As the drought grew worse, they had witnessed the barbarous rites of their elders, which they had never seen before, the mutilation of their bodies, and their prostration before wood and clay idols.

• 他们目睹了老年人搞的那一套摧残身体的野蛮仪式，那种对木雕泥塑偶像的顶礼膜拜。他们过去从未见过这种场面。