Rural Stories
The Sow and her love story.
This story is based on a true story told by an Elder in the hamlet. In a small village still live a very old couple, he is in his late eighties and his wife is about eighty four. They were born in between the wars, in those times when almost all farms even the smallest ones kept chickens, pigs, ducks, cows and pigeons to sustain their basic needs.
And so they grew all their vegetables and each had their own orchard, there was little or no importation in those days. And that was their way of living connecting with all life.
He was only a young boy when he took part in this story accompanying his father that evening to another farm a few miles away. Remember there was no television in those days and they spent and shared their evenings talking and doing simple activities like sorting out lentils or reading a story.
And that evening was going to bring magic in his life, that he knew. For it was the season when his father would walk the sow to the nearest farm, a willow wand in his hand to guide her along the road. He had tied a piece of string attached from the rear right leg to the front left leg. That was the simplest way to guide the pig to the nearest farm making sure that she would not run away once they let it out of her stone house unto the road!
And yes it was the time of the year after autumn, when their sow came on heat and it was today for that boy. He felt proud as his dad chose him to come with him now he was 8 years old, and walk the sow in front of them both. They walked in silence, the night was bitterly cold by now, snow was in the air, they could smell it coming.
After a few miles and a good hour walking,they reached the nearest farmer who kept a male pig, waiting for them now with his hanging lamp, a candle burning within. It was pitch black when they got there, they were alone on that road, for in those days there were few cars on the roads, making it safe to walk your animals to the nearest town market or farmer for a service to be asked.
The sow approaching the farm was running faster, her senses in alert smelling the presence of the male pig. It was easy to get her to go inside the stye in his company and to close the heavy lock of the door behind them leaving them alone for a few hours.
They both went into the house invited by the farmer and his wife, fully welcomed by the heat of the brightly lit fire. The happy son went to play with the other children on the floor by the fire, cracking nuts or playing marbles. While his father sat around the table, where his friend and family were already sitting by the fireplace, since it was mid winter and due to snow that December.
Some elderly adults were craking nuts and separating the husks from the nuts for the winter storage. The farmer’s wife took some chesnuts and placed them in the special pan with holes on the three footed stand, after she had moved some red ashes to the side of the fireplace, for them to roast. Soon a sweet scent of roasted chestnuts filled the air.
While the elder great grand’mother was knitting socks silently sitting in the dark recesses of the fireplace where you could sit on both sides, taking it all in silently and peacefully.
As for the farmers, Oh my! they did have a few too many of their homemade moonshine, while chatting, catching up and laughing as they lifted their glasses to a good and abundant new year and to the many piglets they would of course share!
After a few hours of sitting round the table, they were served a bowl of thick onion soup soaked with roasted rye bread and a handful of chesnuts to keep in their pockets to keep them warm on their way back home. They bade each other and the family and neigbours gathered there a good night.
They went to the stye with the farmer as he opened the heavy door, and the sow came out towards them and found out the male was fast asleeep now.
His father tied the string back to her legs and headed her towards home guiding her with the willow wand. Their pace was slow for his father was a little tipsy now and so was the sow but with happiness and it took them longer to get home!
His father closed her in the stye, pulling the lock in place to keep her safe, then went back to bed and his son too! Hours later a knock on his door, he gets up half asleep and sees the old neighbour in clogs with his lantern high up so they could see each other’s faces! Your sow has escaped!
He was the only one in the hamlet with one of those telephones that needed turning the handle to get a toning connection and then you just had to ask for a specific number. He told him” you had better get over to the Pig farm for your sow is back there with his boyfriend the pig”!
He was not in a mood for a laughter and at first he thought this was a joke however he put his clogs on and walked outside in the snow covered ground towards the pig stye and discovered the door wide open she was Gone! He scratched his head puzzled, then walked back home to find the boy already fully dressed, clogs and scarf around his neck, ready for another trip in the night with his father.
His dad grabbed his heavy coat and put his winter wool scarf on and they started walking his willow wand in his hand to the farmer’s house once again!
It had started snowing heavily by now and they could easily follow the sow’s foot prints in the snow on the road to where she had gone. Of course her foot prints took them both right back to the male pig! She had fallen in love and just wished to be in his company once again! Who would blame her!
And so in the middle of the night the three of them walked back home, by now in very high spirits in very different ways. Their pace was very slow by now and the wind had picked up making headway more difficult. He was taken aback when she slipped on the slope and landed in the ditch! like a barrel of wine! Oh my how were they to get her back unto the road now?
The Boy who was slender jumped in, just behind her guiding her forward touching her with his hand, until the ditch and the road met up again further down! What a relief they all felt. When they got home at last weary and half asleep , having placed her in her stye well secured now, they both went back to the warmth of their beds!
When this 88 year old man who was then only an 8 year old child told me this story of his father and him, he had tears in his eyes from laughing so much, being back there that night, seeing himself as a young boy walking with his father behind their sow after a wonderful evening in the company and warmth of the closest farm.
And that is true joy for me to witness him coming alive again. For now he can’t walk or write his own stories, however he can still share them with me. So this is in homage to this Elder who shared one of his childhood gems, when their ways of living were connected with the animal world.
Enjoy it too for it belongs to the bygone times when people and animals were close to each other and related in simple ways.