Tianwen·Magweth Pengolodh

Going on, these summer greetings gradually changed.The woman stood at the door and complained.The men drank happily at night, and fought very happily.Worst of all, the breeze that blew from the sunlit pier brought a stench and flies, and it was impossible to forget that the port of Romenna was made of fishing.

Alfwine's business has been obviously sluggish recently, and Pengolod can't help being worried.But Alfwine said: "It's so normal. Now all the ships are out to sea, and the rich and powerful go to Forosta or Emeril. Usually I can't even find a lodger." That being said, he or Ah Tang went out in their own boat more often, and brought back fish or shrimps and crabs to eat, which was not a habit for them in the past.

When the weather was humid, Alfwine's legs hurt even more, and he showed the hot side of his temper to Tom, especially when it came to using the boat.Ah Tang was not used to arguments, and his reaction was to flee the shop as soon as he finished his work every day.These "excursions" were good for Tom. When he came back at dusk, he was reddened and browned by the sun, his complexion looked healthier, and he was a little tired so that he could concentrate.Evidently he had spent a great deal of time aboard the various ships, and talked about them with delight, on the pretext that Alfwine might be able to get some work out of these comings and goings.After going on like this for three nights, Alfwine interrupted him: "Boy, I'm not a fool. I don't need an apprentice to tell me how to do business. If you want me to say a good word one day and help you get on a decent boat, You'd better stay here, where I need you. Do you hear me?" Ah Tang managed to catch his breath and agreed. "Then go and express your determination, and go to the well to fetch some more water."

After Tang went out to work, Alfwine confessed to Pengolods: "His family sent him away from Armenelos not only because of his poor performance in the regular academy, but also because of his lanky and sloppy appearance. Not fancy. They thought that when he got past his embarrassing age and got on the stage, at least they could get back a decent low-level clerk. They would regret it. After their children went to sea, they would be embarrassed for many years. Out of mind, out of mind."

"You're not going to keep him to help you? If his family is as you say, it won't take you any trouble to keep him," Pengolods said.

Alfwine pulled his beard and shook his head slowly: "No, he fell in love with Uni. This year his feelings became stronger. I know what it's like to go to sea—blue waves and blue waves, brand-new coasts and A strange island. Now that I understand it, I cannot deprive him of the opportunity to choose for himself."

Pengolod marveled at such selflessness and asked, "Alfwine, how on earth did you become such a good man?"

"Am I? I haven't noticed it lately. The moisture makes my blood stagnate." Alfwine pulled his beard again, "When I was young, every time someone tortured me or spoke ill of me, I swore Do it differently. As a cripple, I have seen many examples of this."

At this time, Ah Tang came back from fetching water.The two mortals mixed up another batch of summer heat soup that Elfwine loved to drink.When Ah Tang peeled the cucumber without complaint, the room was quiet again (Alfwine said that the cucumber peel would make the hot summer soup bitter).Alfwine plucked sour plum and mint leaves.The light fell on the two of them, both of whom had suntanned skin and thick hair washed clean from swimming in the ocean.Pengolod shook his long braid lightly while watching, and realized how greasy his hair was made by the heat, and couldn't help shuddering.

The next day, he went to a public bathhouse in Romenna.There are several of these bathhouses, crowded at the foot of the fjord to catch the water rushing down from the cliffs.The building closest to Kingstown is a gray stone and wood building, which looks wet and divided into two halves, male and female.The bathing facilities inside were naturally not comparable to the amazing marble bathtub in the Tar-Minastir palace, but Pengolod was used to taking things as they came, and was satisfied with a wooden bathtub and a handful of soft soap.The janitor at the door of the men's bathhouse frowned at him, and he paid an extra coin, so he got a wooden cubicle where he could bathe alone instead of going to the public bath.

Pengolod scrubbed for quite a while before he finally felt like he was human again.When he came out, the bathhouse janitor seemed to have expected what he would ask again: "The courtyard is at the back." Pengolod thought, this man obviously understood the needs of the guests.He went cheerfully to the yard, where he was going to sit until his black hair dried.

