Saturday, November 04, 2006

Ceremony of The Pig- story taken from the book Grandma Tull's Stories

The night before this great adventure, Mr. Tundal gathered us around the kitchen table, explaining in clinical detail the reason for killing the pig and the systematic process of cutting up the meat. The whole project became an exercise not of blood and guts and raw hunks of meat, but instead turned into an exciting surgical procedure we would get to view firsthand.

The following morning, the proper tools were carefully laid out, the technique for killing the pig was explained in detail and an expert demonstration was given of the correct way to skin the pig. Unfortunately, even Mr. Tundal could do nothing about the smell. When the pig was put in hot water, I think we all turned a little green. Yet, we got through it all right, and to this day, I remember it as an exciting and fun, although gory, day. We helped with the making of the sausages, the frying up of the cracklings, and at the end of it all, Mr. Tundal led my brothers outside for the most important part of a hog killing.

Building a huge fire in the backyard, they sat around it with green army blankets covering their heads, forming cowls, as they waited for the precise moment the ceremony could begin. Proper timing, according to Mr. Tundal, was critical, for even one event out of order could ruin the whole outcome. Dust deepened into dark, and still they sat. Standing at the window, I watched and waited for the event to begin.

Mother came into the kitchen and stood behind me, looking over my shoulder.

"What are they doing out there?" She asked.

"They waiting," said Musha.

"Waiting for what?" asked mother.

"It's the Ceremony of the Pig," I explained.

"The what?"

I shrugged, and we waited.

Finally, when I had given up hope that anything would happen, Mr. Tundal let out a great screech and jumped to his feet.

"The time has come. Arise with me and let the Ceremony of the Pig begin."

Myles rose so quickly he stumbled, tripping over his blanket and would have fallen into the fire if Mr. Tundal hadn't caught him. Moses went to stand, but as one of his legs had fallen asleep, he could not put his weight on it, and he began hopping around on one foot in a little circle, moaning and yapping and shaking the leg that had fallen asleep. He, too, tripped over his blanket and was hopping and tripping and yelling every time he came down on his tingling leg.

Behind me where I stood at the window, Musha asked, "that part of it?"

Mr. Tundal, the high priest, finally got order restored to his fledgling assembly and, with blankets replaced and dignity restored, proceeded with the initiation.

"You must stare into the flames and think about the hidden meaning behind the killing of the hog," intoned the high priest in a mystic voice.

Myles looked puzzled and Moses confused, but both stared hard at the fire.

"Search for the significance within the flames. Search for the secret." He was chanting now with eyes closed and head back. "Search!" he beseeched.

Myles and Moses stared harder, searching for the significance.

"What are they doing?" mother asked from behind me.

"Searching for something," Musha said, and I heard her snicker.

Moses' eyes were watering with all the searching. Myles was staring fascinated at the leaping flames. He had probably forgotten he was supposed to be searching.

Suddenly, the high priest ceased his chanting, "We have found it!" he announced.

Neither Myles nor Moses looked as if they had found it, but both looked glad the searching was over.

Picking up two sticks, the priest began circling the fire, tapping the sticks together loudly while starting a new chant. His followers hastened to grab their sticks and fell in behind him while tapping loudly.

They took up the chant: "Virility, procreation, virility, procreation." Over and over they chanted, marching around the fire.

They did this for a while. Behind me, Musha asked, "What's that mean?"

Mother said. "Let's hope they don't know either."

The high priest stopped suddenly. Myles almost ran into him. Moses ran into Myles.

"Now, for the feast of fertility," the high priest announced. Pulling a packet from his pocket, he opened it and dumped the contents into a skillet placed within the fire. He stirred the mess in the skillet a few times then, reaching into the fire with tongs, extracted the pieces. Dividing the morsels evenly onto three large leaves set handy nearby, he passed one leaf to each boy while taking the last for himself.

Musha asked, "What's that?"

"You don't want to know," said mother.

"Pig balls," I told her.

Myles and Moses stared down at the pieces of meat on their leaves. Myles looked interested. Moses looked appalled.

The mystic, waving his hand over the meat pieces, muttered strange words.

"What's he saying?" Musha wanted to know.

Mother shook her head. "You don't want to know that either."

The priest raised his leaf and, in a loud voice, gave the toast: "To a manly manhood."

"To a manly manhood," echoed his inductees.

The high priest tossed his manhood inducing meat into his mouth and chewed fiercely. Myles tossed his meat and chew with equal ferociousness. The other inductee was less sure, eyeing the manhood meat critically. Finally, he placed it within his mouth, gagged, chewed, gagged, chewed, gagged, swallowed, gagged, downed it, and looked sick.

"We have done it," yelled the high priest. "We are fertile; to the victory dance."

He danced around the fire with wild leaps and shouts. His two followers soon joined him, and all were leaping about with equal abandon. What other mysterious rituals the Order of the Pig would have engaged in were abruptly cut short when Myles trailed his blanket in the fire, and great havoc erupted as the high priest and the inductees tried to put out the blaze. Finally, the blanket was tossed into the fire, and the members of the Order of the Pig shared a silent moment as they watched it burn.

"That part of the ritual too?" asked Musha.

Mother sighed. "Maybe I had better go fetch them in before one of them gets hurt." She headed for the door.

Behind me, Musha giggled. "I'm glad I'm a female and don't have to eat pig balls to make babies," she said.


To see the preview of Grandma Tull's Stories and download sample chapters, visit www.grandmatullsstories.com

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