Jalan knows his mother only objects to his training because she loves him and wishes to spare him. And, he knows she only allows him to continue for the same reason. He falls asleep while thinking again of the two sides of love and how he and his mother try to make each other’s suffering easier.
Chapter VIII
The next day Jalan finds Krenis Enmar running flax string between stakes in the ground. It looks like a big rectangle. As Enmar finishes his last knot, two of the estate’s craftsmen arrive.
“Good day, Krenis. This where you want it?” asks Master Anton the stone mason.
“I’ve staked it out for you,” says Enmar. “Now I’ll be off and let you good men get to work. I know Master Doon has the plans well in hand.”
“Literally,” says Carpenter Doon as he waves a set of rolled parchments he is carrying.
“What are they doing?” says Jalan as he follows Master Enmar hoping that today’s training is less torturous than yesterdays.
“Building a Training Hall!” says Enmar with exuberance.
Jalan has done a lot of training, but he never suspected there were buildings dedicated to it. “Why,” he says, feeling puzzled.
Master Enmar stops and faces him. “Because, you are not being trained for a month or a season; you are being trained for a lifetime. That takes more than running around a dusty practice yard can do.”
Enmar moves off again and leads Jalan to what looks like a plank leaning against a tree at a shallow angle. When he looks closer, Jalan sees a stout dowel mounted horizontally on a wooden block. The block connects the center of the dowel to the surface of the plank. With the dowel attached in that fashion it looks like a crossbar handle to Jalan. The purpose for mounting a handle three quarters of the way up on the top side of the plank is not obvious to Jalan.
Jalan is told to lie on the plank with his head at the low end and to hook his ankles under the handle like dowel at the high end. After a couple of attempts to comply, he decides to straddle the plank and hook one ankle by raising his right leg and sliding his right ankle in from the side and under the end of the suspended dowel. Then he grasps the edges of the plank at the point where he seats himself upon it. While using his hands and his right ankle to stay in place, he hooks his other ankle under the opposite end of the dowel post and lies down on his back.
Master Enmar instructs Jalan to sit up and touch his toes. The boy finds the stretching and lying back almost pleasant at first. He does not keep track of how many times he repeats the motion. Instead he tries for a steady rhythm he hopes will not exhaust him too soon. Jalan keeps sitting up, touching his toes and lying back until he can no longer sit up at all. He is covered in sweat and uncertain how to get off the plank. He manages to place his hands on the ground and push up enough to let him free his ankles, but all he can do after that is a combination of sliding down the plank head first and rolling off it sideways which ends with him in a fatigued heap on the ground. When he tries to stand, his legs will not support him.
“You did well enough. Sit and rest and I’ll get you some water,” says Master Enmar.
After a brief respite and a cool drink, Jalan does pushups. He does the first set while pushing with his fingertips on the ground, the second with fists on the ground and a third set with his palms. Next he practices standing and walking on his hands followed by another short rest and another drink of water. Jalan wonders if the water he drinks even comes close to the amount he perspires.
Master Enmar directs Jalan to stand on one leg with his other leg held out in front of him and then to squat down and stand back up. He repeats this in a series of ten repetitions for each leg until he can no longer push himself back up from his squat.
Jalan is then directed to run until he does not feel tired any more, which means Jalan jogs around the estate
Chapter VIII
The next day Jalan finds Krenis Enmar running flax string between stakes in the ground. It looks like a big rectangle. As Enmar finishes his last knot, two of the estate’s craftsmen arrive.
“Good day, Krenis. This where you want it?” asks Master Anton the stone mason.
“I’ve staked it out for you,” says Enmar. “Now I’ll be off and let you good men get to work. I know Master Doon has the plans well in hand.”
“Literally,” says Carpenter Doon as he waves a set of rolled parchments he is carrying.
“What are they doing?” says Jalan as he follows Master Enmar hoping that today’s training is less torturous than yesterdays.
“Building a Training Hall!” says Enmar with exuberance.
Jalan has done a lot of training, but he never suspected there were buildings dedicated to it. “Why,” he says, feeling puzzled.
Master Enmar stops and faces him. “Because, you are not being trained for a month or a season; you are being trained for a lifetime. That takes more than running around a dusty practice yard can do.”
Enmar moves off again and leads Jalan to what looks like a plank leaning against a tree at a shallow angle. When he looks closer, Jalan sees a stout dowel mounted horizontally on a wooden block. The block connects the center of the dowel to the surface of the plank. With the dowel attached in that fashion it looks like a crossbar handle to Jalan. The purpose for mounting a handle three quarters of the way up on the top side of the plank is not obvious to Jalan.
Jalan is told to lie on the plank with his head at the low end and to hook his ankles under the handle like dowel at the high end. After a couple of attempts to comply, he decides to straddle the plank and hook one ankle by raising his right leg and sliding his right ankle in from the side and under the end of the suspended dowel. Then he grasps the edges of the plank at the point where he seats himself upon it. While using his hands and his right ankle to stay in place, he hooks his other ankle under the opposite end of the dowel post and lies down on his back.
Master Enmar instructs Jalan to sit up and touch his toes. The boy finds the stretching and lying back almost pleasant at first. He does not keep track of how many times he repeats the motion. Instead he tries for a steady rhythm he hopes will not exhaust him too soon. Jalan keeps sitting up, touching his toes and lying back until he can no longer sit up at all. He is covered in sweat and uncertain how to get off the plank. He manages to place his hands on the ground and push up enough to let him free his ankles, but all he can do after that is a combination of sliding down the plank head first and rolling off it sideways which ends with him in a fatigued heap on the ground. When he tries to stand, his legs will not support him.
“You did well enough. Sit and rest and I’ll get you some water,” says Master Enmar.
After a brief respite and a cool drink, Jalan does pushups. He does the first set while pushing with his fingertips on the ground, the second with fists on the ground and a third set with his palms. Next he practices standing and walking on his hands followed by another short rest and another drink of water. Jalan wonders if the water he drinks even comes close to the amount he perspires.
Master Enmar directs Jalan to stand on one leg with his other leg held out in front of him and then to squat down and stand back up. He repeats this in a series of ten repetitions for each leg until he can no longer push himself back up from his squat.
Jalan is then directed to run until he does not feel tired any more, which means Jalan jogs around the estate
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