The benches in the small yard are surrounded by a circle, and the men sitting on them are those who can afford the service in the bathhouse, and most of them are drying their curly or messy wet hair in the sun.A few were bald and shiny, and Pengolod guessed they were enjoying the sun and their companions.Some whispered, but to Pengolod's smile, a large, rugged man was sitting on a bench, snoring softly, with an empty seat beside him.Pengolod also wanted to be quiet, so he sat sideways beside the man, letting his hair fall completely.

That's when he realized that the women's yard was next door, separated from the men's by a thin wooden wall.He could hear a voice on the other bench, a voice he knew—Widow Rosenzil.

Behind the partition, Rosenzil was saying, "Oh! It's a blessing to be able to sit down for a while. When I'm rich, I'm going to come here every day, not just once a month." Pengolo There is no doubt that Rosenzil will change his mind if he sees the palace.

"Sister, you are talking." Another woman with a rougher voice said.Pengolod thought of Rosenzil's wary friend, the burly Putani. "My own feet hurt up to my neck from last night's work."

Rosenzil chuckled: "Then you still want me to go with you to serve—and fend off—those drunkards."

"By the time they're all drunk, they'll think I'm as good-looking as you. Then it's my choice! I can sleep in until morning."

"I suppose so. You're usually busy until the cock crows." After a moment's silence, Losingzil said, "Yes, I'm more tired than a cart-horse, but I must do something. If I stay The old place, then I'll always be their son's widow, the childless widow of their son. No, that kind old lady Ezeran is right, selling muffins in this place is a decent place Good way for a man." Pengolod turned completely around, staring at the wall that conveyed this practical opinion.

"It's not good for you to completely soften your heart to a person right away. How about waiting for him to 'visit and start pursuing' you properly?" Pengolod listened more attentively, wondering about Alfwine's Who is the rival in love.

"He's started!" said Rosenzil plaintively, "He started, and—then the elf came back." Pengolod stared at the wall, as if Rosenzir could see his face Shock.He never spoke ill of her.

Putani seemed to agree with him.She asked disapprovingly: "So what, what's the problem?"

"Several of them. Next to him, I... he was so beautiful that I was ashamed. I felt so low. I hardly knew what to say to the elves. I was still a widow, since Alfwine befriended the elves. , maybe they think like them—widows shouldn’t remarry.” Rosenzil was silent for a while, “But it’s more than that.”

Putani snorted: "That's good, because I have never heard a more stupid excuse than this. Everyone knows that the elves can always come back. They must understand that we are human, we only have this one life, and there is no more Already!"

Rosenzil's voice sounded worried: "I hope so, but I walked with that elf once, and I heard him tell a story. It was as if he had cast a spell, as if— Anne thinks you're very nice, and what would it be like to join you at that tavern and tell you how to charm men like she does?"

"Hey, you say that, I love to hear it," Putani said enthusiastically, "do you think she will?"

Losingzil said: "Look, you're happy now, aren't you? It's like you're in those wonderful old stories yourself, you're still you, but you're special and chosen. Real life Things, our lives, are different from this. I feel the same way when I hear the elves tell stories. If the elves lived in my house and gave me such thoughts, I wouldn't make time for love. She sighed, sounding very much like Alfwine in a way, "I'm not that charming, not that I'm magical in my own right. I have a way of making a man feel like a man , even if he doesn’t deserve it, but I can’t do it—I can’t make him feel like he’s walking in his own story.”

Pudani complained: "You mean, it's good at first, but it's not good when that elf is around? You give me a headache. You match that writer very well. Why can't this matter be simpler, for example, my name is Is it okay for him to be beaten up?"

Rosenzier sighed again: "It would be easier if he went to sea, and I wouldn't have to see him just for a little while every day, and it would stir up a lot of fresh gossip. Then I could just worry about it like everyone else. Those pretty sailor boys and Middle-earth women desperate to get out of the mud. It's so extravagant and stingy the way it is now. I just want to have time with him, nothing else."

"Which one? Elf or Alfwine? I don't mind being with either."