Chapter 17 Stormmaker-1

Thousands of years ago, women occupied positions of dominance.In the family and family, mothers and grandmothers are respected and obeyed.Back then, having a girl was far more important than having a boy. In the village there was a centenarian or older female ancestor whom everyone respected and feared as if she were an empress, though she was only remembered to wag a finger or utter a word once in a while.She often sat at the door of her hut, surrounded by relatives who accompanied her, and the women of the village kept coming to pay her respects, report various affairs, let her watch their children, and ask her to bless them.Pregnant women come to ask her to touch their bellies and name their babies.The female ancestor would occasionally reach out to touch them, sometimes she just nodded or shook her head, and sometimes she would just sit still and say nothing.She rarely speaks.She's just there forever, sitting there to rule, she's just sitting, with strands of gray hair hanging out from that hawk-eyed, leathery face, and she's sitting receiving tributes, offerings, petitions, listening to the news , reports and complaints.

She just sits and lets everyone know that she is a mother to seven daughters and a grandmother and great-grandmother to many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.She just sat and kept all the wisdom, the traditions, the rules of the village on that wrinkled brown forehead.Morality and honor. One spring evening, dark clouds rose in the sky, and night fell early.The patriarch did not sit at the door of her mud hut that evening, her daughter took her place.This daughter also has white hair and looks old and respectable. She is sitting and resting, her seat is the threshold, a long strip of flat stones, covered with a piece of animal skin in the cold season.A little farther outside the house, some children, women, and teenagers sat in a semicircle on the sand or grass. Unless it rained heavily or it was very cold, they always squatted here every evening.They come today to listen to stories or spells chanted by the daughters of the patriarchs.In the past, all this was borne by the female ancestor herself, but now she is too old to speak, so her daughter takes her place.She not only learned all the stories and incantations from her ancestors, but also all the tones and shapes, all the solemn and dignified manners.The younger generation in the audience below, who knew her better than her mother, didn't realize that she had taken her mother's place and was passing on the history and wisdom of the tribe to them.At dusk, knowledge gurgled from her mouth like a fountain.She preserved the precious wealth of the tribe under her white hair, and her wrinkled forehead contained the memories and thoughts of the villagers of the past generations.If anyone else knew these stories and spells, they all learned them from her.Apart from her and the female ancestor, there is another knowledgeable person in the tribe, but that person is not good at showing his face. He can be said to be a very silent and mysterious figure. People call him the master of wind and rain.

A boy named Knecht squatted in the audience, and beside him was a little girl.Knecht liked this little girl named Ade very much, and often accompanied and protected her.Of course it wasn't love, because he was still very young and didn't know what love was. Knecht liked her only because she was the daughter of the master of wind and rain.Knecht revered the man who brought the wind and rain as he revered the patriarch and her daughter.But as a boy, Knecht had a hard time imagining what women were like. He could only be in awe of them, but he couldn't expect to become a woman himself.And this man who called the wind and rain was so unapproachable, it was simply too difficult for a boy to stay by his side.Knecht could only take a roundabout tactic, and the first choice was to take care of his little daughter first.Knecht often rushed to the rather remote hut of the master to take Aide with him, and listened to the old man's stories together in the twilight, and then sent her home after listening.Knecht brought her here again today, and the two of them squatted side by side among the dark crowd, listening to stories.

Today, the female ancestor told the story of "Witch Village": "Once upon a time, there was a bad woman in a certain village. She had a vicious conscience and always wanted to harm others. Most of these women would not have children. Sometimes, people in the village really Unable to bear such a wicked woman, they decided to drive her out of the village. The villagers would first tie up her husband at night, then punish the woman with a whip, and drive her to far away forests and swamps. After cursing her with a spell, leave her there. When this is done, her husband will be untied, and if he is not old enough, he can marry another wife. And the woman who was cast out, if she is lucky If she is not dead, she will wander around in forests and swamps, and she will learn the language of animals. If she can live in exile for a long time, sooner or later, she will walk into a small village called "Witch Village". The ring women who were expelled from the village finally gathered there, forming a witch village.

