Chronicles of Primordial Wars

Bölüm 19: Aylar ortaya çıktı

Çeviren: Sunyancai

Shao Xuan spent every day in the stone room, trying to memorize all those pictures on the right side of the stone wall. He also learned to paint, thinking that perhaps it might be useful in the future. Zaten yapacak başka bir işi de yoktu.

Since every kid had stored enough fish, together with the food and firewood from the tribe, they had a nice winter. With the common-used herbs that Ge gave to Shao Xuan, there were no accidents as well. As days went by, it was quite calm, wintertime passed faster than they imagined.

Two days ago, a younger kid caught a cold and he had a fever. Shao Xuan cooked the herbs from Ge and poured the soup down his throat. Sadece iki gün sonra durumu stabil hale geldi. Sadece birkaç gün hayatta kalması gerekiyordu. With a bad health, none of the herbs would have been effective. He might have been as dead as the former owner of Shao Xuan’s body, before anyone could call for help from the others. Luckily, during the time before winter, all of the children became healthier. They had constantly exercised and had much better food and provision, so they did not get ill as easily as before.

Inside the stone room, Shao Xuan had placed an animal fur mat down on the ground. Sometimes he would just sleep right in front of the wall, if he worked too late on those frescos. He painted pictures with his fingers on the ground. After a picture was finished, Shao Xuan signed it. Winter had passed two thirds of its duration, and they had only twenty to thirty days left. If they survived these last days, they would have a better living situation. Shao Xuan felt listless and that his body was moldy with rust, since he had spent so much time indoors.

As he was thinking, Caesar, who was lying beside him moved his ears and looked towards the entrance of the stone room.

Sonra Shao Xuan, Ge'nin sesini duydu.

Today was not the day that Ge was supposed to deliver food. Or was it that spending so much time in the stone room messed up his brain?

Filled with curiosity, Shao Xuan walked out of the stone room and went to see what happened.

"Ge Amca, seni bugün buraya getiren şey nedir?" Shao Xuan, took a look at the triangles that he drew on the wall to keep track of time. Because Ge would come every three days, Shao Xuan did not use the character “Zheng”, which contains five strokes. Bunun yerine duvara üçgenler çizdi. Now the last triangle missed one stroke, so that meant Ge was only supposed to come by tomorrow.

Şenlik ateşinin yanında duran Ge, ceketindeki kar tanelerini silkeledi ve ardından bir rulo hayvan derisi çıkardı, "Bazı çocuklar için buradayım. On bir yaşından büyük olan tüm isimleri bu ruloya toplayın."

Shao Xuan took the animal skin roll and had a look. On it there were seven names, including Ba and Tu. Those two kids suddenly got sparkling eyes and they stared at him hopefully, as if they thought of something.

The names on that animal skin roll were all those that Shao Xuan knew, so he gathered them around, including those two who were taking a nap. Zorla uyandırılan iki çocuk hala uykuluydu ama Ge'yi ve yanında duran birkaç çocuğu gördüklerinde aniden akıllarına geldiler ve gözlerini ovuşturmayı anında bıraktılar. Instead, the kids quickly gathered their things, and rushed towards Ge with big smiles on their faces.

Ge’s sight hesitated on the fish teeth necklaces hanging from these seven kids’ necks, and he carefully checked all their name pallets. On normal days he was in charge of food delivery, so he had some impressions about the kids in the orphan cave. Ama bu sefer asla çok dikkatli olunamazdı. Kontrol etmesi ve emin olması gerekiyordu.

“Evet, tam olarak yedi.”

Ge, hayvan derisini geriye yuvarladıktan sonra her çocuğa bir deri pelerin fırlattı, "Onları giy ve sonra beni takip et... Mo-Er, sen de benimle gel."

Mo-Er was only ten years old, but he would turn eleven after this winter.

At Ge’s command, Mo-Er got dressed and carried his knife. Unlike the other kids’ admiration or excitement, Mo-Er walked towards Ge calmly, as if he had expected it.

“Fine. Ah-Xuan, you can go back to sleep now. I’ll take them out. Tomorrow I’ll come back with the food.” Ge lifted the straw curtain and left with the eight kids.
Shao Xuan lifted the thick straw curtain a little and the icy wind pouring in made his eyes feel a stabbing pain. His sight was blurred but he could still see the thick layer of snow outside the cave, and the path that was created by Ge. On both sides of the path, the snow was higher than the kids walking on the path. Their thin figures were trembling in the cold, but they followed Ge closely, with no hesitation and no intention to turn back their heads. Bunun yerine ayrılmaya hevesliydiler.

Dropping the straw curtain, Shao Xuan came back into the cave. The kids left behind were no longer sleepy as they stared at the fire, blankly.

Shao Xuan nedenini biliyordu.

After winter, there would be a Snow Festival and some sacramental activities. The most important thing during the sacramental activities, was the annual Totemic Awakening. One would turn a totemic warrior, if one could awaken his totemic power, or else one must wait for another year.

