Chapter 2 My name is Combray
Ding Mu admitted that when he woke up, the scene he saw at first sight did scare him!
Below is a hard and wet boat board with a fishy smell, and above the head are three Europeans who look like they are a bit of a classical Brutalist and postmodern Shamatt style.
But what was really shocked was that when he tried to speak, he suddenly felt that what he was saying was not his usual voice at all, and no matter how he wanted to correct the strange tone, it seemed futile.
Moreover, from the confusion expressions of the three "postmodern Shamatts" on their faces, it can be seen that although Ding Mu did not know what he was saying, these three people must have not understood at all.
After failing to try to make the correct sound in his throat again, Ding Mu suddenly had a strange thing, that is, he seemed to be able to vaguely understand the doubtful discussions between these three "postmodern Shamatts".
"Dad, is he really a Greek? I've never heard of this language, or is he a pagan at all?" A guy asked in a low voice, holding a barb fork with a barb at the top of his hand, which was used to deal with the big fish in the sea, but now he doesn't care about the odd boy's few strokes.
The man's words made Jonnini feel that his authority was being provoked, which made him feel very serious, even more serious than whether this weird boy was a pagan.
This is not true, Jonnini muttered in her heart. These local villagers must not think that the knowledgeable old Jonnini is a fool. Even if they have such thoughts, they won’t be able to do it!
"He's a Greek!" Jonnini said loudly, it looked more like anger, and then he pushed away the guy and shouted at Ding Mu. "I said, boy, where did you come from? Tell me quickly, otherwise I'll throw you back into the sea."
Ding Mu looked at Jonini with a fierce look in shock. He couldn't remember what he had given birth after falling into the water. Could it be that he had kidnapped the famous Sicilian mafia?
He wanted to speak again, but what he made was the kind of sound that he couldn't even hear.
"Hey, Greek boy, don't you understand what I'm saying? Don't lie to me with words that no one can understand. I know you can understand what I'm saying!" Jonnini was a little angry. He wanted to reach out and pat Ding Mu's face, but was blocked by Ding Mu's instinctively raising his hand.
Then he saw the strange boy suddenly staring at his hands as if he was cast in a spell, and he seemed to have seen a ghost!
"What's going on?" Ding Mu looked at the strange hands in disbelief. He could swear that it was definitely not his own. At the same time, he suddenly felt that what he blurted out because of panic was a language he had never spoken before.
But this time, Jonnini understood the words of this strange boy very clearly. As he guessed, although his tone was still very strange, he did speak Greek.
Until the moment Ding Mu reached out to touch his cheek, he still held a fantasy, believing that everything was just a hallucination caused by falling into the water.
But soon, he realized that everything in front of him was a real reality.
Touching the obviously sunken eye sockets and the high nose bridge, Ding Mu was sure that it was definitely not his face. When his fingers touched a strand of red that was hanging from his forehead, he was finally completely sure that it was definitely not his body.
Ding Mu raised his head in despair, looked at the three "postmodern Shamatts" who were still polite to him, opened his mouth, but said nothing, and then his head tilted, and he fell on the deck with a "gulp".
Looking at Ding Mu who suddenly fainted, the three of Jonnini couldn't help but look at each other, but Jonnini still ordered the two friends to move Ding Mu to the corner and cover him with a broken blanket.
"It's really unlucky. Is this the response I got when I made a wish to God before going to sea?" Jonnini muttered in anger.
After such a struggle, taking advantage of the storm that had just passed, the plan was gone. Looking at the young man curled up in the corner, Jonnini felt that this "harvest" was really a big irony.
"Hurry up and get off the Internet, you two lazy bones, we haven't collected enough tithes! "Jonini turned around and scolded the two guys loudly as if they were angry.
He did not notice that under the dirty blanket with fishy smell, a pair of black eyes were quietly opening, observing them alertly and cautiously.
Karipo is an inconspicuous coastal town southeast of Sicily. Most people in the city make a living by fishing. A pier facing the bay of Sulerdida maintains the livelihood of most people in Karipo.
As for the others, they live by planting grapes for the monastery on the mountain.
The Port of Karipo is not very big, and compared with the ports in other coastal cities, it is at most moderate.
However, because there is a famous local aquatic product called Tutu shrimp and wine made from Kalibo Monastery, Kalibo is somewhat famous.
Tutu shrimp is a specialty of Karibo. Every winter, large groups of Tutu shrimps will migrate south through Karibo's sea area along the ocean currents. This is the most pleasant and good time for Karibo people.
