This gives insight that they perform this ritual because their ancestors believed that by sacrificing someone every year, their harvests would be bountiful. Some towns are planning to stop this and that's why the old man says they are idiots because he thinks their crops won't grow and they won't have food for their livestock or money for sell them. Most of the townspeople probably don't even know or believe in this saying anymore, but they plan on killing people for this initial reason. The town has a black box which is the center of their tradition. The box is a faded black and black represents death, which is appropriate because whoever "wins" the lottery is stoned to death. They've had it for so many years that it's broken and falling apart. But they won't replace it because the box is said to have been made from pieces of the original box that came before it. But yet they keep the box in random places when it's not in use the rest of the year. They're still afraid of the box and what it means, but enough time has passed that they don't really take the time to put it away somewhere with