『92 BC, Crossing the Sea of Hidaka』[052] Chapter 3: Dorji of the Qiang Tribe

By Tomohiko Adachi

【Main Characters of Chapter 3】
Naoto ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A young man born in Hidaka who crossed over to the continental country of Fuyo. He aims to go further west.
Dorji ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A young man of the Qiang tribe who moved from Han, where he was born, to the country of Fuyo. A subordinate of Joseph.
Joseph ∙∙∙ A Sogdian merchant who lives in the cove of Fuyo and helps Naoto, who crossed the sea.
Dario ∙∙∙ Joseph's younger brother who crossed the Sea of Japan toward the country of Hidaka.
Setareh ∙∙∙ A Sogdian merchant from Almaty. A cousin who helped the Joseph brothers in the past.
Uriel ∙∙∙ Joseph's son who lives among the Xiongnu.
Kurt ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A former cavalryman who helps Joseph. A comrade-in-arms with Dorji from the Xianbei cavalry unit.
Hayate ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A merchant born in Hidaka who helps Kakeru with trade at the seaside port of Fuyo.
Kakeru ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A captain from Hidaka who sails a catamaran to trade with the continent. Naoto's brother-in-law.

Synopsis of "Chapter 3: Dorji of the Qiang Tribe"
On the day his brother-in-law Kakeru returns to Hidaka, Naoto decides to remain on the continent.
Hoping to find a vessel shaped like a flame and the potter who made it, he visited a kiln along a river to the west through the connections of Joseph, a merchant in the cove.
After hearing from the old kiln master that he had never seen such a vessel in either Fuyo or the land of Han, Naoto returned to the Fuyo cove and began to talk closely with a young Qiang man named Dorji who worked for Joseph.
Born on the Shandong Peninsula in the land of Han and having fled with his family to the land of Fuyo as a child, Dorji had different facial features from other Fuyo people and spoke Sogdian and the language of the Xiongnu.
Possessing a scroll called the Tanakh passed down through his family, Dorji claimed to be a descendant of the Hebrews, calling himself a child of Abram. Naoto was confused. Was Dorji a member of the Qiang tribe? Or was he a Hebrew? "I don't really know myself, but my grandfather said before he died that he was a Hebrew living among the Qiang," Dorji replied with a smile.
Dorji told him about the circumstances of the land of Han, the great wars of the past, his parents living in the Khingan Mountains to the west of the Fuyo capital, creatures like horses and donkeys, and the lifestyle of the nomads.
For Naoto, a man of Hidaka who had never even heard of people killing one another, let alone war, all of Dorji's stories were things he was hearing for the first time, just like Joseph's stories.
The sound of the Qiang flute that Dorji played on the beach after the storm had passed was also something he was hearing for the first time. 【End of Chapter 3 Synopsis】


Chapter 3: Dorji of the Qiang Tribe
Section 1: People of the Cove

[052] ■ Episode 1: The Xiongnu Youth and the Sogdian Girl I Saw on the Beach 【Early July, 92 BC】
It has been about a month since I started being looked after by Joseph. During that time, aside from visiting the kiln in Willow Village, I spent my days helping Hayate from time to time and exploring the area around the Fuyo cove. I would catch Dorji to listen to his stories in an attempt to learn Sogdian, and in the evenings, I would listen intently to Joseph's tales.
I have become quite capable of understanding the Sogdian conversations exchanged here and there in the cove. Perhaps because of that, whenever Naoto hears an unfamiliar language on the beach, he cannot help but ask who they are and what language they are speaking.
Some would glare and walk away, but others would reply in a language I didn't know, patting me on the shoulder with a smile before leaving. About once every three days, I meet someone with an unfamiliar face and exchange greetings.
――I was never the type of person to talk much with others, but...
Lately, I sometimes find myself thinking that. However, the Fuyo cove, where various people gather, was a place where people talk to each other and exchange what they know.

