The shelters of stone - Jean M. Auel [388]
“How do they know that?” the First asked.
“Because people say so,” he said.
“What people say so?” she pressed.
“Everybody,” he said.
“If everybody said the sun will not rise tomorrow morning, would that make it so?” the donier asked.
“Well, no. But people have always said so,” Laramar said.
“I think I remember hearing it from the zelandonia,” one of the onlookers said.
The First glanced around to look at the person who had spoken; she had recognized the voice. “Are you saying it is a teaching of the zelandonia that a child of mixed spirits is an abomination, Marona?”
“Well, yes,” she said defiantly. “I’m sure I heard it from the zelandonia.”
“Marona, did you know that even a beautiful woman can look ugly when she lies?” the First said.
Marona flushed and glared at the First with a malicious look. Several people turned to stare at her to see if what the First said was true, and some of them agreed that the spiteful expression on the young woman’s face did detract from her recognized beauty. She looked away, but mumbled under her breath, “How would you know, you fat old woman!”
Several people nearby heard her and gasped at the insult to the First Among Those Who Served The Great Earth Mother. Ayla, who was on the other side of the large room, caught her breath, too, but her hearing was almost supernaturally acute. A few others had heard Marona, among them the First, whose hearing was rather good as well.
“Look closely at this fat old woman, Marona, and remember that, like you, I was once considered the most beautiful woman at the Summer Meeting. Beauty is at most a fleeting Gift. Use it wisely while you have it, young woman, because when it’s gone, you will be very unhappy if you don’t have something else. I have never regretted the loss of beauty, because what I have gained in knowledge and experience is much more satisfying,” the One Who Was First said.
Then she continued to the rest of the group, “Marona has said, and Laramar has implied, that it is taught by the zelandonia that children who are born as the result of the blending of the spirits of one of us with one of those whom we call flatheads are abominations. In the past few days, I have gone into deep meditation and recalled all the Histories and Elder Legends, and all the lore that is known only to the zelandonia, to try to find out where this idea came from, because Laramar is right in one respect. It is something that ‘everybody’ thinks they know.” She paused and looked around the gathering. “That idea has never been a teaching of the zelandonia.”
The zelandonia had been very quiet when they saw her meditating in solitude with her chest plaque turned around so that the carvings and decorations were hidden and only the plain side showed, meaning she did not want to be interrupted. Now they knew why.
There was an undercurrent of conversation. “But they’re animals.” “They aren’t even human.” “They are related to bears.”
The Zelandoni of the Fourteenth Cave spoke out. “The Mother is appalled by such a mixture.”
“They are an abomination,” Denanna, the leader of the Twenty-ninth Cave, said. “We’ve always known that.”
Madroman whispered to the Zelandoni of the Fifth Cave, “Denanna is right. They are half human, half animal.”
The First waited until things quieted down. “Think about where you heard those things. Try to recall even one instance in the lore of the zelandonia, or the Histories and Elder Legends of the Zelandonii, where it specifically mentions that the children of mixed spirits are abominations, or even that the flatheads are animals. I am not talking about innuendos or suggestions, but specific references,” she said.
She let them think for a while, then continued. “In fact, if you think about it clearly, you would know that the Mother would never be appalled, or want us to think of them as abominations. They are children of the Mother, just as we are. After all, who is it that selects a man’s spirit to blend with the spirit of a woman? It doesn’t happen often, we don’t associate much with flatheads, but if the