Once upon a time there was a small tribe that dwelled in a little hamlet called Petanquium.
Its inhabitants were hunters/gatherers and usually got along well with each other. They were noted “bon-vivants » who ate heartily and guzzled with abandon a local brew called mead.
The local druid once declared, “When I drink, I think; and when I think, I drink” and this encouraged the village philosophers to drink generously to stimulate their thinking.
In their spare time they practiced for war by throwing rocks at a small target on the ground. Some were very accurate and were called Tiroflans.
Sometimes the villagers drank too much of the sacred concoction and became ornery and bellicose.
One day two villagers respectively called Alambix and Tournedix got into a heated argument over a local custom… and even reached for their battle-axes.
Fortunately reason prevailed and both sides walked away unharmed.
But after this foolish incident, they studiously avoided each other.
Some time later, at a yearly banquet honoring the gods, Alambix and Tournedix started drinking… and thinking.
The more they drank, the more they thought… and the more they thought, the more they drank. After a while, incapable of any kind of thinking, they forgot their past quarrel and shook hands… and drank some more to celebrate.
Now, Toutatis and Taranis be praised, peace has returned (at least temporally) to the little village and all seems to be well in Petanquium.
But a small community is always ripe with gossips. It might not be long before another incident erupts and sends everybody reaching for their daggers.
Ultimately a goat or virgin (of either sex) may have to be sacrificed to appease the gods.
May everybody drink more hydromel to encourage independent thinking and develop a more understanding way to play the popular “tosstherock” game.
Toutatis, Taranis and Esus be praised!
Alain
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