Episode 7. festival (1)
I am quite satisfied with this life. Shepherds are said to be slaves, but if you live buried in the mountains like this, it is rather difficult to meet someone who is not a slave.
As such, it is not common to experience sad things because of your status, and in a way, you can lead a stable life as much as an office worker for the rest of your life.
If I had to mention one minor complaint I had as a slave…
“I want to go to a festival today…”
Slaves cannot move freely.
I also want to see the city at least once, and I want to get some fresh air in the city. His name was a humanities student, so wouldn’t he like to see the remains of ancient Greece alive and breathing?
And since I’m not the only one plagued by moths, incapacitated shepherds are permitted to travel to the city once a year for a festival honoring their patron deity Pan.
That festival day is the only day the shepherds are free, the day I can smell the city…
“Can not be done.”
It should have been …
“Mother, it’s already been 7 years since I was born. All the kids from other houses go out, so why am I the only one…”
“When a child goes out, it is easy to attract fairies and bad luck. Especially in cities.”
My father, who has been watching my mother and I argue, looks around and whispers, as if something big would happen if I go out to the city.
“Listen to your mother. I heard that there are many people who kidnap children in the city these days. From shoplifters to vagrants…”
“Father, don’t you know what festival it is today? If I didn’t go out today and I was really cursed, what would you do? Will you take responsibility and curse me instead? Do you swear by the river Styx?”
When my mother attacked me with superstition, I counterattacked with superstition, and my father, who was suddenly beaten, kept his mouth shut for a moment.
The humble cottage of a family of shepherds living in the countryside. There, all a seven-year-old child can do is just sit still and blankly.
“Even though I’ve grown up this much, if I don’t follow the two of you, really big things might happen. How narrow are you Pan? You don’t know what calamity he will bring upon the disrespectful shepherds who do not serve him.”
“Shh! Talking about God, I’m narrow-minded, so what can I do…”
“You worry so much, aren’t you worried that Pan will bring disaster on me?”
“moan…”
When I tried to drive Ino out last time, I remembered what the curse was about, and when I attacked that point, my father let out a groan.
Perhaps my words worked surprisingly well, even my mother let out a deep sigh before finally intervening in the conversation.
“…Even when I was young, there was an older brother in the neighborhood who touched the burnt offerings.”
Sudden recollection of the past.
“That older brother was hanging out with the misbehaved kids and stole some lambs and roasted them…”
From nob le mt l. co m
Like a high school girl talking about ghost stories in the middle of the night, her mother’s expression becomes chilly. He has his unique voice tone and atmosphere that draws people’s attention.
Before I knew it, I also listened to my mother in broad daylight, and my mother said that she would not stop glancing in all directions.
“They, the sheep tore open their stomachs and walked out. It was said that the body was reassembled and eventually offered as a sacrifice.”
…What is that, I’m afraid.
“It is said that each bit of the chewed flesh wriggled and joined again, and the blood that was sprinkled on the ground…”
“I think you can stop talking.”
In an instant, cold sweat runs down my back.
“…Who was the witness?”
“The village elders. When I went to the place that my brother’s friends told me about, everyone was horribly torn…”
It was the first sentence that used the mimetic word ‘mane mane’ when describing the human body.
And no, isn’t that just the elders killing and killing?
Grandpas who are usually so full of smiles and kind people? Did I bring you candles too?
In an instant, my precious and cozy mountain village became a pseudo-village in the movie ‘Midsummer’.
It’s about abandoning children. It’s a normal thing in a small pre-modern society, so even if you pass it over, human sacrifice…
“So you’d better be careful. It can’t be like this forever, so I have to take it with me on the day of the festival.”
“…Yes, if that’s what you mean. let’s go. Instead, if something happens this time, I won’t take them again.”
At my mother’s persuasion, my father allowed me to go to the festival, but I’m not too happy about it.
…I didn’t know the truth about this place until now even though I was in my late 20s.
“You can follow me, but you can’t get out of our vicinity? Got it?”
“You have to listen to your father this time. Or will you not bring me to the next festival?”
Only then did my mother and father smile brightly and pat me on the shoulder…
My legs are shaking.
Run away, should I go?