Yesterday, I was looking for crabs to use as bait for spearfishing on the rocky shore north of the cove. Then, several people around my age appeared. One of them was wearing a long leather garment, fastened with a thick leather belt. The other three had taken theirs off and draped them over the backs of their horses.
They seemed interested in the small crabs scuttling on the rocks. Perhaps emboldened by their numbers, they tried to make themselves understood, but we realized it was completely futile and ended up looking at each other and laughing. They were cheerful people.
The four young men led their horses away, dragging their laughter with them as they disappeared into the western forest. One of them turned back, shouted something loudly, and raised one hand high.
――Was he saying something like 'let's meet again'...?
There were women on the beach, too. They were there, but they all looked different from the women of Hidaka. They had a sort of... stern look on their faces. I have never gotten close enough to interact with them, but even so, they were far too intimidating.
――Is it because my clothes and face are different? Or is it the way they live their daily lives that makes them so...?

One day, after such things had been happening, Naoto, who was sitting on his usual rock, realized that he was tracing the likeness of Haru in the profile of a girl hurrying along the beach.
It was sudden. She was completely different from the Fuyo women in white clothes I see on the beach. Her attire somehow reminded me of Joseph. She wore a long, sand-colored dress and covered her long, rolled-up hair with a blue cloth. Her ankles were hidden by long leather boots that reached near her knees.
Naoto suddenly wondered if she might be a Sogdian woman he hadn't seen before.
As he followed her back with his eyes, she returned to the north where the market was, got on a horse, turned back, and then left for the west.
She processes the milk from the few goats kept in the backyard, carries it to the market in the cove, and exchanges those goods for grain, meat, and items from the fields and sea. The girl comes to the market once every five days for that purpose. However, it was rare for her to come and go along the beach like she did today.
Of course, Naoto did not know such things.

For the next few days, Naoto sat on the rocky shore of the cove, where it looked like one could swim to the island offshore, and waited—not really waiting, but hoping—to see if the same girl would appear. Naoto has good eyes for spotting things in the distance, but even so, he never saw that girl on the beach again.
――Haru... What is Haru doing right now? Does she realize that I'm gone?
The sunlight grew stronger, and the shape of the clouds was already that of midsummer.
Tired of waiting on the rocky shore, Naoto stripped down to his loincloth and began to swim toward the island offshore. The water was cold, but that actually felt pleasant.
Naoto did not know it, but no one on this beach would ever try to swim to the island. They know that the tide is too fast and one would be swept away.
Noticing Naoto swimming, many people from the beach gathered at the water's edge. They all watched intently until Naoto, who had swum to the sandy beach of the island across the way, stood up on the sand, which was hot from the summer sun, and turned toward them.
That Sogdian girl was among them, too. But it was too far, and even Naoto could not distinguish her. It was the same for those watching from the beach. Naoto's face could not be seen by that girl.

The girl, who had put the items she bought at the market into a hebe—a bag-like carrier—on her horse's back and returned to the inn run by her father, talked about the young man who had swum to the island offshore during dinner. Her mother and father listened with expressions of disbelief.
"It's been a long time since we started living here, but that's the first time I've heard such a story."
"The people of Fuyo never swim in that sea. He must be someone from elsewhere."

To Section 1, Episode 2 [053]
Return to the previous episode [051]

To the Table of Contents and (Full) Synopsis [000]

Table of Contents for Chapter 3 【Links to move to the beginning of each section】
Chapter 3, Section 1: People of the Cove [052] To the beginning
Chapter 3, Section 2: The Qiang Tribe of the Shandong Peninsula [054]
Chapter 3, Section 3: The Dragon's Rocky Mountain [059]
Chapter 3, Section 4: Storm in the Cove [062]
Chapter 3, Section 5: The Man from Almaty [065]
Chapter 3, Section 6: The Eastern Land the Joseph Brothers Aimed For [072]
Chapter 3, Section 7: The Sogdian Inn [075]

Proceed to the next chapter, Chapter 4

Return to the beginning of the previous Chapter 2