Rhamon/Chapter 3

by Heluiz Chandler Washburne

Chapter III

Making a Garden

In the morning when Rhamon looked out of his window, he could see all around him the great peaks of the Himalaya Mountains. There were rows and rows of them, one beyond the other, till the last ones seemed like purple shadows in the distance.

In the winter they were snow-covered and dazzling in the sunlight. In the early spring the lower slopes were brown, and long white fingers of snow reached down their rocky sides. Sometimes they were bathed in rain and their tops were lost in the billowy clouds. Now they had turned a soft green, and pink and white fruit trees blossomed at their feet.

Rhamon loved to watch the morning sunlight paint the snowcaps in magic colors and creep down the mountainsides to light the valley.

Looking deep into the water, Rhamon thought there must be two worlds—the rightside-up world where the mountains and trees stretched up into the sky, and the upside-down world which he glimpsed in the water, mountains and trees reaching downward.

Through the window Rhamon could see Subro working on the family patch of floating garden. Ever since Rhamon could remember, a garden had floated beside their houseboat, but he was very proud of this one because he had helped his father to make it. First Subro had dragged the mud up from the bottom of the lake with long tongs. Then Rhamon had helped him mix the mud with twigs and shape it into big round clumps. They had let these dry in the sun. Later, when they had enough of them, they had bound the clumps together with long reeds to make a sort of raft. Now the garden was all finished, and ready to be planted.

So it would not drift away, Subro had stuck a great pole through it down into the muddy bottom of the lake. But if Subro grew tired of the river and the friendly little canals and wished to move his floating home to some more open spot, he could also move this floating garden. He would just take up the pole that held it fast and tie a rope around one end of the garden. The other end of the rope he would fasten to a ring in the deck of the houseboat.

Rhamon had often helped his father move their boat out into the lake. Standing at the front of the houseboat Subro would take a long pole and sink one end away down to the bottom of the river. Then, putting his shoulder against the pole, he would lean forward and shove and shove while walking along the boards toward the back end of the boat.

Slowly the boat would move forward, pulling the garden behind. Then he would take the pole out and go to the front, shove it in again and once more walk the length of the boat. Rhamon's pole was lighter than his father's, but he would follow along behind him, pushing with all his strength.

After a long time of poling like this the boat would be out in the big Dal Lake. Then Subro would always say, "Be careful, my son. The water here is very deep in places." And Rhamon would laugh. He would not fall in!

This morning Subro was planting cucumbers and melons in the garden. As soon as Rhamon had finished his breakfast, he ran out to help his father before the sun grew hot.

They worked until all the seeds were planted.

Slowly the boat would move forward, pulling the garden behind

Then Subro looked up and said, "This morning I am going to the city. Would you like to go with me, Rhamon?" A broad smile was Rhamon's only answer, as he dashed for the houseboat to get his sandals and rewind his turban.