by Tom Baugh
"I've seen this problem before," K'ette said, as she was stroking through her hair with a squirrel rib Ahks had mounted to a little stick as a gift to her. "One of the first huts to be raided in our village was the trading hut where people would come to swap items. The owner of the hut kept some of the items traded and stored them in the hut to allow others to trade for them long after the original trader had left."
Og, Mar and Ahks all thought this was a great idea. Soon, the four of them had constructed a new hut for Mar and his wife to operate as a trading hut. This turned out to be a perfect occupation for Mar. Between campaigns Mar had nothing else to do but help his father with the lumber business. And, he always had a collection of items paid to him by the rest of the tribesmen for his defense services. Some of these items Mar had no immediate use for, but others might. So, the trading hut was started with an assortment of the goods Mar had collected, and a selection of Ahks' tools and Og's wood.
Soon, Pok brought squirrels and Pok Jr. brought some bunnies in little cages. Grasses from Pokette, fermented juices from Vin, acorns and leather from Tan. Some of these items K'ette and her husband consumed directly, such as feeding acorns to the squirrels to sustain them, and similarly with the grasses for the bunnies. Some items she and Mar consumed themselves, and the remainder went on the shelves Mar made of split logs. As with the agricultural practice of tithing, they saved the best of each item for trading, while consuming the least or the oldest stock for themselves. The very best she would trade to the farther tribesmen to allow them to carry as much value as possible in smaller packs on their return trips. This practice had the additional bonus of providing the best possible image of them at the tribal frontier.
And so, word soon spread among the tribe about this marvelous hut, which became known as the Mar-K'ette hut. Some tribesmen began to arrive in the morning, this being more convenient for them as they were not yet tired from their work, and could think more clearly about their needs.
Even Ahsee, Tith's apprentice, traded with little pouches of herbs and ointments he felt were less dangerous for the tribesmen to use on their own. Ahsee, who bore a strange likeness to the old man and to whom the wise one left his entire estate before he died, instructed K'ette in their use.
And the tribesmen from far away began to show up more often with larger packs, as they no longer needed to linger to trade. Thus the space normally taken for extra provisions was dedicated to trade goods instead.
At first, Mar and K'ette tried to establish a price for each item in terms of each other item. For example, a woman-weight of wood might be worth so many squirrels, a different number of bunnies, and yet another number of Ahks' tools in a bewildering variety. Similarly, each of Ahks' tools had to be assigned a number of squirrels, bunnies, and fractional woman-weight of wood. These calculations, which had been performed all along by each tribesman before the Mar-K'ette was established, soon became too complex and error-prone to be useful.
So, following the example of her village, K'ette and Mar soon established a measure of units which each item was worth. Two values were assigned to each item, one as the price at which they would pay for an item. Another, higher, price was the number of units of value required to purchase an item from them. The first price K'ette called the bid, while the second she called the ask. As an example, Og received sixteen units of value for a woman-weight of wood, this being the bid price. But, that same wood could be purchased for twenty-four units, this being their ask price.
Similarly, Pok's squirrels would bring him two units of value, yet someone wishing to purchase a squirrel would have to provide three units. The difference in these values allowed Mar and K'ette to provide for themselves. They might store this value for their later use, whether for trade or for enjoyment. As a result, they could accept from others, and thus provide to others, a wider variety of goods available for trade. This additional amount also helped them cover their risk for loss, such as for storms or the occasional dead bunny or squirrel.
In turn, the tribesmen did not begrudge them their profit. The tribesmen were still able to trade among themselves, as Og and Pok continued to do among themselves. But most found the convenience of the Mar-K'ette, both in time spent trading and the complexity of calculation, well worth the difference in prices there.
In earlier times, after Pok had traded for all the wood he needed, Og might have additional wood remaining. Then Og or his sons would have had to spend hours or days at the lightered post waiting for enough tribesmen to arrive for his wood. Instead, they could now spend this time working, enjoying their families, or resting and reflecting.
