At the end of several days his leaving home was accomplished6. He wailed7 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 habitual8 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 strings9 and springs and we could do anything.
Broken-Tooth displayed remarkable10 agility11 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 truthful12, 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 fully13 fifteen feet out from the perpendicular14, was the thick branch of another tree.
As we ran out the limb, Broken-Tooth, facing us, would begin teetering. This naturally impeded15 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 bent16 far down under the impact, and sometimes there was an ominous17 crackling; but it never broke, and out of the leaves was always to be seen the face of Broken-Tooth grinning triumphantly18 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 crouching19 close against the trunk. Instinctively20 I crouched21 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 rustling22 leaves.
I heard the crackle of a dry twig23, 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 ragged24 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.
It came to me instantly, as I looked at him. This was the terror of the northeast, of which the mystery of smoke was a token. Yet I was puzzled. Certainly he was nothing of which to be afraid. Red-Eye or any of our strong men would have been more than a match for him. He was old, too, wizened25 with age, and the hair on his face was gray. Also, he limped badly with one leg. There was no doubt at all that we could out-run him and out-climb him. He could never catch us, that was certain.
But he carried something in his hand that I had never seen before. It was a bow and arrow. But at that time a bow and arrow had no meaning for me. How was I to know that death lurked26 in that bent piece of wood? But Lop-Ear knew. He had evidently seen the Fire People before and knew something of their ways. The Fire-Man peered up at him and circled around the tree. And around the main trunk above the fork Lop-Ear circled too, keeping always the trunk between himself and the Fire-Man.
The latter abruptly27 reversed his circling. Lop-Ear, caught unawares, also hastily reversed, but did not win the protection of the trunk until after the Fire-Man had twanged the bow.
I saw the arrow leap up, miss Lop-Ear, glance against a limb, and fall back to the ground. I danced up and down on my lofty perch28 with delight. It was a game! The Fire-Man was throwing things at Lop-Ear as we sometimes threw things at one another.
The game continued a little longer, but Lop-Ear did not expose himself a second time. Then the Fire-Man gave it up. I leaned far out over my horizontal limb and chattered29 down at him. I wanted to play. I wanted to have him try to hit me with the thing. He saw me, but ignored me, turning his attention to Broken-Tooth, who was still teetering slightly and involuntarily on the end of the branch.
The first arrow leaped upward. Broken-Tooth yelled with fright and pain. It had reached its mark. This put a new complexion30 on the matter. I no longer cared to play, but crouched trembling close to my limb. A second arrow and a third soared up, missing Broken-Tooth, rustling the leaves as they passed through, arching in their flight and returning to earth.
The Fire-Man stretched his bow again. He shifted his position, walking away several steps, then shifted it a second time. The bow-string twanged, the arrow leaped upward, and Broken-Tooth, uttering a terrible scream, fell off the branch. I saw him as he went down, turning over and over, all arms and legs it seemed, the shaft31 of the arrow projecting from his chest and appearing and disappearing with each revolution of his body.
Sheer down, screaming, seventy feet he fell, smashing to the earth with an audible thud and crunch32, his body rebounding33 slightly and settling down again. Still he lived, for he moved and squirmed, clawing with his hands and feet. I remember the Fire-Man running forward with a stone and hammering him on the head...and then I remember no more.
Always, during my childhood, at this stage of the dream, did I wake up screaming with fright—to find, often, my mother or nurse, anxious and startled, by my bedside, passing soothing34 hands through my hair and telling me that they were there and that there was nothing to fear.
My next dream, in the order of succession, begins always with the flight of Lop-Ear and myself through the forest. The Fire-Man and Broken-Tooth and the tree of the tragedy are gone. Lop-Ear and I, in a cautious panic, are fleeing through the trees. In my right leg is a burning pain; and from the flesh, protruding35 head and shaft from either side, is an arrow of the Fire-Man. Not only did the pull and strain of it pain me severely36, but it bothered my movements and made it impossible for me to keep up with Lop-Ear.
At last I gave up, crouching in the secure fork of a tree. Lop-Ear went right on. I called to him—most plaintively37, I remember; and he stopped and looked back. Then he returned to me, climbing into the fork and examining the arrow. He tried to pull it out, but one way the flesh resisted the barbed head, and the other way it resisted the feathered shaft. Also, it hurt grievously, and I stopped him.
For some time we crouched there, Lop-Ear nervous and anxious to be gone, perpetually and apprehensively38 peering this way and that, and myself whimpering softly and sobbing39. Lop-Ear was plainly in a funk, and yet his conduct in remaining by me, in spite of his fear, I take as a foreshadowing of the altruism40 and comradeship that have helped make man the mightiest41 of the animals.
Once again Lop-Ear tried to drag the arrow through the flesh, and I angrily stopped him. Then he bent down and began gnawing42 the shaft of the arrow with his teeth. As he did so he held the arrow firmly in both hands so that it would not play about in the wound, and at the same time I held on to him. I often meditate43 upon this scene—the two of us, half-grown cubs44, in the childhood of the race, and the one mastering his fear, beating down his selfish impulse of flight, in order to stand by and succor45 the other. And there rises up before me all that was there foreshadowed, and I see visions of Damon and Pythias, of life-saving crews and Red Cross nurses, of martyrs46 and leaders of forlorn hopes, of Father Damien, and of the Christ himself, and of all the men of earth, mighty47 of stature48, whose strength may trace back to the elemental loins of Lop-Ear and Big-Tooth and other dim denizens49 of the Younger World.
When Lop-Ear had chewed off the head of the arrow, the shaft was withdrawn50 easily enough. I started to go on, but this time it was he that stopped me. My leg was bleeding profusely51. Some of the smaller veins52 had doubtless been ruptured53. Running out to the end of a branch, Lop-Ear gathered a handful of green leaves. These he stuffed into the wound. They accomplished the purpose, for the bleeding soon stopped. Then we went on together, back to the safety of the caves.
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1
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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24
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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wizened
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| adj.凋谢的；枯槁的 | |
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lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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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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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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32
crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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rebounding
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| 蹦跳运动 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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35
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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apprehensively
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| adv.担心地 | |
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39
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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40
altruism
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| n.利他主义，不自私 | |
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41
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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42
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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43
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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44
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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45
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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46
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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47
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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48
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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50
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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51
profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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52
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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53
ruptured
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| v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交 | |
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