***
In my second life, as soon as I grew up, I had to wash the livestock as if it was natural, and when a wolf or a bear came running, it became my routine to quickly shoot an arrow and run away. It’s a little hard to handle everyday, but it’s okay.
And I just found out that the daily life unfolded in a crazy murder town.
Come to think of it, did I just say that fighting wolves and bears by myself with a bow and a sling with stones was ‘a little hard to handle everyday’?
Come to your senses. We have to get away from the common sense of this murderous village and return to the common sense of the 21st century.
“Why are you like that? Head hurts? Why are you shaking your head like that?”
“Nothing, nothing, mother.”
“You’ve always been dignified, but talk to me when you’re sick. I saved money to go to the Temple of Asclepius…”
“it’s okay.”
Adjacent to the pseudo-village… the temple of medicine?
I’ll go there because I’m crazy. Behind the scenes, I saw clearly on the NaX Wiki that patients secretly took it away.
…Anyway, let’s forget the trivial thoughts. Let’s forget about murder town for a moment.
Before I knew it, the villagers gathered on the main road and were walking together beside it. All of them were excited faces, and they were wearing the clothes they had prepared for today.
Because today’s festival is…
“Great god, Pan! Great God, Pan!”
It’s for shepherds.
As soon as you get out of the mountain and enter the main road, petals are scattered over your head. Nearby farmers and townsfolk throw flowers and cloths at us.
The happy mother and father waved at the people gathered on both sides of the road with bright smiles.
They are free people, we are slaves. Originally, they wouldn’t treat us like this.
But the god Pan is the protector of shepherds, the fear of travelers, and the greatest satyr.
…And as I said, he is a very narrow-minded and hot-tempered god.
The ancients, who had the belief that they would receive a curse or any kind of harm if they did not treat the shepherds favorably when the festival of worshiping Pan came, should treat us hospitably today.
As I walked, listening to the sounds of prayers and songs that continued for a long time, the crown of the hill surrounded by the city wall in the distance glowed white in the sunlight.
“It is arrival. Never leave us.”
My father puts his hand on my shoulder and whispers.
I forgot about it because I was reluctant to come to the city. What the city looked like in this era.
No matter how many years pass, an unrealistic purity that seems to remain the same forever.
All the buildings, all the roads are measured with a ruler, a harmony quietly placed where it should be.
A peaceful little town on the Aegean Sea.
***
Nothing happened after entering the city.
Here, ‘nothing happened’ meant that the shepherds groaned around the city carrying a huge wooden phallus symbolizing Pan, who had an uncontrollable s*xual desire, and then entered the city exhausted.
After the phallus statue was erected upright to the point where it was unpleasant to face the sky, oil was poured on it in the plaza…
– Tadadadak.
– Hwareuk.
“Wowaaa!!!”
It burned brilliantly.
That was the start of the festival.
People gathered in a large square shout loudly and pour out obscene remarks that are a bit like spitting out in a public place. Praise and praise for an erect penis and a stretched scrotum literally followed.
I mean, to sum it up in the most noble way.
As the god Pan was originally a god with a voracious s*xual appetite, even dignified citizens spit out complaints like “vulgar and dirty words…” and shouted along. It is such a difficult thing to please God.
“Did you hold my hand tight?”
“···Sure.”
“Honey, honey, hold my hand too!”
“board! board! board! board!”
“Pleasure! have fun! aaa!!!
Regardless of whether some nobles sigh or not, the excited crowd dances wildly, jumping up and down in their places, intoxicated with the atmosphere. Like frogs on a rainy day.
In the meantime, someone approached the blazing phallus statue, struck something like a gong, and drew the attention of the crowd.
“Free citizens and children of Pan who have earned the right to enjoy today!!”
“Wowaaa!!”
As much as people know the order of the ceremony to follow, they cheer for the speaker who suddenly came out. The speaker clears his throat a few times, then goes on shouting back to the crowd.
“In this city, as in other cities, there are people who are more fortunate than others.”
Of course, it’s about nobles.
“Those who were born with the right to enjoy a comfortable and enjoyable life in addition to the right to be free! Now I want to bring joy to the children of Pan!!”
As silence falls in the vicinity, the speaker clears his throat amid tension and looks around.
Now comes the highlight…
“Citizens, Pan themselves… to the stadium!!!”