There they settled, and continued to do evil and sorcery, and the worst thing was to abduct the children of good villagers, since they had no children of their own.If a child is lost in the woods, and is never to be found, perhaps it was not drowned in a swamp, or eaten by wolves, but abducted by some witch to a witch's village.When I was a little girl and my grandmother was the patriarch of the village, once many of us kids went out into the field to pick raspberries, and one little girl got tired of picking raspberries and lay down and fell asleep.She was so small that the fern leaves hid her, so that the other children did not notice that she was sleeping on the ground, and they went on, and when they returned to the village, it was dark, and it was only then that they realized that a little girl had not been with her. Everyone together.The village sent young men to look for her in the woods. They searched and shouted until late at night, but they still couldn't find her, so they returned empty-handed.But this little girl woke up after getting enough sleep, and ran wildly in the woods alone.The more she ran, the more afraid she became, and the more afraid she ran, the faster she ran, but she had already lost her direction, and the more she ran, the farther she was from the village, until she ran into a deserted field.Around the little girl's neck was a bast woven collar, on which was tied a wild boar's tooth, which was a trophy her father had once hunted. He drilled a small hole in the tooth with a stone needle and pierced it through the On the leather rope, it was given to her as a gift.Before giving it away, he had boiled it three times with wild boar blood and recited auspicious spells, so that no matter who wears this collar, it will be able to resist the invasion of some evil spirits.At this time, a woman appeared among the trees. She was a witch. She pretended to be kind and said, "Hello, sweet little girl, are you lost? Come with me, and I will take you home Go.' And the child followed. She remembered then that her mother and father had told her not to let any stranger see the pig's tusk on her collar, so she took it off quietly as she walked, and put it in her girdle The strange woman led the girl for several hours until late at night before entering a village, but it was not our village, but a village of witches. The witch locked the little girl in a dark stable, and she went back to the village. The hut was asleep. The next morning the witch asked the child, "Do you have a pig's tooth?" 'The girl replied: No, she had worn one, probably lost it in the woods yesterday.As he spoke, he pointed out the bast leather collar to her. There were indeed no pig teeth on it.Then the witch brought out a stone flower pot, in which three plants grew in the soil.Children see these plants and ask what they are.The witch pointed to the first tree and said: "This is your mother's life." Then she pointed to the second tree and said: "This is your father's life." Finally, he pointed to the third tree and said, "This is your own life. As long as these plants are green and full of life, the three of you will live a healthy life."

If any tree withers, the person it represents falls ill.If any one is pulled out of the earth, as I am about to do now, the man it represents must die. ’ The witch’s fingers grabbed the plant representing the life of the father and began to pluck it. When she pulled it up a little bit, revealing a small piece of white rhizome, the plant let out a deep sigh..." When the little girl beside Knecht heard this, she jumped up suddenly, as if bitten by a snake, screamed loudly, and ran away in a panic.She had been battling her own fears for so long that she couldn't stand hearing this any longer.An elderly woman laughed out loud.The rest of the listeners were just as terrified as the little girl, and just insisted on continuing to listen.As if awakened from a nightmare, Knecht also jumped up with the girl and ran away.The grandma continued to tell her story.

The hut of the master of wind and rain was built next to the village pond, and Knecht ran in this direction, searching for the little girl.He hummed as he ran, and at the same time imitated the clucking sound of a woman calling for a chick, and drew out the tone sweetly, trying to lure the girl out of hiding. "Ade," he called out, singing and shouting, "Ade, little Ade, come here. Ade, don't be afraid, I'm here, it's me, Knecht is here." He called her repeatedly many times, but he never heard her voice or saw any figure, but suddenly felt a soft little hand stretched into his palm.It turned out that she had been standing by the side of the road, clinging to the wall of a thatched hut, and had just stopped to wait for him when she heard his shout.She finally breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards him. In her eyes, Knecht was tall and strong, just like a grown man.

