eat



When the crowd had disappeared, only Ashitaka, San and Eboshi were standing in front of the hut, they asked:
"Have you had lunch yet?"
"No not yet."
Ashitaka replied to which Eboshi asked:
"Do you want to come in and eat with me?"
"No thanks, we will eat at my place."
"As you wish, you must have a lot to talk about."

When they got to Ashitaka's hut, he made a fire and hung a small kettle with water over it. Then he said:
"Wait a minute, I'm just going to get something."
Meanwhile, San looked around the hut, the night camp was on one side wall and Ashitaka's sword, bow and quiver leaned against the back wall. After a few minutes, through the noise outside, she heard footsteps approaching the hut.
"Ah, Ashitaka is coming back, what did he get? ... probably something to eat."
She thought, a moment later Ashitaka came in with a piece of meat in one hand and a sack in the other.
"What's in there, probably rice.Yes, that's right, he pours it into the kettle. "
After that, Ashitaka began to cut the meat, when he had cut it in two pieces she grabbed one of them.
"Thanks."
But he held up her hand with a grin and said:
"Wait San, it's not ready yet."
She watched with interest as he cut the meat into small pieces and put it in the cauldron, then he reached into his pocket.
"Has he got anything else? ... Ah herbs, he cuts them and puts them in the kettle."
After adding the herbs, Ashitaka stirred the whole thing and then sat down again to wait.

While they waited, they talked, San asked:
"Who was this woman who knew why I came?"
"That was Toki, I saved her husband Kohroku. He's an ox-driver, he fell into the river when Moro's attack on the rice transport. I save him and another ox-driver, when I looked around for other injuries, we saw each other first times."
"Yes you asked me if you are in the realm of the forest god and if we are gods.""Right, well, now I know. Then you looked at me and then since you went away, I went to town with Kohroku and the other one. We went through the forest to save time, I still remember how Kohroku was afraid of the tree spirits. "
He grinned as he remembered it and then continued:
"We also passed the lake, that was when I saw the forest god for the first time. And when we got to the city, Toki began to scold Kohroku, he had broken an arm and a foot."
"You saved her husband's life and she scolded him?"
Asked San in surprise.
"Yeah, it's her way of complaining about him all the time, but she doesn't mean it."

When the meal was ready, Ashitaka filled two bowls and gave her one, San tried to eat with the chopsticks, but she never put anything in her mouth. Ashitaka suppressed a grin and showed her how to hold her properly. After a few tries and lots of mutual laughter, San managed to eat a couple of bites."Does it taste good?"
Ashitaka asked her.
"The meat is so ... soft and the herbs are hot."
"That's how we eat it, I hope you don't mind ..."
"It tastes strange ... but good."