Knossos by Laura Gill

Author:Laura Gill [Gill, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

*~*~*~*

The next week, Zuhatta took Rusa to visit some brick makers on the opposite side of town. Balinaru accompanied them this time, because he, not wanting to be left out, had prevailed upon his parents, arguing that it was not fair that Rusa alone went on excursions. Kumurru, to everyone’s surprise, agreed that he should share the privilege. “Maybe then,” the old man said, “you’ll see that being a scribe is preferable to working with your hands like a peasant.”

The barb passed straight over Balinaru’s head, but Rusa, now that he understood the enmity between his grandfathers, saw the situation in a different light. Whenever his grandfathers argued, Kumurru was almost always the instigator. The more Rusa observed, the more he found to his dismay that his respect for his paternal grandfather was diminishing. Balinaru knew nothing of it. Rusa could not confide in him, nor could he, remembering Zuhatta’s admonishment about owning his thoughts as well as his actions, reveal the secret to anyone else.

This time, he noticed how Zuhatta politely waited outside for him and his brother, as opposed to coming into the house to exchange insults with Kumurru. Balinaru fell upon him with half a hundred queries about brick making. “Do we get to make our own bricks today?” “Can we keep them?” “Will the bricklayers use them in a building, do you think?” Rusa had never seen him so excited to learn something.

Zuhatta chuckled, “We’ll see, young man. We’ll see.” Rusa noticed him watching Balinaru with a newfound curiosity. “I’d no idea you were so interested in making bricks—or are you simply glad to get away from your lessons?”

“Eh, he’s not likely to learn anything useful.” Kumurru stood in the doorway, having hobbled to the threshold on his cane, “but his going will spare me a morning of listening to Naptu disciplining him.”

Balinaru and Rusa both winced, but Zuhatta, calmly regarding his rival, stated, “Perhaps that’s because his ears aren’t on his backside.” He was alluding to the popular saying that schoolboys should be beaten frequently to make them listen, because their ears were on their backs. Rusa had never heard an adult, much less one of his grandfathers, disagree with that adage.

He relaxed once they were away from the house and the uncertainty of being caught between his quarreling elders.

The two brothers followed their grandfather’s lead, taking the south road Rusa had traversed with Zuhatta a week earlier, past the Minos’s mansion, toward the bridge at the confluence of the waters. Theirs was a leisurely stroll, with casual conversation. Zuhatta expressed interest in the boys’ lessons, and when he thought it pertinent pointed out various buildings on the temple mount. “You see there, that four-storied structure? That houses the sanctuaries of Rhaya and Poteidan—and it’s actually five stories. The lowermost story, the sanctuary of the Earth-Shaker, is below ground.” Balinaru started to ask a question, probably whether their grandfather had ever been inside, when Zuhatta held up his hand. “Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s forbidden for me to even think about telling you what’s down there.

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