ALWAYS, ABIDE WITH ME

Chapter 14: A Field Trip

Dedicated to @chocolatewithtea: You slay, Gurl!

The Junior Lans were on a field trip headed by Matron Beaver. Determined to contribute substantially to their cultural exchange, Matron Beaver's brood and a group of younger Lan disciples were headed to the mud flats outside Ciayi town.

"Gather around, little Lans!" The youngsters stepped forward gingerly, afraid of soiling their pristine robes. "For Lotus' sakes, Fellas! It is just mud! It will wash off, and no one will scold you about laundry, I promise!"

SaMi and Pranith showed the little ones how to hitch up their robes around their waists in the Lankan style. The Lans took to the mud like ducks to water.

Soon, Lan Qing, her folded robes carrying a variety of crabs, stomped over to Matron Beaver. "Nushi, look what I found." Lan Ping followed, her palms full of clams, oysters and mussels. Nie Muyan brought in a creeper with strange swollen nodules at its roots, while Jiang Lianhua had trapped a cross-section of the insects buzzing over lotus blooms. Wen Lee, very un-Wen like, had made his home in the mud and had caught a wriggling armful of Ni Yu*!

"Ok, first Wen Lee!" Matron Beaver used a translation talisman. She turned to her own group. "Children, note down the Mandarin name for this, and you little Lans, note down what SaMi and Pranith tell you."

Eyes shining, Wen Lee began  "These are Ni Yu. These fish burrow into the mud and can remain alive even when streams and lakes dry up."

Pranith stepped up. "These are called Mada Malu* in Sinhala and they can be raised in paddy fields too." There was a flurry of questions and comments at this new information.

"Nie Muyan, you are next," Matron Beaver called.

"This is Feng Xinzi*, the purple flowers are used in Chinese medicine."

SaMi added, "Diya Beraliya*, the leaves provide a treatment for skin ailments. The root has these specialised structures that trap air, allowing the plant to float. What is interesting is: you will find young mudfish hiding under this  plant. So if there is a Feng Xinzi plant, there is likely a Mada Malu hiding under it!" Peals of laughter greeted this multilingual conclusion.

"Lan Qing, what are you going to do with those crawlers?"

"Nushi, are these fish of some kind? I thought the way they walk sideways was interesting."

Wen Lee piped up, "XianGe used to put these into stews for dinner."

Happy aka Ameya, Matron Beaver's nephew who was a budding chef, demanded, "Recipe please!", while Dopey, aka Chathura, ever observant, pointed out, "Take them from her later, she is vegetarian!"

With a brood of 17, Matron Beaver was used to these side hustles, but this was times 3! So, she did what she excelled at, and improvised.

"Wen Lee, tell Lan Qing what those are."

"Crabs, mud crabs, you have caught small ones."

"Bigger ones were kind of scary, clicking madly with their pincers."

"They are nearly harmless if you know how to lift them."

"And how is that?"

Chatura facepalmed. "You actually don't know? Why, every beaver by the age of 3..." his voice died."Right, well, you're human! Ok, just hold their shell at the middle, from above, and you are quite safe!"

"Thank you, Dopey! Wen Lee?"

"Well the bigger crabs are tastier but these will go into a broth."

Pranith added, "SaMi's mum used such a broth to feed the injured soldiers." Lan Qing was quick to note all these points.