The morning sunlight fell over the domed little hut, filtering in through the smoke vent at the top. Exploration Captain Zuwaro lowered his head, ducked through the hut's entrance, and went to visit the good friend lying inside.
This sort of Siuslaw hut looked very low from the outside, made from a frame of branches covered with bark, furs, and thatch. But once inside, the interior was not small at all; half of it had been dug underground. Through this practical design, it took only a modest amount of building material to ensure warmth in winter and coolness in summer. Its only shortcomings were mainly that digging was troublesome, the ground had to be dry with no groundwater, and it could not be moved.
In the dim light, Zuwaro narrowed his eyes, smelled the faint scent of herbs, and looked toward the grass bed in the middle of the hut. Scholar Miki lay there in a daze, and it was impossible to tell whether he had woken up or not.
"Sigh! Main God above! Miki, I didn't know that, uh, Thorn Fern was poisonous and had to be cooked before eating! You can't blame me for this!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro sighed and carried a pottery jar over to the grass bed. Inside the jar was fish soup stewed with kelp, now giving off a piping-hot aroma. Zuwaro lifted the fish soup, glanced again at Miki, whose eyes were closed, shook his head, and took a few sips first.
"Tsk, tsk! Delicious! Delicious! In one word, fresh!..."
"Ugh... sniff, sniff... hmm?..."
Smelling the rich fragrance, Miki sniffed from the grass bed and struggled to open his eyes. Yesterday, he had first vomited all night, then his muscles had gone weak all over and he had lain paralyzed, unable to move, before