While they said these things, the couple walked until they came to the house where the young man had laid ten furs. The family came out and stood at the door to see who the visitor was and why he came to their house.
The Princess smiled and spoke most graciously, ‘Father, my prince and I return and say a blessing on your house and upon your family,’ and the village recognized her as the wild girl.
The father stared at the young man and his face got red and his fury toward the man was great. He screamed at the man, ‘You have dealt wickedly with me! You have stolen from me! She is worth more! You wicked man!’
The princess smiled at her father and answered him sweetly, ‘Father, you have ten furs of Great Apes. My prince has made you richer than himself. He has nothing but the belt at his waist. Do not be angry, but happy for me.’
The father was not consoled but shouted, ‘No! I have ten furs, but he is the richer!’ and he stomped into the house and slammed the door behind him and left the rest of his family in the street.
The village though thought that it would be a very great thing to have such a gracious and beautiful princess living among them and they led the couple to an empty house and gave it to them and begged them to stay in the village.
Later, I was able to speak to the young man and I asked him about the transformation of the princess who was his mate.
He said to me, ‘I saw a princess and I offered the price for a princess and I took the princess and treated her like a princess and she acted like a princess and when I returned to the village it was with a princess. There’s no mystery,’ and I had to agree with him. It seemed so plain a thing, why hadn’t I known it before?
So, that’s my story about the Ten Fur Princess. What do you think of it?”
They sat silent, but after a moment, discussions started all through the bleachers as small groups talked with each other about what they had heard. I was surprised that it happened that way, but it was good.
I walked back to the platform and Tronuck said, “I will quiet them,” but I encouraged him to let them continue.
[Note to the reader: I have read back over the narrative and I still find that it sounds somewhat formal in places. It wasn’t the 1600’s for goodness sake! The original translation was like reading Shakespeare. But, as I said before, I am translating from a highly telepathic language with very singular meanings for everything into a highly imprecise language where every word has multiple meanings. The most natural way seems to be to write in a highly unnatural way. So I’ll give it another try and see if I can make it a bit more 21st century instead of 17th century. Bear with me.]
After about 10 minutes, they quieted down and I stood up and started again.
I said, “Friends, if I stopped the story here, it would be a good story. I hope you agree. But there’s a little more if you want to hear it. If you are done hearing for tonight, we can stop and I’ll tell you the rest if you invite me again. What do you say?”
“More! Finish it!” “It’s still early, tell us the rest!”
I said, “OK, there isn’t a lot more to it. After the young man and the now fabulous Princess returned to the village, I left on a journey and was gone for about 40 days. Oh, those are stories! Maybe I can tell you about those another time. Anyway, when I returned, I found a few of my old friends and they invited me to lunch and I asked about what had been happening since I had last seen them.
The thing that touches on our topic this evening is that they told me that the ‘bride price’ in this village had been abolished. Remember, this village had a different circumstance than Tranna, and every village needs its own laws and customs, so take this for what it is.
My friends explained that after the ten furs had been offered, no family was satisfied with one or two or even three as they had been. For a month, no men declared for a mate and it looked like no one ever would again. The council got together to decide what to do. The young man had his great princess and the village had learned a great lesson, but it had set the price too high and something needed to be done or that would be the last pairing in the village.
Think of it this way. This afternoon, I wanted fruit. And I used my trick of paying ten times in order to get a very juicy piece. But, if all of you now do the same, and everyone pays ten times, then I will have to pay 100 times to make the fruit feel really special. Very soon, I won’t get any fruit at all and then where will we be? The only answer is for the price of fruit to be set at the original price and all of us to pay the same.
If we do that, the fruit says, ‘Hey, you other fruit. We’re all the same. These people are good to us, let’s all be juicy and delicious. Every one of us. As long as a bitter woman doesn’t insult us, let’s be happy to bless them.’ And, another fruit says, ‘That will be good, but let’s be extra juicy if the one who buys us is kind to the girl who sells us and the workers who pick us from the orchard.’ ‘A good plan’ says another.”
Someone shouted, “Fruit have wise councilmen!” and the crowd laughed. I noticed that our councilmen did too, thankfully.
I continued, “So, the village abolished the ‘bride price’. When a man hoped for a mate, he came and asked the village for her and if they saw it as a good thing and if the girl approved, the young man gave nothing to the family except his pledge to make their daughter happy. Now, finding a mate who made their daughter happy, they did not abolish the new custom of treating every girl like a high princess of Helium. So it became the custom that the family gave some token gift to the girl, not to the man. This was a true gift, not a price, and no man expected to gain anything except a woman to love him and share his home… and to share his furs, of course! Since the gift was from her own family, she was never slighted or envious of others. If they were a poor family, maybe they gave her a good cooking pot for her new kitchen. If the family was better off, maybe a house with a garden. It was the same to the woman because it came from her family as a blessing and not a price.
And, after I left that village, as far as I know, they all lived happily ever after.”
I turned and sat down. And then I quickly ran back to the floor and said, “But my friends, do me a favor. Let’s all pay just one time for our fruit and everyone bless the seller and the pickers so that it will be good and juicy. I can’t afford to start paying 100 times for a piece… though, for the piece I chose tonight,” and I held up the one in my hand, “I would gladly pay a thousand times for the fruit that catches my eye in the hall tonight!”
This time, the crowd showed their appreciation with cheers and applause.
Chapter 24
Abolishing the Bride Price
Tronuck stood up and took the floor.
He said, “Friends, I like this new way of speaking from the floor. It’s good to see your faces better.”
He walked around the hall and acknowledged many that he recognized.
He continued, “I’m in a very good mood. I’m in such a good mood that I’m not even bothered that Mark tells a story about another village, when my heart knows that what he really does is rebuke me for a lack of wisdom in my own house and in front of the people who should think me wise in my own right!”
I stood and shouted sincerely, “Tronuck, I meant know offense, please, it was for consideration, not a rebuke!”
Several men shouted, “Tronuck, let him live! He does not want to die at your hand. It was not meant as an insult!”