As with Og's early trades with Pok, the tribesmen prospered merely from the availability of trade to take their goods at prices they thought reasonable, or to decline trades if not. This concept K'ette called liquidity, evocative of the ease at which the stream passes by rocks in its path.
Facilitating a higher quality of life by removing obstacles from the paths of other persons is itself a valuable service. In the tribe there was a man whose right leg was almost useless. As a child, Tab was bit on the leg by a snake, had suffered a terrible fever, and it was thought that he would die. Tith managed to treat the child and save his life, but the boy's leg was festered terribly. Normally, the tribe would have cut off the leg, almost certainly killing the child in the process. Instead, Tith treated his leg with concoctions which boiled but grew not hot, and fed the child bread which was green with rot. The child recovered, but the leg remained weak; strong enough to stand upon and drag behind him, but too weak to run or carry heavy loads.
Recovered, Tab spent his days by the stream watching and learning. Although he wished that he could play with the other children, he learned instead to use his mind. Tab spent his time making little toys of wood, bone, leather and strings he wove of bits of fur left behind in the forest as the deer wandered through thickets. Some of these toys would leap from hiding, to the delight of boys and shrieks of girls.
Boys and girls alike would trade bits of things with Tab for his little contraptions. Their parents would trade for his bone fishhooks and animal snares, which included a three-pronged device which was perfect for catching snakes. Snakes, as it turned out, were Tab's favorite delicacy, and he also traded dried snake meat and snake skins with the others. Soon, his reputation as an artificer grew far and wide among the tribe, and he was as successful as any, despite his weakened leg.
But still, his leg prevented him from traveling as much as he would like. His latest adventures would find him on bright sunny days sitting in a stream bed sifting through the clay for bright little rocks. Tab had discovered that these rocks were capable of cutting any other rocks, but were difficult to find. On stormy days he chose to remain in his hut working on some contraption or another, leaving him only the overcast days in which to trade with others. So, when he heard of the Mar-K'ette hut, he leapt in his heart at the opportunity.
As a result, one day soon after Tab arrived at the hut with a bundle of items on his back. Mar was delighted to see him and began telling K'ette excitedly about all the things Tab made. The pair quickly agreed to offer his items for sale. That one load alone was worth an entire woman-weight of wood, which of course, Tab was unable to carry back to his hut in one trip.
"K'ette, as you can see I can't carry all this wood, and I really don't have a need for it right now," he explained. Tab, as usual, was unembarrassed by his disability and treated it simply as the fact it was. "I would like for you to keep most of it in your hut for me for a while." Just as the words left his mouth, and she was nodding assent, transfixed by the wonders on the slab in front of her, he had a better idea.
His keen mind now saw a new opportunity. "Actually, what I would rather you do is, instead of keeping my wood, simply keep a record of the number of credits to which I would otherwise be entitled," he explained. "Then, I can come in, or better, send for any item I need at the time and you can remove this amount from my credits."
Before she c
ould answer, he thought of his determination to not burden others with his disability. So, he added, "In exchange for the extra work for you to keep track of this for me, I will surrender one credit each full moon. Agreed?" K'ette thought this was a great idea, and wished that this had been done in her old village.
Soon, the other tribesmen realized the convenience this could offer them, even the strong and well-bodied. Og, for example, might often have a particularly fruitful week gathering wood after a storm. But, he might have needed only so many bunnies or so much fruit each day. Or Ahks might spend weeks making tools from a generous outcropping of rock, but not want to carry a heavy load each day to the Mar-K'ette. Instead, he may have enjoyed a leisurely walk to get a bunny or some berries there.
This tabulation, as it became known, allowed the tribesmen to perform work at times best for them. And to purchase at times best for them, rather than being limited by the weather, seasons, or other uncertainties.
