There were many changes. Strange things had occurred. Hundreds of members of the various hordes5 had been lost in the flood; the river bed itself had been twisted into a new and alarming shape so that, on the other side of its bank, trees had been torn up and the waters had eaten into the earth and lapped the foot of the low hills; the old Hollow was filled with many tons of new black earth and many of the caves were buried beneath the soil deposited by the river.
The Hollow had been the home of the Cave People, of Little Laughing Boy, his father, Strong Arm, and his mother, Quack6 Quack. They had escaped 110during the flood with the Foolish One, a member of their own tribe, and had been joined later on by the Hairy Man, a survivor3 of the Hairy Folk. And they had clung together during their dangers and journeyings for mutual7 strength and protection.
When they had encountered Tall and Big Foot, of one of the man-eating hordes, their numbers enabled them to overcome these powerful enemies, who joined the band and fed Laughing Boy his first taste of roasted human flesh. These men also taught the Cave People the wonderful power hidden away in the flint pit, which they had discovered; how two pieces of this strange rock could call forth8 the protecting fire when struck sharply together, and how thin pieces of this same rock made wonderful knives with which to hack9 and slay10 the enemy. Indeed, it was the insistence11 of Big Foot in carrying away several pieces of this new rock that caused the others to do likewise, although it was a long time before any of them returned to the flint pit and began to use flint regularly in making weapons.
In spite of the large number of men and women and children who lost their lives in the great flood, this was a time of progress, a time when all the tribes learned many new things. The surviving Hairy Folk were thrown with members of the tribe of Cave People—and learned the use of fire. The Tree Dwellers12 were forced to walk upon the 111ground and learned new methods of fishing and hunting from the Cave People, the fashioning of rafts made of bamboo poles bound together with tough grasses and wild vines, which one could propel in the water by paddling with the hands.
The Tall People, who contributed a meagre knowledge of flint, gained the use of the bow and arrow from their old enemies, the Dart13 Throwers. It was a time when men learned much. Of course, many of these things were forgotten in the days of ease and plenty, until the children of the members of the tribes discovered or invented or were shown them all over again in the years that followed.
Strong Arm and Quack Quack and Laughing Boy, in company with the Foolish One and Tall and Big Foot and the Hairy Man, followed the shore of the river in order to reach the home of the Cave People. Scarcely a sound they made, as they wound their way through the heavy grasses that sprung up, with the magic of the tropics, from the rich soil left by the flood.
Of food there was now every day a greater abundance. Fruits ripened14 and grew luscious15 over night. Hundreds of fish were left in shallows by the receding16 flood where they could be gathered by hand. And it was impossible to avoid stumbling over the egg-filled nests of the gulls17 and the oo-ee-a.
Also there were unknown dangers, and Tall 112grew ill with a fever that made the touch of his hands like the flames of the protecting fire. And although Big Foot and Quack Quack brought him every day fresh fruit and other food, which they sometimes roasted in the coals, he drove them away. Steadily18 he grew worse until madness came into his eyes and his voice rose above the quiet of the night and Laughing Boy grew fearful in spite of the friendly fire. For the roars of the sick man, Tall, echoed through the woods and the forest enemies would hear and approach.
But Tall could not be restrained. A new strength that comes with the fever fed his veins19, and a night came when he thrust his companions from him and disappeared, screaming into the woods. They never saw him again. For as he ran, his wild cries filled the night and the very branches of the trees seemed to waken with the tumult20.
Then came the grim howl of the hyena21 and the soft fall of padded feet upon the earth. Down the gulley a strange voice arose. Life stirred in the bushes and the hair on the head of Laughing Boy rose in terror.
Farther and farther receded22 the wailings of the sick man till at last a howl re-echoed in the darkness that brought the band of tribes people huddling23 together in fear. For it was the cry of the sabre-toothed tiger. Came then a stillness 113with only the voice of Tall driving the sweat out upon their bodies.
And while the little band fed the friendly fire and gathered near its protecting flames, they waited for the end of the sick man. It came at last, one long scream of agony, when the greatest enemy of all the hordes came upon him.
Big Foot knew and Strong Arm knew and the others of the tribes knew also that the danger to themselves was over for the night, but long they crouched24 in the light of the flames, ears twitching25, nostrils26 quivering, like images of bronze frozen with fear.
Many other adventures befell the mixed group from the different clans, on their journeyings toward the Hollow which had been the home of the Cave People. There were dangers encountered and evaded27 or overcome in every hour of these eventful days. But at last they reached the ridge28 above the edge of the Hollow. Quack Quack and Strong Arm and the Foolish One and the others climbed the hill and gazed over into what had been once a lovely valley. But much of this lay filled with the soil left by the flood. Tall grasses waved in the breeze, and many new blossoms lifted their heads. And nearly all of the old familiar caves were filled with mud and covered up.
It was all very queer. And while they proceeded 114with caution, as men going into a strange land, the brush before them parted and they beheld29 the grinning features of Big Nose and Light Foot and behind them others of the Cave People, and a fuzzy woman from among the Hairy Folk and strange people and former enemies from the other clans, all of whom had escaped the flood and wandered back toward the dwelling30 places of their tribes.
And Strong Arm scooped31 out the soil that had been washed against the opening of a high cave upon the hill and entered it to rest after his long journey. And he dug with his hands into the soft earth, for he remembered the tubers he had buried there one day when he had been hunting with the men of the tribe, for he was hungry. And lo! many juicy tubers he found where he had buried only two or three. And Strong Arm and Quack Quack ate of the potatoes, while, for a Cave-man, Strong Arm pondered deeply on these things.
