美食祈祷与恋爱意大利文化 《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 77 (174):慈祥的赖爷

《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 77 (174):慈祥的赖爷  

Ketut is relaxed and gracious with his pany. He listens to the parents explain their baby's troubles. Then he digs through a small trunk on his porch and pulls out an ancient ledger filled with tiny writing in Balinese Sanskrit. He consults this book like a scholar
looking for some bination of words that will suit him
talking and laughing with the parents the whole time. Then he takes a blank page from a notebook with a picture of Kermit the Frog on it
and writes what he tells me is "a prescription" for the little girl. The child is being tormented by a minor demon
he diagnoses
in addition to the physical disforts of teething. For the teething
he advises the parents to simply rub the baby's gums with pressed red onion juice. To appease the demon
they must make an offering of a small killed chicken and a small pig
along with a little bit of cake
mixed with special herbs which their grandmother should defin-itely have access to from her own medicine garden. (This food won't be wasted; after the of-fering ceremony
Balinese families are always allowed to eat their own donations to the gods
since the offering is more metaphysical than literal. The way the Balinese see it
God takes what belongs to God—the gesture—while man takes what belongs to man—the food itself.)
After writing the prescription
Ketut turns his back to us
fills a bowl with water
and keens a spectacular
quietly chilling mantra above it. Then Ketut blesses the baby with the water he has just infused with sacred power. Even at one year old
the child already knows how to re-ceive a holy blessing in the traditional Balinese manner. Her mother holds her
and the baby puts out her little plummy paws to receive the water
sips it once
sips it again and splashes the rest on top of her head—a perfectly executed ritual. She could not be less frightened of this toothless old man who is chanting at her. Then Ketut takes the rest of the holy water and pours it into a small plastic sandwich bag
ties the bag at the top and gives it to the family to use later. The mother carries this plastic bag of water away with her as she leaves; it looks like she has just won a goldfish at the state fair
only she fot to take the goldfish with her.
Ketut Liyer has given this family about forty minutes of his undivided attention
for the fee of about enty-five cents. If they hadn't any money at all
he would have done the same; this is his duty as a healer. He may turn nobody away
or the gods will remove his talent for healing. Ketut gets about ten visitors a day like this
Balinese who need his help or advice on some holy or medical matter. On highly auspicious days
when everyone wants a special blessing
he might have over one hundred visitors.
老四赖爷给这家人四十分钟的全心关怀，收费二十五美分。他们若没有钱，他也会做同样的事情；这是身为治疗师分内之事。他不能拒绝任何人，否则神明将解除他的治疗天分。赖爷每天约有十名巴厘访客，全需要他帮忙或询问有关神明或医疗之事。在喜庆佳节，人人都想要特殊的祝福时，访客人数可能过百。