The girls twisted around on their chosen beds, not caring that their dirty linen clothes would stain the bedding.
They are simply enjoying this unparalleled comfort.
"Hmm. It's really more comfortable than my bed at home."
"You are stupid, this is not our banker. From now on, this will be your own bed."
"Huh? Really?"
…
They were still chirping, and Rurik was still observing silently. By the way, he took another look at their postures.
The girls are definitely standard Slavs. It must be because the food on weekdays is really bad. All the girls stretch out flat, and their extremely slender legs fully explain what it means to be thin.
And their feet, one is as dirty as the other, one can only imagine what kind of life they lived in the past.
In fact, in their hometown in Novgorod, in ordinary peasant families, such as White Tree Manor, only more than half of the people live in houses with wooden floors. People who live far away from the river build wooden houses without even digging the foundation!
In terms of structure alone, this type of simple house is very similar to the Russian longhouse.
However, all residents of Novgorod believe that building floors is wrong.
Poor farmers don't use nails. They use inherited carpentry skills and use stone chisels to make parts of various shapes, and finally piece them together into wooden beds. Because of the limitations of processing tools, don't expect the wooden beds to be smooth.
This is completely different from the Russians.
Although there are no planers, the Russians have always used iron scrapers operated by both hands. Shipbuilders can be very skilled in making large quantities of flat planks and wooden blocks.
The girls were lying on absolutely flat beds, and there was no fluffy reed grass under them that smelled like grass.
Some girls unfolded the folded quilt and naturally got in, and suddenly their little heads popped out mischievously.
They were coquettishly circling the bed like little kittens, their slightly dirty smiles full of joy.
Kamnier, who was ordered to watch, didn't know how good "One to the Place" really was.
Seeing the joy of his fellow tribesmen, he also wanted to enjoy it.
Rurik, he is deliberately making them miserable now. Is the bed soiled? It doesn’t matter.
Just some dirt and dust.
Besides, these kids probably have shockingly low standards for what constitutes cleanliness.
Rurik was paying attention to the children's little faces.
"That's right. It's a little dirty and quite disheveled. After all, you both have brownish-blonde hair. Your chins are quite pointed, but your arms and legs are too thin."
Even though he was covered in dust, his old clothes were in bad condition, and his bare feet were dirty.
Nothing can erase the fact that they are beautiful women.
Each of them is a potential stock.
Rurik wondered again why a large number of young men from the tribe were willing to go to Novgorod to find a wife this year.
Haha, maybe it’s because the girls there are smaller and smaller than the girls from our own tribe.
It has to be said that the men of the Ross tribe often have strong muscles when they grow up. Obviously this is not entirely the result of a lot of physical labor. Because the women of the tribe are also very strong.
It's just that such a strange and powerful girl is not so cute.
The coquettish fun should end here!
Rurik clapped his hands and ordered: "All of you have chosen the bed, now all stand beside the bed."
They got out of bed still unfinished, waiting for their master's new order.
Rurik walked over, holding the hilt of his sword, and inspected the girls alone.
He turned around, cleared his throat, and decided to announce his big move.
Rurik said loudly in a kingly manner: "My servants! You may all have your own names, but as my servants, you will have a brand new name."
As soon as this statement came out, the girls all opened their eyes wide.
A bold girl suddenly said: "Master, I have my own name. My name is Alemata."
"You?" Rurik thought it was interesting, so he walked over.
"May I have your name?"
"My...my name is Alemata."
Rurik didn't know the exact meaning of this name. In fact, its original meaning was "fragrance." This word was really suitable to describe a girl.
This girl named Alemata gave Rurik's "naming plan" a good start.
Because this girl's name starts with "a".
"Okay, Alemata, forget your past name now. Now, kneel down for me." Rurik said in a commanding tone, and then suddenly drew out his sword.
This move scared the girl to her knees on the spot.
The back of the sword was placed on the girl's thin shoulder. The other girls still didn't know what happened. Their curiosity made them look sideways, and they felt a little worried in their hearts.
On the other hand, Parla and Lumia fully understood what was going to happen next—probably the "canonization of Rurik."
Rurik imitated the "Western European noble canonization ceremony" in his impression. This set of interests may have originated in the twelfth century.
He estimated that there was no such thing in the current ninth century.
Since there is no etiquette, this set of etiquette should develop naturally. Who is the inventor of etiquette? The great Rurik!
The sharp sword blade almost touched the little girl's neck. The girl didn't know what was about to happen. She just obeyed the king's order.
