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“Grandfather…”
“Yes, little one?”
The boy had not been himself today. Since he had come home from school he had worn on his face a look of consternation. The boy’s mother, fearing he had gotten into a fight with the Furia boys again, had been trying to ply the truth of the matter from him with sweet deserts; but she had met with no success, the load on his little brow had not been lifted.
Old Aurius suspected something different. Little Titus was perplexed. How he grew! Not so long ago the boy had not known single care save those of the body. But now, at last, a stirring of the highest faculties, the highest part of the soul, his reason. So he had brought the little one to sit with him by the hearth that night, already well past his bedtime.
Under a different roof, but before, but before the same fire, Aurius had sat with his grandfather.
“…today Norman” Aurius recognized the name, a Visi boy, from a family which still adhered to the Pelagasian creed “laughed at me when I told him I was going with you tomorrow to make a sacrifice to the ancestors. He said his father told him the dead don’t hear anything or feel anything or eat anything. That what we are doing was just a fiction…”
Aurius allowed no feelings to show as he listened “What did you say to that, Little one?”
Titus scrunched his brow harder and pulled his legs to his chest as if to hide “I didn’t know grandfather. So I tried to push him” a bit of anger crept into his features “but Norman is bigger than me, he pushed me down. Then the teacher came and scolded us both for fighting.”
So his mother’s intuition was almost correct. Aurius stifled a laugh. But it was not the fight that really weighed upon the boy. Titus was looking at him now, the question which had been festering about to break free.
“Grandfather, our ancestors are real right?”
So now to the heart of the matter.
“Are they real?” Aurius was answering Titus, but he spoke to no one in particular “Little one, they are very real. Their bones rest beneath the tomb you know, where we will go again tomorrow. And their life is in me and-“ he patted the boys head gently “in you too. How could they not be real?”
He paused for a moment. This answer would have been sufficient, and it was perhaps all Titus would understand today. Inquiring though he may be, he was still a little child. But though the day would come when Titus would understand, Aurius did not expect he would witness it. His own descent into the grave beckoned. So he would continue.
“Our ancestors gave us our flesh and our blood, I gave this to your father, and he gave it to you. All of us, little one, will eventually descend into the grave. And when we go there we will be still. Our ancestors do not live in the grave, they live here, in us.” he gently tapped Titus’s chest over his heart.
“That boy, Norman, he told you something true. Our ancestors do not hear us when we pray to them. They do not eat the food we bring to them or drink the drink. They cannot make any use of the sacrifices we burn for them. For them, there is nothing but stillness like sleep without dreams.”
Titus was thoroughly confused now, Aurius could tell, but to the little one’s credit, he was still trying. Behind his eyes, his young mind was labouring mightily to make sense of his grandfather’s words.
“But Grandfather if they are asleep, why do we feed them?”
Aurius smiled. “For our sake little one, which is theirs as well. Our bodies are a gift from our parents, we grew from them, as they grew from their parents. And where does the mind come from?” he tapped his head three times “…from our bodies. The bodies of our ancestors are gone, only the ashes in the tomb remain of them, and their minds gone with them. But we who are pieces of them live still. And as long as we live, they live too, in us. This is why we remember them and honour them with prayer and sacrifices, and why we call on them in prayer to watch over us.”
He could see the boy was was lost now. No matter.
“I know you do not understand me now little one. But know this: One day I will also be gone, my body will be burned in the fire of our family, and my ashes will be laid in the grave of our family along with my father and grandfather and those who came before them. And when that happens we will not see each other again or speak again.”
Concern gripped the boy’s features. He was too young, the idea of death still only partially formed in his mind, but that he might not see his grandfather again was enough to frighten him.
“I would miss you if you left grandfather.”
Aurius gave him a reassuring smile. “You have nothing to worry about my child. I too am a part of you, as you are a part of me. Though my body will falter and my thoughts will cease, yours will not. In you, your brother, your father and your uncles I will continue onwards as surely as if I still breathed. I know I have a fine grandson-“ he placed his arm around the boy and drew him in for a hug “-who will attend to my grave, preserve my fire, offer sacrifices in my name and recall my memory for guidance in his prayers.”
The little boy had fallen asleep. The hour was late and the air was getting cool. Aurius continued softly, this time to himself “…so I have nothing to fear from the stillness of the grave.”
The fictionalists, the Nazarenes, they do not understand this. Life is here not in a world above or after, and the key to life eternal was in each man.
“You can take him now, Aelia” Titus’s mother had been hovering in the door for some time. Eager no doubt, to take him to bed and to feed more coals into the families hearth. “I think I will remain by the fire a bit longer.”
Aurius’s own thoughts drifted back to his grandfather, who had also taught him late at night by the fire. Grandfather, I remember hardly a word you said – Titus was a much better listener than Aurius had been at the same age – but I think now I understand what you wanted to teach me.
