The
next day I awoke to be greeted by a bright, sunny morning. Even the gods seemed
to welcome me to this picturesque countryside. Lothar was not in bed. The front
door had been left closed but not bolted. I freshened up and soon made my way
outside, not wasting any time to get into and enjoy the bright July sunshine.
As I made my way around the house, for a moment I thought things had reverted
back to how it had been yesterday. Nobody was to be seen. But this soon changed
for as I rounded the next bend Lothar came into view, along with the girl I had
seen at the Voice Horn the previous night and another woman who I would have
assumed was her mother. Lothar introduced me to the older woman. Soon more
people started emerging from their homes and very soon I was considered by them
almost like one of their own. The old man who had dictated proceedings the
previous night turned out to be the head of the village. He was referred to by
everybody as ‘Sire’. The villagers listened to my account of life in the more
developed areas of the country, the flyovers, bridges, harbours, tall skyrise
buildings, all of which had rapidly emerged within the last decade as a result
of widespread education techniques and government subsidy for higher studies.
What
struck me as strange was the fact that there were alarmingly few people
residing in the village. There couldn’t have been more than twenty people, men,
women and children included. In all there were only three families, and a few
men living on their own, like Lothar. Most of them were farmers, growing wheat
in their backyards. Lothar and another man about his age tended half a dozen
cows, which they allowed to roam free and feed on the abundance of grass growing
on the surrounding hillocks.
I
was invited my the Sire to dine at his house that night along with Lothar.
After getting dressed that evening, we walked down to the Sire’s house, which
was at the other end of the village. There were a thousand questions I would
have liked to have had answered about this queer village. I was bursting with
curiosity and couldn’t stop myself asking, “ Why is it that the buildings
around us possess a lot more room than there are people staying in them?”
Lothar considered my question for a moment, then answered in a low voice,
“There were a lot more people than this once, years ago. It was a full-fledged
village, the likes of which you usually encounter elsewhere in the country. But
then something happened, something gruesome, the details of which are still not
known to many of us youngsters. Anyway let us not delay any further. Here we
are, about to enter the house of the Sire. I would not be surprised if before
the evening is over, many of your current doubts would have been laid to rest
and many others would have been aroused.” I didn’t reply, and instead followed
Lothar up the stone steps towards the half open door at the top.
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