excerpt
He stepped among the branches in the same way, and
the dog stayed ahead of them, wagging his tail and sniffing around.
All attention was on the way the dog behaved, as this would be the
first indication of wild game in the area.
Suddenly, four thrushes flew up from the bushes. His uncle
moved quickly and shot, and Hermes did the Same. Each of them
took one bird.
Demetre was excited: “Good stuff. We got two on the first shot.”
“I see that you are good at shooting, Uncle,” Hermes said as he
walked over to retrieve the two birds before the dog had his teeth on
them. He placed both in his bag and smiled with satisfaction.
They continued their way for a while without spotting anything
else and finally reached the Crystal Spring. There, they sat
under the shade of the wild pear trees and rested for a while. Hermes
went to the spring to drink some water. The spring was a rectangular
reservoir made of cement, about five to six meters long, two meters
deep and two meters wide. In the front, there was a hole through
which the water flowed through a funnel made of cane. The water
was cold and refreshing.
Hermes leaned down and drank some, then returned to where
his uncle was and sat next to him. The dog lay at their feet with his eyes
closed as though he was asleep. His uncle examined the birds closely.
“They are not as fat.”
“Yes, this time of year, thrushes are not usually fat because of
the tough time of the cold season they have gone through.”
Hermes glanced around, looking as far as one could see. In
front of his eyes were rocks and rugged hills covered in brambles,
wild pear, fig, and almond trees. A few maple trees also surrounded
the spring.
“Rugged country, eh?”
“Yes, very rugged, although you cannot imagine how it was
not too long ago when I was a young man. At least now the villagers
have this spring for their fresh water. Not too many years ago, people
had to get their water from the wells because these dry mountains…
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