Author's Notes:
- The "barred hoop" symbol quoted in this chapter is not invented. It comes from the Luwian cuneiform language, one of the languages that might have been spoken in the historical Troy region. Another language could be Hittite, but if I had picked Hittite the first reading lesson would've been complicated (search "Hittite cuneiform script" and you'll see why).
- (Luwian apparently didn't have an "e" sound, which would be a problem given the abundance of "E"s in my characters' names. Consider it a poetic license.
- The story about the oak tree I quote in this chapter comes from "Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world", which is quoted in my fiction about Cassandra too.
OOO
Molossus shook his head.
"I find it hard to believe that you were like that as a child. I mean, you're always such a bada..."
Helenus turned abruptly and glared at him, and the younger man quickly corrected himself:
"I mean... you look quite... tough"
"Well, at least I am a good pretender" snorted his stepfather.
"So the bad temper is just a facade" said Molossus quietly.
But Helenus didn't answer.
"Did you go swimming with your brother then?" the younger one asked after a long silence.
"No. Hector mentioned it a couple of times, then he stopped asking" his stepfather replied in a very quiet voice.
Molossus wanted to ask whether Helenus missed his brother but he didn't dare.
"What happened at Hermes' temple?" he asked instead.
-O-O-O-
Aesacus, Hermes' priest, was waiting for them in the temple's kitchen. He smiled widely upon seeing them.
"Ah, wonderful, you're here! Come in and take a sit, please. Oh, at the same side of the table, if you don't mind. Just leave some space for me between the two of you"
The prince looked cautiously around.
On the table, there were a stylus and several clay tablets, some clean and some already written. Cassandra was eyeing them with curiosity.
"Now let's get started, shall we?" said the priest, taking his seat between them and grabbing one of the written clay tablets.
Were they supposed to read it? He had no idea how to do that!
But Aesacus didn't question them.
"I have written the beginning of a story I like very much on this clay tablet. I will read it for you" he said.
He straightened the tablet so that they could both look at it and started reading slowly.
"There was an oak tree growing on the bank of the Euphrates river:
The south wind stripped its branches and the river carried it away.
A woman walking along picked up the tree
and planted it in the garden of the goddess Inana"
Helenus gaped. How could the priest decipher all of those symbols and read so quickly?
He was never going to learn that!
Aesacus took one of the clean clay tablets and wrote a symbol on it. It looked like a circle with a bar in the middle.
"In our language, every symbol represents one single sound. This barred hoop, for example, represents the sound Ha. Every time you see this symbol in a writing, it will always sound like Ha"
Well, that wasn't difficult to understand. And the symbol looked simple, just a circle and a bar.
"Again: one symbol, one sound. This is the only thing you need to understand in order to read. The rest is about memorizing the symbols and practicing. Don't get discouraged or impatient if you mix up the symbols at first: it's normal. Doesn't mean that you are not smart enough. Mistakes are part of learning"
Aesacus took two written tablets and put one of them in front of each pupil.
"I kept writing the same story on these other two towels. Now please look closely at your tablet and see if you can sport any Ha symbol. Take your time"
Helenus' heart was beating wildly.
Now he was going to make a fool of himself.
Well, that one might be a Ha... but he wasn't sure. What if he pointed at the wrong symbol?
"There's one here... another one here" said Cassandra confidently, pointing at her tablet.
"Very good, my dear" Aesacus complimented her. "Do you see any other Has? Sometimes it looks like they play hide and seek in the tablet"
How did he hate her!
In a short time, Cassandra found all of her Has, earning another praise from the priest. And Helenus hadn't opened his mouth yet.
Aesacus turned to him and the prince felt himself blushing.
"Do you see any Has on your tablet, Helenus?" he asked softly.
Helenus wanted to say something. He desperately wanted to say something. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
Now the priest would get angry...
"It is alright if you are not sure or if you make a mistake" Aesacus said instead, very gently. "I've never eaten a pupil, I swear".
Helenus blinked. He was expecting to be scolded or slapped. He was expecting to hear one of the usual things: "don't be shy", "what are you waiting for?", "how can you not manage to do that?", "you're the only one who cannot do that!".
He turned to his tablet and pointed at a symbol with a trembling finger.
"I t-think this one could be a Ha..." he said tentatively.
"Yes, very well!" Aesacus answered encouragingly.
"And this one... and... I think... this one..." he whispered.
He kept pointing at the symbols until he reached the end of the text.
"Excellent, you found all of them!" Aesacus praised him, patting lightly on his shoulder.
-O-O-O-
"Well done, you two. You have earned a walk in the market place, and a story" said Aesacus some time later.
He had taught them to recognize the sounds i and mi... and Helenus had been able to find all of the symbols without making mistakes!
Clearly, Cassandra had been faster because of course she was perfect.
But Aesacus had made no comparisons and had praised both of them. He had been patient and encouraging whenever Helenus hesitated and he had never looked angry or even annoyed.
Of course, he had stuttered all the time and he still wanted to run away whenever he was asked a question. Why couldn't he be like Cassandra?
Still, in comparison to the military exercises, this was a huge improvement.
They walked through the market square, looking at the stands. Sometimes, Aesacus stopped to show them some peculiar item, like vases from the island of Crete or fabrics from the far city of Tyre. He seemed to know all the merchants and could speak many different languages with them.
Helenus' thoughts were interrupted by Cassandra's voice:
"Can you tell how the story continues, please?"
Aesacus laughed.
"You are quite right, my dear, I promised you a story. Well..."
The priest told a beautiful story about an eagle who had taken refuge on top of the oak tree and a hero who chased it away.
Eventually, they went back to the temple and found the handmaid already waiting for them.
As soon as he was back at the palace, Helenus ran to the gardens.
He found a good spot and started tracing the symbols he had learned on the ground.
He wanted to write those symbols until they were carved in his mind.
He didn't want to disappoint that man.