"Are you scared?" he asked. "Don't be afraid. No one will hurt you. Everyone likes Ade. Come on, let's go home." She was still shaking and sobbing, but it was slowly subsiding Come down, and follow him forward with gratitude and trust. From the door of the thatched hut, there was a light red firelight, and the wind and rain master was bending over to the stove, and the firelight reflected his drooping hair red and bright.He had the fire well lit, and something was cooking in two small pots.Before Knecht brought Aide in, he had been curiously looking into the room for a while, and Dang even decided that the pot was not cooking food, because the pots were of different types, not to mention it was too late.At this time, the master of wind and rain heard the sound, and shouted: "Who is standing at the door? Come forward! Ai Dai, is that you?" He put the lid on the small pot, turned on the fire, and turned around.

Knecht still couldn't help staring at the two mysterious pots; a sense of curiosity, awe, and bewilderment came over him, which he felt every time he stepped into the hut.He always finds ways to find all kinds of excuses to enter the hut, but every time he feels uneasy and happy, nervous, curious and fearful coexisting and contradictory.The old man must have already noticed this situation, knowing that Knecht had been following him for a long time, always appearing around him everywhere, always following him like a hunter following his prey, and silently serving him, being himself companion.

Tulu is the name of this caller of wind and rain. He stared at Knecht with sharp eyes like a falcon, and at the same time asked coldly: "What are you doing here? My child, this is not the right time to visit a stranger's house. .” "Master Tulu, I sent Ai Dai home. She went to listen to stories from her ancestors. Today, she was telling the story of the witch village. She suddenly became frightened and yelled loudly, so I accompanied her back." The father turned to the little girl and said, "Ade, you are a coward. Smart little girls shouldn't be afraid of witches. Aren't you a smart little girl!"

"Yes, I am. But witches know a lot of bad tricks, if they don't have a boar's tooth.  …" "Oh, you want a boar tooth? Let's figure it out. But I know there's something better. I'm going to find you a special tree root, and we'll look for it as soon as autumn comes.It not only protects smart girls from evil spirits, but even makes them look more beautiful. " Aide smiled and became happy. The warm atmosphere in the hut and the small fire restored her inner peace.At this time, Knecht said timidly: "Can I go find the roots with you? You just need to describe the appearance of the plant to me... Tulu narrowed his eyes. "The little boy wants to know everything," he said sarcastically, without looking angry, "we'll talk about that later.Maybe wait until fall. " Knecht quietly exited the door and walked towards the boys' dormitory where he lived.Knecht has no parents, he is an orphan, so Ade and her hut have a strong fascination for him. Tulu, the master of wind and rain, is a taciturn person. He doesn't like to talk, and he doesn't like to listen to other people's nagging. Many in the village thought him eccentric, others thought he was too gloomy.Yet he was in fact neither eccentric nor gloomy.He was a sensible man, and he knew what was going on around him, at least a little more than was supposed for this seemingly reclusive scholarly figure.Turou was especially aware that for quite a long time, this slightly annoying, but handsome and obviously intelligent boy had been watching him from behind.He had noticed it from the very beginning, and it must have been more than a year now.Tulu understood that this matter not only involved the boy's future, but also had great significance to himself as an old man.It turned out that the boy fell in love with the knowledge of wind and rain and was eager to learn it.There is often a boy in the village who circles around him, like this one now. Some children are easily intimidated, while others are not. Shanglu once took two of the boys as apprentices and raised them for several years, but both of them fell in love with girls from distant villages, married