8 - The Bear’s Gift: Disposing of the Cursed Harvest "That damn old man!" Opna was horrified, "that wretched beggar cursed me! I should have killed him!" "Witchcraft!" he heard Woiksla yelling, "Witchcraft!" Also that idiot of Woiksla had come to look at the ears and now was trembling with horror. In a few moments, the whole village gathered at the edge of the field and everybody saw those ears heavy with cocks stirring in the breeze. "We have to stub all that cursed hemmer, and make a bonfire in the form of human being. Inside we’ll put a goat, a crow and a pig and burn it all, making sure that every damned grain be burned to cinders." said Bhlaghmn, one of the two shamans of the village. "No!" Sakarodhots, the other shaman, exclaimed, "the sparks brought by the wind could taint the fields. It is better to harvest the hemmer and grind it, making sure that no grain is lost. Then we’ll knead the flour in the form of a human being, bake it and throw the effigy in the cold lake inside the forbidden narrow valley as an offer to the gods of the Underworld." For a while, the two shamans discussed the respective recipes, but in the end everyone seemed to think that the idea of throwing the evil effigy made with the cursed flour into the lake of the damned valley was the best. No one entered the valley and the passage to reach it was rather difficult. If those carrying the offer went back from the valley entrance walking backwards they would deceive the demon, so the crime would stay closed inside the lake and the valley along with the monster who lived there, a giant wild bear, certainly a demon too. So it was decided: men picked up the grain, married women gleaned the fields to be sure that all ears were harvested, and then they began to grind the ghastly grains. The grinding stones were put in Opna’s house, since he was the custodian of the Last Crop Sacred Bundle. Opna had to celebrate the purifying ceremonies with the two shamans and the heads of the most important families. When the flour was ground and the effigy of the demon cooked, the procession moved to the Lake Valley, while the grinding stones were broken. Opna’s beautiful house was burned to the ground for safety. Everyone had been careful that no grain was lost, but nobody noticed that a very small grain had attached to the fringed edge of Peqo's ceremonial belt. So when Peqo and Chaisos moved to a new, much shabby hut, the small phallic grain followed and slipped away under the mats beside the Chaisos’s loom. Opna’s village suffered a very hard long winter: its crop was lost, and the March sowing was only hope for its gaunt villagers. Opna's mood was sullener than ever and he bawled out continuously, while Peqo and Chaisos worked like slaves producing fabrics and vases and tanning skins for the First Spring Thunder Festival.