El interior (1st version)

Long, long ago, there was a small child who was thrown into a mountain, and who lived to tell of this.

She belonged to a community who lived on the side of a mountain. There were many such communities in the area, and it took a special skill and much accumulated knowledge to eke out a living in such a location, but it had been done for many years.

Her community was small but hardy, and their mountain was special. It was a living mountain, one that nurtured them like a father, but was also apt to punish them if they didn’t observe the necessary customs and rituals. The mountain, you see, was a hardy entity, and it frequently grumbled and coughed but, for the most part, it slept, like all the other old men of the community.

The soil on the side of the mountain was very fertile. It was suited for the crops that the child’s community had been cultivating from time immemorial, the various types of potatoes, the beans, and the vegetables that were grown in the area. It also harbored many trees, cousins in the minds of her community, for they also protected the people from the ravages of the weather. They provided fuel for their fires, as well as the material needed for the roofs of their houses, single room structures that were constructed out of rocks that were cut and carefully fitted together.

Most other mountains were rather cold and inhospitable, but their mountain was special. While others were silent, and cold, and were altogether less beautiful, their mountain boasted a rich black soil that was replenished at frequent intervals. Their mountain, known as Jurimayac, the old one, had an opening on the top, and from that opening there was usually a plume of steam that arose and drifted up into the sky. From time to time, but mountain rumbled, and the fire within was heard to roar, and scalding mud was thrown out, to coat the sides of the mountain. When it did this, it was best to scramble as quickly as possible to the safe zone, halfway down the mountain, and to wait for several days until the old one had finished replenishing the side of the hill. This soil was much prized, and would quickly cool, after which it could be gathered and put to use on their terraced plots.

The girl was born into a family of six, and was the youngest. She was plump, a quality that was considered beautiful among her community, and was furthermore very cheery and obedient. She was much fond of her oldest sister, who she considered almost like her second mom, as indeed she had been, for the oldest had been entrusted with the mission of raising her younger siblings.

Her appearance was unusual, and was the cause of admiration. She was small, but had pleasing features, and her forehead was broad and naturally slanted. Her smile touched everyone, as did her pleasing and modest laugh.

The family worked hard, and was much respected within the community. They had a plot of land, and they also had a herd of small native sheep that were much prized as much for their milk as for their wool. From time to time, a sheep was slaughtered during special occasions, but it wasn’t often, and instead, the sheep were considered a form of currency, to be traded with communities who lived in the valleys, and who would provide dried fruits and herbs that that traded with the highland communities. The sheep also served to cement the peace, for within historical memory there had been threats of invasion by uncouth and fierce tribes to the south who prized the sheep and the other products of the region, and as such, they had become part of a tribute that was paid to ensure the peace.

There would ordinarily have seemed to be little time for play, but the little girl was fortunate for her family indulged her. She had modest chores, such as helping her mother start the fire, or gathering wild nuts or herbs, or carrying water from the natural cisterns that her community had built to gather the rain when it fell, but often she was seen to be running along the paths that led to the upper reaches of the mountain, disturbing the nests of birds, and also, overturning rocks and collecting the small beetles that she found scrambling underneath. The beetles came in different hues, and they along with other insects were considered delicacies among her people, having a crunch and a texture that was quite pleasing. There were also subtle differences in flavor; the brown beetles were a little saltier, while the dark ones had a peculiar spice and aroma that reminded her of the mint that grew in damp places.

The little girl often called out to her oldest sister to join her in play. Long ago, this sister had taken her along a lonely path to a cave where her people had set aside to house the remains of their ancestors. When they passed away, they were bound in cloth, and they were soaked in a special oil that came from the valleys down below, and which was meant to discourage the rodents who might otherwise have been tempted to feed on the remains of their departed ones. The dead ones were stacked in different areas, where they could rest with loved ones, and as they dried out and grew withered, turning very dark, they were allotted a special period of twenty years in which their spirits could become accustomed to the idea of being dead, for it was deemed too cruel to administer the final rites too abruptly. After the passage of accustomed period of time, they were gathered together and removed from the cave and taken up to the top of the mountain, where the appropriate rituals were performed and they were entrusted into the care of the old one. They were dropped from the precipice, and special days that were determined by their wise ones, and their spirits were finally laid to rest.

