Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen
It was light.A layer of mist slowly hit Moon Island.The surface of the lake is still not visible.All was silent at the moment.In the blink of an eye you can catch a glimpse of the breaking waves and the pebbled beaches.
Jia Boye sat on the low wall at the highest terrace with his back facing the Qila Temple.Although he was wrapped in a blue wool coat, the coolness of the morning sun still gave him goosebumps.Every time he comes here, he is deeply attracted by the sacred and quiet power here, and now he is very familiar with it.
He liked this moment, when the sky and the lake blurred into one, and the spot of light in the middle of the water expanded.The loneliness in his heart was so strong that he believed in the Almighty God of his life, the one who created each day.
The morning breeze blew stronger, blowing his blond hair and brushing his long beard.The wind blows from the south, driving away the clouds and mists. The fog is squeezed into lumps or flakes, and the clouds are blown farther and farther north, fleeing in a hurry as if being chased by a horse. At this moment, we can see Asakusa. Slopes with bushes on the island.On the island, there are city walls carefully piled up with red ocher rocks, and picturesque terraced fields stretching all the way to the lake, dedicated to planting sacrificial crops, until they submerge into the deep blue lake water, and the lake surges up one after another to beat the shore. spray.
Soon, the whole picture of Lake Titicaca finally appeared in front of us.Jia Boye looked into the distance to the northeast, and bit by bit he made out the verdant mountains, such as Mount Apu, the Mountain of the Ancestors, and the high mountains guarding the lake of the origin of the world.From the undulating mountains to the valleys between the streams, the last bit of darkness in the night is hidden little by little. At this time, the fog has cleared, and the high sky is already clear and blue.The cotton-like white clouds clustered around the tops of Ankhuma and Irangpu looked like golden flames in the light of dawn.The morning sun shines on the snow-covered mountaintops, the mountains glisten, and the rising sun streaks across the piled stones, cliffs and icicles.
Then, in an instant, the peaks of the mountains were covered with a golden band.The water of the lake turned dark blue.The shore of the lake seems to rise and rise, and thousands of terraced fields stick to the west bank of the lake to lay out an endless emerald green. The terraced fields of geometric shapes rise slowly, which is not only like a unique arrangement, but also like a peacock spreading its tail to show its colorful feathers. .Jia Boye once had a magical feeling, as if he personally participated in the birth of the world.
At this time, suddenly at the southernmost point directly in front of him, when the last few clouds cleared, Jia Boye saw the Moon Goddess appearing for the first time!The moon is so round and so big, hanging high above the reflection of the mountains in the lake.For a long time she stood there.It took so long that Jia Boye even had time to count the undulating folds of light and shade on the surface one by one, and the faint light of the moon gradually blurred the sunlight.
In a blink of an eye, the sun shot through the great Mount Apu, blinding every corner of the day.The front of the lake is still so dark blue for a second, and it turns into an unstoppable golden light for a while.
At this time, the moon gradually faded.
Suddenly, Jia Boye heard someone singing behind him:
About a dozen old women were praying in unison.
They raised their hands high and stared blankly at the gradually translucent moon.Once again they sang the farewell song, and the song flowed from their toothless, bulging and wrinkled lips.With every call to song there is a powerful swing of the hips, and the shawls sewn with gold leaf flutter.The strange thing is that at this moment, their ages cannot be seen from their faces, and under the glittering golden clothes, their old bodies still retain the melodious spirit of youth.
The Moon Temple building behind these women presents a perfect "ㄇ" shape, enclosing the inner courtyard in the middle.There were thirteen framed gates, all beams and pillars of finely carved shawl-like ochre-red rock.The thirteen doors faced the small rooms connected to the higher terraces, and in front of each door stood a young girl in a white robe with a layer of gold leaf on her chest.
Jia Boye couldn't help shivering.With all the muscles in his body stiff, he got up and waited for the prayer to end.
When the praying priestesses finally fell silent, three maidens emerged from one of the temple's chambers, two of them holding in their hands high-quality vicuna wool fabrics so fine that they weighed nothing.The other girl went directly to Jia Boye and handed him a gold-red robe with a simple pattern.
Without saying a word, Jia Boye took off his robe, revealing his green shirt and underpants.The young girl helped him through the narrow neckline.This robe almost covered Jia Boye's whole body, only the toes of his boots were exposed.
