the shore to the small island. Suddenly, the uncle paddling said with a smile: "Beautiful girl, actually, Enki's mind is very unpredictable——"

Yi Nan turned around in a daze, looked at the other party, and asked, "What do you say?"

"I have been rafting on this big river for so many years, and I have met many people like you who want to meet Enki and get blessings from him."

"However, some people obeyed Enki's instructions, but they still didn't get Enki's favor; some people disobeyed Enki's words, but they still had a chance to get God's gift——I'm sorry, these words are just now you are on the shore At that time, I couldn't say anything."

"But I can tell you now that the god Enki calls this journey of yours the 'Test of Faithfulness'."

"Enki wants to know whether the people who come to see him have loyal followers. Are these followers willing to follow you at all costs..."

"A test of loyalty?" Yi Nan was quite surprised—her reaction was quick, and she suddenly realized that the decision she just made might be wrong?