and moved there, and became adults. A rainmaker of that place, or an expert herb gatherer.Since then, Shanglu has never accepted apprentices again. If he accepts apprentices again, it is time to cultivate heirs.This has been the case since time immemorial, and there is no other way.Sooner or later a gifted child will emerge, and one must willingly cling to him, making his craft the work of a master.Knecht is very talented and has all the qualities that people expect. He also particularly likes some characteristics of Knecht: first of all, the boy's eyes that are both brave and exploring, but also keen and dreamlike, At the same time his figure was dignified and serene, and his whole countenance and head expressed a certain quality of hunting and alertness, evidently also of hearing and smelling, like a hunter and a vulture.There was no doubt that the child could become a master shaker, and perhaps a magician.Knecht does fit the bill.But he should not be too hasty, the child is too young to show him now that he has been approved, and let him think that things are easy, that the path that the child should take must not be omitted or dispensed with.If Knecht was intimidated, frightened, and discouraged, he would have lost nothing.He must let the children wait patiently and serve them carefully, and must let the children circle around him, flattering and fawning. Knecht strolled towards the village under the dark night sky, the sky was covered with clouds and only two or three stars shone, but he was in a happy mood and walked with ease.Everything that our contemporaries take for granted and indispensible, all the necessities and beauties that even the poorest possessed, were completely unknown to the villagers of that time.There is neither culture nor art in the village. Except for their crooked huts, they have never seen any other buildings, let alone any tools made of steel, and they have never seen even wheat or rice wine. Seeing candles or oil lamps, it may be thought that a radiant miracle has occurred.However, Knecht's life and the imaginary world in his head are no less than our modern people.The world around him is a picture book full of infinite mysteries in his mind, and he can always gain a little new understanding every day, from animal life to plant ecology to the sky full of stars.Between the silent and mysterious nature and this lonely and sensitive young mind, there is an all-encompassing affinity, with all the tension, fear, curiosity and possessive desire that a human soul can aspire to.Although there is no written scientific knowledge and history in this child's world, there are no books and no words here, the knowledge he can learn is no more than three or four hours' walk from the village, and everything farther away is completely the same. Known nothing, impossible to know, yet Knecht's life in the village was complete and perfect.The village, country, and tribal group led by the patriarch could give her what a people and a country can give to its people: a fertile soil full of roots, and she herself is a tiny fiber in this vast web , share life as a whole. Knecht strolled forward contentedly.The night wind was whistling through the woods, the branches were rustling softly, and everywhere there was the smell of damp earth, reeds, and mud, and he smelled the sweet smell of burning freshly felled wood, which meant that he was almost home And finally, as he got closer to the boys' dormitory, he smelled boys again, a young man's body odor.He quietly crawled across the mat of reeds without making a sound, and entered the dark space with warm breathing. Pot until deep sleep. Turou seldom gave in to Knecht's pursuit, and he didn't want to make things easy for the boy.However, the young man always followed closely, feeling that something was pulling him towards the old man, and he himself did not understand what it was.Sometimes, when the old man went to some of the most hidden places deep in the woods, to lay a trap in a swamp or a grove, or to track a wild animal, dig up a tree root, gather certain seeds, he would suddenly notice the boy's His eyes were fixed on himself.The child has been following him for several hours without making a sound and without