He was a monster of cruelty, which is saying a great deal in that day. He beat his wives—not that he ever had more than one wife at a time, but that he was married many times. It was impossible for any woman to live with him, and yet they did live with him, out of compulsion. There was no gainsaying5 him.
No man was strong enough to stand against him.
Often do I have visions of the quiet hour before the twilight6. From drinking-place and carrot patch and berry swamp the Folk are trooping into the open space before the caves. They dare linger no later than this, for the dreadful darkness is approaching, in which the world is given over to the carnage of the hunting animals, while the fore-runners of man hide tremblingly in their holes.
There yet remain to us a few minutes before we climb to our caves. We are tired from the play of the day, and the sounds we make are subdued7. Even the cubs8, still greedy for fun and antics, play with restraint. The wind from the sea has died down, and the shadows are lengthening9 with the last of the sun’s descent. And then, suddenly, from Red-Eye’s cave, breaks a wild screaming and the sound of blows. He is beating his wife.
At first an awed10 silence comes upon us. But as the blows and screams continue we break out into an insane gibbering of helpless rage. It is plain that the men resent Red-Eye’s actions, but they are too afraid of him. The blows cease, and a low groaning11 dies away, while we chatter12 among ourselves and the sad twilight creeps upon us.
We, to whom most happenings were jokes, never laughed during Red-Eye’s wife-beatings. We knew too well the tragedy of them. On more than one morning, at the base of the cliff, did we find the body of his latest wife. He had tossed her there, after she had died, from his cave-mouth. He never buried his dead. The task of carrying away the bodies, that else would have polluted our abiding-place, he left to the horde. We usually flung them into the river below the last drinking-place.
Not alone did Red-Eye murder his wives, but he also murdered for his wives, in order to get them. When he wanted a new wife and selected the wife of another man, he promptly13 killed that man. Two of these murders I saw myself. The whole horde knew, but could do nothing. We had not yet developed any government, to speak of, inside the horde. We had certain customs and visited our wrath14 upon the unlucky ones who violated those customs. Thus, for example, the individual who defiled15 a drinking-place would be attacked by every onlooker16, while one who deliberately17 gave a false alarm was the recipient18 of much rough usage at our hands. But Red-Eye walked rough-shod over all our customs, and we so feared him that we were incapable of the collective action necessary to punish him.
It was during the sixth winter in our cave that Lop-Ear and I discovered that we were really growing up. From the first it had been a squeeze to get in through the entrance-crevice19. This had had its advantages, however. It had prevented the larger Folk from taking our cave away from us. And it was a most desirable cave, the highest on the bluff20, the safest, and in winter the smallest and warmest.
To show the stage of the mental development of the Folk, I may state that it would have been a simple thing for some of them to have driven us out and enlarged the crevice-opening. But they never thought of it. Lop-Ear and I did not think of it either until our increasing size compelled us to make an enlargement. This occurred when summer was well along and we were fat with better forage21. We worked at the crevice in spells, when the fancy struck us.
At first we dug the crumbling22 rocks away with our fingers, until our nails got sore, when I accidentally stumbled upon the idea of using a piece of wood on the rock. This worked well. Also it worked woe23. One morning early, we had scratched out of the wall quite a heap of fragments. I gave the heap a shove over the lip of the entrance. The next moment there came up from below a howl of rage. There was no need to look. We knew the voice only too well. The rubbish had descended24 upon Red-Eye.
We crouched25 down in the cave in consternation26. A minute later he was at the entrance, peering in at us with his inflamed27 eyes and raging like a demon28. But he was too large. He could not get in to us. Suddenly he went away. This was suspicious. By all we knew of Folk nature he should have remained and had out his rage. I crept to the entrance and peeped down. I could see him just beginning to mount the bluff again. In one hand he carried a long stick. Before I could divine his plan, he was back at the entrance and savagely29 jabbing the stick in at us.
His thrusts were prodigious30. They could have disembowelled us. We shrank back against the side-walls, where we were almost out of range. But by industrious31 poking32 he got us now and again—cruel, scraping jabs with the end of the stick that raked off the hide and hair. When we screamed with the hurt, he roared his satisfaction and jabbed the harder.
I began to grow angry. I had a temper of my own in those days, and pretty considerable courage, too, albeit33 it was largely the courage of the cornered rat. I caught hold of the stick with my hands, but such was his strength that he jerked me into the crevice. He reached for me with his long arm, and his nails tore my flesh as I leaped back from the clutch and gained the comparative safety of the side-wall.
He began poking again, and caught me a painful blow on the shoulder. Beyond shivering with fright and yelling when he was hit, Lop-Ear did nothing. I looked for a stick with which to jab back, but found only the end of a branch, an inch through and a foot long. I threw this at Red-Eye. It did no damage, though he howled with a sudden increase of rage at my daring to strike back. He began jabbing furiously. I found a fragment of rock and threw it at him, striking him on the chest.
This emboldened34 me, and, besides, I was now as angry as he, and had lost all fear. I ripped a fragment of rock from the wall. The piece must have weighed two or three pounds. With my strength I slammed it full into Red-Eye’s face. It nearly finished him. He staggered backward, dropping his stick, and almost fell off the cliff.
