The little boy stood in front of the copper basin as the Female Priest had instructed, and soon began to cough from the fumes.
Instinctively, he tried to step backward, but he had only moved half a step when his mother firmly held his head.
The peasant woman, fearing that her child had not completed the purification, pushed him forward toward the copper basin again.
The boy struggled a couple of times, but far from breaking free, he inhaled even more smoke and his coughing grew more severe.
Seeing this, his mother felt pity, yet to treat his illness, she had to harden her heart.
Because too many assorted things had been added to the copper basin, the smell itself was already unpleasant, becoming even more choking when those items were burned.
The boy coughed loudly, his eyes tearing up from the smoke.
