In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Fifty

  I had sworn my leaders to secrecy for another day, and we met again the next morning to continue our planning. I went to the meeting with an idea of how many of each age I believed should move, as well as how many of each trade needed to go.

  All my leaders, even Kalou, thought I was being too particular. They believed that we could just announce to the tribe that we were going to build a new city and let the people decide if they wanted to go, but I knew this would not work.

  “Gadu, what if all of the old northern tribe decided they wanted to go to the new city. If we let every one of the people go that used to be members of your tribe, roughly one third of this city would leave and make up the new city, which is the right number of people. But the characteristics of your old tribe would now become the characteristics of the new city.”

  I looked at those around me, “Do you all understand why this would be a problem?”

  They thoughtfully nodded as Gadu responded, “Even though we have changed somewhat over the years, the members of my old tribe still tend to be quieter and more reserved than everyone else. We are less creative and more rigid in our thoughts than the rest of the people. It would not be a good thing to have only us move to the new city. This city is a good place to live because of the mixture of the tribes.”

  “Exactly,” I agreed, “The mix of the tribes makes this city what it is. We need to make sure that a mixture of the old tribes and all the different trades’ volunteer to go to the new city. We need to decide how many of each trade goes, so we know we have enough farmers, weavers, woodworkers, and hunters to support the city.”

  “Also, younger people tend to be more adventurous, so I think we will not have as many elder people that want to go. But it is very important we have both old and young; we need the mixture of youth and wisdom.”

  Cadune asked, “So how will we get the older members to move, those that built this city and have lived here since the beginning? They probably won’t want to do it all over again.”

  I grinned, “I believe that will be easier than you think. Kalou, what do the older woman love, maybe even more than their own children?”

  She looked at me with a puzzled expression, and then with a burst of laughter she said, “Of course, their grandbabies! They will move if their children move, because they want to see their grandchildren grow up.”

  I nodded, “Exactly. If we want a family of woodworkers and the children decide to go, the parents will also go so they can be with their grandchildren. Entire families will want to move to the new city.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “You’re right.” said Gadu, “That’s going to happen.”

  “Yes. So we need to make sure everyone understands that only so many of each trade will be allowed to go. That will encourage those that really want to go to volunteer right away.”

  “People of the old tribes still go into certain trades, such as the Northerners becoming woodworkers. So just by sending people of every trade to the new city, we insure that members of every old tribe will move.”

  Kalou said, “And even members of the old eastern tribe will go, since those women married men from all three of the other tribes.”

  By late afternoon we were finished. We had agreed upon how many people of each trade we would need for the new city. We had also set up a rough schedule for establishing the fields and orchards, and when we would start building the houses and other structures.

  There was no reason to wait any longer to announce the new city. The decision was made, the plan was set and we had established the timeframe for the move.

  “Let’s call a meeting for tonight,” I stated.

  There was a general outcry, “What! We can’t announce it tonight!”

  “Why not? As much as I trust you, somehow it will get out and rumors will start, and I don’t want that to happen. I want everyone to find out at the same time and in the same way.”

  “But we’re not ready yet,” said Gadu.

  I disagreed, “We’re ready enough. We know how many of each trade we want. We know where we are going to build and when we want to start. We know how to build a city! It’s not like we haven’t done this before. I want to tell the people and get started right now.”

  Everyone nodded, though some of them grudgingly. I knew they were apprehensive; this was a big change, and everyone in the room was going to have family or friends moving away. Though we had not discussed it, a five day journey would be a long and difficult trip. Because you had to camp every night and wild animals made it necessary to set out guards, small groups and individuals could not easily travel. A five day journey was not something many people would ever undertake, so if someone they loved moved away, they may never see them again.

  I already had a solution to this problem, but in all the excitement I had forgotten to tell them. I knew that by the time we were done building the new city there would be a road worn between the two settlements. I wanted to find families that would be willing to set up houses along this road. Houses where travelers could stay overnight as guests on their journey between the two cities.

  These guest houses would be built a day’s walk apart, and would allow travelers to get a hot meal and sleep under a roof each night. The guest houses would make travel much easier and encourage movement and interaction between the two cities, which would be very important.

  I hurriedly related my idea about the guest houses to everyone, and the positive response was unanimous.

  “That will really help keep the two cities connected,” said Lataan, who was in charge of the farmers and the quietest of all my leaders. I had the feeling he was thinking of moving to the new city, and his comment convinced me that he wanted to go.

