Chapter 111: Clash of Faiths

That day, we went on with the camp construction as usual. While we were busy, we saw a large number of natives surging this way. At first, we did not pay much attention: in the past few days there had always been some young natives who, attracted by us, came to watch how we built the camp. It was only when they came close that we realized something was wrong: the High Priest Odaoni, fuming with rage, was dragging Evlinna along in front, while the Chieftain of the Giant Bull Tribe, Eckdin, followed close behind with quite a few of his tribesmen.

“Our dearest brother, respected High Priest, welcome. We equally welcome the brothers of the Giant Bull Tribe.” Having heard this news, Fred hurried out of the camp and led us to greet them at the entrance.

“Mr. Guderian, Miss Millia, we have always been grateful for your help, especially because you saved my life, for which I cannot thank you enough. We have also accepted you as we accept our own family, treating you as part of us. But…” The High Priest stepped forward to perform a token courtesy, then began to speak loudly. This old man did not conceal his anger at all. As he spoke, his white beard kept twitching, like two clusters of white flames that would not stop leaping.

“…But I never expected that you would spread corrupting words among my granddaughter and many young people, strike at the dignity of God Lumburi, and offend our faith. If you were not our benefactors and family, I would punish you in the harshest way.”

The High Priest’s words sounded very harsh. Some reckless soldiers, hearing him use such words to insult their leaders, could not help raising a clamor to speak up for Fred and Millia. The tribesmen of the Giant Bull Tribe were not to be outdone and shouted loudly at us. The atmosphere on the spot became very tense for a moment.

“Silence! Go back and do what you should be doing!” Fred ordered the watching soldiers loudly with a serious expression, preventing the possibility of a bigger disturbance. At this time, Eckdin, whose face was full of conflict, also calmed the excited emotions of his own people, and everyone gradually quieted down.

“Respected High Priest…” Having stabilized the situation, Fred stepped forward and said, “I do not know what made you misunderstand and think that we disrespect the great God Lumburi. Although He is not the god that we and Miss Millia believe in, during the treatment… no, during the removal of the divine wrath, we never said a single word that offends God Lumburi. On this point, your tribesmen can all testify for us. I do not know what happened, but I hope you will give us a chance to prove ourselves.”

Since faith was at stake, Fred responded to the High Priest’s words with great care. His sincere manner made the natives take a strong liking to him. Seeing his attitude, the High Priest’s expression became somewhat hesitant, and he seemed unable to make up his mind.

“My granddaughter has been led astray by you!” After a while, the High Priest could no longer remain silent and said loudly to us, “Yesterday she told me that we should live in wood, sleep on tree stumps, and live on grass, and she said you taught her that. What is even more serious is that she even said that the words of God Lumburi cannot be listened to…” This noble old man took several deep breaths, looking unable to calm his anger. “Did you teach her all this?”

“Grandfather, I mean… the god’s words should… should be used…” Evlinna said timidly in her own defense.

“Silence! Don’t say those blasphemous words of yours anymore. I don’t want to hear a single word of your nonsense.” The High Priest flew into a rage. His bigoted faith had blocked his ears, making him unwilling to accept anything outside tradition.

We exchanged looks. We had not expected that the power of faith could be so stubborn that it made this old man unwilling to accept any outside information.

“I think I can explain all of this.” I did not want Fred to suffer more insults from this furious old man—after all, as far as the outside world was concerned, he was the King of this land, and it would be too unfair to Fred to let a king endure natives’ abuse—so I stepped forward and said to the High Priest.

“If you want to understand what Miss Evlinna said, please come with me. I assure you, your granddaughter has no intention of blaspheming the god. She was only faithfully passing on to you what she saw.”

We brought the High Priest to the front of my wooden cabin. In fact, when he saw these wooden cabins from a distance, his expression had already changed visibly. This fanatical old man, while staring wide-eyed at the various implements whose uses he could not guess no matter what, was also working hard to put on an unconcerned expression. His expression put my mind at ease a good deal—at least, the attitude he showed toward these new things was not obvious hostility.

“This is the ‘wood’ Miss Evlinna said we live in.” I pushed open the wooden door and led the High Priest, Eckdin, and Evlinna into the room. Fred and Millia followed close behind.

“This is where we sleep. It is not a tree stump; we usually call it a ‘bed.'” To make them believe me, I lay down on it to demonstrate. The High Priest’s eyes lit up. He went up and touched the mattress spread on the bed. The soft mattress gave him a very good impression, and he sat down on it hesitantly. I saw a look of hesitation on his face; in the end, he still did not set aside his dignity and lie down on it.

