Chapter 3 third chapter

The status of Weierster village is so insignificant that its location cannot be found on most maps.In the administrative division, it is not even as famous as the neighboring Fuerkang village, although both of them are located on the Fuerkang mountain section of Puzalai Mountain at the same time. At present, due to the development of the mineral deposits in the basin, the towns of Petchany, Livager and several other nearby villages and towns have developed commercially. It's half as cheap.What the place was like 50 years ago, it is still the same now, and nothing will change in half a century.According to Élysée Recluse, more than half of the villagers in Vulcan were "border guards, border guards, gendarmes, tax collectors, and quarantine officers."There are no gendarmes or tax collectors in Weierster Village, and there are more farmers, with a total of four to five hundred people.

There is only one wider street in Weierster Village, and there are several steep slopes on the road, which makes it very inconvenient to go up and down.It is a natural passage between the borders of Wallachia and Transylvania.Cows, sheep, and pigs, as well as butchers, fruit, and food vendors pass here. In addition, there are very few travelers who do not want to take the train between Kolosvale and the Maros Valley. It also took the mountain pass and passed by. The mountains of Bihar, Rediezat and Palin surround a basin which is a generous gift of nature.The soil in the basin is fertile, and the underground deposits are also very rich: the annual output of rock salt in Torda reaches more than 20,000 tons, and the Balajid Mountain with a radius of 7 kilometers is also rich in salt; Toro Chico is rich in aluminum, galaxite and Mercury, especially iron, has been mining iron ore since the 10th century; while the iron ore mined from the mines in Vajda and Yuniad is of better quality and can be extracted into high-quality steel; The coal mines of Livajer and Petshanni in the county are located at the bottom of ancient lakes. The coal seam is shallow and easy to mine. It is like a big pocket for coal storage. It is estimated that the reserves are 250 million tons; The town of Offenbania is rich in gold. Gold diggers set up windmills on the beach of Veles-Bata, which has the "Transylvanian cornucopia", and use simple tools to pan for gold in the sand.The export of this precious metal alone can earn 2 million francs a year.

It may seem that the county has received special favor from heaven, but the wealth has not benefited its people.If there are several important industrial and mining areas such as Torozko, Petchany and Lognier, there are still several facilities related to modern industry, as well as several decent buildings, such as warehouses, shops, Workers' housing complex with balconies and porches.Don't expect to find any of them in the villages of Vulcan and Welster. On both sides of the only street in the village, there are about sixty houses scattered here and there, with strange roofs and ridges protruding from the earth wall, gardens in front of the houses, granaries with skylights occupying a single floor, dilapidated savings rooms on both sides of the houses, and There was a leaning pen with a thatched roof, and a well with a bucket hanging from a wooden stand.Two or three ponds, when it rains heavily, the water will overflow and flow along the winding ruts. This is the village of Weierster built on both sides of the street and on the slope of the mountain pass.However, the scenery in the village is fresh and attractive: flowers are blooming at the door and in front of the windows, the walls are covered with green and fluffy curtains, green shoots emerge from the withered grass, which contrast with the golden thatch, poplars, elms , beech, fir, maple trees towering over the sun.Outside the village, there are many mountains and hills; in the distance, in the blue sky, the peaks are abrupt, towering into the sky and hidden in the vast sky.

The Welsters do not speak German or Hungarian, but Romanian, as does the whole of Transylvania.Even some gypsy families speak Romanian.They are not vagrants who have settled down in the villages along the way. These outsiders not only speak the local language, but also convert to the local religion.They form a small tribe under the authority of a hereditary headman.They lived in rough shanties, or card-topped tents called "barakas," surrounded by large groups of children.Their customs and disciplined way of life were very different from those of their kind who migrated and wandered all over Europe.They even obeyed the Christianity of the settlement and followed the religious rituals of the Greek Orthodox Church.The head of the religion in the village of Weirst is a priest who lives in the village of Vulcan, and he is in charge of the religious affairs of the two villages which are only a few miles apart.

Civilization is like air or water, it penetrates every hole, even if there is only one gap, it can squeeze in and change the face of a region.But I have to admit that there are no cracks in the land south of the Carpathians.Otherwise Élysée Recluse would have said of the village of Vulcan "that it was the last station in the progress of civilization in the Valley of the Hill River in Wallachia."Nor should one be inexplicably surprised that Welster is one of the last villages in Closvale County.You want to be born and raised on this land, so what about the villagers who have never seen the vast world outside!

