Misunderstanding

Welcome amongst us, foreigner! Ah, ah! I can see the surprise in your eyes; you've traveled a long way to what must seem like the end of the world, and after so much adventures you've finally stumbled upon someone who speaks your language. Ah, ah, ah! But pull yourself together, foreigner, there is no mystery to it. A long time ago, a man like you arrived here: tall, white, blond, blue eyes and a shaggy beard. He carried his faith for his god as his only baggage. You know, we around here are not difficult, and we hold no animosity towards anyone, except for those savages from the Upper River tribe. With them, foreigner, do not even attempt to make contact; they are primitive brutes. But here, your brother was well received, which perhaps convinced him to stay.

As soon as he learned our language, the stranger set his mind to teaching us his own. You know, we around here are not difficult. Moreover, those years, the hunting was abundant and the picking was easy so we had a lot of time to be entertained by the man with the cross. What kind of cross? But the same one you wear around your neck, although his was larger, I believe. Why yes, foreigner, at that time I was a young warrior with a clear mind and quick reflexes, and now...

In any case, after teaching us his language, the man with the cross became strange. We had built him a pretty, spacious and well-ventilated hut for him and had offered the chance to choose from among our daughters whichever one he liked. He accepted the hut and refused the daughter. We had said to ourselves that maybe the fatigue of the journey or a hunting accident... Well, you understand. But one morning, like that, he decided that the hut we had built was too small for the god within him. So he asked us for our help to build a bigger one in the center of the village. He also told us that his god would be pleased to receive us as often as possible. You know, foreigner, we around here are not difficult. So we helped him build his "church", that's what he called the hut you see over there, with the large cross next to it. What? You can't see what's on the cross? But those are heads, he, he, he, obviously reduced to their proper proportions: those of the intelligence of the warrior creatures of the tribe of the Upper River, he, he, he. Oh? That's amusing, you have the same tic as him. When something offended him, he made the same gesture on his head and chest with his hand. But I'll continue my story. After the big hut, he insisted on building with our help, for his god, ridiculous wooden slats, placed on each side, on pieces of logs, which he wanted to place one behind the other, in multiple numbers, in his "church". I won't hide from you, foreigner, that this time his god was going too far. To solve this problem, we held the Council. Did his god deserve our support? The elders reminded us that, even if it seemed absurd, this latest god was probably a kind of counterbalance to the many gods of the tribe to whom he had satisfied. Indeed, had he not answered the god of wounded warriors by healing them with his particular knowledge? And this for a few miserable pieces of meat and, four times a moon, some revolting fish. Had he not enchanted the god of women who were bent under the daily constraint of water chores, by building the serpent stream that now reaches the village? And why? For a few wretched daily fruits. Had he not pleased the gods of the entire tribe by adopting each newborn and washing them in the river as we do to affirm this will? For what? Nothing or maybe the big hut. Had he not yet delighted our gods when… Come again foreigner? What did the Council decide? You are young and quite hasty, but alright... Well, It decided that the ways of the foreign god, although inscrutable, did not need for all this bother and that the cutting of the requested boards would be done without delay.

But you yourself foreigner, do you have the same gods as the man on the cross? Ah, the same god! That of death on the cross? My, you foreigners are weird. How so, you ask me where is your brother? Oh, he's not really there anymore you know. No, he did not go to another village. So where is he? I'll tell you, even though I'm not sure why you, who worship the same god, seem to have no understanding of this. It had been a few years after his arrival, and we had gotten used to his most fanciful gods, until the day the expansion of the Upper River tribes disrupted our hunting areas and we had to fight them. Despite our best efforts, we were outnumbered and lost many of our bravest warriors. This marked the beginning of a terrible famine that was remembered as the worst in our tribe's history. It was during this dark period that the man with the cross asked us for yet another god. Really, he had picked his moment well, in the midst of war, in the midst of famine, he threw a tantrum like a little girl and was asking for a god! Well, you know, we around here are... What? Oh, you know that we are humble and not too difficult! Who told you that? Yes, yes, right away, but if you keep interrupting me all the time, huh! Well, where was I? Oh right... This time it was unbelievable: he asked us to have faith in his god of death on the cross. Have faith, what an idea! If his god was that, we necessarily believed in it since it was we who had to do this service for him. “This is my body, this is my blood”, he said. Still, you are rather odd people, you men with the cross. After deciding on a god, and doing so according to the rules, in front of the whole tribe gathered and after the elders had agreed to this god, the foreigner behaved very badly towards the warriors who tied him to the cross. He was screaming and struggling as if he was denying his god that he had nevertheless desired. But you know, with us the sacrifice of a promised god is sacred. After two days he was finally almost silent and when he stopped moving, the men took him down and the women prepared him. It was really a good farewell meal and the man with the cross will always be in our memories. What taste, what flavor! No, truly, I've never eaten anything as refined...

Are you planning to stay with us for a long time, foreigner?