Kamne, he would never have imagined that the eldest lady of the White Tree Manor, where he was originally, would be so submissive and groveling to her master.
Lilia, she is a noble woman! Every boy estimated that the daughters of the head of the estate would only marry the sons of the chiefs of other estates.
Obviously, his master is more noble. Similarly, there is another major change in Kamni's mentality!
Lilia knelt down to Rurik. Is that how a servant should behave? Although she is not a servant.
Since they all kneel down to show respect, if she kneels down, so does she. In the hometown of the Varyag people, have their levels become the same?
In the past, Kamni was timid when facing the manor’s family, but in order to survive, he needed to do menial tasks for the manor’s family, such as dumping excrement, picking up some firewood, etc. You can do some work in exchange for some food to survive.
He originally felt that he could not face the noble woman who headed the manor's family. Well now, facing the stronger ones, those noble ones have to kneel down obediently.
Although the time of contact was extremely short, I put on the shoes given by the master, lived in the house and warm bed given by the master, and could eat as much food as the master gave me. In order to repay his master's kindness, Kamne secretly vowed that he would do his best to serve him. Similarly, another thought came to his mind - being Rurik's dog is the greatest honor!
Seeing Lilia kneeling down, Kamne was very proud of her status as a servant.
But Kamni didn’t know why he was called by his master and ran to this magical blacksmith shop.
Now, after a glance with Lilia, Rurik faced Kawei and Klavason and formally explained his purpose.
He pulled the smug Kamnier in front of him, pinched his neck lightly with his right hand, and said: "Klavason, this child is my servant. Now, I want to place him here to study with you. How to blacksmith."
"What? Do you want him to be my son?"
Rurik shook his head hurriedly, denying Klavasen's strange statement: "What a son! I asked him to be yours..."
Suddenly, Rurik thought of , there is currently no concept of “student” here in Russia, nor is there any concept of “apprentice”.
Because student, a word that is completely common in Western and Northern Europe, originated from the name given to guild apprentices by the Hanseatic League hundreds of years later. It is a word that describes "young people who work hard to learn skills with extremely high demands". This word did not exist in older times.
After all, vocabulary is used in daily life.
Clavason explained that the so-called "being a son" is because blacksmiths and other craftsmen inherit their father's profession from their sons, and only sons will inherit their father's profession. There are some boys who are willing to beSuch a craftsman, basically such a boy will live as the son of a craftsman.
After all, craftsmen generally believe in Thor, the god of craftsmen and technology. On the issue of inheritance, the craftsmen's ideas are indeed different from those of the warriors who believe in Odin.
Since there is no word for "student", Rurik simply "invented" the word "student" hundreds of years in advance and paid attention to it.
"You want this boy named Kamne to be a student? Is it to learn knowledge from me? Is this the only purpose?"
Rurik stepped forward, He feels that the relationship between Klavason and himself is already very close, and as one of his own, he should tell him the truth
"I need this child to become a blacksmith, and he will only work for me. In the future, I will continue to collect Some boys were thrown to you, and I hope you will train them all to be blacksmiths."
Klavasen heard this very strangely, and this kind of thing never existed here before. He asked: "Am I going to teach a lot of children how to blacksmith?"
"Of course, if you are willing, you can teach them bronze casting, gold and silver inlay, carpentry, and other knowledge. ”
Clavason couldn’t help but frown. He actually doubted whether he could do this well, because just training his son Kawei had put a lot of effort into him.
His frown seemed to Rurik to be a form of embarrassment.
Could it be that Klavasen intends to refuse? That won't work!
Rurik took it for granted that if Klavasen refused, it meant that the money issue had not been discussed. Money! I have plenty.
Rurik put on a smile: "Uncle, I won't treat you badly if you help me. I will give you some benefits."
"Benefits? What benefits?! ”
“Of course it’s a benefit you will never refuse. Come on, can I come into your home and have a good chat?”