“Yes, little one?”
The boy had not been himself today. Since he had come home from school he had worn on his face a look of consternation. The boy’s mother, fearing he had gotten into a fight with the Furia boys again, had been trying to ply the truth of the matter from him with sweet deserts; but she had met with no success, the load on his little brow had not been lifted.
Old Aurius suspected something different. Little Titus was perplexed. How he grew! Not so long ago the boy had not known single care save those of the body. But now, at last, a stirring of the highest faculties, the highest part of the soul, his reason. So he had brought the little one to sit with him by the hearth that night, already well past his bedtime.
Under a different roof, but before, but before the same fire, Aurius had sat with his grandfather.
“…today Norman” Aurius recognized the name, a Visi boy, from a family which still adhered to the Pelagasian creed “laughed at me when I told him I was going with you tomorrow to make a sacrifice to the ancestors. He said his father told him the dead don’t hear anything or feel anything or eat anything. That what we are doing was just a fiction…”
Aurius allowed no feelings to show as he listened “What did you say to that, Little one?”
Titus scrunched his brow harder and pulled his legs to his chest as if to hide “I didn’t know grandfather. So I tried to push him” a bit of anger crept into his features “but Norman is bigger than me, he pushed me down. Then the teacher came and scolded us both for fighting.”
So his mother’s intuition was almost correct. Aurius stifled a laugh. But it was not the fight that really weighed upon the boy. Titus was looking at him now, the question which had been festering about to break free.
“Grandfather, our ancestors are real right?”
So now to the heart of the matter.
“Are they real?” Aurius was answering Titus, but he spoke to no one in particular “Little one, they are very real. Their bones rest beneath the tomb you know, where we will go again tomorrow. And their life is in me and-“ he patted the boys head gently “in you too. How could they not be real?”
He paused for a moment. This answer would have been sufficient, and it was perhaps all Titus would understand today. Inquiring though he may be, he was still a little child. But though the day would come when Titus would understand, Aurius did not expect he would witness it. His own descent into the grave beckoned. So he would continue.
“Our ancestors gave us our flesh and our blood, I gave this to your father, and he gave it to you. All of us, little one, will eventually descend into the grave. And when we go there we will be still. Our ancestors do not live in the grave, they live here, in us.” he gently tapped Titus’s chest over his heart.
“That boy, Norman, he told you something true. Our ancestors do not hear us when we pray to them. They do not eat the food we bring to them or drink the drink. They cannot make any use of the sacrifices we burn for them. For them, there is nothing but stillness like sleep without dreams.”
Titus was thoroughly confused now, Aurius could tell, but to the little one’s credit, he was still trying. Behind his eyes, his young mind was labouring mightily to make sense of his grandfather’s words.
“But Grandfather if they are asleep, why do we feed them?”
Aurius smiled. “For our sake little one, which is theirs as well. Our bodies are a gift from our parents, we grew from them, as they grew from their parents. And where does the mind come from?” he tapped his head three times “…from our bodies. The bodies of our ancestors are gone, only the ashes in the tomb remain of them, and their minds gone with them. But we who are pieces of them live still. And as long as we live, they live too, in us. This is why we remember them and honour them with prayer and sacrifices, and why we call on them in prayer to watch over us.”
He could see the boy was was lost now. No matter.
“I know you do not understand me now little one. But know this: One day I will also be gone, my body will be burned in the fire of our family, and my ashes will be laid in the grave of our family along with my father and grandfather and those who came before them. And when that happens we will not see each other again or speak again.”
Concern gripped the boy’s features. He was too young, the idea of death still only partially formed in his mind, but that he might not see his grandfather again was enough to frighten him.
“I would miss you if you left grandfather.”
Aurius gave him a reassuring smile. “You have nothing to worry about my child. I too am a part of you, as you are a part of me. Though my body will falter and my thoughts will cease, yours will not. In you, your brother, your father and your uncles I will continue onwards as surely as if I still breathed. I know I have a fine grandson-“ he placed his arm around the boy and drew him in for a hug “-who will attend to my grave, preserve my fire, offer sacrifices in my name and recall my memory for guidance in his prayers.”
The little boy had fallen asleep. The hour was late and the air was getting cool. Aurius continued softly, this time to himself “…so I have nothing to fear from the stillness of the grave.”
The fictionalists, the Nazarenes, they do not understand this. Life is here not in a world above or after, and the key to life eternal was in each man.
“You can take him now, Aelia” Titus’s mother had been hovering in the door for some time. Eager no doubt, to take him to bed and to feed more coals into the families hearth. “I think I will remain by the fire a bit longer.”
Aurius’s own thoughts drifted back to his grandfather, who had also taught him late at night by the fire. Grandfather, I remember hardly a word you said – Titus was a much better listener than Aurius had been at the same age – but I think now I understand what you wanted to teach me.