People will drive ships of all sizes to sea, and whether they are lucky or not, they will gain something.
The advantage of returning home with a full load is that the Kalibo Monastery will purchase the Tutu shrimps. Although the price is pitifully low, it is a good income for many families this season. In particular, the monastery specifically allows Tutu shrimps to be tithes of other items, which makes the Kalibo people regard Tutu shrimps as a favor given to them by God.
This is the same this year. When fishing boats approached the pier, many people saw a figure standing on the wooden bridge of the pier, which was the deacon in the monastery responsible for collecting tithes taxes.
To the Karibo, the deacon, dressed in a brown coarse robe and bare head, was no less majestic than the bishop far away in Palermo.
Deacon Modillo shrank his neck into the collar of the robe as much as possible. Although he was still young, his health was very bad. Especially recently, he had nightmares and had trouble sleeping recently, which made Deacon Modillo's temper become more and more irritable.
The weather was too cold. If it weren't for tithes, he would never have run from the warm hut to the beach.
Another fishing boat that looked full of clothes was shaking into the dock. Looking at the deep waterline, Modilo finally showed a smile on his fat face.
Confiscation of tithes tax is a very good job. In order to get this fat man, Modillo made a lot of money.
But this is worth it. The deacon believes that as long as you collect tax for one quarter, you can earn back the capital and profit.
As soon as Gionini stepped onto the dock board, she saw Modillo looking at him. If it weren't for the two church tax collectors behind her, the deacon's chubby face would still look very amiable.
"God bless you, it's so great to see you, Master Deacon," Jonnini walked over and kissed the wooden cross in Modillo's hand, and then said carefully, "Master Deacon, I don't know if I should tell you something. You know that if you encounter trouble, we will go to the village chief. If we want to pray, we have to go to church. But this matter makes me not know who to look for, so I want to ask you for an idea."
"God bless each of us. If you have any confusion, just tell me," Modillo looked at the old man in front of him with a strange look. In fact, he didn't like Jonnini, and always thought that this guy was restless and a little annoying.
Jonnini carefully told the deacon about the incident he encountered at sea. He didn't know what the deacon would do, but the child's strange appearance made him worried.
"You are right to say this," the deacon nodded, praising Jonnini. "You are a pious Jonnini. God will bless you. As for that child, I will see it with my own eyes and then decide what to do with him."
After being praised by the deacon, Jonnie couldn't help but twist the corner of her beard on her lips with her fingers, but when he thought of the child's weirdness, he couldn't help but worry.
Don't bring you back a trouble.
Gionini has been outside for too long and has seen many things. He knows better than the people in the town, and knows better the tricks played by priests like Modillo.
So he wanted to throw that trouble to the church immediately.
Let the deacons decide the fate of that boy, Jonnini thinks so.
When Modillo saw the "strange boy", Ding Mu was wrapping a blanket and huddling in a corner of the boat, holding a wooden bowl in his hand and stuffing spoonfuls of hot soup into his mouth.
Modillo noticed that when he saw him, the Greek boy's eyes were neither joy nor panic, but disappointment, or that everything around him was disappointed.
Ding Mu was indeed very disappointed. By this time he had fully understood what had happened to him.
Weird clothes, shabby fishing boats, people speaking distinct languages, and backward marina towns, most importantly, their completely unfamiliar body.
All this can only tell one thing-his soul attached to a strange body and traveled through time and space!
When Ding Mu understood this, his first reaction was to go back to his body.
But he was completely disappointed in the end, and he could clearly feel that this body had merged with his soul.
He can feel hunger, cold, pain and even the need for excretion.
This made him temporarily lose the idea of taking the risk of dying again and replacing his original body.
When Ding Mu thought that the unknown boy might have changed his body with him and spent his money to live in his house and sleep with his girlfriend, he secretly hoped that the boy would be dead.
But now there are more serious problems in front of him.
"What's your name?" Although the young man seemed to be about the same age as him, Molodi still asked in an old age, "If you can understand, tell me you are a Christian?"
What's my name? Ding Mu, who almost spoke up, stopped his words in time.
Not to mention whether the person who looks like a dock boss in front of him can understand it. You can guess just from the words and deeds of these people. After hearing his pagan-like name, it is definitely not a good thing to wait for him.
Fire, gallows, iron virgins. Thinking of these famous tortures in the Middle Ages, Ding Mu's forehead was already sweating. When he thought of some torture instruments that were known as perverts, a key part of his body couldn't help but tighten...
But, he always has to answer unless he can't understand the other person's words.
Yes! I can pretend that I can't understand!
