Chapter 1733 My name is Satannie, not Satana
The "Reindeer Festival" in the village of Yarsale is held in a "deer pen", which is a large circle composed of waist-high wooden fences built along the coniferous forest. At this time, the Reindeer Festival has not officially started yet, and many people are still rushing here, some riding snowmobiles, and some coming here like Santa Claus on a sleigh pulled by reindeer.
Operating a sled is basically a skill that every Nenets person must master - people here also have dog sleds like the Inuit, but in very small numbers, and most still rely on reindeer.
Ekaterina and her two daughters circled the entire reindeer festival but couldn't find Xiao Peng and Kasim.
"Where did they go?" Ekaterina asked. "Did they drive away?"
Eugenia's eyes were sharp: "Are those two people setting up the tent over there the same ones?"
"Two people setting up the tent?" Ekaterina looked in the direction Eugenia pointed and saw Xiao Peng and Kashin busy helping the Nenets people set up the tent.
The reason they didn't recognize them was that the two men were not wearing their coats from yesterday, but were wearing Nenets national costumes, so they didn't find them when they looked around.
They even discovered that Xiao Peng was not attracted by him but by Kashin - Xiao Peng had yellow skin and was completely unrecognizable when he wore Nenets clothing that only exposed his face. However, Kashin's Western face was very eye-catching even when he wore Nenets clothing.
"These two are really free!" Ekaterina walked over and patted Xiao Peng on the shoulder: "Hi!"
Xiao Peng glanced at Ekaterina and said, "Don't make trouble. Can't you see I'm working?"
Ekaterina pouted quickly. This guy is so infuriating! Look at the police in Knoxville. They are so polite to us. Why are you like this?
"I have something to talk to you about!" said Ekaterina.
Xiao Peng waved his hand: "Let's talk after I finish my work. Can't you see I'm busy?"
"You..." Ekaterina was almost so angry that she jumped up and down, but Eugenia pulled her back: "Let's wait a little longer!"
Ekaterina curled her lips and said, "Humph, I'm not asking him for help, what's so great about him?"
"Let's talk about it later!" Eugenia said, "They are so good at having fun! After watching them, I want to experience the fun of setting up a tent!"
Ekaterina said disdainfully, "What's so fun about setting up a tent?"
However, although she said this, her eyes were watching Xiao Peng and the others helping people set up the tent.
The Nenets people are nomads who follow the reindeer herds. Whenever they arrive at a pasture, they choose to set up tents and spend the night in the snow.
When Xiao Peng and his companions arrived, they happened to see several Nenets people building a fire. On top of the fire were several bucket-like containers—they were their common cooking utensils for boiling soup and water. A group of people were chanting towards the taiga.
They are holding a "tree worship" ceremony, which is to worship the tree god.
The Nenets believe that all things have spirits, and they worship whatever they come across.
After they finished all this, they began to clear the snow on the ground. After leveling the snow, they laid wooden boards and straw mats on the ground. With the help of the guide arranged by the high priest, Xiao Peng realized that these people were setting up tents.
Xiao Peng was curious so he went over to help.
The process of laying out tents for the Nenets people is very interesting. They first lay wooden boards on the snow, one by one, into a square of about nine square meters. Then they lay straw mats around the boards, and there is a rectangular iron stove in the middle.
After laying out the straw mat, cover it with a layer of deerskin first - the Nenets people lack everything except deerskin.
A blanket is laid on the deerskin, and on top of the blanket is a mattress made of deerskin, and then furniture such as a low table and wooden benches are placed. After all this is done, the tent can be set up.
Setting up their tents is a quick process: three long wooden poles are tied together at the top and placed on the ground to form a tripod. Wooden sticks are then placed on this tripod, securing it. A total of more than twenty sticks are needed to create the general shape of the tent. The Nenets people constantly battle Arctic winds and snow, so the frames they use for their tents must be incredibly sturdy to withstand them.
After using wooden sticks to build a general tent shape, they took out two shorter wooden sticks and tied them horizontally to the tent frame to form two horizontal poles.
"Satana, what are these two horizontal bars for?" Ekaterina asked in confusion.
The Nenets girl with them was Ekaterina's classmate, Satana, the daughter of the village chief of Arsaleh.
Satana explained: "The two horizontal poles are used to fix the stove in the tent. Another function is that according to our customs, women in the tent cannot cross that line."
"Isn't it that only one-third belongs to women?" Eugenia said with wide eyes.
Satana spread her hands and said, "She's a Nenets woman."
After all this was done, a group of people began to wrap large, sewn pieces of deerskin around the tent frame using long poles. A rope was tied to the top of the large piece of deerskin, which was then wrapped around the bottom bracket to secure the entire tent. After two layers of this large deerskin, the tent was essentially 90% complete.
The next task was to secure the deerskin with ropes. They were very quick to set up the tent, usually taking about twenty minutes to complete. With the help of Xiao Peng and Ka Xin, this time, it took them less than thirty minutes—after all, both of them were extremely strong, saving a lot of money on the tent frame.
After the tent was set up, all the men who participated in the construction were kicked out of the tent.
The women were busy inside the tent, clearing snow, making fires, and brewing tea. The top of the tent was permeable, offering a view of the sky. Men could only enter after smoke rose from the top. The men were also busy, using snow to reinforce the junction between the tent and the ground to prevent it from blowing away.
Xiao Peng and the others didn't need to do this job. After shaking off the snow on his body, he and Kashin walked up to Ekaterina and said, "Tell me, what do you want from me?"
Ekaterina coughed twice and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Satana, the daughter of the village chief of Arsale. This is Xiao, and this is Kashin."
Then Satana said, "Ekaterina, I've told you so many times! My name is Satani, not Satana. You should just call me Sasa."
"Pfft." Xiao Peng couldn't help laughing.
The pronunciation of the Nenets language is indeed quite strange.
No wonder the Nenets have trouble integrating into modern society. They can't even pronounce their classmates' names...
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