The smell of wool and dye is choking.Under the morning light, the mountains had completely turned red. Jia Boye took a look, then bent down to the oldest priestess and whispered respectfully:
"Daughter Kira, I'm ready."
The old woman surrounded Jia Boye, and he stepped into this inconspicuous room with only a few lights.Each of them put a few coca leaves on a small brazier.
Amidst the clamor and haste, they surrounded Jia Boye in front of a dark curtain.One of the priestesses raised the curtain, walked into a dark, narrow and winding passage, turned slightly sideways, and walked through the walls.Then the five old women also disappeared into the passage.In the end, Jia Boye felt that many hands pushed him into this dark channel.
Once through the veil, he could see nothing.He touched the cool wall with his hands in the dark, exploring the way ahead.The surface of the wall is unexpectedly smooth, and the slippery touch is like leather. I don't know how tens of thousands of fingers have touched it like this.
The channel suddenly turned ninety degrees to the left and narrowed abruptly in width.Jia Boye paused for a moment, but the old women behind him were so close that they seemed to be breathing on the back of his neck. Because of his pause, these women grumbled and urged Jia Boye to go. go forward.So Jia Boye moved completely sideways.His chest rubbed against the wall, and he moved forward a few meters cautiously, then barely squeezed through a narrow doorway, and then came to a new room, which was bigger than the previous room, and the room was filled with smoke.
Here, one of the walls has four vaulted niches with small square holes cut in the middle to let sunlight in.On the wall directly opposite hung a silver disc ten times taller than a person, shining brightly and slightly raised.It is like an uneven mirror, magnifying and distorting the walls of the entire room and the shadow of the moving woman into a circular arc.Below the circular object, there are two large pottery braziers with bright colors, emitting thick smoke and smelling smoky.The pungent smell is mixed with dried alpaca feces as fuel, the musty smell of oil, and the smell of burning internal organs, and mixed with coca leaves. The beer used gave off a sour smell.The smell is so strong, the smell is so ancient, the traditional smell is so well preserved, it seems that the walls are soaked in it.
Jia Boye unconsciously covered his mouth and nose and took a step back.However, it was too late and then soon, the old woman surrounded him.Someone grabbed his hand, someone grabbed his arm, even hooked his neck, and others held tightly to his robe.In this way, everyone seemed to be connected into a strange-looking one, and moved to the center of the room to accept the baptism of the choking smoke lingering all over the body.Jia Boye's eyes were smoked to the point of tears, and he saw the strange liquid-like shadows reflected in the silver disc by everyone in a daze.And then the old woman chanted in a low voice:
The oldest woman excitedly shook the coals in the brazier.At this time, Jia Boye noticed a roaring puma decorated on the edge of the opening of the brazier.The priestess then threw a handful of coca leaves and roots into the brazier, and the smell of burning incense soon overshadowed all other smells.But almost at the same time, Jia Boye felt his eyes were unbearably irritated, and tears welled up in his eyes.The woman held him tightly, and the women around him began to sway from side to side.They pulled Jia Boye into the stamping dance so forcefully that Jia Boye felt like an insignificant rag doll, let them play with them, and chanted at the same time:
At this moment the eldest priestess turned suddenly to face him.She raised her right hand to caress the silver disc, inside which was an increasingly distorted image, and then she held up a jug of chicha wine.After a vigorous dance, she poured out the bitter wine from the jar, and sprinkled it around herself and over the brazier, calling:
It was almost impossible to breathe in the room, and Jia Boye opened his mouth wide, eager to suck in some air.The pain in the eyes was like sand running into the eyes, and the tears flowed non-stop.He wanted to rub his eyes to relieve the hot feeling, but the old woman who threw herself on him didn't let go of his hands or arms for a second.He caught a glimpse of the priestess putting the beautiful fabric made by the girl into the brazier, and in an instant, the silver disc reflected brilliant and colorful flames.
Just as the smoke became faint for a while, and then turned into thick black smoke in a swirling shape, the old woman swayed her body more violently and casually.
