Chapter 3 Dancing Under Moonlight
Nebu went hunting together with the other men of his tribe. He was only ten years old when he killed his first deer. Nebu was taught how to aim the prey and shoot it by his father. Also, Sim had taught him. Nebu and the men often left the camp for days. They stayed in the forest, where they discovered adequate food. They ate the flesh of wild animals that they killed on the way.
In the wilderness, they build temporary shelters that consisted of sticks and branches. The hunters were skilled in every way that they needed to be. Many of them had learned from their fathers and grandfathers how to build shelters quickly.
Hunting excursions resembled pilgrims for the hunters. They took the spirits of the dead animals seriously. They also sacrificed the animals for their gods. The Urur saw it necessary to please the gods, who could otherwise turn against them. Often the hunters saw visions of the animal spirits. They believed that the gods sent them the visions as warnings or advice. When the gods wanted to show them something.
The Urur always moved through the forest afoot. Nebu was the only one, who was carried by his peers in a chair. He gave them orders on where to head next. His commands were unquestioned. No one ever doubted the king´s knowledge.
After travelling for the entire day, the men stopped. They found a resting place, which was usually a large rock. There, they cooked the meat that they had obtained. They liked to stop next to the river bank. Easily, they could then obtain fresh water from the river.
Nebu sat on top of the rock, where other of his tribesmen were sitting. He was surrounded the men. They sat in a circle. Nebu´s chair stood in the middle. The full moon shone brightly in the sky. It seemed to cover almost two thirds of the entire sky.
The men began to dance under the moonlight, when they heard the howling of the wolves. Their aim was to frighten the wolves, so that they would be left alone. The men feared the wolves more than the witch, Nequila. She lived in the same forest as them.
Dancing under the moonlight was believed to purify the men of their sins and troubles. They enjoyed their exciting dancing. They also made noises with their clapping hands and chanted. They were in a sort of trance, which freed them of all constraints. Many of them chewed intoxicating leaves. The drug produced hallucinogenic impact on them.
Nebu and his peers returned from their hunting excursion after one week. They looked worn out and exhausted. The men, including Nebu, had lost weight. They were thirsty and hungry after reaching home. They all went to sleep after bathing in the river and removing their dirty clothes and shoes. Nebu entered to his home cave. He fell asleep on the floor.
He slept for sixteen hours. He was too tired to stay awake after the journey. The mammoth´s tooth and a couple of deer´s horns rested against the wall of the cave. He had brought them home from the excursion. He had killed an adult mammoth. Nebu saw a nightmare of their battle with the beast.
He was lucky to wake up before his stomach was pierced through by the mammoth´s tooth. Nebu knew himself to be dreaming before he even woke up. He saw the real mammoth´s tooth resting against the wall. He was proud of his former accomplishment on the hunting trip. He hadn´t even dreamed of killing an animal of the same size earlier. It wasn´t as challenging as he had thought. He killed the beast by shooting an arrow to its chest. Accidentally, he hit the heart muscle. The animal died soon after its heart stopped beating.
