When they reached the area of Vashara, Munra did not go straight to his hut. The middle-aged man directed the buffalo to the large building on the far. Munra wanted to sell the four bunches of grass, immediately.
"Hey, look, look!" said a little girl to her friends. She pointed at Aryan who was on the pedati-cart. "The Candala child!"
Aryan felt uncomfortable with the words of the little girl who was the same age as him. He was even closer to Munra.
"Oi, Candala!" shouted some children to Aryan. "You're the jinx!" and then they laughed with joy.
"Candala!"
"Candala!"
Munra put his hand on Aryan's shoulder. He simply ignored the taunts because if he did not it would only trigger a verbal war with their parents. And there may be a fight come after.
At other times, Munra might not care about one or two injuries he got, however, since his meeting with the old hermit a day ago, Munra prefers not to pay attention to such things. Because, maybe these things will reveal Aryan's identity, and that means a threat to Aryan's safety.
"Don't you listen to them," Munra whispered to his adopted son. "They insult you but not necessarily they are nobler than you, Aryan."
Aryan felt sad and then nodded. His adoptive father's words felt a little more comforting to little Aryan.
The female buffalo stopped in front of the big stall. The same stall where Munra always sells his hard-earned produce to the fat merchant.
"Aah, Munra," said the merchant, smiling broadly.
Of course, Munra didn't know that the merchant's smile was more of a satire to him. The reason is that the merchant had just some sexual activity with Munra's wife a few moments ago.
"Are you bringing a lot of grass right now?"
Munra got off his pedati-cart. Aryan helped his adoptive father by lowering the four bundles of grass from the cart.
"Not much, Juragan. There are only four ties this time."
A slave of the merchant immediately approached the grass that Munra had piled in front of the brick wall of the stall.
The merchant frowned because the grass Munra brought didn't look good. The grass that Mundra got looked short, rough, and slightly yellowish.
"I wondered," said the merchant. He stood up, one hand behind his waist, the other hand fanning a pandan leaf fan against his body. "Either you are being lazy, or are you looking for grass only near this area? Or what?"
Munra certainly understood very well, but there was nothing he could do there. The middle-aged man only smiled faintly.
"I still feel unwell, Juragan. That's why I'm looking for grass in the fields in the north."
The merchant let out a long sigh. "Oh, whatever."
Meanwhile, the slave brings the grass backward. In one take he can carry only two bundles.
"But you need to remember, Munra… bad grass is hard enough for me to sell again. You can understand, right?"
Munra nodded weakly. "It's up to you, Juragan, how much the four ties of the grass will you appreciate be. But, I'm begging you, add a few coins for us." Munra arranged ten fingers in front of his chest.
The merchant rubbed his chin, he smiled as he thought about the best price he could give to Munra. The man's smile grew wider when he remembered Marni's mouth that pampered his genitals.
"All right, Munra. You must know, usually, I put a price for a bunch of grass like the one you brought it's just one coin, right?"
Munra nodded again.
The slave had returned and carried the remaining two bunches of grass.
"I don't know why I have to help you, Munra... Aah, you're just troublesome. Six coins for those four bunches of grass, you take this!"
Munra nodded again, even bowing to receive six copper coins from the merchant's hand.
"Thank you, Juragan. Thank you."
"Thank you, Juragan," said Aryan from the pedati-cart. The boy also bowed to the merchant.
"All right, all right…" said the merchant with a big smile on his face as he was a savior for Munra and his adopted son
Once again Munra bowed to the merchant before finally getting into his cart and then towards his hut.
"Candala!"
"Candala!"
Again and again, the children who were playing around there shouted at Aryan. Make fun of the seven-year-old boy.
"Look at that damn Candala!"
"Candala the jinx!"
"Candala!"
No matter how hard Aryan wanted to reply to the mockery, Munra still didn't let that happen. He hugged his adopted son, whispering to him.
"Remember what the old hermit said, Aryan. That you are nobler than them."
Aryan could smile a little and ignored the mockery.
"Oi…!"
A young man then stopped the taunting of the kids.
"Don't you guys have anything else to do besides making fun of Aryan, huh?"
The kids were silent and lowered their heads. Even so, there were still one or two among them who were smiling with their eyes fixed on Aryan who was on his cart. Not the kind of look that pleases clearly.
"You all mock him as a jinx," said the young man. "Then how about you? Aren't you also a jinx for being born as a Sudra?"
The young man's words hit quite a bit for the kids. Among them, many are not wearing clothes. Their bodies look dull because they are covered in dust, even more so on their bare feet.
"That's enough! Disbanding, and go home! Go, help your parents!"
The kids disbanded and ran away. However, because of their stubborn nature, some of them just laughed. There was even someone who shouted the word of Candala very loudly.
The young man let out a long sigh, shaking his head. He glanced at Aryan who had almost reached his hut before he finally left with a bamboo basket on his back, and there was a sickle in the basket.
The return of Munra and Aryan was greeted with a warm smile by Marni. The change in his wife's attitude made Munra a little curious. What happened to Marni? He thought as he released the retaining wood around the female buffalo's neck.
TO BE CONTINUED ...