Chapter 111: Visitors from the Valley

White Pigeon Valley. ()

I remember it was the last winter when my grandfather and I welcomed a guest.

At that time, the grandfather became more and more silent. People say that there is already war going on in the south, and that rebels may come to the north at any time.

The news spread so much that for a while, the ruffians who were making trouble in my house were much more restrained, and they whispered in horror when they looked at my family.

I heard the servants say that my father had arrived in Uxhall.

Maybe my father is coming back, so these people don't dare to bully my family? I do not know.

In my grandfather's study, I sat on his lap and looked at a large map, a map of the continent where I lived, and spent on a whole sheepskin. My grandfather said that it was painted by the Salanders, and that it was very beautiful, even more elaborate than the mainlanders themselves, and that he had found it from an outpost many years ago when he was fighting with the Salanders.

"Do all the Salander soldiers have such maps?" I asked my grandfather.

"No, Timmy," said my grandfather, touching my head, "this is a nobleman from Salander. Do you know? Your father met him again when he was on the battlefield, and your father came back to tell me that the Salander nobleman was already the Sultan. ”

"Oh." I didn't take my grandfather's words to heart, I pointed to the map and said, "Where is the White Pigeon Valley?" ”

Grandfather said, "White Pigeon Valley is not on this. ”

"Why?"

"Because the White Pigeon Valley is too small."

"Where's Suno?"

"Su Nuo is here." Grandfather pointed to a pattern the size of a fingernail with a small castle drawn underneath something in words I didn't recognize.

"Why is there only so little? Is it a mistake? ”

"No, Timmy. Su Nuo is too small. ”

My eyes widened and I looked back at my grandfather, who shook his head. Then he slowly traced his finger across the map, muttering to himself, "This is where your father went to college", "Here, where he went to sea", "Well, Fortress Garmic", "Uxhall", "Is it really already in Uxhall?" ”

"Is my father coming back?"

“```。”

"Is it because the White Pigeon Valley is too small, so my father can't find his way home?"

"Well, I can't find my way home."

In any case, there was a sudden reversal of the family's decline.

It's strange that when the news of my father's appearance in Uxhall came, a lot of things got better.

One morning, Grandpa Bianwen told me that the ruffians had sent back the cattle and sheep that they had stolen some time before, as well as some stolen furniture;

Soon after, a petty official who used to come to my castle and shout brought a gift to my family. He said that the unpleasant times may be over, and he will ask my family to take care of them in the future;

The black-clad widows, who had been living in tents in my house, had also gone clean one morning, and a farmer said that the women had gone out of the valley by the moonlight. Before they left, they took with them twelve bags of flour, two baskets of cheese and two large bales of wool.

The haphazard fence in front of the valley was also removed, and for some time we were not free to go out of the White Pigeon Valley, but no one came in to harass us. I think it's good that I won't be woken up in the middle of the night by the noise, the family field can be replanted, the waterwheel will soon be repaired--- if my father comes back, you should be coming back soon.

Several letters from Suno City were sent that had been backlogged for a long time. The earliest one in it was sent by my father from the Frost Castle, and in the letter my father said that he had sent a lot of candied fruit with the letter, but now it was obvious that those things could not be recovered.

These things have made our family feel a lot more at ease.

The valley seems to be coming back to life, even though the tension outside the valley is getting more and more intense.

The farmers were amazed that in the fields outside the valley, boys over the age of fourteen were being trained, and these boys would not go to war, but their fathers were incorporated into the army, and when the adults left, these boys would have to take over from their fathers in various positions, so that their lives could pass smoothly through this time.

I was still vague about the situation, and I didn't know why there was such tranquility in the White Dove Valley when it was already cloudy outside.

Grandpa Bianwen's training became more and more strict, and he taught me how to use the sword and courage. I was not as strong as his grandchildren, and the boys were always able to knock the wooden sword in my hand away with a stick, and I protested that I should use it too, because the weapon always felt a little thin when I had it in my hand.

Grandpa Bianwen said, "You are going to fight with a sword, and a wooden stick is not your weapon." ”

"But your grandson is using a stick."

"You are the son of your lord, and your enemies are far more dangerous."

"Who is my enemy?"

"Pick up the sword, Master Timmy."

I didn't learn much during that time, and I didn't think it was much fun to learn a sword, I preferred archery, but when I found that I couldn't even draw the lightest bow, I quickly became disgusted with drawing a bow.