showing his body, observing his every movement.Sometimes the old man ignored him, sometimes complained a few words, and even drove him away coldly.Sometimes, the old man also greets the child kindly, keeps him by his side all day, assigns him some work, instructs him to do this or that, gives him some advice, and lets him try a little.The old man also told him the names of some plants and ordered him to draw water or light a fire, because the old man had his own skills, tricks, secrets and formulas for all kinds of things, and he also warned the child to keep everything strictly secret.Later, Knecht grew up a bit, and the old man finally took the child back to his home from the boys' dormitory, and thus admitted his apprenticeship. Knecht was also different, becoming the old man's apprentice, which meant that as long as he passed his studies and showed his talent, he would be the successor of the master of wind and rain. From the moment the old man led Knecht into his hut, the barrier between them was naturally dismantled—the barrier was not awe and obedience, but doubt and restriction.Tulu gave in, allowing Knecht to conquer himself with his relentless pursuit.The only thing the old man wants to do now is to train the child to be his successor, an excellent ruler.In the courses taught by the old man, there are no concepts, no theories, no methods, no written rules, and no numerical basis, but only a few oral secrets, which have more influence on Knecht's sensibility than reason.The old man knew that a huge legacy of human experience, which was all human understanding of nature at that time, not only needed to be sorted out and used, but also needed to be passed down.A whole set of systematic knowledge obtained from extensive and rigorous human experience, observation, intuition, and research must be taught to the child in an orderly and gradual manner, and all knowledge has almost no ideas at all, and everything must be experienced by feeling , learning and practice.The basis and essence of all knowledge is the understanding of the moon and its impact on human beings.The moon is inhabited by the souls of the dead, who must be reincarnated to make room for the recently deceased. Just like the experience of escorting the little girl frightened by the story back to her father's hut that night, another experience is deeply engraved in Knecht's mind.The incident happened between midnight and early morning. The master suddenly woke up Knecht in his sleep two hours after midnight, and took him into the darkness to observe the last quarter moon rising.They stood blankly on a flat rock in the middle of the forest. The master was silent and motionless, while the apprentice shivered because he was a little timid after being awakened from his dream. They waited for a long time, and finally saw a round of light A faint crescent moon appeared at the direction indicated by the master in advance.Knecht stared at the slowly rising constellation, feeling awe and fascination in his heart. It moved slowly on the clear space island, surrounded by thick floating clouds. "The moon will soon change shape and become round again, and then it will be time to sow seeds and raise wheat," Said the man who called the wind and rain, counting the date with his fingers.Then the master and apprentice fell silent again.Knecht squatted on the dew-shining rock, shivering as if he was alone and abandoned. An owl hooted from the depths of the woods.The old man pondered for a long time, then stood up, put his hands on Knecht's head, and said softly as if he had just woken up from a dream: "After I die, my soul will fly into the moon. Then When you are a grown man, you want a wife. My daughter Ade will be your wife. After she has your son, my soul will return to the world and dwell in your son. You should Name him Shanglu, just like my current name is Tulu." The apprentice was astonished, but dared not answer a word.The shallow silver crescent had already risen, and was half submerged by the floating clouds again.There was an indescribably wonderful feeling in the young man's heart, which was triggered by the situation that all things in the universe are interconnected and intersected, and they are eternally