Normally, kids over ten years old would be sent up the mountain for pre-selection, before winter’s end. The Shaman would keep those kids with high odds to have their totemic powers awakened, and send the other kids back. Ancak kabiledeki diğer çocuklarla karşılaştırıldığında, yetim mağarasındaki çoğu çocuğun sağlık durumu kötüydü, bu yüzden on bir yaşında olan ön seçimde bir yıl erteleneceklerdi. Mo-Er was an exception, for he was not considered an orphan. He was in much better fitness than others because of his constant training and practicing.

The kids following up with Ge must be quite excited and anxious. Hepsi Şaman tarafından seçilmeyi bekliyor, çünkü seçildikleri sürece bu sefer totemik güçlerini uyandırma şansları yüzde doksandı, aksi takdirde gelecek yıl totemik güçlerini yüzde yüz kesinlikle uyandıracaklardı.

Shao Xuan was only nine now, and he would only turn ten after winter. It was still too early for him, so after Ge had left, he told the kids to approach him if anything happened. Then he went back to continue working on the frescos, in the stone room.

After four days, when Ge was delivering food again, he brought back four upset kids. Tu and Ba were among those, who had been sent back. En büyük çocuklar tutuldu. Being thirteen years old already, they were naturally kept. Turning fourteen after the winter, it would be abnormal if they did not awaken their totemic powers by then.

The former “leader of the cave” was also a thirteen year old, and he knew someone living on the mountainside. During this winter he was preparing for training. Most warriors believed that before one awakened his totemic power, the stronger he was, the stronger he would become. So Ku asked some family to take him in during wintertime. He would be better fed, and learn some experience from other totemic warriors. Mağarada kalmaktan çok daha iyiydi. And that was also the reason why Ku went up to the mountain early instead of spending the winter in orphan cave.

“Don’t be upset. Sooner or later you will become totemic warriors. Perhaps next year.” Ge comforted the four sad kids, and left after he dropped off the food.

“I envy those, who were chosen by the Shaman. They can listen to the Shaman’s lecture.” Ge'nin getirdiği çocuklardan biri dedi ki.

“Hey, Şaman sana ne dedi?” Diğer çocuklar da etrafta dolanıp merakla sordular.

“Şaman…”

One minute earlier, the four kids were drooping their heads. But on that word, they raised their heads up at a forty-five degree angle, and inside their eyes was admiration and respect.

Shao Xuan dudaklarını içeriye doğru kıvırdı.

Dersler mi? Daha çok beyin yıkama!

Şu eski büyücü.

Shao Xuan sadece zihninde küfredebiliyordu. Bunu yüksek sesle söyleyecek kadar aptal değildi. Şu dört çocuğu görüyor musun? Only a few days spent with that old wizard, they got a complete brainwashing!

After that little episode, the life inside went back to normal. Even though Tu and Ba were still upset, life continued.

Bir gece, Shao Xuan uykunun ortasındayken, rüyasında iki hilal, eriyen kar, buz ve ateş gördü... Ta ki bağırışları duyana kadar, bağırışlar giderek daha da yükseldi ve bu onu rüyalarından uyandırdı.

The sound was not coming from the children in the cave, but from people outside.

An older child listened carefully after he woke up, and suddenly he became very cheerful, “It must be the end of the winter!”
Shao Xuan esnedi ve battaniyeyi sıkılaştırıp etrafına sardı. Hala geceydi ve yangın çoktan söndürülmüştü. Hiçbir şey görünmüyordu ve sadece çocukların kendi aralarındaki konuşmaları duyulabiliyordu.

Shao Xuan, Sezar'dan kendisini girişe götürmesini istedi.

Kalın hasır perdeleri kaldıran Shao Xuan, açıkça heyecan ve neşe dolu bağırışları daha net duyabiliyordu.

Buz gibi rüzgara rağmen Shao Xuan gökyüzüne baktı.

Kar yağışı durdu ve uzun süredir kaybolan aylar bir kez daha ortaya çıktı. Hilal şeklindeki ayların sadece ana hatları olsalar da, çok fazla umut ve dinamik bir atmosfer getirdiler.

Kış sona ermişti ve Kar Festivali'nin kutsal etkinlikleri planlanıyordu.

Tahmin edin kaç kişi totem savaşçısı olacak? Bu, kabiledeki insanların ortak sorusuydu ve neredeyse hepsi sevinçlerini haykırırken bunu düşünüyordu.

Kabiledeki her yerde çatıda duran ve buzlu rüzgarı tamamen görmezden gelerek gökyüzüne bakan birileri vardı. Heyecanla bağırmayı bırakıp yaklaşan Kar Festivali hakkında konuşmaya başladıkları sırada yetim mağarasından bir çocuk sesi duydular.

"Aylar çıktı, evet... Ne kadar neşeli, evet... Çok neşeli, evet... evet, evet, evet!"