“Okay, welcome”
Rurik can be called a distinguished guest. Klavason knew that this boy must have a kind side in his heart. He actually built a nice house for his servants. It was incredible. Likewise, he is also building a new residence for his family. Because of these things, all the carpenters in the tribe, as well as all the shipbuilders and leatherworkers, have become very busy in recent days.
Including the "Blacksmith Guild" established by myself and my colleagues, everyone is making steel swords to complete unfinished orders in the past, and also taking time to make a batch of iron swords. Due to actual demand, the guild also deliberately raised the price of nails.
Rurik and his servants were sitting in the dark home of Klavassen. This warm and somewhat dilapidated house did not give him a good feeling. The "Novgorod-style wooden house" was built entirely with its own money. The walls and floors are made of very flat wood, making the internal living environment very clean.
Man, onceOnce you are used to cleanliness, you often can’t stand the clutter of the past.
After all, he was here to discuss important matters in the future, and Rurik would not say anything nonsense to the Klavasen family.
In this room, Lilia, wearing a ferret fur coat, really looks like a little princess. It was her temperament that was most suitable for staying in a majestic castle, not this long house made of wood, stone, and meadow.
Here, Rurik explained all his intentions regarding "Apprentice".
He talked about his three conditions:
First: Every apprentice must study with Klavason for at least five years. During the study period, Rurik was responsible for the apprentice's meals, accommodation and other living issues.
Second: Apprentices need to participate in production during the semester, and the wealth they produce belongs to Klavathon.
Third: It is forbidden to abuse apprentices. When an apprentice is ill, Klavason must inform Rurik. If the apprentice has a negative attitude towards learning, Rurik will be responsible for the punishment.
Rurik did not mention the issue of tuition fees at all, but on this issue, anyone with a discerning eye can see that he has made a huge profit.
In the ancient East, the relationship between master and apprentice was a high-level existence second only to the relationship between father and son.
As the saying goes, once you are a teacher, you are always a father.
When an apprentice becomes a master, he has to kneel down and serve tea to his master, and even sign a life and death certificate. The so-called apprentice breaks away from the original family and becomes the disciple of the master. During the period of study, all the apprentice's daily life is managed by the master.
In exchange, the apprentice works for the master during the period of study. Even in the first few years after "graduation", I had to continue working for the master for free.
This is to use the fruits of one's own labor to repay the food, accommodation, and high tuition fees during the semester.
Here, the life and death status between the master and the apprentice is the contract between the two parties.
Rurik feels that the "traditional master-apprentice relationship of craftsmen" in the East has a lot to do with the Mohist school of the Warring States Period.
In the ninth century West, the concept of the relationship between master and apprentice was still too new.
Rurik estimated that if he got ten more little boys, he would ask them to learn blacksmithing.
It is ridiculous to expect Klavason to take care of so many children on a daily basis. The child's daily life has to be taken care of by himself as the owner, and only the study aspect is left to Klavason.
"What do you think? You can think about it carefully." Rurik asked cautiously.
Clavason frowned, and his son Kawei, both of them were thinking deeply.
The two senior blacksmiths whispered a few words, but their attitudes were still hesitant. Regardless of whether it was good or bad, they had never experienced anything like this. Is it really appropriate to hand over the blacksmithing skills to an outsider, let alone a foreigner?
At this moment, the two of them have not thought about whether they will be able to bring happiness to themselves after doing so.Come crisis. I don’t even understand the concept of “teaching a boy to starve me to death”.
Seeing this, Rurik immediately targeted the girl in the ferret fur coat.
He coughed twice and asked in Old Slavic: "Sister Lilia, are there many little boys in your hometown who are still living in trouble?"
Rurik Lilia was speaking in honorifics again. Lilia, who thought that their discussion had nothing to do with her, immediately sat up straight: "Yes, there are many little boys. If they... they can be your servants, it would be an honor." "
"Like a poor child like Kamne?"
"Yes."
"Okay" Rurik said deeply. Nodding: "Maybe I should ask my father to go to your hometown in the autumn and bring back some boys. I need to train more blacksmiths."