repeated.He found himself, as spectator and participator, facing the strange night sky, gazing at a sharply curved crescent moon, rising, as the master pointed out, from the boundless forest and mountains, full of wonder. feeling.In his eyes, the master has become a strange person, and there are thousands of secrets in his body. He can imagine what will happen after his death. He actually said that his soul will live in the moon, and then return to the world from the moon , into a human body, this person is Knecht's son, the person named after his own lifetime - a new Turu.Knecht felt that his future and destiny were like a cloud-covered sky that suddenly cleared up and suddenly became brighter, which is really amazing!At the same time, the fact that everyone can see, address and talk about it makes Knecht feel as if he has entered a vast and boundless space, a world full of miracles but well-ordered.For a moment, Knecht felt that his mind could sense everything in the world, understand everything, and hear the whispers of everything—the faint but definite orbits of the sun, moon and stars in the sky, human beings and The life of beasts, the affinity and contradiction, harmony and hatred among all beings, all greatness and smallness are gathered in every life and locked together with death, Knecht saw or felt it in the first shock Seeing that everything is an indivisible whole, he allows himself to be brought into order, becomes a part of that order, and allows his mind to be governed by the laws of nature.For the first time in his life young Knecht perceived these great secrets of the universe, their majesty and depth, and their intelligibility, as the boy crouched on a rock in a cold forest at the turn of night and morning. Hearing the thousands of sounds of the wind blowing through the treetops, it seemed that a ghostly hand had touched his heartstrings.Knecht could not explain this situation, he could not then, he could not later, he could not explain it all his life, but he often couldn't help thinking about that moment, yes, later in his life, when he continued to study further. When experiencing life and experiencing life, the experience of this moment will always appear before his eyes. "Think of that scene," it would remind him, "think of the whole world that has everything, and between the moon and you, and Toulo, and Ade, the turbulent flow of light and waves, think Think about the inevitable existence of death and the country of the soul, and then return to the world from there, think about the answers to all phenomena and pictures in the world actually exist in your own heart, think about everything in the world is closely related to yourself, so you To know as much as possible of everything human beings can know." The voice spoke these words to Knecht.For the first time in his life, Knecht heard the voice of his inner heart, and accepted this magical and alluring request for the first time.Knecht had watched the moon cross the sky many times, listened to the call of owls many times in the dark, and heard many words of ancient wisdom or loneliness from his master - although the old man was extremely taciturn. the thoughtfulness of the author.But in this moment, he felt something completely different from before, a sense of wholeness, a feeling that everything was interconnected, a feeling that included himself and Ask him to also share responsibility for the order. If anyone masters this key one day, he will not need to identify animals by footprints, but plants by roots or seeds. He can already grasp the whole world by his own perception: sun, moon, stars, elves, humans, beasts, Medicine and poison, he must be able to grasp the general spirit of all things, and to recognize from one part or one sign any other part of it.Some excellent hunters are better at distinguishing the traces of animals than ordinary hunters, whether it is footprints, feces, hairs, or other remnants. Based on a few hairs, they can not only judge the species of the animal, but also tell whether the animal is Old or young, male or female.In addition, there are some people who can predict the weather conditions in the next few days based on the shape of the clouds, the smell in the air, and