On lottery day, everyone gathers in the square. Mr Sommers arrives with the black box, and every head of the family, usually the father, has to pick a paper in the box. If the father has the paper with the black spot, then his whole family gets to take another paper from the box. And then, the person that has the black spot… gets lapidated to death. I had already read this story as a richly illustrated comic. A really sordid story where there is no explanation for this horrid rite.
“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier were ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. “Come on.” she said. “Hurry up”