In the brazier, the high-grade vicuna wool fabric was twisted into a ball, and the delicate wool bundles turned into small blue flames, devouring the beautiful patterns and unparalleled beautiful colors on the fabric, and burning them up.The folds of the fabric collapsed one by one in the brazier.Jia Boye felt the thick smoke sneak into his mouth like a ball of powder, burning his throat and lungs.Every breath is a dying struggle.His fingers tightly grasped the shoulders of the old women, but their aging bodies had astonishing strength, they were able to endure his grasp without any difficulty, and they kept singing prayers .
Jia Boye reluctantly opened his eyes, only seeing the silver disc and the shadow of the priestess.He felt nauseated and almost suffocated, but the old woman pulled him tighter.
Suddenly, there was silence in the room, and all movements stopped instantly.
Then he caught a glimpse of strange dancing smoke rising from Kira's silver disc.The smoke was colorful, white and pure color on one side, yellow mist on the other, then brown, then red.It seems that they are extremely out of harmony with each other, very abnormal.The spiral-shaped thick smoke met the upward smooth belt, and suddenly turned into transparent smoke with a little color, and a sudden burst of steam blew it away invisible.On the other side, the spiraling smoke soared straight up and rushed towards the silver disc, as if trying to drill a deep hole in the mirror.
At this time, the darkness in the house felt oppressive, and the surrounding walls and narrow passages were like clenched fists, surrounding him more and more.Jia Boye felt his throat being tightly strangled, as if he was being hanged.His feet, chest, shoulders, and muscles all over were so heavy that he didn't even have the strength to lift one foot.His heart was pounding hard in his ribs as if it was about to jump out.He opened his eyes wide, and though the pain was excruciating, he caught a glimpse of the outline of a face in the silver disc.However, suddenly everything turned dark again, and he felt that he was dying.He saw blood gushing from his eyes and mouth.He saw the nothingness into which he had plunged.
He didn't even have the strength to utter a cry, he struggled to free himself from the hands that were gripping him.Then, he pushed all the women to the ground, and rushed to the narrow opening in the wall.The narrow passage rubbed against his palms and forehead, and then he finally escaped from this hellish room and rushed out of the temple. He opened his mouth and breathed in the fresh morning air forcefully.
He ran to the grassy square in front of the temple, lay down for a long time, closed his eyes and tried to regain consciousness.
When he finally raised his head, he realized that the oldest priestess was only a few steps away from him.Behind her is a group of maidens standing in front of one of the temple's doors.Strangely enough, every girl was smiling and looking happy, and at the end, it was the priestess who laughed shrilly, as if she had suddenly turned back into the old woman who had lost her teeth.she says:
"Golden-haired foreigner, I warned you! I said long ago that you can't bear the smoke of meeting the gods! Only an older woman or man can stand the test and have a way to enter the silver disc!"
Jia Boye put his hands on Hum's head, then stood up, and said loudly to the old lady:
"Maybe I can't stand the test, but it may also be that you can't create the smoke to meet God!"
The old woman laughed again.But she laughed both loudly and shortly.
"Your words are just a ripple on the lake!" She lashed out at what Jia Boye said, "You asked me to use the smoke to help you get close to Kamakenkeya, and I told you that you couldn't do it. Arrived. This is the third time you have tried, and the third time you have failed."
"Maybe Kamakenkeya won't hear me anymore? Maybe she's gone to another world?"
The old woman made a contemptuous expression slyly, and then answered his question:
"Golden-haired foreigner, you are very conceited. Because you can't bear the smoke, you think you understand Qila's silence better than me! You know that if she wants, she can kill you at any time! But, great Pasaguti has already begun, and Mother Kira needs you too."
Jia Boye shrugged and turned away, ignoring the old woman and her scolding.He walked farther and farther, and took off his gown with astonishing agility.But the old priest caught up with him and grabbed his hand.
"No!" She said to Jia Boye in a commanding tone, "You can't leave like this, you must serve Qila until she forgives your arrogance."
"what do you want to say?"
The priestess did not answer his question directly, pointing to the group of girls and saying:
"Follow these girls! Do what they want you to do."
"No," Jia Boye objected, "it's over, I've had enough of everything today!"
"Follow them!" The priestess said again, still holding Jia Boye tightly, "This is Qila's request, and she will answer your questions!"
Twenty or so women on the boat sang in unison and pointed to a small island with a gentle slope that just emerged from the lake.