During that journey with her elder sister, the young girl had felt not the slightest amount of fear when they opened the wooden gate and ventured in. It seems that the sister had been entrusted with the task of delivering a prized pendant to a cousin who had passed away a few years ago. The pendant had been considered lost until it turned up buried next to the side of the house, and it was deemed prudent to leave it with the departed cousin, who still had quite a while to wait until her final rites were performed, and must surely have been missing her pendant. The two sisters walked quietly into the cave, and they searched for the indicated area, and they had no difficulty recognizing the departed cousin, who was addressed with respect by the older sister, who placed the pendant under the cloth that covered her chest, and who stayed to tell her the news of the ones who were still alive, and of her mother and father, who were growing older now, but who remained in good cheer, and of her brother, who had welcomed a new member to his growing family, and was considered one of the more prosperous citizens of their community. She also told her of the fate of her promised one, who had mourned the death of the cousin, and who still loved to stand outside on summer afternoons watching the sky and the eagles who flew to their nests, but who had fortunately found happiness with another girl. Such a one would have made a wonderful husband for her had she not been taken by illness.

The little girl enjoyed hearing the voice of her older sister, and took comfort by the familiar and playful manner in which she expressed herself. Her older sister was a good storyteller, and always found the most entertaining way to describe the events that took place, the story of the brother who tried to ride a sheep and was thrown off repeatedly, or the friend who was as windy as the old one and could be heard far off on the paths that dotted the mountain, or the story of the old lady who professed to be blind, but who was apt nonetheless to unfailingly reach out to grab the private area of all the handsome young men, but never of the women, to the point that the men had taken to cupping their hands around their genitals when they approached her. She was old and her husband had lived for almost as long as she had, but it was joked that she had evidently not had her fill, and was thirsty still.

It was a memorable time for the young girl, and soon, in accordance with the customs of her people, when she had completed ten summers, she would be promised to her future husband, after which she would be entrusted to learn the ways of women, and to leave her playful nature behind. Her old sister had already been entrusted, and her ritual of marriage was soon to be celebrated when she completed one more summer, after which she would move in with her husband (who she already addressed as husband), and of whom she was very fond, having a romantic spirit as she did. The little girl wished to be betrothed as well, but to tell the truth, she also was very fond of the company of her mother and her other sibling, and could well afford to wait.

Now, it had been said that the old one, the mountain, was a living presence in the lives of this community, a presence that both nurtured as well as punished. It had been seen that to all old ones, especially to the oldest one, much respect was due, for this was the way of the world, and the source of their continuity. The old one could nurture, but at times, he could grow angry, and could shake and grumble, and could grow loud at times. In the past the old one had been seen to burst in anger, shouting so loud that he caused the top of the rim to blow away, causing landslides that terrified the people. It had also been seen at times that the old one would fall sick from anger, and would bleed molten drops that flowed down the mountain and set the trees and bushes they encountered ablaze. These tears could last for weeks and even months, for the old one was not easily appeased once offended, and while the people quaked in fear, they found it difficult to perform the ceremonies of appeasement.

The tears would flow down, and it was all they could do to gather their sheep and a few food stocks, as well as the members of the family, and scramble down to the valley. If the old one were particularly angry, it would also emit a sharp smell, one that was more powerful than they had ever noticed, and a gas that furthermore was poisonous to them, and might make them fall asleep. This anger was slow to awaken, and was slow to dissipate, so the community members trusted to the wisdom and experience of the wise ones, and were ever attentive to signs of anger. And they kept to the rituals, to the need to respect the sacred places of the old one, in particular, to respect the tunnels that were narrow and that located in middle latitudes, for these were surely the nostrils of the old one, and if the he could not breathe, would he surely not awaken in anger?

But there were other rituals as well. It had been the custom to choose a young girl to offer to the old one every five years, to have the old one have his fill as well, for the old one also had need of companionship. And thus, it was the custom for the wise ones of the community, the elders, to hold a special gathering every five years to choose the young girl who would be betrothed to the old one and given to him. The girl needed to be of the appropriate age, but much attention was paid signs that were the object of debate within the council.

