The Month of Silver Melody and Song was the third month after the end of the Thunder Season. It was also the traditional celebration of the Seymour people — the Song Festival.
In previous years, the busiest hunting season of the year would have come to an end by this time. Every family would decorate their houses with colorful paintings and fresh flowers. Strips of smoked meat and jerky would be hung from the rafters of their houses. Those who had a good harvest would even place a bowl of hot meat soup in front of their houses as gifts to their neighbors.
In the tribal era of the past, the long Thunder Season would clear out all the surplus food in the warehouses, and the month or two after the Thunder Season ended was also the peak of the hunting season.
It was only at this time of the third month that people would be able to relax and do things that had nothing to do with survival.
Many tribes would find a place to hold a market and celebration.
Song and dance performances, wrestling matches, magic tricks, and so on. Every Seymour person would remember the strange Song Festival and market of their childhood, and would look forward to the next Song Festival in the following thirteen months.
The bonfire celebration at the end of the month was the best time for young people to get to know their future significant others. Every time that happened, there would be epics praising heroes, songs celebrating the harvest, and songs praising the beauty of love. These were the three main themes of the Seymour people, as well as countless singing voices that would echo in the sky above their homes.
Even in the middle of the night, there would still be intermittent love songs and poems. If the night returned to silence, it could only mean that the celebration had ended.
This was also the peak of the tourist season for outsiders. There were many people and many goods, and the Song Festival was also a good time to visit.
The outsiders directly compared it to their own New Year's celebration, and the locals didn't bother to correct them. Very few outsiders … no, even the Seymour people didn't know that in the very beginning, this festival was actually added as the Day of Crying.
Why were they crying? They were crying for their neighbors who didn't survive the Thunder Season, crying for their ancestors who fell during the Great Migration … This period of time during the Thunder Season was actually a sad festival for funerals.
In the few decades after the Great Migration, every time this period of time came, the streets and alleys would be filled with the sound of crying. If anyone cried too softly, they would be criticized for being unfilial and heartless.
What? No one in your family died? Someone in your neighbor's family died, right? Someone in your family died, right? Someone in your family died, right?
Even if none of them died, some of your friends, relatives, and neighbors would die. It wouldn't be good for you to be happy while others were grieving.
As she cried, she got used to it.
Venting one's emotions and offering sacrifices to the ancestors were also customary.
After she was done crying, she touched her face and continued to live her life. At the same time, she smiled and celebrated the new year.
This was to celebrate the arrival of a new year, but at the same time, he had lived for another year.
Considering that the average lifespan of the West Mo people was far below their natural lifespan, especially the average lifespan of the Wastelands tribes was less than 40 years old, this was truly a day worth celebrating.
Perhaps it was due to the improvement in living conditions that prevented Lei Ji from becoming a caveman, or perhaps it was due to sufficient food and storage technology that fewer people died of starvation in Lei Ji, or perhaps it was because there were more and more families that didn't need to cry, this season of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming in the new had more and more elements of celebration.
Most people would make the best use of their time. Some would play as hard as they could, while others would try their best to find a partner. After this festival, they would have to prepare for the next Lightning Season.
I don't have much time to lament. If I don't prepare enough food and supplies for half a year before the lightning strikes, I'll just have to wait for next year's singing festival to hold your funeral.
The cruel environment and living conditions made the West Mo people of the past indifferent to life and death.
However, with the opening of Cape Town, many things had changed. The most obvious change was that Lei Ji no longer needed to hide in the lightning-proof cave. He could only choose between beating his wife or beating his children out of boredom. Lei Ji could still go out, work, and make money.
Lei Ji could move freely, which directly doubled the time that the West Mo people of Cape Town could move about. In the eyes of the Wastelands people, this was equivalent to doubling their lifespan. It was no wonder that before this, most of the West Mo people were envious of the life in Cape Town.
In fact, if one calculated the time needed to store food and supplies for the Lightning Season, and the time needed to replenish food and supplies after the Lightning Season, after choosing to live in the city, it was possible that the time they could move about freely had increased by three or four times … In a sense, this was equivalent to having their lifespan increased by several times.
Even so, the singing festival was still the most important day of the year.
In the past, Cape Town even held various ceremonies and celebrations to coincide with this day. Before that, it was decided based on the situation of the year, whether it was a harvest festival or a victory festival to celebrate the victory of the war. After that, it was the Sunshine Festival to celebrate the beginning of the Lightning Season.
Even though there were many festivals and celebrations, the most important one was still the singing festival, just like the importance of the New Year to the human race.
However, for today's singing festival, the situation in Cape Town was a little strange.
In the past, there were no temporary markets because the city guards were ordered to disperse the crowd. Although the familiar singing and singing had decreased a lot, it was still there. However, the main melody was different from the love songs of the past. This year's singing had a lot more sadness and sorrow.
Just like in the past, the mayor sent people to each of the main squares to deliver meat soup and festival cakes.
However, unlike in the past, not many people went to receive the food this time. The children no longer chased the guards behind to ask for candy. Even the beggars could look at the city officials who were distributing the food with disdain, spitting at them and walking away.
There were very few decorative ribbons under the roof beams. However, in the square where the bloody conflict happened last month, there were many small white flowers unknowingly.
In the past, there were many traveling merchants, but this time, there were only ten or twenty percent of them. It was not only because the atmosphere in Cape Town was not right, but also because of the rumors of fear and disgust.
More importantly, the traveling merchants had a new choice. Vila Nova Dônia was the first choice of most of the traveling merchants. It was said that there were hundreds of thousands of people there who went on a shopping spree with money and gold.
Even the merchants who came to Cape Town, after exchanging information, booked their next stop.
At this time, this year's customs and trade taxes were less than a third of last year's. This was the mayor's most important private treasury. It was said that he was angry several times because of this, but in the end, he could only let it go.
After all, no matter how powerful the mayor was, it was impossible for him to send troops to escort merchants to trade.
However, the Goddess of Misfortune and the Lady of Fortune had always been twins. There would always be a turn for the worse. Among all the bad news, there was still one exciting piece of good news.
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