Chapter 8 chapter eight

Soapy had two choices: either he would be adopted calmly, or he would make a fuss and complain and be adopted in the end.It is practical to choose the former.Because going against the patriarch's wishes creates conflict and is almost always futile.It made him feel uncomfortable and uncomfortable to join a new family right after his father's death, but he also knew that this change would be beneficial to his future.As Flaki, his status couldn't be lower.Even the status of a slave cannot be lowered. The decisive thing was what his father told him: what Captain Krause said, he should do.

At dinner that night, there was an adoption ceremony in the dining room.The ceremony was in their own "secret language," and Soapy could hardly understand what they were up to or what they were saying.But the captain had told him what might happen.At this adoption ceremony, except for those on duty, all the crew members of the ship were present, even Dr. Mudd was present. Although they could not participate in the ceremony, they could keep their eyes open and ears open. The patriarch was helped into the venue, and everyone stood up.Then she was escorted to the first chair at the officer's table, and the daughter-in-law (that is, the captain's wife) waited on her.After she sat down, she made a gesture, and everyone was seated, with the captain sitting on her right hand.The next thing was to share the corn gruel, one bowl to each, first to the woman on the port side, then to the day's watch, and finally to all the rest of the ship.After dividing the porridge, no one touched it.The patriarch tapped his bowl with a spoon and said a few simple words.

Then her son spoke.At this time, Soapy was surprised to find that he could understand part of the captain's speech, and that part was exactly the message Soapy recited to the captain, and he could distinguish those syllables.Next, the chief engineer (a man older than Krause) made his statement, and then several old men and women spoke.The patriarch asked a question, and everyone answered in unison—meaning unanimous approval.The old woman didn't ask if anyone voted against it. Soapy was trying to make eye contact with Dr. Mudd when the captain called him in Interlingua.Before that, he was sitting on a lonely stool with no one else around.Soapy was uncomfortable, feeling too conspicuous.He found that the eyes of people looking at him seemed unfriendly, so he was even more uncomfortable.

"Come here!" Soapy looked up and saw the captain and his mother looking at him.The captain's mother seemed to have a temper, and perhaps she was born that way.Soapy hurried over. The captain's mother spooned a spoonful of polenta into the Soapy bowl, and licked and tasted a little.Soapy took a spoonful from her bowl too, and took a sip timidly, feeling as if he had just been in a catastrophe and had learned his lesson.She stretched out her hand, pulled his head down, and pecked each of his cheeks with her dry lips.Soapy also responded to this symbolic gesture, only to feel a layer of goosebumps all over his body.

The captain came to taste the polenta from Soapy's bowl, and he tasted the captain's in the same way.Then Krausser took a sharp knife, held the tip between his thumb and forefinger, said softly in Interlingua, "Be careful, don't cry," and stabbed Soapy in the forearm. Soapy thought contemptuously that he had been taught by Baslim that he would not be afraid of ten times more pain.There was blood profusely in the arm.Krause took him where everyone could see, said something loudly, and squeezed his arm tightly, letting the blood pool on the deck.The captain stepped on it, wiped the blood on the ground with the sole of his shoe, and said something loudly again-the crowd burst into cheers.Krausa said to Soapy in Interlingua: "Now, your blood has flowed into the steel of the spaceship, and our steel is soaked in your blood."

Soapy had seen many of these ceremonies of telepathy before, and fully understood the unorthodox, barely plausible logic of it.A sense of pride welled up in him—from now on, he too was a member of the ship. The captain's wife put a patch of ointment on Soapy's knife, and then Soapy and she exchanged food, kissed each other, and then greeted brothers, uncles, sisters, cousins, and aunts at each table one by one, and shared corn. Porridge.There were no kisses with these people, men and boys just shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder.He hesitated as he approached the maidens—seeing at once that they hadn't kissed him, but just giggled and blushed and touched his forehead quickly with their forefingers.

Behind him, the girls on duty collected polenta, a coarse grain that was a symbol that, if necessary, humans could fly through space on the meager rations.The girls set up a feast.If it hadn't been for Soapy's cleverness, he would have seen the trick at the beginning, so much polenta would have filled his throat just now: you don't have to eat it honestly, just dip the spoon in the bowl and lick it a little.But even so, by the time he was seated at the starboard bachelor's table as a recognized member of the family, Soapy was too full to enjoy the good food of the ceremonial seder.More than eighty new relatives, too many.He was tired and tense, almost worn out.

