Aztec Eternals

The long winds along the coast are warm and humid, and the Caribbean islands are lush. On the seashore outside the village of Taino, a long boat with a novel style was docked, and a kingdom warrior in armor and holding a spear stepped off. In the domed thatched hut, the Taino villagers with food and drinks came out with a happy face. In Shengri and Haitianxia, ​​the distant tribes meet, like brothers who haven't seen each other for many years, only warm and sincere welcome.

Soon, the cans of tobacco were lit, and the air was filled with aroma. Young Taino men and women gathered around with curiosity, looking at the tribes in the lake who came ashore one after another.

Huitu Puap walked off the boat vigilantly with a copper ax and a spear on his back. Holding the copper ax at his waist, he first looked at the men in the village.

"Ah! Lord God, why are you so tall? The clothes are also strange."

Taino men are generally tall and tall, but their appearance is simple and gentle. They all have shoulder-length short hair, cat whiskers-like black stripes on their sides, and white necklaces made of shells, white stones, pearls, and fine bones around their necks. Some men even wore several necklaces, and some strange patterns were engraved on the necklaces, which should be related to the gods. As for their clothes, most of them have a rough upper body, a shorter loincloth on the lower body, and bare wide soles.

"This kind of attire seems to be short of cotton cloth, so it's not very rich!"

Puap squinted, his eyes moved, and fell on the empty hands of the men. Most men's hands have calluses from the use of daggers and small tools only on the knuckles and palms. Only the fishermen who got off the canoe were carrying long harpoons with thick callus marks on the tiger's mouth. As for the thick thumb that only appears after long-term use of bows and arrows, it is almost nonexistent in the crowd.

"Eh? Witnessed by the Lord God! Why are these Taino people, one or two, have never held a spear or fired a hunting bow in their hands? Their faces are also plain, and they look like they have never seen blood or killed anyone. Docile."

The gray earth warrior Puap observed carefully for a while, then curled his lips. He finally used his own method to confirm that these tall Taino people who lived on the island did not pose any threat of fighting, nor did they have any traps with malicious intentions. These Taino men are generally 1.78 meters tall, a head taller than him. But at this moment, these people fell into his eyes, just like a herd of harmless deer in the eyes of gray wolves.

"Ha! Without a weapon, you can't kill people. What a waste of such a tall and burly figure!"

Puapu shook his head slightly, his eyes shifted, and he looked at the women around him. But for a moment, the gray soil warrior's eyes seemed to be attracted by a magnet, and his mouth let out a surprise.

"Ah this? This is too much? Tsk tsk!"

Taino women in the village save more cloth than men. Only older and married women have a short loincloth to block the sight of outsiders. And unmarried girls are all up and down, natural, like deer, waiting for the hunter to chase and explore. What's more special is that Taino women will use white tree paint to paint bright and abstract patterns on the front and back of their lower abdomen, like a mysterious temptation.

"Hiss! Two prongs go up slantly, one goes straight down, hooking up the symbol of three vital points?"

Puap stared wide-eyed at the most beautiful Taino girl. On the girl's wheat-colored abdomen, there is a mysterious three-pointed symbol, which is like the "ya" shape of a tree branch. Inexplicably, he felt that such a symbol was very familiar, so he kept looking at it for a long time.

"Cough! Old Pu, don't look! The village chief asked us to talk in his igloo."

Chivako turned his head and patted Old Pu on the shoulder hard. Puap shivered, licked his lips, and followed the old militia into the leader's hut with a high dome.

Such a large hut can only accommodate thirty or forty people. Most of the kingdom's warriors stayed outside. Enthusiastic Taino villagers sent soft cassava cakes and slightly sweet fermented cassava juice. Smiles gradually appeared on the cold faces of the kingdom's warriors. The food in the fleet was insufficient, and they rowed for half a day, and they were really hungry and hungry.

"Huh, another Y-shaped symbol? Is this a woodcut enshrined in gods?"