He thought much of one tuber and how it had made many tubers, and recalled the words of his father, who had spoken of the mother potato. Then he felt Quack Quack at his side and forgot the matter and fell asleep.
Necessity has been the great spur to the progress of mankind, and it is probable that over and over again, in the early stages of primitive32 culture, the use of fire was discovered and lost and 115forgotten and regained33 before men realized the need which fire supplied. It is almost certain that the art of pottery34 was discovered and lost and rediscovered times without number. It is equally certain that it took primitive man many, many long, dark years to learn to plan for the periods of want and famine.
In tropical countries, where food was to be had in abundance almost the whole year around, no necessity arose for the raising of crops. Man would never have felt the need of learning to cultivate food stuffs in this environment.
Savages35 had only the vaguest notions of the relation of cause and effect. It was necessary for buried tubers to sprout37 new potatoes year after year, for the plants to multiply before their very eyes and the necessity of planting food to have arisen before the relation of sowing and reaping could begin to mean anything to them. Only then did planting assume any tribal38 significance.
Doubtless it was in some semi-tropical country that the discovery of Strong Arm first began to make an impression upon the awakening39 minds of the early savages. Buried sweet yams and others of the potato family which had multiplied and become many yams or potatoes, must have been a wonderful windfall when discovered by the half starved tribes, in the midst of a long season of want. The cause of their growing would then be carefully observed by the clans.
116Be sure that it was necessity that forced the first early savage36 to sow and bury against the days of coming hunger. Man did not take naturally to work. For several hundreds of thousands of years he dwelt in tropical or semi-tropical lands, where food was usually plentiful40, it was only an urgent need that forced him to sow and till the soil. Before that time he had dwelt in the continual problems of the day and had been compelled to give no real thought nor plan for the morrow.
Strong Arm slept in the cave with Quack Quack after their long journey back to the home of their fathers. And he dreamed a dream wherein he saw Tall, the great man from the strange tribe, alive and walking about, just as he had done before the sickness came upon him when he had wandered out into the night and met the sabre-toothed tiger.
And in his dream Strong Arm saw Tall stand before his cave and thrust many tubers in the ground where one tuber had been. And when Strong Arm awoke he told Quack Quack and his brothers and Laughing Boy of his dream in the few words he knew and in signs and pantomime.
And so much Strong Arm wondered that when he ate of the fish that had been roasting, he removed one fish from the ashes and carried it to his cave, where he buried it in the soft earth. 117Then he took the bones of a young boar and buried them also, for when these bones are cracked the marrow41 is very sweet to eat. He desired one fish to grow into a hundred fish and the bones of one wild pig to become a whole forest of bones.
And he tried to tell these things to the tribe—to say that perhaps it was the Spirit of Tall which would come in the night and make many fish out of one and a forest of bones from one young boar. The Cave People came and watched him at his labors42 and chattered43 and gesticulated and wondered.
And in the morning they gathered about to eat of the many fish which Strong Arm hoped to find in the earth in his cave, and to crack the bones and partake of the marrow. But there were only the fish and the bones which Strong Arm had planted and he sat down upon his haunches and wept bitterly. The Cave People were disappointed, and Big Foot mocked him.
Perhaps Strong Arm was one of the first experimenters. He did not give up altogether. Occasionally the thought of many little tubers grown from one big tuber, would seize hold of him, and one day he buried a yellow yam, which resembled our sweet potatoes, and turned up the ground the next day only to find that it had not become a whole dinner of sweet potatoes. He was not sure that Tall, the dead man, or the Spirit of Tall had anything to do with these things. Tall had not 118returned again to Strong Arm in his dreams. It was all very strange. Strong Arm did not understand. Everything was mysterious and confused.
Another time he buried several tubers. The day following he dug them up, but he forgot one or two of these and when, after some time, he jammed about in the soil again, he found a whole armful of tubers. The miracle had come back again. And Tall, or the Spirit of the dead man, had not returned to make possible the wonder. The miracle was stranger than ever.
Almost Strong Arm evolved an idea, an idea that tubers (or potatoes) planted in the earth in the sun, and left for a whole tribe of suns, might in some mysterious manner beyond his understanding become the mother of many potatoes.
Then the Hairy Folk descended44 from the ridge, upon the Cave People. They came with long spears in their hands and cries of death in their fuzzy throats, and Strong Arm and the Cave People gave them to battle. Many were killed and Big Foot roasted the body of one of the enemy upon the coals and the Cave People ate the Hairy Man with much zest45 and relish46.
And the stomachs of the Cave People were distended47 with the feast and Strong Arm strutted48 and danced about the fire with those who had accomplished49 the victory. And he forgot all about 119the idea he had almost achieved, about the planting of potatoes and the making of more sweet yams.
So the discovery, that was only half a discovery, was lost to the tribe for many years. Doubtless if you had reminded him of it and he could have spoken to you in a language you would understand, Strong Arm would have replied that there were the Hairy Folk and the Dart Throwers to be annihilated50, the children of the tribe to be protected and food to be provided and that he had ceased to think of such foolish things as the sticking of fat tubers in the ground in the hope of making them the mothers of many little potatoes, and anyway, these were strange things past all the ability of any man to understand.
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1
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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2
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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3
survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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4
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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6
quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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7
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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10
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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11
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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12
dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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13
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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14
ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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16
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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17
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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19
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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20
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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21
hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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22
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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23
huddling
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| n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事 | |
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24
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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26
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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27
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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28
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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29
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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30
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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31
scooped
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| v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
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32
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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33
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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34
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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35
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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36
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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37
sprout
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| n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条 | |
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38
tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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39
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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40
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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41
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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42
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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43
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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44
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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45
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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46
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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47
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
strutted
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| 趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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50
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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