But he still tried to eat a little.After a while, he heard someone talking, but he could only catch one word in it, "Flakey".He looked up and saw a young man across the table grinning maliciously. The host of this table, who was sitting on Soapy's right, knocked on the table, meaning to ask everyone to quiet down and listen to him. "We will only speak Interlingua tonight," he announced. "According to the usual practice, new relatives must be given a period of time to familiarize themselves with our language." His icy eyes fell on the young man who laughed at Thorby, Say, "As for you, cousin, I want to remind you—just this once—that my new brother is older than you. Come and meet me in my room after dinner."

The boy was taken aback and said, "Ah, cousin, I just..." "Stop talking." The host turned to Soapy and said calmly, "With a fork, our compatriots don't need to grasp the meat when eating." "fork?" "It's on the left side of the dinner plate. You'll understand how I use it. Don't be as knowledgeable as them. Some idiots don't quite understand that the patriarch grandma means what she says." Soapy moved from his room to another, less luxurious room, which was shared by four bachelors.One of his roommates was Fritz Krausser, the oldest of his unmarried step-brothers, who was also host at the starboard bachelor's table.The other two were Celan Krausser-Drotard, step-brother-in-law, and Jerry Kingsowey, step-nephew of his married step-brother.

Soby is making rapid progress in learning Finnish.But what he needs to learn most is not Finnish, but the terms that indicate very complicated family relationships.Language reflects culture. Most languages ​​can only distinguish brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, aunts, and uncles, and use "big" or "ancestor" to indicate the previous generation or the previous generation.Some languages ​​don't even make a distinction between "father" and "uncle," a language that reflects certain tribal customs.On the contrary, some languages ​​(such as Norwegian) can distinguish the relationship between the matrilineal side and the patrilineal side of the word "uncle" (uncle, uncle, uncle).