Puap looked into the leader's hut, but didn't see any decent weapons, only a few tall woodcuts. On the top two woodcuts, the moon and water, the sun and mud are engraved. This seems to symbolize the two most important deities, and that the moon precedes the sun. The next woodcut is engraved with a white tree lacquer shape, with hills and cassava at the bottom. Afterwards, the woodcuts featured various patterns, including hurricanes, snake lizards, dogs and trees, and some abstract people.

Around the woodcut of gods, there are two low wooden benches. The elder Tai Nuo village chief sat down on the wooden bench above. On that wooden bench, there is also a Y-shaped symbol, which is the name of the village chief and the tribe, "Yuka wood". The village head of Yukamu lit a brazier full of magic smoke with his own hands, looked at Chivako again, and pointed to the wooden bench beside him. The old militiaman did not refuse, and at the invitation of the village head, he sat on the wooden bench of the distinguished guest.

Everyone else sat on the ground, including more than a dozen elderly Tailenians. Huitu Puap also sat beside the elders, watching them take out their leather drums and wooden flutes, beat and play them, and sing ancient songs to welcome guests.

"Boom, boom, boom! The sun and the moon, both came out of the caves of the holy mountain and rose to the high sky!

Boom boom boom! The pure ancestors also came out of the caves and scattered islands everywhere!

Boom boom boom! When we stand by the sea and see the boats coming from afar, we know: 'Ah! That's a brother from afar'"

The old singing sounded, accompanied by low drums, intermittently, as if telling an ancient story, or the origin of the Taino people.

Chivako's expression suddenly became solemn, and his waist straightened up. Because he knew that such ballads were not only sung for the guests, but also to inform the gods and ancestors, to gain testimony and blessings.

"Boom boom boom! Atabeyra, the mother goddess of the moon, turned the moon into the sun, shining on the people on the island and also on the people on the boat.

Boom boom boom! Yúcahu, the white god, born of the soul from cassava, crossed the sea and mountains to bring food to us.

Boom boom boom! Guabancex, the goddess of storms, controls the sea and waves, making people meet and making them disappear.

Boom boom boom! The divine ancestor Maquetaurie Guayaba, in the form of a dog, guards the dead and determines our afterlife."

Goddess of the Moon, God of Cassava, Goddess of Storms, and Ancestor of Death. These four gods are the most frequently prayed for by the Taino people in their daily lives.

Chivaco listened intently, very attentively. He couldn't understand the language in these ballads, but he could feel the peaceful and solemn atmosphere and the full emotions of the singers. Among those emotions, there are not only reverent admiration, but also calm memories, as well as beautiful expectations and longings.

"The Taino people are really a kind ethnic group. It seems that there are no sacrifices and killings, and there are no such bloody rituals."

The old militiaman recalled the scenes inside and outside the leader's hut, but he did not see the most common red altar in the Mexica and Mayan tribes. He turned his head and wanted to ask the translator Kuba, but saw that Kuba was already in the song of his ancestors, with tears in his eyes.

"Boom, boom, boom! Everything has a spirit, and so do people. We are all things, and all things are us.

Boom boom boom! Dead souls, go deep underground. They will become bats to inhabit, and then reincarnate from bats.

Boom boom boom! The ancestors of the gods and gods, in the sky, look at us who are short-lived. We are the root system of the tree, and in the earth, souls are united.

Boom boom boom! Cassava sprouts new shoots and cassava produces tubers. Flowers bloom and flowers fall, life and death.”

This is a ballad passed down by the Taino people for thousands of years, and it also inherits the spirit of the tribe and their cognition of the world and people. The herbalism of the islanders is very ignorant, and the lifespan of the Taino people is usually not very long. They live in villages, without complicated social structures, and their minds are generally pure. They believe in afterlife and reincarnation, and are much more open-minded about life and death.

The divine smoke lingers in the hut, and the leather drum beats in people's hearts. When the old singing was spread outside the house, the villagers sang in harmony, like a prayer that underestimated life and death, and also seemed to be peaceful and indifferent to the world.

"Guests from afar! Flowers welcome butterflies, cassava welcomes birds. We welcome you to our village!"

"Let our roots connect, let our fruits grow, let us share the smoke, let us drink water together. Until the moon comes, until the tribe is long!"