before adam-第12章
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with her; but finally it was accomplished and she
joined us sometimes in our play。
I liked her from the first。 She was of most pleasing
appearance。 She was very mild。 Her eyes were the
mildest I had ever seen。 In this she was quite unlike
the rest of the girls and women of the Folk; who were
born viragos。 She never made harsh; angry cries; and
it seemed to be her nature to flee away from trouble
rather than to remain and fight。
The mildness I have mentioned seemed to emanate from
her whole being。 Her bodily as well as facial
appearance was the cause of this。 Her eyes were larger
than most of her kind; and they were not so deep…set;
while the lashes were longer and more regular。 Nor was
her nose so thick and squat。 It had quite a bridge;
and the nostrils opened downward。 Her incisors were
not large; nor was her upper lip long and down…hanging;
nor her lower lip protruding。 She was not very hairy;
except on the outsides of arms and legs and across the
shoulders; and while she was thin…hipped; her calves
were not twisted and gnarly。
I have often wondered; looking back upon her from the
twentieth century through the medium of my dreams; and
it has always occurred to me that possibly she may have
been related to the Fire People。 Her father; or
mother; might well have come from that higher stock。
While such things were not common; still they did
occur; and I have seen the proof of them with my own
eyes; even to the extent of members of the horde
turning renegade and going to live with the Tree
People。
All of which is neither here nor there。 The Swift One
was radically different from any of the females of the
horde; and I had a liking for her from the first。 Her
mildness and gentleness attracted me。 She was never
rough; and she never fought。 She always ran away; and
right here may be noted the significance of the naming
of her。 She was a better climber than Lop…Ear or I。
When we played tag we could never catch her except by
accident; while she could catch us at will。 She was
remarkably swift in all her movements; and she had a
genius for judging distances that was equalled only by
her daring。 Excessively timid in all other matters;
she was without fear when it came to climbing or
running through the trees; and Lop…Ear and I were
awkward and lumbering and cowardly in comparison。
She was an orphan。 We never saw her with any one; and
there was no telling how long she had lived alone in
the world。 She must have learned early in her helpless
childhood that safety lay only in flight。 She was very
wise and very discreet。 It became a sort of game with
Lop…Ear and me to try to find where she lived。 It was
certain that she had a tree…shelter somewhere; and not
very far away; but trail her as we would; we could
never find it。 She was willing enough to join with us
at play in the day…time; but the secret of her
abiding…place she guarded jealously。
CHAPTER XI
It must be remembered that the description I have just
given of the Swift One is not the description that
would have been given by Big…Tooth; my other self of my
dreams; my prehistoric ancestor。 It is by the medium of
my dreams that I; the modern man; look through the eyes
of Big…Tooth and see。
And so it is with much that I narrate of the events of
that far…off time。 There is a duality about my
impressions that is too confusing to inflict upon my
readers。 I shall merely pause here in my narrative to
indicate this duality; this perplexing mixing of
personality。 It is I; the modern; who look back across
the centuries and weigh and analyze the emotions and
motives of Big…Tooth; my other self。 He did not
bother to weigh and analyze。 He was simplicity itself。
He just lived events; without ever pondering why he
lived them in his particular and often erratic way。
As I; my real self; grew older; I entered more and more
into the substance of my dreams。 One may dream; and
even in the midst of the dream be aware that he is
dreaming; and if the dream be bad; comfort himself with
the thought that it is only a dream。 This is a common
experience with all of us。 And so it was that I; the
modern; often entered into my dreaming; and in the
consequent strange dual personality was both actor and
spectator。 And right often have I; the modern; been
perturbed and vexed by the foolishness; illogic;
obtuseness; and general all…round stupendous stupidity
of myself; the primitive。
And one thing more; before I end this digression。 Have
you ever dreamed that you dreamed? Dogs dream; horses
dream; all animals dream。 In Big…Tooth's day the
half…men dreamed; and when the dreams were bad they
howled in their sleep。 Now I; the modern; have lain
down with Big…Tooth and dreamed his dreams。
This is getting almost beyond the grip of the
intellect; I know; but I do know that I have done this
thing。 And let me tell you that the flying and
crawling dreams of Big…Tooth were as vivid to him as
the falling…through…space dream is to you。
For Big…Tooth also had an other…self; and when he slept
that other…self dreamed back into the past; back to the
winged reptiles and the clash and the onset of dragons;
and beyond that to the scurrying; rodent…like life of
the tiny mammals; and far remoter still; to the
shore…slime of the primeval sea。 I cannot; I dare not;
