From the Island Owner to the King

Children may be a little afraid of life, hide behind their parents timidly, or hide behind a thatch, and look at Chen Rui with curious eyes.

All Chen Rui saw were old people, women, children, and no middle-aged people.

At this time, a guide named Barbara walked over and chatted.

Then, an elder in the village also murmured a few words.

Barbara said to Chen Rui in English, "He is the patriarch of this village, Baburu, and he welcomes the distinguished guests."

"Thank you very much." Chen Rui said.

Barbara translated Chen Rui's words to Babru.

Chen Rui took out a pack of candies from his backpack, opened the package, and distributed them one by one, regardless of whether the elderly, women or children were three candies.

Giving gifts is the best way to connect.

Wait for the package of candy to be delivered.

The people in the village immediately became very enthusiastic about Chen Rui.

At this time, Chen Rui asked a question in his heart, 'Why didn't you see a prime-age man in the village. ’

Barbara translated Chen Rui's words.

Bablo replied, "They fish by the river."

Chen Rui was very curious about how they fished. You must know that the river here is very fast and it is a rapid.

Baburu took Chen Rui to the river.

It was only then that Chen Rui understood how they were fishing in a very fast-flowing river.

Their way of fishing is very special.

They built a wooden shelf in the rapids and placed some fishing baskets on the wooden shelf.

As for fish, the water flow of the Congo River is very strong. Even big fish such as tiger fish cannot resist the strong current. The fish pushed back by the current will fall into the fishing basket.

Bablo murmured beside him.

Barbara translates Babru's words.

"Every day they would take a raft to the place where the fishing baskets were placed in the rapids,

Check out the fishing basket. Checked twice a day, once at 6 am and once at 5 pm. "

"They risked their lives fishing very seriously. When they were in the fishing baskets. If the fishing baskets fell into the water, they would not be able to get out. Every year 1 or 2 people die while fishing, the victims will be swept away by strong currents."

Chen Rui nodded.

Chen Rui also found that they were used to holding fish in their mouths, and asked Barbara curiously.

"It's because they think they're the offspring of turtles, and when they catch a turtle, they release it immediately," Barbara said.

Chen Rui saw that they had harvested all the fish in the fishing baskets.

They distributed the fish right away on the shore, and regardless of the size of the contribution, they distributed the catch equally. The fish caught are divided into piles equally according to their size and quantity.

Seniors pick first.

At this time, Barbara said to Chen Rui, "Sometimes, in the process of distributing the fruits of labor, they would have disputes. When there was a dispute, they could neither fish nor divide the fish. They would hold a ceremony by the river and the village would The patriarch worshipped his ancestors with a chicken.

They believe that there are spirits in the Congo River who control their destiny, and Wata is one of them, and Wata looks like a mermaid. The awesome Wata controls 7 snakes. People living on the coast of Congo revere Wata. Locals would even ask missionaries from afar to offer chicken heads to Wata, who lives in the rapids of the Congo River. The locals are very scared. "

At night, night falls.

The village patriarch Baburu led the ethnic group to warmly entertain Chen Rui and his party.

In a vacant lot in the village.

A huge bonfire was lit.

The villagers danced arm in arm around the bonfire.

Two village men are wrestling to show their strength.

After that, the food was brought up.

Fish is a better food.

The other two 'pots' (the pots are actually tin cans) do not know what food is in them.

A pot is filled with something like batter. When they eat, there are no tableware such as tableware, chopsticks and forks. When eating, they directly grab the batter from the "pot" and knead it into a ball. Eat with dipping sauce from another "pot".

Another 'pot' is filled with soup made from unknown leaves.

"What is this?" Chen Rui asked.

Before Barbara could speak, Labachi Kamba had already spoken. "This is cassava, our main food. The root of cassava is rich in starch, and the leaves of cassava are the main vegetable. After the cassava is harvested, we will cut the root of the cassava, put it in sacks, tie it up, and put it in the river. It is fermented in the silt, dried in the sun and ground into powder, then the flour and water are put into a 'pot' and heated, stirring constantly with a wooden stick, until it reaches a certain consistency, then, salt, pepper and tomato paste are added." After finishing, Labachi Kamba pointed to another 'pot' and continued, "This pot is made from cassava leaves, onions and tomato sauce."

"The taste is very good, you can taste it." Barbara said to Chen Rui.

Chen Rui grabbed a ball of batter, kneaded it into a ball, dipped it in the soup from another "pot", and put it in his mouth.

The taste, how can I say it, is very unpalatable!

There is a strong smell, like the smell of stinky water ditch, and then it is very spicy, the hotness far exceeds that of domestic millet peppers, and finally, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce are inexplicable seasonings, which are like overturned seasoning boxes in the mouth , the five flavors are mixed.

This is the worst food Chen Rui has ever eaten.

Forcibly swallowed the dough ball in his hand, and then never touched their so-called delicious food again.

Chen Rui did not forget the purpose of the trip, took out a watch from the rucksack and handed it to Babru as a gift.

Bablo put away his watch, clearly delighted.

Chen Rui said to Babru, "Can I ask you some questions."

Barbara acts as a translator.

"Okay," Bablo said.

Chen Rui took out some pictures from his rucksack, handed them to Babru and asked, "Have you seen animals or birds that look very similar to the animals in the pictures in the jungle or in the river."

Babru took the picture and looked at it, and said, "I haven't seen it."

Hearing this, Chen Rui was a little disappointed.

"However, there is a legend that has been circulated in our tribe for hundreds of years. There lives a large man-eating bird far upstream, called the Terror Bird. The Terror Bird is very large and tall, and it stands taller than us. Much more, the mouth is very large, the front end of the upper beak is very hooked, the horror bird will often attack humans, peck open the head of the person with the very hooked upper beak, and then eat the person. The horror bird is very similar to the animal in this picture. "Babru pointed to a picture and said to Chen Rui.

Chen Rui took the picture and looked at it. It was a picture of Velociraptor.

"Can you draw pictures of horror birds based on legends?" Chen Rui said to Babru. (To be continued)