Translation:The High Mountains/18
And now they needed to establish communication with inhabited places around them.
Given that a man cannot live in isolation, in the same way a community cannot live alone. It needs another to be able to sell to and buy from.
Ours has nothing to sell because it produces nothing.
However, they need to buy because they lack food.
Today ten children are going to leave for the Small Village in order to buy some chickens, eggs and onions. Having first of all asked where it was, so as not to lose their way, they set off.
After half an hour they found a peasant woman laden down with wood.
—Excuse me, where can we find the Small Village?
—From here you carry straight on.
—And then?
—If you go straight on you'll find the road that goes down ; a bit lower down, at the fork, you turn right.
This is the first long lane they have taken. They listened carefully. Andreas told them this :”a direction like straight on or go right has great importance for a walker. He must carefully note what places look like as he passes so he doesn't get lost.”
The ten children did as the peasant woman had told them.
They followed the road going down, found the fork and took the road on the right. The route was very difficult.
They walked for an hour and finally the village appeared there where the two cliffs ended and where a stream had formed. The houses were close together like a peaceful herd under the dense plane trees and walnut trees.
Half an hour before arriving they heard an argument. They saw an old man and a villager quarrelling about the path which was damaged.
—Is it a community road, yes or no? asked the old man.
—It is.
−Then as this is a road for me as much as it is for you, as it's for your animals as well as mine and that it leads to all our fields, don't you think it's up to us to repair the damaged part ourselves?
—Let the villagers higher up repair it. What's it to me?
—They worked the day before yesterday on the fountain and they're going to do other work for the community the day after tomorrow. Today us, tomorrow them, why argue?
—No, it's for them to come and do the work.
—You're stupid, Panagis, cried the old man. There you go, you don't encourage any harmony in the village.
And angry, he started on the downward route.
It seems that this old man was the head of the village.