But didn't there be a teacher and a judge in the village of Welster?Yes, there is no doubt about it.However, Teacher Hellmode can only teach speaking, writing, and arithmetic.He himself has no ink in his belly.When it comes to science, history, geography, and literature, he only knows the folk songs and legends in the surrounding area.In this regard, his rare memory can help him a lot.He is especially good at telling ghost stories.That's all the schoolchildren in the village learned from his lessons. Speaking of the judge, as the villagers called their chief administrator, it was necessary to justify his name.

Teacher Korz, about 55 to 60 years old, short in stature, of Romanian descent, with gray hair, shaved very short, beard still black, gentle but still piercing eyes, stocky body like a mountain person, hair He wears a large felt hat, a wide belt with patterns on the buckle around his waist, a waistcoat on his upper body, and a pair of baggy trousers underneath, with the trousers tucked into high leather boots.Although he has duties and has to mediate neighborhood disputes, he is mainly busy with running the village and has a lot of power in his hands, which is good for his pocket.In fact, all transactions, no matter buying or selling, had to pay taxes to him, not to mention road tax, and foreigners, tourists, and brokers stuffed his pockets bulging.

This lucrative position made life very comfortable for Village Chief Kurz.At that time, most of the peasants in the village were exploited by usurers, so they had to borrow money from the Israelites and mortgage their fields. Soon these creditors became the real owners of the land.The village of Kerz has its own way of getting rid of this gang of greedy Israelis.His property is all taken care of by himself, which is what the locals call "no debt problem".He would rather lend money than borrow money, and never ripped off the poor.He owns several pastures, several rich pastures.Despite his disdain for adopting new farming methods, his crops were growing well.He walked in the vineyard, seeing the fruit on the branches, he couldn't help feeling complacent.These grapes are sold at a favorable price except for a considerable part of the grapes for their own consumption.

Needless to say, the house of Mayor Kurtz was the most beautiful in the village.It is on flat ground at the bend of a long, sloping street.It was a stone house with a front on the garden, with the door opening between the third and fourth windows, and the twigs of young oaks, dripping with green leaves, gave a green border to the eaves.Two tall beech trees spread their branches over the flowery roof.Behind the house is a beautiful orchard, the rows of vegetables are like a chessboard, and the rows of fruit trees extend to the slope of the mountain pass.The house was clean and comfortable, with a dining room and a bedroom, furnished with brightly colored furniture, including tables, beds, benches, and stools.There are bottles, jars, and dishes in the cupboard, all of which are shining brightly.Ribboned bottles and brightly colored cloths hung from roof beams, and heavy chests, covered with cloth covers, served as wardrobes and cupboards.Heavy-colored portraits of Romanian patriots hang on the snow-white walls. The hero of the 15th century, the portrait of the well-known Grand Duke Daida Yuniad is also listed.

This charming residence seemed too large for a bachelor to live in.But the head of Kurz village is not alone.He lost his wife more than ten years ago, and now he is a widow. He has only one daughter under his knees, the beautiful Milyuda. Her beauty is not only famous in Weierster village, but also known in Vulkan and even beyond.She should have been given an odd pagan name, such as Florica, Doina, or Durisia, which Wallachian families like to name girls, but the village chief would not!He called his daughter Milyuda, which means "little sheep".Now this little sheep has grown up and is a 20-year-old girl who is beautiful and graceful.Under the golden hair, a pair of wonderful brown eyes express affection, the eyes are tender and affectionate, the body is light, dignified and generous.She wore a blouse with red embroidery on the collar, cuffs, and shoulders, a belt with silver buckles, and a blue and red double-layered apron with stripes called a kaponsa.Wearing yellow leather boots, wearing a soft gauze scarf on the head, ribbons or metal hairpins on the braids, the breeze blows the hair fluttering, it is really charming.

