Chapter 5 The Padi Pounder

At the back of their house was a wooden padi pounder.During the Japanese occupation rice was difficult to come by.Many people resorted to planting their own food like padi,vegetables and sweet potatoes.

Thus the pounder at the back of Fabian's family was to pound their own padi.The pounding was to remove the husks of the padi.Rice can also be further pound into powder for making cakes etc..Later when there was sufficient rice in the market the pounder was left abandoned.

Fabian and his other siblings used to play around it.They tried hard to use it but the wooden pounder was too heavy for them even to move it.It was properly fixed up so that anyone touching had first to remove all other fittings.

It would not bulged but as kids were kids they made belief and played as if they were pounding padi.

Later the pounder was removed and the place was converted into another room.An old clog maker rented that room and make his living place and work shop.He did not moved in alone.He came with an apprentice.

The apprentice was a tall young man who liked to crack jokes with us,but not the old man who was stern and hunch back.The job of the apprentice was always to wake up before the master,boiled water for making of tea and to cook porridge for breakfast.

When that was done he will have his share of breakfast and on finishing perform other chores.
Like sharpening of the tools,prepare pieces of wood for the clog making etc.etc..

Fabian and his other sibling had nothing to do so squatting in front of the crack apprentice and watched him sharpening the tools,which he did skillfully.Then he will chop pieces of wood from a big block.When going to chop the block he will instruct us to move further away.

"You all move further away when I chopped.".

And we moved a little,"No,no some more further,why yiou all do not understand?"he laughed as he instructed us.We did moved but again not enough.He said it louder,"I say moved further away".

We moved until he was satisfied."And do not move too near to me"he further instructed us.Then he will performed his funny stye of chopping which made all laughed at him.

Watching the old man smoke his bamboo pipe after his breakfast was another thing.The Bamboo pipe was about two feet long and he will squat on a stool before he smoked.After that he will put some tobacco on a half way tiny pipe and then lighted it.

When lighted he blew the bamboo pipe making some funny rowing sound within the pipe.It all amused us.So when he was away Fabian being the naughty one took hold of the pipe and blew it with force but nothing happened.He gave up after a try at it because the pipe stink of tobacco smell and when he accidently dropped the pipe water in the pipe split all over.

Frightened as he had cause some damaged,he wanted to escape,but the apprentice saw everything.He jokingly tried to put fear into Fabian saying,"Now the master will scold you,So You better cleaned up the place before he comes back".

Reluctantly Fabian cleaned up that place but not good enough, the apprentice helped him.He even put back some water into that bamboo pipe.All this while little brother was watching what happened and he wandered.

"Hey,brother,is the smoking good?",he asked.
"Want to try"replied the apprentice,Francis said"Yes,yes.I want to try".
So the apprentice got some tobacco and applied it to the small pipe and then lighted it up.He blew a little then handed over to Francis.
Francis was very joyful on receiving it.First squatted down like the old man and then put his mouth to smoke.

As he tried to smoke the bamboo pipe,the smoke of the bamboo pipe choked him and he coughed loudly,"Huh,huh cou,huh.....I don't like it and it taste very bad",cried Francis quickly putting the pipe aside.
The Apprentice and Fabian laughing heartily at him.Angrily Francis retorted and walked away saying,"I don't friend you all"."You make fun of me".