My grandfather didn't blame me, he told him that my father was much older when he started learning martial arts.

Bi Anwen said, "If the young master doesn't learn the sword when he is a child, there will be no danger, what about Timmy?" ”

The grandfather was silent and asked no more questions. Without my grandfather's stopping, Grandpa Bianwen's training for me did not ease at all, but intensified. I spent my afternoons practicing hitting scarred wooden figures, and Grandpa Bianwen would come over from time to time to check on them, but my progress would never meet his standards.

I prefer my grandfather's den to martial arts. I enjoyed looking at the map of Salander for a long time.

My grandfather told me that there were a hundred worlds the size of continents in places that were not drawn on the map, and that at the edge of these worlds, there were endless seas, and above the heads of these worlds, there were stars in the sky;

My grandfather told me that starting in one direction and moving forward, one day we can go back to square one: "Because like the moon and the sun, the world we live in is a huge ball, like an apple." ”；

My grandfather told me that outside the Valley of the White Pigeon, every thirty miles, there would be a fork in the road, and every thirty miles, there would be another fork in the road. The world was thus connected by numerous great roads on both sides of the forks, and at the end of those roads were countless villages and towns, with a thousand princesses and ten thousand generals, with the fleets of the North Sea and the gardens of the desert people, with the silk of the Orientals and the sabers of the steppes.

"But, grandfather, what's the use of knowing this? Didn't the adults in the city say that we can't even go out of the White Dove Valley? ”

When I finished asking this, my grandfather's eyes would sparkle with compassion, and after a while he said, "It will be useful," and if you can see them one day, you will know.'' ”

With no business with the outside world, the atmosphere in White Pigeon Valley has become very deserted. The daily work of the peasants who remained in the valley was to gather together to bake the fire, to tell what had been seen outside the valley, and then to the castle to inquire about the work to be done that day--- there was nothing to do, and before the winter came, my grandfather had already packed the grain into the storehouse, wrapped the furs, salted the excess meat in the barrels, and polished the furniture for sale.

After each winter, the Valley of the White Dove will be renewed: young and beautiful people will open the storehouses and open up the hopes that have been hoarded for a winter, people will sing in the valley in the spring, young men and women will choose to marry at this time, grandfathers will accept the newlyweds to weave garlands with flowers, and then attend their weddings as parents.

That winter, my grandfather took me out into the fields.

In winter, the ground was frozen dry and gray, and my grandfather walked slowly on the edge of the bare field, and I followed him to a stone bridge. In the summer, my grandfather took me here to fish, and we dozed off all afternoon, but we didn't catch anything, and my grandfather and I agreed not to tell anyone about our results. Now, the creek has been frozen, but my grandfather said that there is still water under the ice, and when spring comes, the frozen water will flow again.

"Is it okay to have a creek that has been frozen to the bottom?"

"yes, Timmy. No matter how cold the winter is, when spring comes, it will surely come back to life. ”

My grandfather told me that when he first arrived in the valley, Grandmother Sumi sat barefoot and played. My grandfather said that my grandmother was not as tall as I am and that her feet were covered with mud, but when my grandfather came, my grandmother was not afraid at all.

At that time, Sumi was wearing a beige dress, and she did not hide from her grandfather's gaze, quietly watching the uninvited guests who came to the valley. It was summer, the wind was blowing through the grass, and my grandfather was smiling on his lame horse, covered in dust, looking at the girl in front of him. At that time, the mountains were full of flowers, and if I had chosen, the world would have frozen on that day, and then forever in that twilight afternoon sun.

But time passed little by little, and the grandfather's story was coming to an end, but the world was still moving forward.

On that day, the valley was filled with lead ash. My grandfather and I sat on the stone bridge and looked around. The sky was a clear blue sky, without a trace of clouds.

Years later, when I was at Vicchia, I used to look at the sky curiously, and the sky is like this all year round, and the sky is especially clean in winter, like a piece of Rhodoc's blue silk.

That afternoon, a guest came to the valley.

My grandfather and I were sitting on the stone bridge, and an hour before we saw the traveler clumsily climbing the mountain on a mule. As we walked in front of us, the man jumped off the mule, then took hold of the reins, and said breathlessly,

"Hello, my name is Goblin and I'm from Suno. I've come to visit the lord here. Can you lead the way? ”