Paleface

Tore the scout, asked his friend Tuve; do you know what they call us now? Yes, he answered, they call me the great man with unlimited wisdom. No way that they do, Tore laughed. They call you paleface. Me, and all of us, he added. Paleface? That is no compliment, Tuve replied. Well I do not think they want to insult us, but rather make a characteristic, so anyone knows it is us they talk about. What do they say about us then, Tuve asked. I do not really know. It has been hard to talk to them after Sequoyah, the interpreter, left with Thorvald. Now we have a hard time getting understood. I also wonder if we will ever see Thorvald and his men again.

Anyway, we should get at the linguistic level we used to. I know some words, Tuve interrupted. He was always playing with words and tones. Some even said he had a drip of Kvasir, because of his poetic and musical skills. Back home in Denmark, his qualities were highly valued, but not here amongst all kinds of natives. Tore continued; or else our tribes will be drifting apart. And who knows maybe such a nickname as paleface will be considered an insult one day and lead to conflict. I will tell you what we will do. We will simply go to them and work for them. Tuve did not like the idea. Tore said; It can’t be that bad, Paleface. I think it will be exiting. Their food is good, they are kind, they know a lot of things, and most important, the girls are not bad looking at all. Don’t you agree? Tuve nodded. In fact, there are no free girls in our tribe anymore. They are either married, to young or promised to someone.

Unless you are planning to become a christian monk, you should join me in the highly risky quest of meeting these strange beings called women. Think about it. You can travel to the end of the world and meet the strangest people ever. Men can be of different heights, have different skin, and talk strange languages, have strange customs and everything. But stranger than any man, are their women. However alien a man can be, his woman is always more alien. Those creations are physically total different . They do even stranger things and hardly talk at all. Now, there is a quest for you. Get a friendly relationship with the strangest of strange humans, a girl. Tore rose up and looked as brave as he could. Are you coming or not?

They sailed over to the Cherokee tribe. The camp was as lively as ever. The council house was about to be built. The foundation was laid and they had started to place logs on it. The boys went over to the building and greeted those they knew. They asked for work, but there was not really room for them. What do scouts know about house building anyway, was a comment. Then Tuve begged his elder brother that was one of the constructers. The brother asked; do you really want to work here? Yes please, Tuve begged. You should go over to the Cherokee over there. Point at yourself and say the word; work. He will understand and help you both. So they did.

The Cherokee was large and obviously a leader for the workers. Tuve did as suggested, pointed at Tore and himself and said; work. The man looked at them both for a long time. Please, Tuve said and rubbed his stomach. This was not a particular mature gesture. Come, he said and lead them to the corn field. They got a knife each and were instructed to cut enough corn for the whole tribe that evening. It was hot, the leaves were sticky and they were bored. This is not about language and girls, Tore complained. That evening they were tired and asleep early.

They went to the work leader the next day too. Work, no corn, Tuve said. They were led to the elder women that were washing cloths. You can’t be serious, he said to the leader. But he did not seem to understand a word. They got a stone and a pile of cloths and washed for hours. They got a new pile of cloth once the first was done. This is not about girls either, Tore said. You really need to brush up your language skills, he added. That night they were tired as well, although very clean.

Now this time you do it right, Tore said, while they were walking to the work leader the next day. Work, no corn, no clean, Tuve said. The leader looked at them, a little impressed. Then he took them over to the fence to the animals. Food, he said and pointed at all the pile of grass and yesterday’s leftovers. The animals were divided into several sections. There were cows, pigs and chicken. They were all going to be fed and it could not be a clean job. This day’s work was even harder and definitely dirtier. It took them the whole day and they were not finished until sunset. You definitely need to brush up your language skills, Tore said irritated. He asked; when are they going to pay us for all this work?

That evening, the work leader came and took them to a tent. There was two big baths with hot water. Of this is good, they both said several times. It makes all the dirty work worth it. They were relaxed. Scrubbed their bodies and got the dirt off. Then two old women came in. They brushed the boys hard. It even hurt. They were treated like women can wash babies, when in a hurry, - only harder. This is work for them, Tore thought, like we washed the cloths. The boys were dragged up of the baths and scrubbed hard all over. The boys were embarrassed, but the women did not take any notice. Finally they got a towel each and the women left.

