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第7章

before adam-第7章

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surprise。



He was beaten and he knew it。  Recovering his dignity;

he stalked out solemnly from under the rain of stones。

He stopped in the middle of the open space and looked

wistfully and hungrily back at us。  He hated to forego

the meal; and we were just so much meat; cornered but

inaccessible。  This sight of him started us to

laughing。  We laughed derisively and uproariously; all

of us。  Now animals do not like mockery。  To be laughed

at makes them angry。 And in such fashion our laughter

affected Saber…Tooth。  He turned with a roar and

charged the bluff again。  This was what we wanted。 The

fight had become a game; and we took huge delight in

pelting him。



But this attack did not last long。  He quickly

recovered his common sense; and besides; our missiles

were shrewd to hurt。 Vividly do I recollect the vision

of one bulging eye of his; swollen almost shut by one

of the stones we had thrown。  And vividly do I retain

the picture of him as he stood on the edge of the

forest whither he had finally retreated。  He was

looking back at us; his writhing lips lifted clear of

the very roots of his huge fangs; his hair bristling

and his tail lashing。  He gave one last snarl and slid

from view among the trees。



And then such a chattering as went up。  We swarmed out

of our holes; examining the marks his claws had made on

the crumbling rock of the bluff; all of us talking at

once。  One of the two Folk who had been caught in the

double cave was part…grown; half child and half youth。

They had come out proudly from their refuge; and we

surrounded them in an admiring crowd。  Then the young

fellow's mother broke through and fell upon him in a

tremendous rage; boxing his ears; pulling his hair; and

shrieking like a demon。 She was a strapping big woman;

very hairy; and the thrashing she gave him was a

delight to the horde。  We roared with laughter; holding

on to one another or rolling on the ground in our glee。



In spite of the reign of fear under which we lived; the

Folk were always great laughers。  We had the sense of

humor。  Our merriment was Gargantuan。  It was never

restrained。  There was nothing half way about it。  When

a thing was funny we were convulsed with appreciation

of it; and the simplest; crudest things were funny to

us。  Oh; we were great laughers; I can tell you。



The way we had treated Saber…Tooth was the way we

treated all animals that invaded the village。  We kept

our run…ways and drinking…places to ourselves by making

life miserable for the animals that trespassed or

strayed upon our immediate territory。 Even the fiercest

hunting animals we so bedevilled that they learned to

leave our places alone。  We were not fighters like

them; we were cunning and cowardly; and it was because

of our cunning and cowardice; and our inordinate

capacity for fear; that we survived in that frightfully

hostile environment of the Younger World。



Lop…Ear; I figure; was a year older than I。  What his

past history was he had no way of telling me; but as I

never saw anything of his mother I believed him to be

an orphan。  After all; fathers did not count in our

horde。  Marriage was as yet in a rude state; and

couples had a way of quarrelling and separating。

Modern man; what of his divorce institution; does the

same thing legally。  But we had no laws。  Custom was

all we went by; and our custom in this particular

matter was rather promiscuous 。



Nevertheless; as this narrative will show later on; we

betrayed glimmering adumbrations of the monogamy that

was later to give power to; and make mighty; such

tribes as embraced it。 Furthermore; even at the time I

was born; there were several faithful couples that

lived in the trees in the neighborhood of my mother。

Living in the thick of the horde did not conduce to

monogamy。  It was for this reason; undoubtedly; that

the faithful couples went away and lived by themselves。

Through many years these couples stayed together;

though when the man or woman died or was eaten the

survivor invariably found a new mate。



There was one thing that greatly puzzled me during the

first days of my residence in the horde。  There was a

nameless and incommunicable fear that rested upon all。

At first it appeared to be connected wholly with

direction。  The horde feared the northeast。  It lived

in perpetual apprehension of that quarter of the

compass。  And every individual gazed more frequently

and with greater alarm in that direction than in any

other。



When Lop…Ear and I went toward the north…east to eat

the stringy…rooted carrots that at that season were at

their best; he became unusually timid。  He was content

to eat the leavings; the big tough carrots and the

little ropy ones; rather than to venture a short

distance farther on to where the carrots were as yet

untouched。  When I so ventured; he scolded me and

quarrelled with me。  He gave me to understand that in

that direction was some horrible danger; but just what

the horrible danger was his paucity of language would

not permit him to say。



Many a good meal I got in this fashion; while he

scolded and chattered vainly at me。  I could not

understand。  I kept very alert; but I could see no

danger。  I calculated always the distance between

myself and the nearest tree; and knew that to that

haven of refuge I could out…foot the Tawny One; or old

Saber…Tooth; did one or the other suddenly appear。



One late afternoon; in the village; a great uproar

arose。  The horde was animated with a single emotion;