Tabulation had another benefit, as well. The tribesmen soon learned that it was more convenient to trade among each other, not with goods themselves, but also by arranging for services paid for by credits. For example, if a man helped repair another's hut, they might agree to pay the first as three credits from the last's account. By so doing, the helper could then choose whatever items he wished from the Mar-K'ette's shelves. This was much more flexible than being constrained by the beneficiary's goods on hand at that moment. All they had to do was to check-in at the hut and ask Mar or K'ette to transfer the appropriate credits from one to the other.
In this fashion, the original trading benefit which Og and Pok first discovered for goods, then refined through market liquidity, became extended to services as well.
Before long, it seemed that everyone wanted to keep their credits with the Mar-K'ette. And so K'ette had numerous little slate rocks for each family in the tribe, with little marks scratched on them representing their credits. Each full moon, as payment for her service in these transactions, she would deduct one credit from each slate by marking across a credit mark. Each credit she removed, by consent of the account owner, thus gave her and Mar more complete ownership of goods which remained on the shelves.
These slates she purchased from Ahks. And the scratches? Made with those special glittery rocks, which she purchased from Tab. How purchased? With scratches on his slate, of course, effectively transferring value from her shelf to him.
Don't be thwarted by your limitations or disabilities. Instead, focus on what you can do well, and turn these assets, and your solutions to your own limitations, into opportunities for yourself and others. One winter a disease swept through the tribe, and many fell ill. One family in particular was hit very hard, killing both the mother and father. Their deaths left the teenage boy, Ploi, and pre-teen girl, Emma, to fend for themselves. But, they had been taught by their parents from a very young age, as were most children in the tribe. Accordingly, they were far more capable of fending for themselves than might otherwise be expected in our modern world.
One morning Ploi saw K'ette carry a dead bunny out of the trading hut and stopped her to ask what had happened. An exhausted K'ette replied, "I found this bunny dead in its cage this morning, and it appears that it had been underfed. Mar and I have been working so hard with keeping track of all the trades and all our inventory. So, with all that work as well as handling the account tablets, I haven't had time to feed them well."
This gave Ploi an idea. He pointed out to K'ette, "If my sister were to tend to the rabbits, many fewer would die, and the rest would be healthy and worth more for the trade. Is this correct?" K'ette nodded assent.
"So, it would be as if my sister were bringing in fresh rabbits and trading them for the dead and unhealthy ones," he continued. "As such, she would be entitled to credits for these trades, right?" K'ette again nodded.
"Similarly, I could help you manage your other inventory. See that wood over there rotting in the weeds?" he said, pointing to a pile which had just simply fallen into neglect because Mar and K'ette had been so busy.
Ploi then stated the costs to her, "That wood is almost worthless now, hardly anyone wants it. If I were working for you, and a trader wanted wood, I could bring the oldest inventory, none of which would be very old. And, then none would go bad, so you would get to keep more credits for yourself." K'ette began to see the many ways in which Ploi might help in and around the trading hut.
"As for now, I propose to work for you today helping you organize your stock, and I will take that old wood for myself in exchange. Tomorrow I will come with my sister and we will help you manage your stock. I will direct her work, as well as do my own. I would like to receive four credits per day for my work. She should receive three credits each day for hers, as she is small. Do you agree to these terms?"
K'ette agreed to try this new arrangement for a moon. Ploi immediately set to work carefully stacking and organizing the wood. He also cut, with one of Ahks' blades, the grass which had grown around the piles and which was trapping moisture. He fed this grass to the bunnies, and brought them fresh water. At the end of the day, he fashioned a sled out of some of the old wood, stacked the remainder atop it, and hauled it away to his hut.
Seeing him arrive, his sister was delighted. "Ploi, where did you get this wood?" she asked as she began to build a fire. "I can't believe that you found this old wood in one place, it should have taken you days to find this much," she wondered. Ploi stacked the wood loosely where the sun and air would dry it over the next several days. As he worked, Ploi told her, "Emma, you are correct, this much old wood would normally take many days to find. But, I worked for only one day for this wood. And, once it has dried, it will serve as kindling for us for months, making it easier for us to start our fires."