  “It’s decided then,” I said. “Let’s call a meeting for tonight. We’ll have it after the evening meal is taken, but while the sun is still up. Go tell your people that there's a meeting tonight in the square. By dinnertime that's the only thing the city will be talking about.”

  I warned them, “But tell no one what the meeting is about. Do you understand?”

  After dinnertime I went to the public building to blow the horn signaling the meeting to begin. It looked as though the entire city was already gathered, but I blew the horn anyway, just to signal any stragglers. The blast of the horn immediately quieted all those that were gathered.

  The tribe had grown so large that not everyone fit into the square in front of the public building. I thought back to the tribal meeting I had held years earlier, the meeting where I told the people of my sin and declared to the tribe the truth about the one God.

  The public square was very large, and at that time it had not been full. There had still been plenty of space in the back and around the edges. But now it was full to bursting. The people were standing shoulder to shoulder, with many of the women and men having little ones sitting on their shoulders or held in their arms.

  I stood tall and straight, my wife and all my leaders beside and behind me, my children also there to be seen. I raised my voice so all that were gathered could hear my words.

  When I made the announcement of my decision to start a new city, a tumult immediately arose. Everyone there realized what this would mean. People would be moving and families could be separated.

  As I had expected, there was loudly shouted disagreement to my announcement. I let them react for a time, and once they had calmed down I proceeded to logically tell the people why it was necessary. I told them that our city had grown too large, and it was becoming too crowded. They only had to look around to see the truth of this statement.

  I went on to emphasize the excitement and adventure that came with building a new city, and I mentioned the guest houses that would make travel between the cities much easier. As I continued to speak, stressing the positives for those that moved, throughout the crowd I saw frowning faces change to thoughtful ones. I saw smiles play across faces as people turned and whispered to their spouses.<
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  I finished with the announcement that only a limited number of people from each trade would be allowed to move to the new city. At this statement eyebrows went up. By now many people had become intrigued with the idea of starting a new city. The thought that not everyone that wanted to go might be able made it that much more desirable.

  I closed by telling them, “Please reflect on this and decide if you are up to the challenge. Both hard work and adventure come with building something from the ground up. Think about it, talk about it with your family, and sleep on it for two nights. Then if you still desire this, talk to the leader of your trade the day after tomorrow.”

  At that point the meeting was over, but nobody left the square. Everyone wanted to talk with their family and friends, many of them already thinking and dreaming of the possibilities that lay ahead.

  Two days later we had all the volunteers we needed. The response had been overwhelmingly enthusiastic, and you could feel the excitement throughout the city. More people than I had imagined possible desired the challenge of starting a new city.

  I met with my leaders the following day, and we began to plan the details. The new city would be modeled on the city of Enoch, and would be built exactly as Enoch had been built. Since we had built Enoch only fifty years ago, and almost every one of my leaders had been involved, the planning was mainly about the schedule and the people involved.

  I stressed that the language, the culture, the methods of farming and building that I had introduced to the tribes, and especially the worship of God must remain the same. Though I always encouraged innovation if anyone had a better idea, it was imperative to me that we continue to build upon the improvements we had introduced, not go backwards.

  Everyone was in complete agreement with me, as Cadune said with a laugh, “Why would anyone ever go back to the old ways?”

  Though he was still quite young, being barely fifty, Enoch would go as the ruler. It was important that one of my children be there to lead the city. Though I would still be King over the entire land, I planned to place one of my children as the ruler under me in each city we started, no matter how many cities that was. My family would always rule, with me as the King over all.

  I also decided on most of the leaders that would serve under Enoch in the new city. Catto was ready for more responsibility, so he would take on the same role for Enoch that Cadune filled for me in this city. I was sad to see my oldest friend leave, but relieved to know that someone I trusted absolutely would be there to help my son lead.

  As I had thought, Lataan wanted to take on the challenge of starting the new farms. Besides these two, the rest of the leaders would be new to their positions. They were all chosen because they were intelligent, hard-working men and women that had not been able to gain positions of leadership here, because I already had competent people in place.

  In a week we were ready to travel to the site to lay out the construction. I, Enoch and fifty other people went. This group was primarily men with some women; the people that would be the leaders and main workers in building the city. While a few of us would return, most would remain to begin building after we finished the layout.

  You could feel the excitement as we left the city. People gathered along the way and cheered our departure as we began our trek to the south. I was just as excited as the rest. The next stage of my kingdom had begun.