Rurik leaned over and said seriously: "You, your name is Alemata. From now on, you will have a brand new name. I, Rurik, your master! I name you Anna."
"Anna?" the girl repeated weakly.
"Yes! Anna, your name is Anna." After saying that, Rurik put away his sword and suddenly pulled out his dagger, and roughly carved the word "anna" on the wooden pillar beside the bed.
After finishing the carving, Rurik turned around and once again ordered the newly named servant Anna, who had turned into a duck to sit, and said: "Remember your name, Anna. From now on, everyone will call you Anna. Now stand up."
"
"Yes." The girl nodded weakly, but she felt happy in her heart. She didn't know what "Anna" meant, but it sounded comfortable and she said it smoothly.
In this way, Rurik named the ten girls in turn, and the ritual he invented was also implemented one by one.
The second girl was named Bella.
The third one is Cicia.
Following in order are Diana, Ekaterina (ekatelinna, eka for short), Fenna, Greta, Hellena, Iria, and Juria.
).
Ten girls were given names one after another.
Rurik's principle of naming is very regular, basically starting from a and going backwards according to the English letters.
Of course, the ten girls are exactly ranked j.
The eleventh letter is k. What a coincidence is that the only boy, Kamne, happens to be this "k".
What’s more coincidental is that the twelfth letter is l, and Rumia, the head maid appointed by Rurik, is this “l”.
Rurik estimated that he would not have more servants for the time being. Even if he did, these children would probably be the first to "join" and they would naturally be reused by him in the future.
The names were named one by one in alphabetical order, and finally ended with a feminine vowel "a". As for the specific girl's name, Rurik decided on it with a slap on the head.
So, if you think carefully about the name, some are the names of the Slavs themselves, some are the names of the Germans, and there are even female names that existed in ancient Greece.
After all, this is a hodgepodge, but just based on the name, Rurik thought that Europeans in this time and space would probably pay more attention to whether the pronunciation of the name is pleasant to the ear. Instead of being like the East, which not only pursues comfortable speech, but also demands a person's name.
It has elegant connotation.
Rurik carved letters on their beds one by one, first in Roman letters, then in runic letters.
The girls who got the names were very happy and even started calling each other their companions' new names and laughing with each other.
But it's a bit difficult to remember everyone's names immediately and be able to identify them one by one with their little faces.
The naming was not completely over.
The ancient Slavs did not have surnames. Not only the Slavs, but also the Rus tribe themselves did not have a clear concept of surnames.
If he really had a last name, it would be "Ross".
But the Ross tribe has a population of up to 4,000 people. Could it be that all of them are named Ross? Maybe that’s possible.
But of course the noble chief's family should have a more noble surname, and the servants should also have their own surnames to clearly distinguish them from ordinary people.
What surnames should you give your servants? Easy!
The Old Norse language spoken by the Rus does have a word for "servant", and this is what Rurik currently speaks.
In this situation, when Rurik was facing a group of maids, what came to his mind was another word that was more suitable for the situation - sister.
Since it is a maid, is there any more appropriate word than "maid"?
"My servants, now that you have your own name, you also need a second name, which is your identity name. Now, I give you all the identity name of Maidelova! I, Rurik
, I am your master, and my status is like your father. So..."
With that said, Rurik pointed directly at Ana, who was the first to be named.
"Anna, you are completely different from ordinary people now. Your full name is Anna Ryulikovina Medlova. Do you understand?"
Of course Anna understood, and was even a little moved.
Although this girl was only seven years old, Rurik had been giving orders in the Slavic language he learned from his sister-in-law. How could she not understand?
Let’s just say that this name is really logical.
The first word is his name Anna, the middle one is the woman who belongs to his master Rurik, and the last word is his exact identity. Moreover, these words are tailor-made for women and are feminine words.
When people live in the world, they are naturally looking for a clear position of their own.
Rurik's naming allowed the girls to find their new position. They were young and thin, but definitely not stupid. They were forced to help their parents work for a living when they were very young, and they learned too early
The hardships of life.
And they became the first batch of girls with clear and completely Slavic names.
Ah, they are Slavs themselves.
Of course, this naming system also applies to the head maid Rumia.
The remaining issues remain thorny.
It is unrealistic to just put the letters on the wooden pillars of the bed and expect that Parla, who will actually serve as the "boarder", will recognize them instantly.
Rurik ordered the girls to still stand by the bed. He called Parla to him again and said, "You have seen the words I carved. These are the names of the girls. You must remember them."
"Yes! I recognize those letters, and there are some others that seem to be letters too?"