“Wowaaa!!!”
People start pouring down the boulevard to the public arena. They scream and stomp as if an explosion has occurred. I couldn’t confirm it, but at this rate, 10 stampede deaths would steadily appear at the festival every year.
My father picked up my mother and me and we ran together into the amphitheater to avoid being pushed away by the crowd. No, actually, although it was close to pushing other people.
The people who rushed like a cloud of sand to the chairs arranged on a tiered level found their own seats, and my family was fortunate enough to be seated next to each other.
Soon, men wearing several layers of dyed white capes stood up and said, “This is our present to the citizens, enjoy it!” After a boring speech like this, the real game begins.
Even my mother and father, who until just a moment had been distracted by me and couldn’t join the crowd’s enthusiasm, watch the warriors walk out of the arena with their fists clenched.
A large circular arena, a space that usually seems like a good place to hold speeches or plays.
But now, in this space, there are only two people standing on the flagstone floor in the middle, as if boasting the height of inefficiency.
A blue cloth was attached to one’s helmet, and a red cloth to the other’s, which swayed slowly in the wind.
Both of them are dressed like actors in a play, and they look more like ceremonial clothes than armor. I can’t help it if I want to show it to this many spectators. It’s kind of like a visibility patch.
Keeping a certain distance, both turn clockwise little by little to check each other’s momentum. It seems that he is trying to move the position and aim for the opponent’s gap.
Both of them blinked as beads of sweat flowed down their helmets. Among them, the man with red wine closes his eyes for a while.
It’s a chance.
The blue warrior leaps quickly, puts the weight of the body on the blade and swings it horizontally quickly. In that trajectory, of course, the nape of the red warrior was included.
Just by looking at it, as the heavy sword swayed loudly, the spectators who expected the red warrior’s scruff to break closed their eyes.
But, it seems to me.
“Father, father? Open your eyes! I think red will win!!”
The red side intentionally showed an opening and quickly pulled back. When the blue warrior didn’t feel the blow from the sword, he panicked and quickly turned his body to take a defensive stance.
But it was too late. He gave too much power and moved too much to end the fight in one blow.
-Kwakakakang!!
The clear sound of metal colliding reverberates through the arena as the red warrior’s sword strikes the blue warrior’s breastplate. The blue warrior took advantage of the shock and stumbled, and the red warrior continued to push into the enemy’s blind spot.
One side has already lost its posture and balance, so it is in a hurry to knock out one sum after another. The match has been decided.
-bang!!!!
In the end, the sword blade strikes the helmet with blue tassels, and the victory is decided as the warrior collapses and passes out.
“Wowaaa!!!!!”
“Uh huh? oh oh oh!! How much is all this!”
“Did you bet money?”
“What… I was trying to buy you something nice.”
“How long have you been out?”
“Wait and see. I bet everything I brought out, so it’s exactly four times that amount. open your hands How many coins do you have…”
I, who gave red to my father’s words, accepts the criticism and takes care of it. My mother sighed and went to the toilet for a while, and my father excitedly grabbed me by the side and asked where the next game would go.
“I’m not some kind of Olympic octopus… blue.”
“Okay, this time it’s blue. Philippos, don’t you?”
“I will not. Because my wife hates it.”
“What are you guys doing? Now that the players are entering, everyone wake up!”
“Wowaaa!!!!”
The father stakes half of the money he just won on blue and joins in the excitement of the rest of the crowd.
I also screamed and noticed next to my father and other uncles…
. . . sneak out of the arena.
The crowds and turmoil that rushed into the stadium at the right time could easily hide my whereabouts.
If it was a bloody, limb-breaking match, I wouldn’t have bothered to watch it, but no gladiator would want to die in a small town of this size.
They kill each other sword blades and some vitals agree not to hit or to surrender before being hit.
If you go to the royal road, they say that the game is more ‘exciting’ than this… I don’t want to see blood for fun, so this is perfect for me.
Anyway, as I was wearing the heavy money bag I had received from my father on one side, a whistle came out naturally.
Still intoxicated with the enthusiasm of the game just played, people raise their voices here and there and start haggling here and there about the fight.
I get out of the gap and look around the street.
A bustling city of festivals with numerous shops and crowds.
I have a lot to see here.