They were tired as well, but cleaner than ever that evening. They sat by the camp-fire and ate the Cherokee dinner. They were sitting alone on a log and talked after the meal. They barely noticed that the two older women came over to them. They did not understand a word they said, but came along to a tent. By Freja, Tore thought, have mercy. The women opened the door and showed them the way in. They have daughters, Tuve whispered overjoyed. They got a whole lot of granddaughter, Tore corrected. They crawled in and sat down a little embarrassed. The girls were knitting and talking to each other. What do we do now, Tuve whispered. There is only one solution to this quest, Tore said, we must learn to talk us into it.

They did not care much about what their work was the next day. They were happy and discussed their new situation. Not that there was any secrets, they shared the same tent and knew all about each other. Did you learn any new words, Tore asked. Oh yes several, but I am not sure that I should use them in the daily life. Some words are useful, Tore said, like blanket, tent, sleep, head, arm, yes, no, and much more. Well yes, we learned some words, but I think that we also learned how unimportant they are. What do you mean? I mean we had been as much intimate without words. What I mean is, we were both extremely happy for their company, and they saw it, and we saw they were happy as well. You’ve got a point there, Tore said. Surely words are important, but they can get in the way as well. Admit it Tuve said, you cared more about the neck and arm words than the blanket and no words. You’ve got it.

They did not need any old women to show them the way that evening. The girls came looking for them. They spent the evening by the fireplace and learned more words. But it started to be a problem for the boys that there were so many of them. It was hard to choose and they feared causing jealousy. But they did not. Somehow it seemed that the girls figured out who fit best and let it be that way. The other girls withdraw. That night, they were two couples, learning body-language.

This is getting serious, Tore said one day. They thought a long time about it. What should we do? This is no wham bam, if that’s what you’re thinking, Tuve commented. Quite frankly, I am not thinking much these days. We went over here to learn to speak and broaden our minds. Now I have ended up non-verbal and non-thinking. It is worse than I told you, Tore said. These strange creatures, called women, are so alien that they take control of our minds. Tuve laughed. Don’t you think you are being a little too paranoid? This is what you wanted and this is what you get. Tore continued, what I am thinking is that I might end up literally tied to a tipi. I would rather be like Thorvald and travel around the world, changing things. Tuve thought about it. You know something, I disagree, and I like it here. Let’s work now.

They both thought a lot about their situation and their future. They were best friends. Wouldn't it be nice, Tuve once asked, to have some kids you could name Mike and Susie? Tore nodded. But sometimes they had different opinions and priorities.  Now, it showed. The two couples sat on the beach and watched the ocean that evening. Tuve and his girl was happy, Tore and his girl was not. There was a profound change, when the girls’ wombs started to grow. I am stuck Tore thought. His girl asked: Paleface not happy? Tore's emotions took control over him again. He hugged her and whispered; Paleface is happy.

Tore was very happy the next day. He ran over to Tuve and said; we should go exploring the rivers to the inland. Tuve did not answer at first. He thought it was just another attempt to escape the coming responsibilities of parenthood. Tore was confronted with that. Well yes, I must admit that I need a little break. All this language education did not lead us to anything but being captured in a domestic trap. The point was to learn foreign languages, to learn foreign cultures and to explore. What happened? Quite frankly, I do not know. All I know is that we are here in a tribe that we cannot understand, and it seems like we are stuck here. This is not exploring, this in inploring, if such a word exist.

Listen, Tore said. I have talked to my girl. She is quite contempt with me exploring the land. That is in fact a rather honourable occupation to them. She said that there is a system of rivers in the inland, and the best of it all, is that one of the main rivers is not far from here. What do you think? Tuve thought that this was another of Tore’s wild dreams, but he kept that thought to himself.

Ask your woman, Tore said. She will apply. This is not an escape attempt. This is good work for the Cherokees and to the Asirs. And the best of all, he added, we have permission, just ask your girl. Somehow, Tore had managed to get the girls to agree on an explorations tour to the inland. There was only one condition, - come back. Come back in time, I suppose, Tuve added.