say more。 It is all too vague and complicated and
awful。 I can only hint of those vast and terrific
vistas through which I have peered hazily at the
progression of life; not upward from the ape to man;
but upward from the worm。
And now to return to my tale。 I; Big…Tooth; knew not
the Swift One as a creature of finer facial and bodily
symmetry; with long…lashed eyes and a bridge to her
nose and down…opening nostrils that made toward beauty。
I knew her only as the mild…eyed young female who made
soft sounds and did not fight。 I liked to play with
her; I knew not why; to seek food in her company; and
to go bird…nesting with her。 And I must confess she
taught me things about tree…climbing。 She was very
wise; very strong; and no clinging skirts impeded her
movements。
It was about this time that a slight defection arose on
the part of Lop…Ear。 He got into the habit of
wandering off in the direction of the tree where my
mother lived。 He had taken a liking to my vicious
sister; and the Chatterer had come to tolerate him。
Also; there were several other young people; progeny of
the monogamic couples that lived in the neighborhood;
and Lop…Ear played with these young people。
I could never get the Swift One to join with them。
Whenever I visited them she dropped behind and
disappeared。 I remember once making a strong effort to
persuade her。 But she cast backward; anxious glances;
then retreated; calling to me from a tree。 So it was
that I did not make a practice of accompanying Lop…Ear
when he went to visit his new friends。 The Swift One
and I were good comrades; but; try as I would; I could
never find her tree…shelter。 Undoubtedly; had nothing
happened; we would have soon mated; for our liking was
mutual; but the something did happen。
One morning; the Swift One not having put in an
appearance; Lop…Ear and I were down at the mouth of
the slough playing on the logs。 We had scarcely got
out on the water; when we were startled by a roar of
rage。 It was Red…Eye。 He was crouching on the edge of
the timber jam and glowering his hatred at us。 We were
badly frightened; for here was no narrow…mouthed cave
for refuge。 But the twenty feet of water that
intervened gave us temporary safety; and we plucked up
courage。
Red…Eye stood up erect and began beating his hairy
chest with his fist。 Our two logs were side by side;
and we sat on them and laughed at him。 At first our
laughter was half…hearted; tinged with fear; but as we
became convinced of his impotence we waxed uproarious。
He raged and raged at us; and ground his teeth in
helpless fury。 And in our fancied security we mocked
and mocked him。 We were ever short…sighted; we Folk。
Red…Eye abruptly ceased his breast…beating and
tooth…grinding; and ran across the timber…jam to the
shore。 And just as abruptly our merriment gave way to
consternation。 It was not Red…Eye's way to forego
revenge so easily。 We waited in fear and trembling for
whatever was to happen。 It never struck us to paddle
away。 He came back with great leaps across the jam;
one huge hand filled with round; water…washed pebbles。
I am glad that he was unable to find larger missiles;
say stones weighing two or three pounds; for we were no
more than a score of feet away; and he surely would
have killed us。
As it was; we were in no small danger。 Zip! A tiny
pebble whirred past with the force almost of a bullet。
Lop…Ear and I began paddling frantically。
Whiz…zip…bang ! Lop…Ear screamed with sudden anguish。
The pebble had struck him between the shoulders。 Then I
got one and yelled。 The only thing that saved us was
the exhausting of Red…Eye's ammunition。 He dashed back
to the gravel…bed for more; while Lop…Ear and I
paddled away。
Gradually we drew out of range; though Red…Eye
continued making trips for more ammunition and the
pebbles continued to whiz about us。 Out in the centre
of the slough there was a slight current; and in our
excitement we failed to notice that it was drifting us
into the river。 We paddled; and Red…Eye kept as close
as he could to us by following along the shore。 Then
he discovered larger rocks。 Such ammunition increased
his range。 One fragment; fully five pounds in weight;
crashed on the log alongside of me; and such was its
impact that it drove a score of splinters; like fiery
needles; into my leg。 Had it struck me it would have
killed me。
And then the river current caught us。 So wildly were
we paddling that Red…Eye was the first to notice it;
and our first warning was his yell of triumph。 Where
the edge of the current struck the slough…water was a
series of eddies or small whirlpools。 These caught our
clumsy logs and whirled them end for end; back and
forth and around。 We quit paddling and devoted our
whole energy to holding the logs together alongside
each other。 In the meanwhile Red…Eye continued to
bombard us; the rock fragments falling about us;
splashing water on us; and menacing our lives。 At the
same time he gloated over us; wildly and vociferously。
It happened that there was a sharp turn in the river at
the point where the slough entered; and the whole main
current of the river was deflected to the other bank。
And toward that bank; which was the north bank; we
drifted rapidly; at the same time going down…stream。
This quickly took us out of range of Red…Eye; and the
last we saw of him was far out on