but despite the attention and reverence it received , the blinding stone couldnt stop the ashes from precipitating and snuffing out life under and over the ground : the crops kept shrinking and eventually dying off , the meek herbivorous beasts , famished beyond endurance , turned on and savaged one another , and mere boys like iabi , become men from necessity though most of them had been stunted by lack of proper food and sunlight saw their families lose hope and felt even more helpless and miserable .