Chapter 5 Lokos
“I brought back some fish,” said Perturabo.
Morse reluctantly raised his heavy head that was knocked on the top of the wicker chair. He bet that any living person who drank the old ale buried behind his house would not perform better than him. .
"Okay, very good." Morse waved his right hand lazily, using soft finger movements to express his indifference. "Bake it yourself, or do whatever you want with the fish...and what does this have to do with me? Farewell, Perturabo."
Perturabo Ding She looked at him intently for a while, then left the house and closed the door for him.
Morse put his palms in front of his eyes and quietly blocked the sun for a while, until the persistent sun smeared his eyes with a hazy light red.
Of course he knows that the sun in Olympia is not called the sun, or that the scientific name should not use the unique name of ancient Terra; but people here will still call the pale and blazing sun in the sky with reverence and awe. The solid circle is the sun, maybe this is human beings.
He slowly and wantonly rubbed his thumb, middle finger, and index finger in sequence, snapping his fingers twice in a row, one strong and one weak, to help himself regain his consciousness.
Then Morse jumped off the wicker chair, pushed open the wooden door, leaned against the door frame, and crossed his arms across his chest.
Today is still a dry and refreshing day, and any clouds full of water vapor seem to be deliberately staying away from the boundaries of Lokos. Some birdsong, some chewing sounds of Lokos deer, and the sound of Lokos people walking and moving in the distance... Morse captured these trivial movements within the range of his psychic ability.
Morse withdrew his psychic powers and focused on the present.
Perturabo was cleaning his fish in his yard, the smell of blood wafting everywhere.
"If you insist on polluting the clean, dry forest air that enters my nose, I will have to pay the price with you." Morse said.
“Can I pay on credit?”
“No.”
Perturabo silently used the stone knife to knock off the nerves on the fish's back. He shrugged his shoulders and used force, and the scales were peeled off layer by layer from the stone knife.
Morse only taught him once how to handle fish in the river, and Petula learned very quickly.
Then the boy said; "What do you want?"
"Give me a fish."
"Okay."
"Two?"
"Dreaming."
There is not even a second of time difference between Perturabo's response and Morse's request.
Morse swayed to Perturabo's side and leaned over exaggeratedly, so that his upper body and legs formed a vertical posture like the corners of a table and chair. Perturabo said nothing, but continued to chop his fish.
The fish’s eyes radiate a strange light.
Morse grinned and was about to leave, going to the corner to get his semi-finished stone sculpture.
Ever since he smashed the head and hands of the stone statue of Perseus last time, he had the idea of renovating the entire stone statue.
He has not yet decided on the material for this sculpture.
Maybe it’s a beast, maybe it’s vegetation, maybe it’s an imitation of another precious but missing souvenir in the long history of mankind, or maybe it’s a brand new portrayal of his own life experience, for example He and Perturabo are pictured eating barbecue side by side.
Morse didn’t know.
These days he just swings the chisel at the marble casually, waiting for the sculpture to grow out of the stone.
He picked up the heavy damaged stone statue with his own hands, let the tools float behind him, and prepared to walk to his comfortable long-term hand-woven straw mat.
When he passed by Perturabo for the second time, the boy suddenly stopped him. "Morse?" he said quietly.
"Um...what's the matter?"
"What do you want?"
Morse patted the stone sculpture, the smooth surface of marble is always reassuring. These heavy, fixed, unchanging, cohesive, everlasting, only subject to the wear and tear of time, caring, never rebellious, outspoken dear stones, are more deserving of a love than any living creature. hug.
“I don’t know.” he said. "Do you mean long-term, short-term, today, now? If it is the last one, then I want you to handle the fish quickly."
Perturabo stopped and said Several fish were already lying cleanly on the smooth stones beneath his scarred palms, their entrails and scales thrown aside.
He raised his head.
"Long-term." His rare calmness and self-denial gave his words the sweet quality of the sound of delicate machinery. "The longest term, otherwise I will never know what I should give you, and I will never know how you can be satisfied."
Morse's eyes stayed on the stone in his arms. "Do you think I know how to satisfy you? No, Perturabo, you have to talk about your dreams too."
"It's fair," said the boy, "We communicate with each other. What you need."
"You do learn quickly"
Perturabo's eyes stayed around Morse for a while, looking down from his messy half-length black hair. , to the black clothes and trousers that covered his body, and the cold white stones in his arms.
He wiped his hands, stained with the fish's cold blood and slime, on the straw mat he had made.
These days he sleeps on the straw mat in this courtyard, sheltered by the cold black sky, enjoying the caress of the afterglow of the sun reflected by the satellites above Olympia - similarly, Morse only teaches Show him how to knit once.
"I'll say it first." The boy grasped his cushion tightly, his Adam's apple rolled, and his throat tightened and relaxed. He cleared his throat and pulled out two broken grass stems from the straw mat in his hands.
“I don’t know where I come from.” he said, “I want to know.”
“Is this your greatest wish?”
Morse put down the stone sculpture, put one leg up, and spread the other leg flat. He supported his leaning body on his elbow and sat on the straw mat.
He thought for a while and shook his head: "I apologize to you, I owe you once, because I have no wishes."
"I can only tell you that I am a failed craftsman who hates puzzles. Questions and code words are inherently mutually exclusive with Great Expectations and the majestic galaxy. I am just a little chess piece without a master in this vast sea of stars. "
The earth is at his elbow. Conveying some warning-like vibrations, Morse remained calm, sat upright, and smiled: "The only thing that can give me a little bit of despicable comfort now is that I guess the craftsman who made this instrument of yours is also not a What a success."
"This is an assumption," said Perturabo dissatisfied. "It is an unfounded slander!"
"I always feel that when I belittle your creator, you get more excited than me."
"More nonsense." Perturabo bit his lip, looking unwilling.
Morse let a short sigh roll off his tongue. "Well, anyway, I owe you once, you can remember it. Now, we have more things to deal with."
With Morse's reminder, the sound of the collision of gold and iron became more intense Clear.
The authority of these artificial weapons is constantly creating the identity of existence through sounds coming from afar. The brand new iron boots stepped on the dry forest land, and the heavy handle of the knife cracked the branches and vines blocking the road. The colorful helmet decoration was incompatible with the harmonious green and light orange of the forest. It's almost a testament to a certain kind of human nature - the natural conqueror, both of nature and of other people.
"Lokos..." Morse whispered. "They're here for you, Perturabo. I assume you didn't assassinate their tyrant?"
"I guess I'm just too obviously good," said Perturabo.
Morse looked up and smiled.
(End of this chapter)