Why it never ends

Chapter 6 The Naive Anthropologist

The little girl paused, looked up and asked, "What is anthropology, Dean?"

"It's a discipline, Hesta." Elmawin said, "I know very little about it, I only know that their research topics involve human culture, social structure, institutional morality, etc... In the era of blackout It used to be a very prosperous branch of the social sciences."

"Really," Hesta turned her gaze back to the book, "Then what do they do every day?"

Alma thought for a while: "...I guess, as the cover says, they will go to the wilderness."

Hesta blinked, "Are you going to pick wild vegetables every day like us?"

Dean Alma shook his head, "They will go to explore some ancient tribes, live and talk with some people living in the jungle, and try to understand their culture. Sometimes, anthropologists will also go to some primitive people Inhabited cave sites...they are the ones trying to explain where human civilization began and where it ended."

Hesta excitedly flipped through the old book in front of him, "Do they have the answer?"

"Well...how should I put it?" Alma smiled, "This can't be explained clearly in a few words."

"But Miss Gerding said that only lies are complicated and complicated, and the truth is always very concise and does not require too much verbal embellishment." Hesta raised her head again, "Is it?"

Alma giggled again. "Yes, Jane...Miss Golding is right, of course."

The old man stretched out his hand, and quickly turned the book back to the appendix at the end of the book, "But I just read an answer this morning, maybe it's not that concise... Do you want to listen to it?"

"Yes!" replied Hesta loudly.

The old man picked up the girl again to prevent the restless girl from slipping off her lap.She held Hesta's finger and led her to read the sentences in the book aloud bit by bit.

The high-level vocabulary in the book made the young Hesta frown, and her fingers moved slowly on the paper like a snail.

Alma read softly: "Many years ago, someone asked the anthropologist Mina Delid, among all the archaeological discoveries today, which clue can most mark the birth of human civilization.

“People expect her to talk about stone tools, or wall paintings, or fossilized wheat grains that have been cooked, but Ms Delia doesn’t.

"She said the first sign of civilization should be a broken femur that heals."

Hesta looked up, "What is a femur, Dean?"

"It's the thigh bone." Alma patted Hesta's thigh lightly, "It's here."

Hesta lowered his head again, and read the following: "Ms. Delid said that in the wilderness, an...an animal with a broken leg will always die quickly...they either die of thirst, Hunger, or it will soon become a meal for other beasts. And if they have to forage for food and avoid danger at the same time, then...the wounds on their femurs cannot heal.

"However, we did find a femur that had fractured and healed, which shows that ... someone took a long time ... to take care of him.

"They stopped the bleeding...the wounds were immobilized, they took him to a safe place and...they gave him food and water.

"When we...are in...difficult situations, but...can still...help each other, this is the beginning of...civilization."

"Yes, Jane." Alma smiled and hugged Hesta tightly in her arms. "When we are in a difficult situation, we can still help each other. This is the starting point of our civilization."

Hesta felt herself surrounded by a warm embrace, and she laughed too.

But everything around suddenly changed—the warm afternoon sun dissipated quickly, the neat desk was covered with dust in an instant, the daylight dimmed, and a familiar fear came to mind. Hesta lowered her head and saw Dean Alma hugging her At some point, his hands were covered with bandages again.

"..."

"Eat." The familiar voice became cold, and a bandaged hand suddenly reached into Hesta's mouth, "Eat it——"

At the height of the panic, everything came to an abrupt end.

She suddenly felt a deep pain, as if every joint in the body, every inch of skin, was suffering from burning pain - Hesta finally realized that the previous self was immersed in a dream, and in the dream, she returned to the The afternoon I read with Dean Alma a few years ago.

The figure of the loving old man and the chelate are intertwined in her mind... which one is the dream?
She adjusted her breathing slightly and tried to get up, but soon she found it was difficult—at this moment she was blindfolded, and even though she couldn't see anything, Hesta could still feel a bright white light above her head, and the presence of , and some smell of disinfectant.

"Are you awake?" A female voice rang in her ear unexpectedly, "Don't move, don't open your eyes, you are in the hospital now, you are safe."

Hesta's body trembled——

"Relax, breathe." The voice said again, "Don't be afraid, these pains are normal, the blood from the chelate splashed into your eyes, so we did something. The gauze on your eyes will wait It will take a while to disassemble.”

Hesta wanted to speak, but what came out of her mouth was a murmur that even she couldn't hear clearly, followed by the same severe throat pain.

"Do you want to talk? Move your fingers if you want to."

Hesta's ten fingers stretched slightly.

The woman smiled: "The doctor said that your throat has a slight acid corrosion, which may be caused by biting the chelate. They have already given the medicine, and it will probably return to normal tomorrow."

Hesta listened quietly.

This woman's voice is different from Alma's and Miss Golding's - she speaks very fast, her tone is always very flat, and every sentence that comes out of her mouth ends short and crisply, without any Drags or unwanted pitch changes.

Hesta heard a chair being dragged beside her, and the woman sat down beside her bed.

"I know you probably have a lot of things to ask, and I will answer you when you fully recover. Can you please answer a few questions for me now? Of course, you only need to answer 'yes' or 'no'—— If yes, don’t move, if not, move your fingers, did I make it clear.”

Hesta didn't move.

"Okay." The woman smiled, "Then let's start... Your name is Jane Hurst?"

"You were born in the wasteland south of Tanyi City, near Duanming Lane?"

"You were born in 4612, and you are 11 years old this year. Sister Gerding entered St. Anne's Abbey in 4620, the year you were 8 years old, right?"

"And..." Qianye suddenly paused for a moment, "Are you a Hesta from District [-]?"

Hesta's fingers moved suddenly.

The woman glanced at Hesta, "Do you want to answer 'no' or 'don't know'? No, just keep moving your fingers. If you don't know, don't move."

Hesta fell silent—"I don't know."

The woman waited for quite a while, and seeing that Hesta hadn't moved, she lowered her head and smiled and said, "Haha, there's actually no suspense about this question, except for the Hesta people, who would have such red hair—but since you don't even You don’t even know if you’re from Hesta, but who gave you this surname?”

Hesta could not answer, only silence.

"Then I understand, that's about all my questions." The woman said softly, and the only sound left in the room was the rustling of her pen tip, and after a while, she spoke again, "By the way, about the monastery, there are some things I can do now." Let me tell you first, do you want to hear it? Move your fingers if you want to hear it."

(End of this chapter)