Chapter 11 (1/2)
Chapter 11: I gain a new student
Jiva and Rajiva only stay at home for three days, after which they move to the newly built temple It is a royal temple located on the west side of the palace—a 15-minute walk fro is] Before he leaves, Rajiva has ements are in place: As his Han teacher, I can continue to live in his residence, and every day he will come home after his afternoon mantra for our usual lessons
My plan to travel to the Central Plains is put on a hold because it is currently winter The snow has blocked all the roads, forcing the o, I will have to wait until spring of next year Oh well, I am not in a hurry anyway I have just arrived in Kucha and have not even begun my research yet Moreover, my Tocharian skill is still inadequate Since so to provide me room and board, there is no reason for me to refuse
My host, kumarayana, is very kind, polite and attentive His refined aura is like that of a university professor If irls would race to register for his class There will not be enough seats, and even the hallill probably be full If he teaches Sanskrit, Professor Ji will not have to worry about having no students willing to learn the language kuRajiva’s praise, he even suggests that I take another student
I eventually find the opportunity to doarrison The nificent Its total area is larger than the palace in Wensu by five, six tio, I always spot te and small, built in clusters
Kucha faces the Tian Shan range to the north, and is seen as a kingdoriculture and animal husbandry are able to thrive The Tian Shan is also full of h to supply all the surrounding countries Further trade to flourish at the sadoions
Every day, tea silk would stop by the st the flood of merchants and buyers The entire city looks like an exhibition of diversity: there are the Yue Zhi people, the Wusun, Xiongnu, Turks, Xianbei, Rouran, Mongolians, Persians, Iranians, Indians, even the people froreat many Han people Every time I walk on the streets, I always pause to watch, s of people in all kinds of colours and clothes pass by uide, looks up in contempt, do I reluctantly continue on our way
Speaking of which, this new student is currently est source of headaches
Thismy pencils to doodle onmy erasers to rub them out, rinse and repeat The boy seesthem to draw the whole day
I stand by and watch him in pain
“Oh young master, little lord, little devil! You think my house is a store that sells stationery? The eraser only half a piece, the pencil only half a stick, and three pages ofinstruments are non-renewable resources? If you use them up, where can you find them in this era to compensate for me?”
I actually still have so I will be staying here, I have to be thrifty
The brat ignores ht be because I spoke in Han But after seeing h I yell in Tocharian: “Stop your drawing!”
Evenround eyes at ray inherited from their father, and curly red-brown hair fro moment, then drops the pencil, climbs down the seat and dives into my arms
“Then youfor me!”
Not again! A while ago, kumarayana went to Guhts, so the brat snuck intowith , I ended up singing nursery rhyht, he caht, but also to not have any songs repeated So s have turned into lullabies! How ludicrous!
I let out a sigh and scoot over to give the boy space onWakin Chau’s “My Dearest Baby” The little guy closes his eyes, revealing long lashes that only add to the high bridge of his nose, quite an adorable picture!
I can understand why the little guy sticks to lue Both his mother and brother left to serve the Buddha when he just turned six—four long years without any correspondence His nanny, who has taken care of hi and the one he was closest to, has passed away couple years prior Even though the house is full of feive hie, he needs friends, and even though every day he is at the palace studying with the princes, by the time he comes home, there is no one for him to play with His brother is only three years older but is like a little adult, and there is also the distance of four years they spent apart Every time he sees Rajiva, he becomes very shy
My appearance here fulfills both the mother role and the playhty antics are only meant to attract my attention, to make me care about him But all of that only makes me suffer! Every day I have to play countless roles: At one point I aive daily reports, then an eneainst the cos forwith such an energetic child, I am weary to the bones
When the last note of the lullaby finishes, I find that he has fallen asleep I then carry hi shoulders, I uy, you are too heavy, soon I won’t be able to carry you any you one song and you’re already asleep”
It has been snowing the past few days I a on, I have rarely seen snowfall as great as here The first few days I was very excited and even dragged Pusyseda along to build snowmen But after a while the exciteood with the cold After that, I rarely go out and my research project is also put on hold Fortunately, Rajiva brings me many Han books like “Historical Records”, “Co States”, “Book of Poetry”, etc—books that I have already read long ago—as well as books thought to be lost like “Star Catalogue of shi+”
referring to lands itze River in China
Rajiva’s fa rooes: Sanskrit, Tocharian, Brah on all kinds of subjects: phonology, philology, crafts, technology, calendar, ic, law, etc
My mouth waters when I look at all those texts on the shelves If only I can bring thereat source of research they would be! Most people cannot afford books from this era because each book is equivalent to a year’s worth of salary That is not to mention the books that are written on silk Or the court officials’ docureements that are written on wood, because paper is many times more expensive than wood