Ding Mu's mind was wandering around and he was about to pretend that he couldn't understand the other person's words and tried to get away with it.
But it seemed like God was deliberately making things difficult for him. At this moment, an excited voice that was obviously unfamiliar but sounded inexplicably "familiar" suddenly came from the shore: "Did that child come from the East?"
Several people on the boat looked up the shore at the same time and saw a man with dark skin, curly brown and messy beard almost covering his entire face.
The man was not tall, but his shoulders were wide, and his muscles were swollen on his arms exposed outside his vest, and he looked extremely strong.
"Why do you know him, brother Gila?" Jonnini asked the man on the shore loudly. "By the way, you might be able to make sense to him, you must know that we don't know what we are talking about."
The man known as Jira jumped off the boat a few steps. He first saluted the deacon slightly, and then looked at Ding Mu seriously.
This made Ding Mu a little nervous. He believed that no one would know him here, let alone know that there was a soul in this body that did not belong to this world. However, he didn't know why he had the illusion of familiarity with this person's voice just now.
But when the man spoke again, Ding Mu suddenly understood why he had that inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Although his tone has changed a little, Ding Mu is sure that he can not only fully understand the strange language spoken by this person, but even his accent at this time is the same as this person.
In other words, he actually met a "membersman" here!
"Did you come from the other side of the Mediterranean? Where, Padmos or somewhere else?" Although the man tried his best to calm his voice, he was obviously incoherent because of his excitement. "I came from Padmos, where are you?"
"No, it's not Padmos," Ding Mu knew that he could no longer pretend to be stupid. Although he didn't know how this man thought he was from the East, he would never miss this opportunity if he met a "members". However, he decided to be careful. Although he didn't know how long this man had left the place called Padmos, he decided to find another origin for himself. Then he quickly thought about where to say it, and finally he decided to take a bet, "I'm from Crete."
"My God, has Crete been occupied by pagans?" The man showed incredible surprise on his face, and his words surprised everyone beside him. The deacon, who had just listened quietly, suddenly shook his pale body. Several people watching the fun on the shore began to scream loudly: "Oh no, Crete has fallen, and pagans are about to call him!"
The person who heard this shouting started shouting, and for a moment the entire dock was in chaos!
Ding Mu looked at the people around him who were like camps. Before he could explain, the bells had already sounded from the dock. With the shouts of "The Pagans are attacking!", fear spread from the dock to the city of Kalipo like a spreading plague.
Faced with this sudden chaos, Deacon Modilo, who had long forgotten to ask about Ding Mu's origin, was already shouting and running out of the city. He was going to report to the monastery's invasion to the monastery, and Jonnini had already shouted loudly to ask people to summon the men in the city immediately to prepare for "making the final resistance."
Although "bringed news that the pagans were about to attack", no one had time to pay attention to Ding Mu who was thrown aside, and no one could care about his explanation.
So Ding Mu was thrown alone on the dock until the "membersman" remembered and returned to the dock to find him.
"My name is Jila, what's your name?" The man was still a little excited, but he didn't forget to call Ding Mu to run to the city. At the same time, the middle-aged man named Jila couldn't stop looking at the strange-style clothes on Ding Mu. "It's really a long time since I've seen you dress like this. After all, Rome no longer exists. I originally thought I'd never see you again. But unfortunately, what you brought was bad news, otherwise you would be very popular as a guest."
Jira's unintentional words made Ding Mu's heart suddenly move. He tried his best to make his expression look natural, but his mind was very excited because of the key news revealed by the man.
Although it is not clear what era this place is, Ding Mu has already obtained enough information from the people he came into contact with, the environmental layout of the city, and from Jira's words just now!
The deacons who collected tithes, the panic of pagan robbery, the no longer existed Rome and the misunderstandings caused when mentioning Crete all made Ding Mu have roughly determined the era he was in.
In this era, Byzantium, which had inherited thousands of years, should have just fallen and had just appeared to be a ferocious Ottoman Empire, and Europa, which had experienced a long dark age, was about to show its charm in a dawn that belonged to her.
Ding Mu felt excited when he thought of this. He never thought that he would see such a world, and he would never think that he would become a part of this world.
"I forgot to ask you, what are your name?" After walking far away, Jira suddenly remembered this question that was asked from the beginning.
"Me?" Ding Mu was stunned by the question. When he was not sure how to answer, he suddenly saw a few blurry letters on the corner of his robe, and then he had an idea.
"Alexander," Ding Mu said slowly, "My name is Alexander Juliant Gombre."
Chapter completed!