that of fear。  The bluff…side swarmed with the Folk;

all gazing and pointing into the northeast。  I did not

know what it was; but I scrambled all the way up to the

safety of my own high little cave before ever I turned

around to see。



And then; across the river; away into the northeast; I

saw for the first time the mystery of smoke。  It was

the biggest animal I had ever seen。  I thought it was a

monster snake; up…ended; rearing its head high above

the trees and swaying back and forth。  And yet;

somehow; I seemed to gather from the conduct of the

Folk that the smoke itself was not the danger。  They

appeared to fear it as the token of something else。

What this something else was I was unable to guess。

Nor could they tell me。  Yet I was soon to know; and I

was to know it as a thing more terrible than the Tawny

One; than old Saber…Tooth; than the snakes themselves;

than which it seemed there could be no things more

terrible。







CHAPTER VII





Broken…Tooth was another youngster who lived by

himself。  His mother lived in the caves; but two more

children had come after him and he had been thrust out

to shift for himself。  We had witnessed the performance

during the several preceding days; and it had given us

no little glee。  Broken…Tooth did not want to go; and

every time his mother left the cave he sneaked back

into it。 When she returned and found him there her

rages were delightful。 Half the horde made a practice

of watching for these moments。 First; from within the

cave; would come her scolding and shrieking。  Then we

could hear sounds of the thrashing and the yelling of

Broken…Tooth。  About this time the two younger children

joined in。  And finally; like the eruption of a

miniature volcano; Broken…Tooth would come flying out。



At the end of several days his leaving home was

accomplished。  He wailed his grief; unheeded; from the

centre of the open space; for at least half an hour;

and then came to live with Lop…Ear and me。 Our cave was

small; but with squeezing there was room for three。 I

have no recollection of Broken…Tooth spending more than

one night with us; so the accident must have happened

right away。



It came in the middle of the day。  In the morning we

had eaten our fill of the carrots; and then; made

heedless by play; we had ventured on to the big trees

just beyond。  I cannot understand how Lop…Ear got over

his habitual caution; but it must have been the play。

We were having a great time playing tree tag。  And such

tag! We leaped ten or fifteen…foot gaps as a matter of

course。 And a twenty or twenty…five foot deliberate

drop clear down to the ground was nothing to us。  In

fact; I am almost afraid to say the great distances we

dropped。  As we grew older and heavier we found we had

to be more cautious in dropping; but at that age our

bodies were all strings and springs and we could do

anything。



Broken…Tooth displayed remarkable agility in the game。

He was 〃It〃 less frequently than any of us; and in the

course of the game he discovered one difficult 〃slip〃

that neither Lop…Ear nor I was able to accomplish。  To

be truthful; we were afraid to attempt it。



When we were 〃It;〃 Broken…Tooth always ran out to the

end of a lofty branch in a certain tree。  From the end

of the branch to the ground it must have been seventy

feet; and nothing intervened to break a fall。  But

about twenty feet lower down; and fully fifteen feet

out from the perpendicular; was the thick branch of

another tree。



As we ran out the limb; Broken…Tooth; facing us; would

begin teetering。  This naturally impeded our progress;

but there was more in the teetering than that。  He

teetered with his back to the jump he was to make。

Just as we nearly reached him he would let go。  The

teetering branch was like a spring…board。  It threw him

far out; backward; as he fell。  And as he fell he

turned around sidewise in the air so as to face the

other branch into which he was falling。  This branch

bent far down under the impact; and sometimes there was

an ominous crackling; but it never broke; and out of

the leaves was always to be seen the face of

Broken…Tooth grinning triumphantly up at us。



I was 〃It〃 the last time Broken…Tooth tried this。  He

had gained the end of the branch and begun his

teetering; and I was creeping out after him; when

suddenly there came a low warning cry from Lop…Ear。  I

looked down and saw him in the main fork of the tree

crouching close against the trunk。  Instinctively I

crouched down upon the thick limb。  Broken…Tooth

stopped teetering; but the branch would not stop; and

his body continued bobbing up and down with the

rustling leaves。



I heard the crackle of a dry twig; and looking down saw

my first Fire…Man。  He was creeping stealthily along on

the ground and peering up into the tree。  At first I

thought he was a wild animal; because he wore around

his waist and over his shoulders a ragged piece of

bearskin。  And then I saw his hands and feet; and more

clearly his features。  He was very much like my kind;

except that he was less hairy and that his feet were

less like hands than ours。  In fact; he and his people;

as I was later to know; were far less hairy than we;

though we; in turn; were equally less hairy than the

Tree People。



I

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