He was a ferocious35 sight. His face was covered with blood, and he was snarling36 and gnashing his fangs37 like a wild boar. He wiped the blood from his eyes, caught sight of me, and roared with fury. His stick was gone, so he began ripping out chunks38 of crumbling rock and throwing them in at me. This supplied me with ammunition39. I gave him as good as he sent, and better; for he presented a good target, while he caught only glimpses of me as I snuggled against the side-wall.
Suddenly he disappeared again. From the lip of the cave I saw him descending40. All the horde had gathered outside and in awed silence was looking on. As he descended, the more timid ones scurried41 for their caves. I could see old Marrow-Bone tottering42 along as fast as he could. Red-Eye sprang out from the wall and finished the last twenty feet through the air. He landed alongside a mother who was just beginning the ascent43. She screamed with fear, and the two-year-old child that was clinging to her released its grip and rolled at Red-Eye’s feet. Both he and the mother reached for it, and he got it. The next moment the frail44 little body had whirled through the air and shattered against the wall. The mother ran to it, caught it up in her arms, and crouched over it crying.
Red-Eye started over to pick up the stick. Old Marrow-Bone had tottered45 into his way. Red-Eye’s great hand shot out and clutched the old man by the back of the neck. I looked to see his neck broken. His body went limp as he surrendered himself to his fate. Red-Eye hesitated a moment, and Marrow-Bone, shivering terribly, bowed his head and covered his face with his crossed arms. Then Red-Eye slammed him face-downward to the ground. Old Marrow-Bone did not struggle. He lay there crying with the fear of death. I saw the Hairless One, out in the open space, beating his chest and bristling46, but afraid to come forward. And then, in obedience47 to some whim48 of his erratic49 spirit, Red-Eye let the old man alone and passed on and recovered the stick.
He returned to the wall and began to climb up. Lop-Ear, who was shivering and peeping alongside of me, scrambled50 back into the cave. It was plain that Red-Eye was bent51 upon murder. I was desperate and angry and fairly cool. Running back and forth52 along the neighboring ledges53, I gathered a heap of rocks at the cave-entrance. Red-Eye was now several yards beneath me, concealed54 for the moment by an out-jut of the cliff. As he climbed, his head came into view, and I banged a rock down. It missed, striking the wall and shattering; but the flying dust and grit55 filled his eyes and he drew back out of view.
A chuckling56 and chattering57 arose from the horde, that played the part of audience. At last there was one of the Folk who dared to face Red-Eye. As their approval and acclamation arose on the air, Red-Eye snarled58 down at them, and on the instant they were subdued to silence. Encouraged by this evidence of his power, he thrust his head into view, and by scowling59 and snarling and gnashing his fangs tried to intimidate60 me. He scowled61 horribly, contracting the scalp strongly over the brows and bringing the hair down from the top of the head until each hair stood apart and pointed62 straight forward.
The sight chilled me, but I mastered my fear, and, with a stone poised63 in my hand, threatened him back. He still tried to advance. I drove the stone down at him and made a sheer miss. The next shot was a success. The stone struck him on the neck. He slipped back out of sight, but as he disappeared I could see him clutching for a grip on the wall with one hand, and with the other clutching at his throat. The stick fell clattering64 to the ground.
I could not see him any more, though I could hear him choking and strangling and coughing. The audience kept a death-like silence. I crouched on the lip of the entrance and waited. The strangling and coughing died down, and I could hear him now and again clearing his throat. A little later he began to climb down. He went very quietly, pausing every moment or so to stretch his neck or to feel it with his hand.
At the sight of him descending, the whole horde, with wild screams and yells, stampeded for the woods. Old Marrow-Bone, hobbling and tottering, followed behind. Red-Eye took no notice of the flight. When he reached the ground he skirted the base of the bluff and climbed up and into his own cave. He did not look around once.
I stared at Lop-Ear, and he stared back. We understood each other. Immediately, and with great caution and quietness, we began climbing up the cliff. When we reached the top we looked back. The abiding-place was deserted65, Red-Eye remained in his cave, and the horde had disappeared in the depths of the forest.
We turned and ran. We dashed across the open spaces and down the slopes unmindful of possible snakes in the grass, until we reached the woods. Up into the trees we went, and on and on, swinging our arboreal66 flight until we had put miles between us and the caves. And then, and not till then, in the security of a great fork, we paused, looked at each other, and began to laugh. We held on to each other, arms and legs, our eyes streaming tears, our sides aching, and laughed and laughed and laughed.
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1
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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gainsaying
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| v.否认，反驳( gainsay的现在分词 ) | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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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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lengthening
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长 | |
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10
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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13
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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15
defiled
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| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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16
onlooker
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| n.旁观者，观众 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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22
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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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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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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32
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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36
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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37
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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38
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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39
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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40
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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41
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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43
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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45
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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46
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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47
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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48
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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49
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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50
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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51
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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52
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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53
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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54
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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55
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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56
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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57
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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59
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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60
intimidate
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| vt.恐吓，威胁 | |
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61
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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65
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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arboreal
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| adj.树栖的；树的 | |
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