“What we eat is not grass, but food made from a plant called ‘wheat.’ I’m sorry that this plant does not grow here, so for now I have no way to introduce it to you. I think in the near future we will let you and your people know this plant. If you don’t mind, I hope you would taste the food made from it…”

I took out a piece of bread that was as soft as possible and offered it to the High Priest. Staring at this unfamiliar food before him, he asked warily:

“This… is made of grass?”

That question was really exasperating. I tried to hide my disdain in a smile and explained to him in detail how we dried the wheat seeds in the sun, ground them into powder, then kneaded and baked them, until in the end it became this. To remove his doubts, I tore off a small piece of bread and put it into my own mouth.

The High Priest was still not very willing to try this thing he had never seen, but Eckdin had already torn off a piece of bread, imitating me. His expression was grave, carrying both apology and some worry. It was obvious that this honored and respectable middle-aged man held no hostility toward us.

“This is our way of life, the way our god taught us. We respect it just as you and your people respect your current way of life. I know our customs are very different, but, respected High Priest, I believe differences in life will not affect our deep brotherly feelings.” In Fred’s tone, I loaded the High Priest with one high-sounding compliment after another. I knew that once it involved the instructions of a god, this bigoted old man would most likely not think too much.

“Then…” As expected, he began to hesitate, but the anger in his heart was obviously not yet subsided. “Then you must not slander God Lumburi or shake my granddaughter’s faith. That is the most unacceptable behavior for us!”

“Grandfather, they didn’t, I…” Evlinna, who had been afraid to say anything all along, tried to argue. But her weak argument had the opposite effect, and instead stirred up the High Priest’s even fiercer anger.

“Silence! Don’t make excuses anymore! I never thought that my granddaughter would actually do such a shameful thing!”

His words made me intensely disgusted. After days of getting along, we knew well what a kind, intelligent, and sensible girl Evlinna was. Unlike most fanatical believers, she had a mind of her own and was able to treat her faith in a more rational way. She had never done anything worth being ashamed of, yet she had to endure the unreasonable accusations of a blind believer.

For a moment, the thought of “teaching this old man a lesson” arose in my mind, but I controlled myself. After all, what this repulsive old man thought had to do with whether we survived on this land.

“Let her finish.” A voice rang out coldly by our ears, startling me. Eckdin instinctively stepped in front of the High Priest and looked warily toward the direction of the door.

Roll had entered the room at some unknown time. His face was expressionless, but people familiar with his temperament all knew that he was very unhappy right now. I was really afraid that, in a moment of rash impulse, he would do something unreasonable, especially in front of the High Priest.

“You… should listen to what your granddaughter wants to say…” Roll said haltingly. I knew that he, not being good at talking, was trying hard to find the right words. But to those who did not know the truth, his slow tone seemed to carry enormous pressure, making their heartbeats irregular.

“I think… you… probably have never… let her finish. In that case, how can you… be sure that her words are… blasphemous?” Roll managed to finish. His usual demeanor and manner of speaking made our guests unable to ignore his suggestion. Evlinna looked at him, and in her eyes, besides gratitude, there seemed to be more meaning that was hard to understand.

The room was very quiet. The High Priest and Eckdin probably did not realize that after Roll’s cold voice drifted past, they were unconsciously holding their breath, not daring to make even the sound of air moving.

“Sister Millia and Mr. Poirot said to me…” After looking at the people in the room, Evlinna took several deep breaths, calmed her emotions, and then began to speak. “The gods always want us to be diligent and friendly. They want us to actively do what is right, not to be like lazy yes-men, only…” At this point, she quietly glanced at the High Priest. Seeing that he had no displeased expression, she dared to continue in a louder voice.

“…only after receiving clear divine instructions would they act.”

“It is not that the words of God Lumburi cannot be listened to, Grandfather. That is not what I mean at all. I just feel that our faith makes us… makes us lazy. We have been waiting for God Lumburi to tell us what to do, but we have never thought about what we should do ourselves. We are afraid of being punished by the god, so we dare not do anything.”

“It should not be this way, Grandfather. The god is our father, who watches over us and loves us. He is not a tyrant who casually threatens his children with death and fear. I believe our god is kind and reasonable. He wants us to be more diligent and braver, and to live a more abundant life. We should feel him, Grandfather, not just through your ears and eyes, but…”

“…but through our own hearts, Grandfather.”

