Nội dung text JWQS CH1
The woman bloomed with a smile of great relief, then she closed her eyes weakly. The man was startled at first. He checked her breathing, then he calmed back down. He pulled the beast pelt blanket up for her. The midwife trembled as she bathed the infant, thinking: this is clearly a girl. Why did he say that she is a boy? The midwife wrapped the child up properly once she was done cleaning her, then she gave her to the man. Startled by his cold gaze, she hung her head down as she silently backed to the side. The man held the swaddled baby in one hand. He parted the cloth, took a look, then he wrapped the infant’s lower body tightly with the beast pelt, leaving only her flat and tender chest exposed. Prickled by the beast pelt on her father’s body, the infant wailed incessantly. “Witch doctor!” The witch doctor kneeled before the man while holding a ten-inch golden needle: “This lowly one is here.” “The wolf king tattoo.” “Understood.” The infant wailed louder as bead after bead of blood appeared on her chest. A trace of heartache slid past the man’s eyes. Branding a tattoo on the infant’s body was a necessary custom for the people of the grass plains, but as a father, he could not avoid feeling pain in his heart. However, he could only pacify crudely: “A warrior of the grass plains sheds blood, not tears. Do not cry.” How could a small infant understand her father’s words? She wailed even louder.