Ploi then told Emma of his arrangement with K'ette, and that she would be working each day as he directed. When he told his sister about the credits she would receive for each day of work, she was astonished. "You don't mean it," she shouted. "It would take me a day and a half of hard work in the heat and rain to catch a squirrel or two to trade to bring that much. Instead, I get to tend bunnies in their hutches?"
"And other little tasks I assign during the day," he reminded her. "But still," she said, "that is much easier than chasing and trapping squirrels! Sometimes I think the wildcats and boars are chasing me. I think I am going to love this!"
Mar was similarly impressed with the arrangement when he returned from a trip a week later. By then, the stock in and about the hut was much better organized and well tended. The bunnies and squirrels and Chi-Kens were healthy in their cages, and, most pleasing, K'ette had much more energy at the end of the day. Plus, by then, Ploi had had the idea of delivering goods to the local tribesmen, much as Mar was doing for the distant.
Of all of the tribe, Tab was the most pleased with the delivery service, as this meant that he didn't have to make so many trips to the hut. This convenience for him was especially true as Ploi would often bring his traps and snake skins back to the trading hut on his return trips, to be credited to the crippled man's slate. Other tribesmen soon availed themselves of this service. So, the amount of trade for the hut increased, simply by allowing Mar and K'ette to delegate some of their work to the two orphaned children. These children, in turn, benefitted by being able to work together each day, and much more safely and more profitably than would have been possible without the employment.
Even the destitute and unfortunate are capable of providing value for themselves. Similarly, each time you are faced with what seems like an insurmountable misfortune, find ways in which you can make even little steps toward self-sufficiency by providing value to others. During these years of relative peace Cor had traveled to more distant lands. He had returned from these trips with some large animals. These looked to the tribe like large, antler-less harts, but were very tame and friendly around the tribesmen. Cor was riding one of them as he arrived at his father's hut, the remainder gathered with leather straps around
their heads. "My son," Pok exclaimed as he grabbed the young man and hugged him, "where have you been for so long?"
"Away, far away, father," Cor replied. "And I have brought you a gift to help with your work," he said, pointing to the animals. "In the land from which these come they are called 'cheval'," he said. "And I, am going to raise them," the young man stated, sweeping his arm across the valley.
Following his son's gesture, Pok happened to notice a beautiful blackhaired girl riding atop one of the smaller cheval. He was fascinated by the unusual color of her skin. On her, it was stunning. "And what do you call this lovely creature?" Pok asked, grinning, "do you propose to raise these as well?"
"Perhaps, father," Cor laughed. "She is Mowneek, and she is my wife, but she does not understand our language very well. Yet."
Hearing her name, she smiled, and Cor went to her to help her dismount. Watching them, Pok thought the gesture an act which seemed more a caress than a necessity. To him, Mowneek seemed nimble enough to mount and dismount anything she pleased, with or without assistance.
Alighting, she swiftly and skillfully led the cheval into the field to graze and to drink at the stream. The cheval followed her happily, even without the straps.
The next morning, Cor, riding one cheval and another in tow, rode to Tab's hut. The men spoke briefly, after which Cor taught Tab to mount the second animal and ride. Given Tab's attention to detail, and his exceptional upper body strength, he was a swift learner. Tab prepared them both a delicious lunch of snake stew, and then the two rode to Mar's trading hut. Mar, hearing the clopping of the chevals, met them at the rise of the trail west of the hut. Og, Ahks and Tan, having been visited by Cor the previous evening, were just arriving as well.
"Cor, my friend," he shouted, "it has been so long!" The two men slapped each other on the back, and then Mar turned to the cheval Cor had been riding. "I had heard of these from Tith, and how they are used, but I have never seen one before. Chevals, aren't they?" Mar asked. Cor nodded in reply.