Hearing this, Millia revealed an approving smile. This was not the exact words Millia had said that day; it was a conclusion reached through Evlinna’s own thinking. These words were wonderfully said. Even I, who did not have much faith, was deeply moved. To feel faith with one’s own heart—that is true piety.

“I think, respected High Priest,” Fred said sincerely, “Miss Evlinna’s words contain no trace of blasphemy. I only see a devout child of God Lumburi. Perhaps she is the most devout among your people. I cannot make a judgment for you, sir, but I must say that your granddaughter has won our greatest respect for the god you believe in. I feel heartfelt admiration that God Lumburi has such a daughter.”

Eckdin looked at Evlinna in surprise. I guessed that in these past few days, this young girl had brought him far more surprise than he could have imagined. There was deep respect in his gaze, as if the girl before him was not the gentle, shy girl he had raised from childhood, but a complete stranger.

But the High Priest’s face remained very grim. He seemed even angrier than before. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and he pointed the finger of his right hand at Evlinna’s face. His lips trembled, and even his voice became unsteady.

“Good… good, my granddaughter has spoken very well. Let everyone feel God Lumburi’s presence with their hearts, and let us decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. You mean…” He swallowed, paused slightly, then continued:

“You mean that priests and chieftains can all be abolished, and your grandfather’s existence has no meaning at all, is that it? Fine, you spoke very well. Is this your piety?”

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do!” The stubborn old man roared aloud, then, still unable to calm his anger, walked out of the house. Evlinna shouted, “Grandfather, I didn’t mean that!” and rushed out the door to grab him, but he shook her off roughly.

The High Priest walked a dozen or so steps, then seemed to remember something, turned around, and said to us: “Brothers of Delanmaya, this time I can treat it as my granddaughter’s own wild fancies and still keep our friendship. My promise to you remains valid, and you are still our brothers. However, I hope you will no longer instill these terrible ideas into our young people. Maybe your god said this to you, but our god tells us differently. We are living very well now and do not need any change. If I hear again of your instilling these corrupting ideas into my granddaughter… or other young people, I think we will need to reconsider our positions! Especially you, Miss Millia.” When he finished, he left without looking back.

“Although I personally do not approve of what you did…” Millia answered loudly, “but I assure you, you will not experience such a thing again.” For Millia, making such a promise was almost a humiliation. But under such circumstances, she had to do it.

“It had better be exactly as you say, Miss!” The High Priest’s angry voice came from the distance.

Evlinna walked into the room with red eyes. No one said anything. I looked at this lovely girl with sympathy, not knowing how to comfort her.

“You should forgive your grandfather.” It took a long while before Eckdin spoke gently to Evlinna. “That kind of faith has accompanied him all his life. No one is as persistent in his reverence for God Lumburi as he is. His words… have no malice.”

Evlinna remained silent, and we did too.

“You spoke very well today, Little Ev, I think…” This big middle-aged man said to Evlinna, somewhat at a loss. I did not know what such a statement from him meant.

“…I think what you said makes a lot of sense, even better than what your grandfather said. I think you are right. But you cannot say it to your grandfather so directly. He has been High Priest for a full ten years, and no one has ever dared to doubt him or his faith. Your words hurt him, even though they made sense. He is old and has become stubborn. I think…” Eckdin hesitated, as if there was something he did not know how to say.

“I think you should apologize to him so he will forgive you.”

“But…” Evlinna answered stubbornly in a low voice, “I did not say anything wrong. I firmly believe that what I said is right.”

“Apologizing is not because you were wrong, Little Ev, but because you offended your grandfather. There is a difference, do you know?” Eckdin stroked Evlinna’s hair. His words, full of emotion and wisdom, won our respect.

“I…” Evlinna lowered her head. “I understand…”

“I have caused you trouble, Mr. Guderian. On behalf of the High Priest, I apologize to you.” Eckdin expressed his apology to us with the etiquette of their tribe.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. The High Priest’s behavior… we can understand it. There is nothing for you to apologize for.” Fred said hurriedly.

Leading his own people and Evlinna, Eckdin gradually walked away. When he turned his back to us and gently stroked the top of Evlinna’s head like a father, I heard his proud, emotional voice:

“You have grown up, Evlinna. You are no longer the Little Ev who loved to cry…”