I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 35 – A magnificent masterpiece that came out of nowhere – Tadpole Looking for Mom
The affairs in the tribe have entered a routine, and life is peaceful.
The Elder Senior Brother continues to go hunting.
When they catch a lot of prey, people in the tribe can eat their fill, and the hunters can take some time off.
If the hunting yield is low, it becomes a somewhat sad story. The people in the tribe have to eat less.
However, with the presence of large pottery jars and containers and Han Cheng introducing the method of boiling soup and cooking bone broth, even if the hunting yield is low, people in the tribe can still have a full stomach. After all, water is readily available.
Of course, this kind of fullness is temporary. After relieving themselves, they get hungry again, but it is still better than before when they had less food and had to roast it.
In modern times, Han Cheng once heard a joke about a person who found a sparrow, and in his excitement, he quickly plucked its feathers, gutted it, and took out a carrot from the kitchen. He cut the carrot into pieces and cooked it with the sparrow. Then, he started calling friends to come over and enjoy a delicious and nutritious meat soup.
One sparrow and one carrot successfully treated seven or eight people, and everyone ended up overeating.
Compared to this guy, Han Cheng feels that when making soup in the tribe, they put in too much meat.
They occasionally catch fish, but the current fish are agile and not easy to catch, so the frequency of eating fish has decreased.
The Shaman is still busy, spending most of his time recording the things created by the divine child in the cave.
In his view, too much needs to be recorded, and he can’t bear to discard any of it.
For example, when there is a food shortage, they can use large pots to make soup, which is an excellent way for the tribe to save food.
But when the weather is good, Han Cheng would call the Shaman out to bask in the sun together.
Although the cave is warm in winter, moisture also comes in with the warm weather. Moreover, the light inside is not very good. The Shaman is getting older and needs more sun exposure, which benefits him greatly.
As for Han Cheng, life has become more leisurely. With a Divine Child’s aura shining behind him, his status in the tribe is quite transcendent. Combined with his young age, he can live as he pleases.
After all, he is now one of the three leaders of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
His life has not changed much compared to before.
He still teaches the children Chinese characters and Mandarin every day. However, Han Cheng gradually discovers a problem as the teaching time increases. When the children learn one character at a time or one phrase at a time, they tend to forget the previous ones easily.
Moreover, because they learn one character or phrase individually, they sometimes understand the meaning of the character know its writing, but don’t know how to use it.
However, this doesn’t trouble Han Cheng too much. After careful consideration, he brought out his big move: lessons with stories.
He starts with the story of tadpoles looking for their mother.
The appeal of the lesson is much stronger than learning individual characters. Through these short stories, the children can strengthen their grasp of sentence structures and their understanding of characters and phrases.
Children in the tribe have no chance to hear stories, and even if they occasionally do, it’s about the tribe’s elders hunting and gathering. Far less interesting than these short lessons.
Because of this, Han Cheng’s short lessons immediately captured the hearts of all the children learning from him.
In just one day, they all remembered the story of tadpoles looking for their mother and even learned many new words from it.
So, in the days following the completion of this short lesson, the children in the tribe would gather excitedly whenever they had free time, eagerly discussing and retelling the interesting story.
The appearance of the short lesson about tadpoles looking for their mother was like opening the door to a new world for these children.
It’s like when Han Cheng was in the first year of junior high school, and a kind-hearted classmate shared the pirated online novels he had finished reading.
However, whenever Han Cheng sees them discussing the tadpole story enthusiastically, he feels awkward and guilty.
Because these children don’t know that their parents, in the evenings, perform a scene called “Tadpoles Looking for Mom” while humming a tune.
Teaching the divine language and writing magically and interestingly naturally attracts the Shaman. While enjoying the benefits, he also can’t help but sigh with a bit of helplessness. The things he recorded before have not been finished, and new things are emerging.
This is both painful and joyful.
Of course, Han Cheng doesn’t teach all day long. His time teaching each day will not exceed two hours at most. First, if he teaches too much, they won’t be able to remember or understand it well. Second, being a teacher is also hard work. Third, learning Chinese characters and Mandarin is not everything for these children. They must also learn many other survival skills because surviving here is their top priority.
For example, the older children in the tribe, like Hei Wa and the others, have increased the number of times they go hunting with the Elder Senior Brothers.
Fourthly, these children don’t need to strive for official positions. Unlike children in later generations who have daily exams and constant pressure on their academic performance, the quality of learning is closely related to their prospects.
Children in the tribe don’t face such pressure.
Pottery production is also underway, but it’s not as intense as before. After all, pottery is not a disposable item. With the previous accumulation, their demand is not as strong as initially.
Moreover, with some leisure time, pottery production gradually transitions from the initial rough style to a more refined one.
The variety of pottery is also increasing.
In addition to the original large pots, clay jars, and bowls, guided by Han Cheng’s oral descriptions and outlines drawn on the ground with branches, the skilled Hei Wa begins to attempt making a teapot specifically for brewing tea, tea cups for drinking, and even a pillow made of clay for sleeping.
Moreover, when making pottery now, they deliberately create some marks using ropes or other methods.
After the pioneering short lesson about tadpoles looking for their mother, the most common patterns appearing on various pottery pieces are clumsy yet childlike tadpoles and the mother frog.
After discovering this phenomenon, Han Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.
He suddenly remembered something interesting.
Thousands of years later, if the place they live in is excavated, people find so many pottery pieces depicted with frogs and tadpoles. Will it not lead to various discussions?
Han Cheng thinks that by that time, their Green Sparrow Tribe will be known as the Frog Tribe.
Moreover, he has already figured out the reason for worshipping frogs. Frogs have many offspring, which can be conveniently associated with the ancient desire for a prosperous family with many children.
This is the rhythm of being invaded by tadpoles looking for their mother.