The Sage of Einar

Ashraf opened his eyes and he could feel his wife's embrace, so he simply yawned and got out of bed.

The first thing he did was go to the bathroom to relieve himself and later looking at his reflection in a copper mirror.

He took a specially prepared bark of a tree to place on it a kind of black paste with a mint aroma.

After this, he brushed his teeth, doing the movements that his daughter had learned in school and that she taught her family.

Although it was not something that new for him because in the emirate of Córdoba he used miswak to brush his teeth, the way his daughter taught made his teeth cleaner.

Not to mention that the coal mint paste left his mouth fresh. After rinsing his mouth he began to change his clothes because he had to do training with his teammates.

As he left his house, he could feel the cold of the early morning, so he simply sighed and trotted through the streets of the port fort outside the walls.

When he arrived, he met his companions and some warriors of the tribe. In total, there were 40 people who had the mission of protecting the fort of the port.

All of them once gathered jogged around the walls while singing songs to motivate themselves in their training.

After two hours, they all broke up and went to the barracks so they could take a bath.

When Ashraf left the barracks completely clean, he went to the market because he was planning to buy food for his family.

When he arrived at the market in the center of the tribe, he decided to buy some seal meat. Lars, the seal hunter, gave his friend Ashraf a smile.

"What a joy to see you Ashraf, you want to buy seal meat, fat or some fish from the early morning catch."

Ashraf smiled and greeted his friend "Assalamu aleykum wa rahtmaturullah wa barakatu.

I see that today's harvest was quite pleasant, the use of the crossbow has improved your fishing a lot, right? "

Lars smiled and nodded "Ah made my life easier because the atlatl is a functional tool, but with the crossbow my old bones do not hurt too much.

I wish I was as young as my grandson, but I guess at least I'm lucky to see how the tribe is changing.

At this rate, I'm sure our children will enjoy a much better life than ours, but I think you must get tired of listening to this old man. "

Ashraf shook his head "Age gives wisdom, my old friend, and it is always good to hear the stories of people with so much experience.

But I think we can talk better maybe in the evening, because I would like to invite you to dinner. I don't know if you can come. "

Lars showed a smile and hit his chest "It is always a pleasure to attend a friend's house, I will bring some honey liquor and a chess I hope you do not mind."

"Not at all. Playing with the beautiful night sky is always a pleasure. I'm sure I can beat you this time.

But that will be for the night, for now. I would like to buy you a seal fin.

Do my wife and children really like the taste of the meat from that place "

Lars nodded, and using a butcher knife shortened the left fin of a seal carcass.

After he had cut it, he removed the skin and looked at Ashraf "Do you want me to cut it into pieces or do you want it complete?"

Ashraf made a sign with his hand "If you can remove the bones you would do me a great favor as my wife cannot bear to bite the little bones."

Lars, following Ashraf's command, removed the bones and rolled the meat into waxed paper, which he tied with a thread.

"It would be 30 copper coins, my good friend"

Ashraf from his neck took out a purse and paid with a silver coin, Lars, before taking the money, washed his hands and later gave him the change in a small bag while receiving the silver coin.

"Have an enjoyable morning Ashraf."

After saying goodbye to his friend, he went to buy salicornias and wheat; the purchases had no problem

So when he was ready to go home he realized that outside the old great hall people were gathering.

With curiosity, he walked among the people until he could see a text written in Latin on the message board next to it was Aila.

"Remember to leave room for new people after you have just heard the news, according to Herald Einar.

Today at noon will be held in the center of the tribe a sample of the new invention of the herald Einar.

This invention occupies only two small wooden sticks called matches to produce fire, with this invention the fire will be in the hands of all of us.

We will not have to depend on flint to make a fire, also remember that after this event the first greenhouse will be shown.

So do not hesitate to bring your families so that they can learn about the future of agriculture in frozen places where nothing can be sown.

With the greenhouse the situation for the dominion of the island will be much simpler. "

After finishing saying those words, Aila drank some water and cooled her throat before repeating her message again.

Ashraf planned to take his family to see the afternoon demonstration and the greenhouse because since it was Saturday the children would not have to go to school.

While for him it was his day off, so it would be a good time to spend time with his family in the tribe.

When he got home, he opened the door and found his wife, who greeted him with a kiss.

"I'm glad you brought breakfast, my beloved husband. You want to wait with the children for a bit while I prepare the food."

Ashraf stroked his wife's cheek and nodded before starting to walk to the table.

Where her oldest daughter and young son were sitting drinking some cow's milk.

"Dad, I'm glad you came back, but I was wondering if you could help me solve my math homework.

Although they are sums, it is a bit difficult for me to be able to add more than two numbers. "

Sitting in his wooden chair, he put his daughter on his lap and with his sand board he explained.

"The method that King Einar developed is quite fantastic, so it improved our lives, so open your eyes wide, my daughter.

Because mathematics explained in this way shouldn't be complicated. "

While he was explaining math to his daughter, his wife started preparing food with the ingredients she had.

For her, the food of the Nordics was something new, but the only thing she regretted was not being able to eat some spices from the emirate of Córdoba.

But luckily for her, she met every day with other married women to discuss how to improve the food while they washed clothes in public laundries.

After preparing a stew of seal meat with salicornias and some Arabic bread, she put the food on the table.

"Bismillah"

When Ashraf said those words, the whole family began to eat their food.

In the afternoon, the entire family left their house and went to the center of the tribe because they planned to see Einar's demonstration.

How they also planned to go to see the greenhouse, because they were curious to see the building.

Upon reaching the center of the tribe they could see a platform where Einar was standing with a blacksmith's clothes covering his body, and a metal mask with only a part of glass.

In his thick gloved hands he seemed to hold two somewhat large wooden sticks resembling torches.

Which were covered in a red substance that seemed to cover a black liquid.

After a while and everyone was gathered, Einar gave a short speech.

"Today we are gathered to see the dominion of man over fire. From today things will change for the entire tribe.

With the matches we can make a fire anywhere and at any time, to demonstrate what I say I will light these gigantic matches.

Just by rubbing them, so I hope the people in front of the platform can step back for their safety. "

Everyone took a step back and could see how Einar, just by rubbing the two gigantic matches, he could create an amazing fire which had a somewhat disgusting aroma.

But no one seemed to mind, as being able to create fire without a flint was quite useful, so people started shouting Einar's name.

Ashraf, who had seen everything, also showed a surprised face "That is a powerful tool. I hope we can buy some matches to make a fire in dangerous situations.

The flint takes too long to make a fire and we cannot always use the solar stove because the sun is often hidden by the clouds. "

When the demonstration was over, they listened to Einar's words and followed him so they could see the greenhouse.

Upon arrival, all the people showed their surprise because it was a gigantic glass building.

Even Ashraf's daughter and son couldn't contain their joy as they knew that perhaps at school they could see inside that building.