Jia Boye struggled to get up to see clearly, and he tried his best to grab the mast of the reed boat side.But the waves beat the boat so hard and short and fast that he had to sit down.Some laughed at his wasted effort, while the other women sang eagerly:
The south wind blows up the Tortola reed sail, which is tightly woven with an extremely fine and soft reed, and its efficacy is not far from that of ordinary sails.The hull of the boat is also made of the same plant material bundled into large bundles. It is extremely comfortable, and all the girls lie on it.However, this ship has no skeleton, no oars, and no rudder board. It moves forward stop and go, only with the help of sails and boat poles, it moves forward under the permission of the god in the center of the lake.So they often had to sail a whole day before they could approach that island that all the Maidens of the Moon call Apangora.However, throughout the day, the women around Jia Boye kept singing and laughing.
Jia Boye was the only male on board, and he was also the object of their playfulness and jokes for hours.No one is willing to answer Jia Boye's question: Where are you going to sail to?Why go there?What did Kira want him to do?
"You'll know when the time comes." The girls giggled and said jokingly, "Sister Qila only cares about your happiness."
Nor did they accept his help with rowing.Jia Boye drank enough chicha wine and ate enough fruits picked from the jungle. The sun reflected on the water, like a white flame, and the hot sun made Jia Boye drowsy. I felt like turning my intestines and stomach, nauseating and wanting to vomit.
At this moment, the coolness of the evening is already in the breeze blowing, and the sun is slanting to the west, making the rocky shore of the approaching island look even more slanting.For an instant, the girls were silent.Only the creaking of the ropes on the mast and in the cave, and the breaking of the waves against the reed hull.Every face was taut, serious, and attentive.
Jia Boye was startled, and stood up to investigate.His eyes scoured the shore for the slightest sign of life, or any ship like them.But the gently sloping islands are covered only with untidy slates that look like instant crystallized lumps, and here and there overgrown with tufts of eucalyptus or shrubs blown here and there by the wind. clump.
"Appangora!" the girl whispered again.
And the girl next to Jia Boye stretched out her arms to the east of the island.
"There," she said softly, where there were many rocks deep into the lake, and she pointed to a larger shadow among them, "Apangora! Mother Moon's belly has opened!"
Jia Boye found an open cave on the surface of the water, like a slit, and the top part is the entrance to the interior of the island.
Before entering the cave, all the girls were already busy.Some are furling the sails, and some are guiding the direction with long poles.Others took out charcoal from leather bags and carefully lit a dozen torches.In addition, four girls were in the middle of the boat, and they took out stone urns wrapped in high-grade vicuna wool fabrics and fifteen statues of gold, including many alpacas and female figures covering their chests with their hands.
When the boat slid into the entrance of the cave, Jia Boye felt a strange heat blowing towards his face.The torch flame flickered violently.Then, all fell into a warm silence.The walls inside the cave are smooth and covered with a thin layer of moss up to the ceiling.The water of the lake is calm and clear, and the light of the torch is enough to see the shallow bottom.
All the girls stood up, quietly, facing forward.Jia Boye also tried to get up, but two hands pushed him down on the boat.
The big boat, propped on pennies, slid into the dark hole.At this time, two gloomy forks appeared ahead.The Daughter of the Moon slid to the narrow narrow passage on the left without hesitation. The bottom of the water in the narrow passage suddenly became deeper, the water was emerald green, and the light from the torch could not reach the bottom of the water.
It's getting hotter in here.Jia Boye was sweating profusely, profusely.The walls of the cave narrowed and the rounded sides of the Tortola reed boats squeezed gently through the moss on the walls.
The boat slid forward another ten feet or so and then came to a standstill.Jia Boye was very surprised to find a silver disc, exactly the same as the one in the holy room of the temple, blocked in the middle of the water channel ahead.
All the girls remained silent, and inserted the torches into the rings embedded in the mossy wall.Everyone began to chant the old tune softly.
Then everything happened so quickly that Jia Boye had no time to object, nor did he have time to understand what happened.
In an instant, the youngest girl of the moon took off her clothes and jumped into the water.Then the others followed suit.Jia Boye stood up shyly and leaned against the wall.He wanted to turn his head away, but the girls had already taken off his long gown, and tore off his shirt and shoes without hesitation.