The merchants on the Sisu could use one word to describe a relationship like "my mother's half-step uncle who once left the family and is now dead".This appellation only indicates a relationship and does not explain any other issues.In the relationship network of the family, the relationship between any one person and other people can be expressed.Most civilized groups only use a dozen names to explain the problem, but the merchants on this ship have to use more than two thousand names to explain the relationship between them.Generational size, direct lineage or collateral lineage, blood relationship or adoption relationship, age among peers, gender of speakers, kinship gender constituting a certain relationship, co-clan relationship or maternal lineage, degree of importance, etc.They can use different names to express prudently and quickly all kinds of complex relationships. Soapy's first task is to learn the appellations and clarify the specific relationship between them.He had to come up with more than eighty new titles, understand what relationships they represented: closeness and distance, superiority and inferiority, and he had to remember what everyone called him differently.He cannot speak until he has mastered all these things, otherwise he will be seriously rude. For each member of the Sisu, Soapy had to figure out five aspects and relate them to each specific person: appearance, full name (now his own name is Soby Baslim Kraussar), pet name, family title, title on board (e.g. "Patriarch" or "Second Chef to Starboard", etc.).He knew that in family matters people used family titles for each other, and in shipping they used the ship's title.If the elders allow it, you must be called by your first name in social situations, and you cannot use nicknames.Nicknames can only be used in the upper to lower occasions, and must not be used for lower to upper. Although legally, he is already a member of this family, but he cannot be regarded as a real family member until he has found out the relationship and mastered these characteristics.Life on board is a caste system of responsibilities, rights and obligations to fulfill.Compared with this, Jubul society, which uses hierarchical management and contract rule, is simply a mess.The captain's wife is Thorby's "mother", but she is also the deputy chief. How Thorby calls her depends on what he is talking about.Since he lived in a bachelor's dormitory without her supervision, the occasions requiring the title "Mother" were almost ended at the beginning.However, she also treated Soapy as her own son, as she did her roommate and brother Fritz, and she was very warm to him and allowed him to kiss her on the cheek. But as deputy head, she can sometimes be as ruthless as a tax collector.Because before the old woman died, she was not the patriarch.That's not to say she's at ease.During this time, she is equivalent to the mother-in-law's right-hand man, mouthpiece and personal servant.In theory, the officers are elected, but in practice it is entirely by convention.Krause was the captain because his father was the captain, and his wife was the deputy because she was the captain's wife, and one day she would be the captain like the captain's mother, commanding the captain and the ship—for the same reason.At the same time, although his wife has a high position, she works the hardest on the ship and has no breathing time at all, because the position of a senior crew member is tenure for life, unless someone is impeached, convicted, and finally exiled—if the crime is not serious, Behave badly, and you'll be banished to a planet; if you're breaking the Sisu's ancient, stubborn laws, you'll be flung into the cold, barren space of space. However, such a thing is like a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse occurring at the same time, it is unlikely to be seen.Soapy's mother could only hope for rest because of heart failure, stroke or other age-related ailments. Captain Krausser is the highest-ranking man in the Kraussar family and the nominal head of the Sisu family (the captain's mother is the actual leader), so Soapy, as his youngest stepson, is the leader of the family. Higher in status than three-quarters of the new relatives (he has yet to hold a shipboard title).But high status does not necessarily mean a comfortable life.Only title brings privilege—this is an ancient truth.But once you have a title, there are duties and obligations that follow, and the toil and troubles brought by duties and obligations always far outweigh the happiness brought by rights.It is much easier to learn how to be a beggar. Thorby was beset by a host of new problems, and had not seen Dr. Margaret Mudd for some days.Once, as he hurried down the deck into the passage—and now he was in a hurry all the time—he happened to meet Marguerite. Soapy stopped and said hello, "Hello, Margaret." "Hello, businessman. I thought you stopped talking to Flackie." "Oh, see what you say, Margaret!" She smiled and said, "I'm kidding you. Congratulations, Soapy, I'm so happy for you. It's the best way to go right now." "Thanks. I suppose so." She switched to Galaxy English, and said to Soapy with concern like a mother: "You still seem to be a little confused, Soby, isn't it going well?" "Oh, it's all right," he said suddenly. "Marguerite, I'll never understand these people!" She said gently: "I think so at the beginning of every field investigation. This time is the one that confuses me the most. What is it that bothers you?" "Well... I don't know, and I don't want to know in the future. Well, let's talk about Fritz. He's my brother, and he helps me a lot, but whenever I don't remember what he wants me to master, he My ears were blown. One time, he hit me and I fought back. I thought he was going to lose his temper." "Small things don't matter." "What did you say?" "It's nothing. It's not a scientific theorem. People are not chickens. No one knows how they will react. What's next?" "Well, he lost his temper all at once. And told me that, because of my ignorance, he wouldn't take it to heart, and would forget it altogether." "A duty of nobility," she said in French. "what?" "I'm sorry. I've got a lot of stuff going on in my head. Did he really stop talking about it?" "Not at all. He is very gentle. I don't know why he got angry, and I don't know why he didn't lose his temper after I hit him." He spread his hands and said, "It's so abnormal. " "Yes, it's not normal. But there's not much that's really normal. Mm... Soapy, maybe I can help you, maybe I know him better than Fritz, because I'm not one of the 'citizens.'" "I do not understand." "I get it, I think I get it, that's what I'm in. Fritz was born one of his people, and though he's a very complicated young man, most of what he knows is unconscious. Yes. He can't explain it himself, because he doesn't know he knows these things, he just knows what to do. But the knowledge I have acquired in the past two years has been learned consciously. If you have any questions, don't Feel free to ask them, maybe I can give you some advice. You can talk to me casually, I don’t have any status to maintain.” "Why, Margaret, are you really going to help me?" "As long as you have time. I haven't forgotten that you promised to talk to me about Juble. But don't let me keep you, you seem to be in a hurry." "I'm not busy, not really busy." He smiled shyly, "I'm pretending to be in a hurry so that I don't have to talk to so