Tariksa, the toothless one, insisted that the young one be upright and cheerful, and have no special fear of snakes. She herself had always despised them, and dreaded in particular the yellow ones with beaded patterns, who were like the sick excrescences of the mountain that was forced to eliminate its poisons, and when snakes abounded, she insisted, the mountain was bound to be afflicted with illness, and would surely grow hotter. Zumbatac, the elderly one of the large ears, insisted that the little girls who was able to attract beetles was one who had the same nature as the mountain, and rather than pine in loneliness or despair as a result of a marriage that she found unsatisfying, would be able to derive comfort from the material provisions of a mountain that surely abounded in beetles and insects. And Lortanac, the blind one, insisted that the true sign would be found in the sky, and that the eagles would surely indicate which was destined to be the chosen bride, for the eagles were acute in judgment, and prudent, and would surely recognize the same in the chosen candidate.

There were fifteen young girls who were to be betrothed that summer, and that summer coincided with the five year period that had been allotted for the selection of the new bride to be offered to the mountain. Now, it might be though that the parents of the young girls might have been alarmed over the possibility that their young girl might be chose, but this was such an honored and accepted custom among the people that they would never give thought to expressing their fears. Instead, it was said that the family of the chosen one would be especially honorable, for would they not have a close bond with the mountain, who would now become a formal member of their family? Was it not the case that they would assume honored status, and be accorded positions of leadership? Was it not wise to be dutiful and respectful, for didn’t their values depend on these qualities?

At the same time, however, it was also noticed that the families of the candidates became unusually officious during this period. They would be especially dutiful in their care of the old ones in the period leading up to the special gathering, and the wags would allege that some of the more devious families would resort to trickery. A few of the girls were coached to scream especially loudly when they chanced on a snake, one that would emerge under suspicious circumstances when many people were present to witness the reaction of the child. Indeed, girls who were born during these five year interval periods were known to be more afraid of snakes than usual, out of some mysterious mechanism that had to do with the knowledge of one of the selection criteria used by the conclave of elders.

In other instances, baskets of beetles were left near the sides of other household by mysterious visitors, and their presence was viewed as a sign of affinity between the candidate who resided in that household and the insects. Indeed, the young girl had always been told by her mother that she should not be so given to overturning rocks and seeking these beetles out, but nothing she had said would register in the young girl, who had always had a fondness for beetles, and while she was careful not to engage them in her mother’s presence, took no similar care when out by herself.

And, the families of the candidates were known to encourage their young daughters to spit at eagles, and to disrupt their nests, and to throw rocks at them, more so than the daughters of other families who were not candidates. The eagle was prized by the community, and it was observed that the girls who managed somehow not to be chosen reverted to the naturally respectful behavior of their other family members, but only when it was safe, and when the summer of their tenth year had passed. Otherwise, it was deemed unwise for them to express admiration for the eagles, or to talk to them, and while this was considered rude by community standards, it was nonetheless considered an understandable necessity on the part of the families who were as risk of suffering such a notable honor as having their young daughter chosen in the ceremony.

It was perhaps unfortunate that it was this affinity for eagles that cemented her selection. The young girl had been carefully coached in private by her parents as to how to behave, and had learned to scream at the sight of snakes, and to express disgust at the prospect of eating beetles, and to furthermore apply  oil to her skin that was meant to ask as a repellant should one venture in her vicinity. And she was permitted and, indeed, encouraged to climb up the side of the mountain, and the story was told about how the many eagles that kept nests up there were quick to flee her presence, and to screech in anger, although to tell the truth, the young girl never did venture too close, and the eagles never did fly away when they saw her approaching, but instead watched her calmly, and would eagerly consume the small bits of meat that she left for them and that she carried hidden in her pocket, as an offering she felt she was obliged to make in return for the eagles’ feathers that she loved to pick up.

And it was the discovery of the eagle’s feathers that did her in, for when she was climbing down during one of her forays to the top that observed to pull out a bundle from her pocket let them loose in the wind. The feathers were much prized by ordinary members of her community, but any affinity for them among the candidates was bound to be considered a particularly fortunate omen for the work of the conclave, who received notice of the news, at the same time as the parents of the young girl, who were quite understandably overcome with pride and happiness, to the extent that the mother cried out loudly and commences pulling out her hair, and the father beat his other children mercilessly for not keeping watch over their sister, and then ran out of their house, where he was seen picking up and throwing stones over the side of the terrace, and running back and forth in what was supposed to be interpreted as a peculiar form of exaltation, but one that left him trembling and shaken at his unexpected good fortune.

It was forthwith decided that the young girl would the chosen bride, and the announcement was made that night.

To be continued


OGRomero © 2013
(Copyrighted by OGRomero, 2013)