Rurik immediately figured it out and said: "Are you talking about the Roman alphabet? Our runes are lowered, and what I carved is the Roman alphabet, which is the writing used by the Romans."
"Ah! Rurik, do you know Roman writing?" Parla looked surprised, and all she got in return was Rurik's squinting eyes.
"What? Do you doubt my ability?"
"No, I'm just curious. Could it be that God gave you such knowledge?"
"Of course." Rurik said without thinking: "The high priest has a treasure, which is a book from the Romans. I can understand the contents. I actually know many things. Our ancestors got inspiration from the Romans.
, invented our own writing. Maybe one day we will have close communication with the Romans, maybe we need to fully understand their writing now. Let’s start with my servant!”
Rurik gave Parla a brief introduction, that is, each rune letter corresponds to a Roman letter. This is not a coincidence, but this is how the creator of the original writing designed it.
Rurik actually didn't like the rune alphabet, and he was still used to using the Roman alphabet. As for the so-called "intimate communication with the Romans" that seemed so brazen just now, if you think about it carefully, this is not nonsense.
It would be impossible for Parla to recognize each girl's name based on their appearance in a short period of time.
At this point, Rurik also lacked confidence in himself.
Therefore, some auxiliary means are needed at this time, such as the roster.
Regarding the papermaking technology, Rurik feels that there are not many technical obstacles in theory for him to reproduce it. For example, soaking the bark and then beating it like crazy until only pure fiber is left, which can then be made with fine twine.
After some manipulation of the screen, I made paper that was at least usable.
This is ideal, and Rurik doesn't have enough energy to try it immediately.
In the era when there was no paper, bamboo pieces and wooden boards were just makeshift writing tools.
Ah, process wooden boards and bamboo slices into pure fibers, that is paper. For the time being, Rurik regards the clean wooden boards as excellent writing materials.
Of course, it is more appropriate to say that it is carving than writing.
All the beds in this longhouse are arranged neatly and orderly, and the girls naturally choose to gather together, making the positions of the beds they occupy highly uniform.
Rurik ordered Parla: "Go to my opponent's cabin and find a suitable board. Then get a piece of cowhide and some hemp rope."
"Cowhide and hemp rope?!" Parla was highly alert: "It's in the small cubicle of my workshop. Is it okay to take your property?"
"Stop talking nonsense, go get it quickly, I'll wait for you here." Rurik urged impatiently.
Rurik does have a small wooden house for storing sundries, which is actually part of the soap workshop. The things stored there are not valuables, but only some equipment related to soap production and raw materials for making equipment.
Parla ran away in a hurry, quickly picked up the rolled up thin cowhide, carried a slightly dirty wooden board from side to side, and returned to the longhouse.
"Rurik, I'm back. This piece of cowhide... aren't we going to use it to make insulated gloves?"
"We'll talk about the gloves later. Put down the cowhide first. Today, you will use this cowhide to make something useful for me."
Parla needed thick leather gloves to prevent her hands from being burned. She couldn't resist Rurik's request and had no choice but to comply.
As for the plank, she soon understood Rurik's skill.
The dagger started a new carving on the wooden board. Rurik carved out squares representing the girls' beds, carving out a matrix.
In the grid where the girl's bed was clearly located, he carved the initials of the girl's name. Those were the initials of a double marking in Rune and Roman, which happened to match the clear name on the wooden pillars of the bed.
After getting this treasure, Parral held up the wooden board excitedly: "Oh, my Rurik, you are so wise. You asked me to manage them well. With this wooden board, I will try my best to do a good job."
Although Rurik has not made his decision very clear yet, because he had already communicated with Parla before the maid arrived.
From the moment she saw these servants, Parla fully understood that she would be responsible for taking care of and managing their daily lives. At the same time, they would also help her with her work. Her current job was to make soap. Although she and they still spoke the same language.
Due to the estrangement, seeing that Rurik could already speak the language of the Novgorodians and communicate with the girls smoothly, he must have learned it quickly by himself.
Yes, times have changed.
Nowadays, in the huge Rosberg, there are more and more women from Novgorod.
Rurik nodded with satisfaction: "You can distinguish them very well. Now you are the only one, Parla. You have to do me a favor."
"What is it?" Parla asked enthusiastically.
"Cowhide." Rurik pointed to the leather circled on the ground: "You can make a pair of simple leather shoes for each of my servants. Well, it just needs to be able to wrap the feet."
"Are you serious?" Parla looked surprised.
Rurik's expression did not change: "Of course it is true. You hurry up and do it. After it is done, we have to eat. Look at these girls who are as thin as saplings. They must eat early."