many people, and I usually don't know how to talk to them. " "Oh, yes, Soapy, I have everyone's picture, name, family attributes, and their position on the ship. Would that be useful?" "Huh? That goes without saying! Fritz always thought that as long as he pointed to someone and introduced him once, I would be able to remember who that person was." "Go up to my room, then. No problem, I have a license to receive anyone there. My door opens onto the public corridor, and you don't have to cross the 'boudoir line.'" After seeing the photos and the hard-to-remember information, Soapy buried himself in them for half an hour.Fortunately, Baslim had trained him before, and Dr. Mudd's materials were clearly classified, so it was much easier for him to remember.In addition, she has a "Sisu family genealogy map".It was the first time he had seen such a thing.His relatives didn't need the chart because they already knew about it. Pointing to the position of Soapy in the family chart, she said: "The number 'ten' means that you are in the immediate family, but you are not born here. There are several people with the number 'ten' here, all of them Those descended from the collateral line were brought under the jurisdiction of their family. Your fellow-citizens call themselves a 'family', but the group is more like a clan." "A what?" "A group that has no common ancestors and practices intermarriage—that is, marrying outsiders and being related. The rule of interracial marriage has been maintained, but it has been changed to equal marriages. You know the port and starboard sides of the ship. How do some people work?" "They take turns on duty." "Yes, do you know why the starboard squad is mostly single men and the port squad is mostly single women?" "Well, I haven't thought about that." "Well, the adopted girls from other ships live in the port cabin, and the native-born single men live in the starboard cabin. Every girl who lives on your side has to be swapped out, with the other ships... unless she can Find a husband among the few suitable men. You may have been classified in the 'very few suitable men' group. Do you see those names with an X in a blue circle? One of those girls, it may be you future wife...unless you find a bride on another ship." After hearing this, Soapy felt very dull. "I have to..." "If you get a position on a ship commensurate with the family's status, you'll have to carry a stick at all times to drive the girls away." This made him panic.Now like this, he has been stuck in the swamp of the family and cannot be pulled out.Rather than saying that he needs a wife, it is better to say that he needs a third leg. "Most social groups," she went on, "perform interracial marriages as well as interracial marriages. A person can only marry people outside his own family, but only with people of his own ethnicity, race, religion, or other sphere. .You free traders are no exception. You must marry the girl from the port porthole, but not Vlakki. But your customs have formed a unique family structure, that is, every ship is a male. A matriarchal society where the family is the family." "What kind of society is it?" "'The man's family is the family', that is, the wife joins the husband's family; the 'matriarchal society'... Well, think about it, who is in charge of this ship?" "Hi, Captain." "He has the final say?" "Well, Father listened to Granny, but she's old—" "There is no 'but'. The patriarch is the chief. I was astonished to learn that, when I thought such things were only on this ship. But in fact, it is the case with all of your countrymen. The men do the business, steer the boats, and manage the ship's power plants, but the woman is always in charge. There is a reason for this social structure, and it makes your marriage customs less unbearable." Soapy really didn't want to hear any more about marriage from her. "You haven't seen the exchange of daughters between spaceships. The daughters who are about to leave home are crying so hard that they are almost pulled out by force... But before they reach their husband's house, the daughters have wiped away their tears and are ready Smiling, flirting, looking for a suitable husband with wide eyes. If a girl finds the right man and helps him get ahead, then one day she can rule an independent social group. However, leaving her birth Before the spaceship, she was nothing. That's why her tears dried up immediately. If the man was in charge, the exchange of girls would be slavish. Now it's just the opposite, and this custom has become a part of the girls. Great opportunity." Dr. Mudd looked away from the genealogical chart and said: "Customs and traditions that are conducive to people's living together are almost never arranged. But they do work, otherwise they would not be handed down. Thorby, you have no idea what to do with relatives." , relatives feel very embarrassed, don't you?" "Exactly!" "What is the most important thing for a trader?" Soapy thought for a moment and said, "Hey, family. It depends on who you are in this family, whatever it is." "Not at all, it's his ship." "Well, are you saying that 'ship' is 'home'?" "Let's take a step back. If a trader is unhappy, where can he go? He has no place in space without a ship by his side. As for living on Vlaky's planet, he That kind of thought would not come up at all, and the thought itself is extremely disgusting. The boat is his lifeblood, and even the air he breathes comes from the boat, so, no matter what, he must learn how to live in the boat. But Closed here, the relationship between people can deteriorate to an unbearable level, and you can never escape this relationship. The pressure is getting bigger and bigger every day, and there will be murders in the end...or even destroy the spaceship. But humans Can figure out how to live together in any situation. You are on board, there is a lubricant between people: rituals, etiquette, established ways of speaking, things that must be done, ways of reacting. In difficult situations, you It is possible to hide behind these established patterns—that is why Fritz is not angry." "what?" "He can't be angry. You've done something wrong... But doing something wrong shows that you're a ignorant person. Fritz forgot this at the time, then he remembered it again, and suddenly Just let it go. You 'citizens' don't allow yourself to get angry with a child, you just have to pull him back into the right path...until he, like Fritz, automatically follows your complicated habits." "Well, I think I see," said Thorby, with a sigh. "It's very hard." "It's hard for you because you were not born here. But you'll learn, and then following the customs will be as easy and natural as breathing--and as useful as breathing. It's because of customs that one can know oneself Who, what group, what must be done. Even illogical customs are better than no customs. Without customs, people cannot live together. From an anthropological point of view, the so-called 'justice' is the pursuit of practicable customs Habit." "My father — I mean my old father, Baslim the Lame — used to say that justice is done by being fair to others, regardless of whether they're being fair to you." "Isn't that what I said?" "Well, I think so." "I think Baslim the Cripple thinks the 'citizens' are fair." She patted Soapy on the shoulder and said, "No problem Soapy, do your job, someday you'll marry these good One of the girls. You'll be happy." This speech did not cheer Soapy.