Lilia, she also brought her with her when she married to Roseburg. The “strategic purpose” of revitalizing White Tree Estate. She was highly spiritual when it came to the blacksmith.
Rurik continued to persuade: "Go and tell your husband. I want your husband and your father (referring to father-in-law) to teach those children how to blacksmith. Your husband is a little hesitant. Please help me convince him. They. ”
Rurik really liked the development of things.
Despite the language barrier, Lilia grabbed Kawei's arm and asked her husband to support Rurik's request with the few Norse words she knew.
"Rurik, what did you say to my wife? Look at her, she looks like a clingy puppy." Kawei was a little confused.
"I talked to her about blacksmithing. You see, she is asking you to support my decision. As a man, you must listen to your wife's opinion."
"Oh? That's true. Haha!" Kawei laughed wantonly: "I was a little hesitant at first, but now it seems that if I don't support it, she won't let me touch her body?"
Kawei agreed, and upon seeing this, Klavason, who was originally ambiguous, also agreed.
Still following the same old pattern, for this matter, Rurik and two old guys made a written contract on a wooden board.
At this time, Kamne has been sitting obediently. He still doesn’t know that he has a new destination.
In the end, it was Rurik who patted Kamne on the shoulder and ordered: "You, crawl to the old man with the white beard and kneel down."
"As ordered."
Kumne has done a lot of groveling in her hometown. Only by surrendering to the strong can you get the food to survive. In the past, it was a courtesy to the manor head and his family, but now it is just a different one.
"Next..." Rurik stood up by himself, walked to the burning embers of the bonfire, scooped out a spoonful of warm pine needle water with an iron spoon, and poured it into the Klavasen family's house. In a strange glass.
He personally held the glass of water, handed it to the kneeling Kamni, and ordered it to be poured: "Kamni, from now on, this white-beardedThe old man is like your father. You hand him the glass of water. If he drinks it, you will have this relationship. You are my servant, and he will be your masta. "
"masta? "Kamne murmured weakly.
"Yes, it's masta. Like your father. He will turn you into a blacksmith. "
"Is this true? "Kamne knelt down suddenly. He really knew that the blacksmith was a noble being. He took out the cup and raised it high. He looked at Klavason's face, his eyes full of expectation.
Klavasen looked puzzled, "Rurik, what kind of trick are you doing? "
"Hey, we need to establish at least a ritual. ”
“Ritual? Didn’t we make all the contracts? "
Rurik shook his head hurriedly: "Our contract is ready. You and my servant must also have a contract. This contract no longer needs to be engraved on a wooden board. We do a ritual, for example, my Kamne offers you a glass of water, and if you drink it, you recognize him as your student. And he will call you masta from now on. ”
“Okay, that sounds great. ”
Of course it feels good to be worshiped by others. Klavasen took the pine needle water and drank it in one gulp, and his big calloused hands completely covered Kamne’s head.
Klavason also felt that he really needed a so-called apprenticeship ceremony, and the ceremony of kneeling and holding a glass to offer pine needle water came from the East. Ke is based on the Eastern apprenticeship ceremony, which has been grafted directly into the Northern Europe of the ninth century without much change.
“Good boy, I will train you as much as possible. Hopefully, you can satisfy your master. ”
The words were spoken by Klavason in Norse. Even so, Kamni felt a warmth that was almost like family.
And Kamni, He followed a line of Norse that Rurik taught him in a surprise attack, which goes like this: "Masta, I swear to Thor, the god of craftsmen, that I will become a good blacksmith. ”
Although the words were lame, Klavasen was overjoyed. Because he had never heard of another boy, except his own son, saying that he aspired to become a blacksmith.
He was very pleased.
Kamne basically understood that his master ordered him to learn blacksmithing skills and become a noble blacksmith many years later. What happened was that he would have to compete with the manor in the future. The eldest lady, Lilia, is working in this blacksmith shop? It seems that there are many fellow villagers who want to come here on the Varangian ships to become the master's servants. Maybe some of my playmates will be lucky enough to be there. Accompany yourself here?