the special phenomena of some animals or plants. His master is an expert in this field, and his forecast is almost impossible error.There are also some characters who are born with special skills. For example, some boys can hit a bird thirty steps away from them with a stone. They have never been trained, but they are born with it. This ability does not come from hard work. Just by magic or divine grace.The stone seems to fly by itself in their hands, the stone is willing to hit, and the bird is willing to be beaten.Knecht had also heard of people who could see the future, whether a patient would die, or whether a pregnant woman would give birth to a boy or a girl.The Patriarch's Daughter was known to be good at prophecy, and it is said that the Maker of the Wind and Rain also possessed this knowledge.Knecht seemed to realize at this moment that such a large-scale interconnected network must have a center, and anyone standing on this center point must be able to see everything clearly and understand everything from the past to the present .Knowledge must flow like springs to valleys, or like rabbits to kale, to the man standing at the central point, and the words of this man must be sharp and precise, like a stone thrown by a sharpshooter. crack shot.This person must also have spiritual powers, able to concentrate all incredible gifts and talents in one body, and to use them freely.What a perfect, wise, incomparable figure this man will be!Only by becoming a person like him, imitating him, and following him, is the right path in all paths, the goal of life, and can life be purified and meaningful. This is the general feeling of Knecht at that time, and we tried to explain it using concepts and language that he did not grasp at all. Burning hot experience.Awakened in the middle of the night, led through the dark, dangerous and mysterious silent forest, squatting on the rocks, waiting for the faint moon ghost to appear in the early morning cold, followed by a few words of wisdom from the master His words, and the solitude between master and apprentice at this extraordinary moment, all of this is an incomparably solemn secret in the eyes of Knecht, a grand creative ceremony, all of which will be accepted as part of his The League, experienced and preserved in an admirable, though servant-like, relationship with the ineffable cosmic mystery.This experience, like others like it, was inconceivable, or rather, indescribable.Another thought, perhaps even more puzzling and improbable, is the following statement: "Is it only me who has had such an experience, or is it really an objective reality? Does Master Had the same experience as me, or would my feelings please him? Was the thought I had from this experience a new thought, a unique, unique thought? Or, my The master and some people before him have already had exactly the same experience and made similar thoughts. No, it is impossible to have exactly the same refraction, and it is impossible to have no difference. Everything that is real must be Is utter fact, saturated with fact, just as dough contains yeast. And the clouds, the moon and the ever-changing space scene, the wet and cold rocky ground under bare feet, the cold dew falling in the pale night sky, the master is warm The bed of leaves he piled up around him, the fire that kindled like a comforting fire, the words softly uttered by the old man in solemn tones, even the preparation for death uttered in grim tones—all these , all transcending reality, and bursting with an almost violent force into the senses of the young boy. Such sensory impressions are more fertile soil for memory than any higher system of thought and method of analysis. . The man who called the wind and rain was one of the very few people in the tribe with expertise and talent, and his daily life was not much different from that of other villagers from the outside.He was a high-ranking man of considerable stature, and he was always paid for any work he did for the tribal group, though only occasionally.His most important and solemn duty is to choose auspicious days for everyone to sow various fruits and grains in spring.To this end, he first accurately calculated and considered the changes of the moon's