"Hey!" Jia Boye complained, pushing away their hands, "What are you doing?"
His voice echoed in the cave like a roar.The silver disc vibrates continuously.But only laughter responded to him.The group of girls even tore off the only clothes he had.And because he still resisted so much, they tied his hands with thin ropes.
"Damn it, you guys are crazy!" Jia Boye yelled, his voice vibrating in the cave.
Because Jia Boye was ashamed of being naked, and his temples were aching after a hangover, and everything happened so suddenly that he had no time to recover from the shock, so he could only be manipulated like a helpless newborn.
When he clumsily tried to free his wrist rope, the girls deftly tied the other end of the rope to a deep groove in the stone urn.
After a while, the two daughters of the moon picked up the stone urn and dragged Jia Boye away. Without hesitation, they let go of the stone urn, and the stone urn was thrown into the lake from the edge of the boat.
Jia Boye screamed and was dragged by the stone urn.He tried his best to grab the urn, but the rope was pulling his wrist.He finally gave up struggling, and with a final groan, when his face was about to touch the water, he struggled to breathe for the last time, and the whole person fell into the water.
He was surprised to find that the water temperature was as warm as the temperature in the cave.The lower he sank, the hotter he felt.It sank not long ago, about two feet, at most no more than three feet.Then the stone urn stopped, rippling in the water with a muffled sound and opened.Jia Boye's fingers could easily touch the rocks at the bottom of the water.He looked up through the somewhat murky water and could see the faint light of the torch.But the light seemed far away, unattainably far away.
He tried to free himself from the rope again.But at this moment he felt surrounded by the daughters of the moon, and they swam freely around him.Some people held the golden statues in front of their chests, and the reflected light and shadow seemed to draw fishes swimming leisurely in the water.
Jia Boye began to feel unable to breathe.He began to panic, and at the same time his chest ached.
Those girls kept swimming beside him, sometimes brushing past him, sometimes touching him, sometimes touching him.He really wanted to yell and tell them to let him go, so as to relieve the burning feeling in his chest.But the girls' water ballet seems to be getting slower and slower, and the dance is getting more relaxed.He hardly noticed them opening the lids of the stone urns and putting in the statues of gold.
He felt his temples being hit hard, the fire in his chest spread all over his body, his muscles seemed to be pulled so that his blood was about to boil instantly.The feeling of suffocation blurred his consciousness.He felt as if someone was touching his face, his buttocks, his belly.He threw his fists in defense, bumping into them.But they still clung to him tightly, and they got closer and closer, encircling him with their thighs and arms.
At this point, something subsides.
He no longer thinks about life and death.He felt a woman's body against him, and he felt the warmth of Anna Maya.He immediately obeyed.
He felt himself buoyed, pushed, protected.
He was only looking for her face, the woman he loved the most, the woman who was far away in the sky and made him think about it day and night.
Unfortunately, before he found her face, the heat in his chest was like tongues of fire.He yelled out hoarsely.
He didn't open his eyes, but he knew he was breathing again.
His cheek slid over the skin, arms and chest of a man who held him up to the boat.
Although he regained his breathing, the pain was still unbearable, just like the pain of suffocation.
"I didn't find her face," he thought sadly.
He was trembling, shaking constantly, his teeth chattering.Someone wiped his body, massaged him, and warmed his body.When he opened his eyes, the turmoil in his heart blurred his vision, and he saw the smiling face in front of him in a trance.
"I didn't see her face." He was still muttering.
"Aunt Qila will let you see her when she wants to." A young girl answered her gently.
"I'm not talking about Aunt Qila's face, I'm talking about Anna Maya." Jia Boye retorted.
"Kira has all kinds of faces," replied another girl.
His body warmed up, and he could finally feel someone else's touch.
With his last strength, he tried to concentrate all his consciousness, pictured Annamaya's appearance, and imagined it as an image that could be touched with his fingertips.
But all in vain.
He could only feel the daughter of the moon's persistent touch on his body, laughing and kissing his skin with them.Their fingers hold the masculine symbol wrapped around his body.He didn't open his eyes, but he could imagine their thighs and hips dangling before his eyes.
He gave up and stopped thinking about what Anna Maya looked like.
Notes:
Notes: