Shepherds/Voriof/Babs

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_Brooke_at_compuserve.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 04:25:59 -0500



Mr Tines asks:

> What is it that downgrades the shepherd vis a vis the ploughman?

Nothing. But the job of watching sheep is commonly left to small boys, who may or may not cry "Wolf!" If the job's done by kids, the related rituals, myths and folklore will equate the two. Mature Sartarites aren't shepherds: they leave that to their children and nephews and younger cousins, and get on with the smallholding and ploughing and weapontaking and all the other fun of everyday life. They still own sheep -- of course! -- they just leave them to the kids to look after on a day-to-day basis.

Nice work on the potatoes, BTW!

I'm on Mr Tines' side re: these grumpy teenage "lay members" of Babeester Gor. Like he said, they're the ones who've caused trouble doing *real* work, and so they're made to carry a heavy axe and stand around the Ernalda shrine for a day or so, as punishment. There needn't be a practical value from having someone do this: we know (by definition) that this is something the clan does to *stop* its unpleasant teenage girls disrupting everyone else's useful work.

I think the protests have been more "quibbly" than the entertaining suggestion deserved. Just recognise that teenage tearaways *don't* get flash-bang axe magics for being naughty, and what's the problem?

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Nick
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