waxing and waning, partly according to the rules passed down orally, and partly according to his own experience.But the dignified opening of the planting season, the sowing of the first handful of seeds on the tribal group's land, was outside his purview.No man in the tribe is worthy of this important task, which is carried out by the patriarch herself every year, or by the eldest relative she appoints to perform it.Only when he is required to truly assume the heavy responsibility of calling the wind and rain, the master is the primary role in the village.This kind of situation only happens when there is a long drought without rain in the village, when the rain is not clear for a long time, or when the frozen farmland threatens the villagers with famine.At this time, Tulu has to come up with ways to deal with difficulties such as drought or poor harvest, such as using sacrifices, expelling demons, and repentance processions. According to the legend, if the drought persists for a long time, or if the rain continues for a long time, all methods are ineffective, and the evil spirits are still unmoved by any persuasion, entreaty or threat. One unquestionable means: the tribesmen had to sacrifice the Stormmaker himself as a sacrifice.It is said that the female ancestor in the village had witnessed such a sacrifice with her own eyes. Apart from considering weather changes, Knecht's master also engaged in some private jobs, serving as a mage exorcising evil spirits, making talismans and spell tools for expelling evil spirits, and also acting as a doctor to treat diseases from time to time—when the female ancestor had no time When taking this aspect of work into consideration.Apart from the above-mentioned work, the life of Master Tulu is no different from that of other villagers. The tribe's fields are cultivated by everyone in turn. When it is his turn, he goes to work in the field as usual. In addition, he has set up a small nursery next to his hut.He gathers and stores fruit, mushrooms and firewood.He fished, he hunted, and he kept a goat or two.他作为农夫时，与其他人完全一样，而当他作为一个猎人、渔夫和采药人时，就与普通人大不相同了，他是一个罕见的天才，对付各种行当都各有一套自然而然的妙法，魔术一般的技巧以及形形色色的辅助手段。人们传说，他能用柳条编成一种奇妙的圈套，被捕的动物无一得以脱逃。他还会调制一种具有特殊香味的鱼饵，他还懂得如何诱引虾蟹上钩，许多人还传说他能够听懂多种野兽的语言。但是他最擅长的还是他自己专业领域的神秘知识：观察月亮和星星，辨别气候变化的标志，预测气候和庄稼的长势情况，他还掌握许许多多具有魔法般效果的工作手段。总而言之，他不仅能识别和搜集一切植物与动物标本，而且还能够将之用于治病和施毒，使其成为施行魔法的载体，用于替人们祈福和驱除邪恶之物。他知道到哪里去寻找最罕见的珍贵植物，他了解它们开花、结实的时间，懂得挖掘它们根株的恰当时刻。他认识形形色色不同品种的蛇类和赡蛛，知道去何处寻找，也知道如何利用它们的角、蹄、爪和须毛。他还懂得如何对付溃疡、畸形、奇形怪状的可怕赘疣，不论是树上、叶上、谷物上、坚果上，还是角上、蹄子上的疖瘤、疙瘩和肿块。 克乃西特在学习过程中，更多运用的是他的脚，手，眼睛，皮肤，耳朵和鼻子，却较少运用理智，而土鲁传授知识的办法也是实例和手势多于言语和教导。土鲁大师几乎很少说话，即使不得不开口说话，也基本上没有系统，因为他的话总只是试图补充自己那令人印象深刻的手势的不足而已。克乃西特的学习方式与一般跟随师傅学习打猎捕鱼的少年并无不同，这使他颇为欣慰，因为他要学习的只是已经潜藏在他内心里的东西。他学习潜伏，期待，谛听，潜行，观察，提防，警醒，追踪和探寻。然而克乃西特和他的师傅悄悄追踪的猎物，并不只是狐狸和穴熊，水獭和赡蛛，飞鸟和游鱼，他们还同时追踪灵魂，整体，生命的意义，以及万物间的相互关联。他们努力判断、辨认、揣测和预测瞬间万变的气候，他们努力认识一枚浆果和一只毒蛇咬伤动物体内隐藏的死亡因素。他们倾听云层以及暴风雨与月亮盈亏圆缺之间的神秘联带关系，他们研究这种神秘关系对谷物成长的影响，就如同其对人类和动物的繁荣和衰亡也具有同样影响一样。他们奋力追寻的目标，无疑与许多世纪后的人们所探求的科学技术目标显然完全一样，为了驾御自然和掌握自然的规律，区别仅仅在于途径迥然不同而已。他们从不与自然背道而驰，也从不用暴力手段以获知自然的奥秘。他们从不与自然作对，而始终以自然的一部分自居，对自然采取敬畏的态度。实际情况很可能是，他们对自然有较好的认识，因而处理得当。有一种情况对他们而言是绝不会发生的：即或是忽然产生了最大胆的念头，他们也绝不敢不敬畏大自然和精灵世界，更不要说有什么超越自然的感情了。这类狂妄思想对他们是不可思议的事情，对于强大的自然力量，对于死神，对于魔鬼，他们唯有心存畏惧，要他们采取别的态度也许是根本不可能的。畏惧笼罩着整个人类生活。要克服畏惧感是不可能的。但是，淡化它，规范它，把它纳入人类生活整体的秩序之中，却是可行的，因而形成了种种不同的祭献体系和方式。这些人之所以产生畏惧是因为生活受到压力，然而没有了畏惧的压力，他们的生活也就丧失了张力。一个人若能把一部分畏惧之心转化为虔敬之情，便可使自己变得高贵，使自己得益匪浅，凡是能够让恐惧转化成虔诚的人，必然是他们那一时代的善良的先驱者。那时候，奉献者很多，奉献的方式也很多，某些奉献的方式和礼仪也属于呼风唤雨者的职责范围。 在老人的茅屋里，他的掌上明珠小艾黛也和克乃西特一起长大了，成了漂亮少女。一待老人认为他们可以结婚时，艾黛便做了他学生的妻子。从此克乃西特也就成为老人的正式助手。土鲁领他晋见女祖宗，承认克乃西特是女婿兼衣钵传人，并让他从此代表自己执行公事和职务。时光流逝，不知不觉又过了许多年，年老的呼风唤雨大师终于完全进入不问世事的寂静阶段，把一切工作全部移交给了克乃西特。 有一天人们发现老人蹲在几口煮着魔法饮料的小锅前逝世了，头上的白发都已被火烤焦。——这时他的学生克乃西特早已是全村公认的呼风唤雨者。克乃西特要求村民委员会为自己的师傅举行一次极隆重的葬礼，还在墓前焚烧了许多珍贵的药草和树根以作祭献。如今，连葬礼也已是许多年前的事情了，艾黛的茅屋里挤满了克乃西特的子女，其中有一个男孩的名字也是土鲁。老土鲁已从死后居住的月亮飞回到小土鲁的身子里了。 克乃西特婚后所过的日子与他师傅生前过的日子十分相似。他的一部分畏惧早已转化成虔诚之心。他年轻时代的兴趣和深切的渴望，一部分还活生生地留存在心中，也有一部分随着年华消逝而消失不见，或转移于自己的工作，转移于受自己爱护和照顾的艾黛和孩于们了。克乃西特最热恋的事情仍然是研究月亮及其对季节和气候产生的影响。他换而不舍地努力，达到了土鲁的水平，并终于超出了师傅的成就。由于月亮的盈亏与人类的生死之间关系如此密切，由于活着的人们最畏惧的就是死亡，因而克乃西特这位月亮崇敬者和月亮专家在自己与月亮建立活生生亲近关系之际，也与死亡建立起了一种既庄严又纯洁的关系。待他年届中年时，也就不像别人那样臣服于死亡之恐惧了。他能以尊敬的口吻，或者以祈求的，甚至是温柔的语气谈论月亮，他知道自己已和月亮建立微妙的精神联系。克乃西特不仅对月亮的生命具有极其精确的认识，并且在自己内心深处与月亮分享着运行轨迹和命运变化。