Chapter 19 [Personally Select Sheep]
The distance between the old castle and the alpine grassland on the mountain is not close. In addition, there is no road on the mountain. The back mountain is planted with various fruit trees and weeds. India is the home of many poisonous creatures. There are many kinds of poisonous snakes. The most poisonous snake is the king cobra. Of course, king cobras are very rare these days, but there are many other poisonous snakes. If Master Belsinger is really bitten by these poisonous snakes, it will be terrible.
So Master Belsinger has to go up the mountain to personally select the most robust goats for his uncles and aunts to visit him. This is a big deal. So Master Belsinger's dedicated mount, the loyal human mule Brook, became the means of transportation, using his flesh and blood to protect the master from being harassed by those poisonous snakes and insects.
I have been to the mountain twice, but every time I go up the mountain, I feel very speechless when I see the crooked fruit trees planted on the mountain and the weed-covered fruit forest. I don't know what my grandfather's generation thought. Don't Indians know how to plant fruit trees horizontally and vertically? Do they just plant these fruit trees and leave them alone? There are shrubs and weeds everywhere.
It would be strange if they could grow well like this? It seems that I need to dispatch some villagers to go up the mountain to clear all these weeds and shrubs when I have time. Then I will fertilize and water these fruit trees that look malnourished. This is related to the issue of eating fruits in the future, so I can't be careless.
In addition, India has only two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. The temperature is basically above 20 degrees all year round. All tropical fruits can be planted in front of and behind houses in India. Bananas, lychees, and mangoes can be seen everywhere. Fresh fruits are produced all year round, even if you live in this closed mountain village. You can eat two or three kinds of fresh fruits every day. This is a very remarkable temperature and environment.
Five or six minutes later, we arrived at the mountain. The alpine grassland was located in a flat land in the middle of a mountain, divided into two pieces with a river in the middle. The sheep raised in the east are all breeding sheep. These breeding sheep are worth a lot of money. They are the industry that the entire Belsinger family has spent the most money on so far, so these breeding sheep are treated very well.
They live carefree in the alpine grasslands, with endless fresh grass to eat and fresh river water to drink. The most important thing is that there are many stone houses near the mountain. These stone houses have only doors but no windows, and are covered with wood and thatch. These are closed sheepfolds, which allow these breeding sheep to spend the long and difficult rainy season comfortably in the sheepfolds.
On the west side of the river, some eliminated meat sheep are raised. There are enough of them, but the treatment is not so good. The shed to avoid the rain is just a simple shed built with a few pieces of wood. It is enough as long as it is not rained on.
In addition, the Belsinger family hired four shepherds to manage these important assets of the family. There are many kinds of wild animals on the mountain, including tigers, leopards, wild wolves, jackals, etc. When these wild animals are free, they will stroll down to harass these sheep. If there are fewer people, these sheep will not be enough for the wild animals to eat. Even so, the number of sheep eaten by wild animals reaches dozens every year.
Everyone thinks that what the author said must be very exaggerated and inconsistent with the facts. In fact, the author has really looked up knowledge about Indian wild animals. Although Hinduism does not prohibit people from smoking and drinking, vegetarianism is the lifestyle of most Hindus, and half of them are completely vegetarian.
The rest only eat some fish, meat, and goat meat, and even animal offal is rarely used. As for the wild animals in the mountains, they will not even touch them. As for eating donkeys, horses, dogs, mice, and cats, Hindus dare not even think about it. Therefore, although India is the second most populous country, there are still many large beasts living on its territory.
And the back mountain of the Lagar Valley is a primeval forest, and the number of various wild animals in it is so rich. There is no isolation net measure. There is only a small alpine lake with an area of 10 acres on the mountain, spanning between two peaks, which can be regarded as a natural barrier between the Lagar Valley and the primeval forest.
But don't forget, except for a few wild animals that are afraid of water, lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos and even wolves can swim. A ten-acre lake can swim over and eat your defenseless goats at night. That's a piece of cake, so the Belsinger family loses dozens of strong mutton sheep every year.
Of course, the treatment of mutton sheep and breeding sheep is different. Four shepherds guard the breeding sheep and mutton sheep equally, with two shepherds for each flock. There are only more than 500 breeding sheep, which is very easy for two shepherds to guard, but the number of mutton sheep reaches more than 1,000, and only two shepherds guard them 24 hours a day. They can't take care of it, so they have no choice but to let it go. The dozens of mutton sheep lost are regarded as offerings to various gods in the mountains.
In Hinduism, mice can become gods, and those tigers, leopards and wild wolves on the mountain are also gods. There are more than 3,000 various gods in Hinduism. It is not an exaggeration to say that all things have spirits. Fortunately, animals and humans have developed a tacit understanding over the years. These wild animals can steal these sheep, but they will never harm the shepherds who guard the sheep. Therefore, humans and wild animals still live in peace without any fierce conflicts.
There were too many people coming to eat this time, and one sheep certainly couldn't solve the problem, so unlike last time, this time several fat sheep were selected and tied up with hemp ropes. Driving down the mountain bit by bit, there would be no slaughtering on the mountain. This move made the two shepherds quite disappointed. If they drive the sheep down the mountain, they won't be able to obtain the sheep's internal organs, and they won't be able to improve their families' lives. How can they not be disappointed?
Of course, the Belsinger family had some experience and a lot of assets before, so unlike other villages, the goats raised were local breeds. The goats raised in Lagar Valley are actually the famous Boer goats, but the quality of the breed has deteriorated. The meat yield of one ram reaches more than 40 kilograms, so two goats are enough to eat. Walking around and taking a look, Belsinger made a mental note of a lot of things that needed to be changed, but he just didn't have the time or energy to take care of these things yet.
We will talk about it later when we have time. After the sheep are brought back, they are handed over to the butcher in the kitchen for slaughter, and then the Brahmin chef cuts the mutton himself. Hinduism believes in more than 3,000 animistic gods, so killing is a serious crime. The butcher industry is generally an industry that is only done by people from lower castes such as Shudras or Dalits.
Of course, nearly 100 kilograms of mutton cannot be eaten in one day, so half of it will be transported to the underground storage room for storage, and the remaining half of the mutton will be used as curry mutton. The other half is marinated and prepared to be grilled on bamboo. It is a relatively new delicacy and will definitely satisfy these relatives. As for the bicycle drivers who came with those relatives, they were all Shudras who could only eat enough. How could they possibly eat meat?