yes!Milyuda Korz, in this village deep in the Carpathians, was beautiful and rich—no exaggeration.But will she do the housework? ……no problem.Since she put her father's house in order.Is she educated? ……Oh!She had learned to read, write, and count in the class at Headmore; she had only been able to read, write, and count correctly, and for obvious reasons, she hadn't improved any further.On the contrary, she knows no less than her teacher about the myths and legends circulating in Transylvania without a teacher.She knew the legend of the virgin Shiliani Ko, how the imaginative young princess escaped from the Tartars; The legend of the fortress; there is also the legend of the Dinada Lei Ridge. This famous basalt mountain is like a huge stone harp. Every night when there is a thunderstorm, the devil still plays the strings, so it is also called "Thunderbolt". .How the peaks of the Rediezato were chipped away by a witch; how Saint Ladislas split the pass of Tolda with his sword.These she can speak vividly.Obviously, she believed in these myths and legends, but she was still a charming girl. In fact, there is no need to think too much about her. She is the only daughter and only heir of the village chief and the chief executive of the village. Her own qualifications have caused many young men to admire her.But it's no use trying to please her in every possible way.Hasn't she become Nick Decker's fiancée? This Nicola, or Nick Deck, is a handsome Romanian lad: 25 years old, tall, with a strong build; handsome, handsome, with black hair, a white hat, frank eyes, and embroidered clothes. Lambskin jacket, open-minded manner.With a pair of scud legs, it can be said to stand like a bell and walk like the wind, and there is a resolute manliness in every movement and movement.He was a forest ranger, which was a kind of job that was both military and civilian.He had some arable land near the village of Welster, and was very much in the girl's father's favour.He is also considerate and considerate in front of the girl, without losing a sense of arrogance, so the girl doesn't hate him either.In this case, there is absolutely no need for him to argue with the girl from time to time, and sometimes to get too close to look at the girl's plump body.Why bother, no one wants to fight with him. The wedding of Dyke Nick and Milyuda Kerz is scheduled to take place half a month later, that is, in the middle of next month.At that time, the whole village was as happy as a festival.The head of Kurtz Village will then arrange everything properly.He is not stingy at all.He likes to make money, and he doesn't hesitate to spend timely. After getting married, Nick Dyke became the son-in-law of the village chief's family. After a hundred years, the village chief will own the family.And Milyuda felt that he was by his side, so he would no longer hear the creaking of doors and the cracking of furniture in the long winter nights, and be afraid of seeing some ghost and ghost running out of those myths. On the list of notables in the village of Welster two more are to be mentioned: the village teacher and the doctor.They are also very important figures in the village. Rural teacher Hellmode, fat, wearing glasses, 55 years old.He is always smoking a porcelain pipe with a curved mouth, a few sparse hairs are scattered on his flat forehead, his beard is clean shaved, and his left cheek muscles twitch from time to time. His main job is to sharpen pencils for students, and he forbids him to They use pens—this is his principle.What a delight it was when he took that old sharpened pocketknife and sharpened the pencil!He squinted his eyes, and the last knife was so accurate that he sharpened the tip of the pen in one stroke!The most important thing for students is to be able to write beautiful handwriting. As a strict and conscientious teacher, you should work hard in this direction and urge students, so that you can fulfill your mission.Imparting knowledge is only secondary.Therefore, it can be seen what Mr. Helmold said in class, and what the boys and girls in the village learned from sitting on the bench in the classroom! Now, let me introduce Dr. Batak again. What, there is a doctor in Weierster Village, how can the villagers still believe in gods and ghosts? Great question!But it was necessary to justify Batak's title of "doctor," as had been done for Judge Coltz earlier. Batak is a short, fat man with a beer belly, about 45 years old, and he is still relatively well-known in the practice of medicine in Welster Village and its surrounding areas. It is really convincing to see his confident demeanor, coupled with his rhetoric.In this regard, he is similar to Shepherd Frick.He both prescribes and sells medicines, but the curative effect is very small, and he can't cure the patients' minor ailments and pains. Fortunately, they will recover soon by relying on their own constitution.What's more, the air in Fuerkang Mountain Pass is clean and there are few epidemics.In a good place like Transylvania, when a man dies, he deserves to die. As for Doctor Batak - yes!Everyone calls him Doctor! ——Although people ask him to see a doctor, in fact, he has no medical knowledge. No matter in medicine, medicine, or other aspects, he used to be a quarantine officer. His duty is to guard the border without quarantine certificate. As for the passengers detained at the border quarantine station, that's all.He was capable enough to deal with the unfussy folks of Welster Village.It should also be added - lest it be confusing later - that Batak, like his peers, has a strong character.Therefore, he did not believe in the superstitions popular in the Carpathians, or even the legends about ancient castles.He sneered, disapprovingly.If someone mentioned in his presence that no one dared to approach that castle: "Do you want me to visit your dilapidated house someday!" He bragged to everyone. But since no one challenged him, and people were careful not to annoy him, Dr. Batak never went to the castle.Fueled by rumors, the Carpathian castle has always been shrouded in a layer of mystery.