In an open space among the trees, near to the river, the fire was burning. About it were half a dozen Fire-Men. Lop-Ear clutched me suddenly, and I could feel him tremble. I looked more closely, and saw the wizened1 little old hunter who had shot Broken-Tooth out of the tree years before. When he got up and walked about, throwing fresh wood upon the fire, I saw that he limped with his crippled leg. Whatever it was, it was a permanent injury. He seemed more dried up and wizened than ever, and the hair on his face was quite gray.
The other hunters were young men. I noted2, lying near them on the ground, their bows and arrows, and I knew the weapons for what they were. The Fire-Men wore animal skins around their waists and across their shoulders. Their arms and legs, however, were bare, and they wore no footgear. As I have said before, they were not quite so hairy as we of the Folk. They did not have large heads, and between them and the Folk there was very little difference in the degree of the slant3 of the head back from the eyes.
They were less stooped than we, less springy in their movements. Their backbones4 and hips5 and knee-joints seemed more rigid6. Their arms were not so long as ours either, and I did not notice that they ever balanced themselves when they walked, by touching7 the ground on either side with their hands. Also, their muscles were more rounded and symmetrical than ours, and their faces were more pleasing. Their nose orifices opened downward; likewise the bridges of their noses were more developed, did not look so squat8 nor crushed as ours. Their lips were less flabby and pendent, and their eye-teeth did not look so much like fangs9. However, they were quite as thin-hipped as we, and did not weigh much more. Take it all in all, they were less different from us than were we from the Tree People. Certainly, all three kinds were related, and not so remotely related at that.
The fire around which they sat was especially attractive. Lop-Ear and I sat for hours, watching the flames and smoke. It was most fascinating when fresh fuel was thrown on and showers of sparks went flying upward. I wanted to come closer and look at the fire, but there was no way. We were crouching10 in the forks of a tree on the edge of the open space, and we did not dare run the risk of being discovered.
The Fire-Men squatted11 around the fire and slept with their heads bowed forward on their knees. They did not sleep soundly. Their ears twitched12 in their sleep, and they were restless. Every little while one or another got up and threw more wood upon the fire. About the circle of light in the forest, in the darkness beyond, roamed hunting animals. Lop-Ear and I could tell them by their sounds. There were wild dogs and a hyena13, and for a time there was a great yelping14 and snarling15 that awakened16 on the instant the whole circle of sleeping Fire-Men.
Once a lion and a lioness stood beneath our tree and gazed out with bristling17 hair and blinking eyes. The lion licked his chops and was nervous with eagerness, as if he wanted to go forward and make a meal. But the lioness was more cautious. It was she that discovered us, and the pair stood and looked up at us, silently, with twitching18, scenting19 nostrils20. Then they growled21, looked once again at the fire, and turned away into the forest.
For a much longer time Lop-Ear and I remained and watched. Now and again we could hear the crashing of heavy bodies in the thickets22 and underbrush, and from the darkness of the other side, across the circle, we could see eyes gleaming in the firelight. In the distance we heard a lion roar, and from far off came the scream of some stricken animal, splashing and floundering in a drinking-place. Also, from the river, came a great grunting23 of rhinoceroses24.
In the morning, after having had our sleep, we crept back to the fire. It was still smouldering, and the Fire-Men were gone. We made a circle through the forest to make sure, and then we ran to the fire. I wanted to see what it was like, and between thumb and finger I picked up a glowing coal. My cry of pain and fear, as I dropped it, stampeded Lop-Ear into the trees, and his flight frightened me after him.
The next time we came back more cautiously, and we avoided the glowing coals. We fell to imitating the Fire-Men. We squatted down by the fire, and with heads bent25 forward on our knees, made believe to sleep. Then we mimicked26 their speech, talking to each other in their fashion and making a great gibberish. I remembered seeing the wizened old hunter poke27 the fire with a stick. I poked28 the fire with a stick, turning up masses of live coals and clouds of white ashes. This was great sport, and soon we were coated white with the ashes.
It was inevitable29 that we should imitate the Fire-Men in replenishing the fire. We tried it first with small pieces of wood. It was a success. The wood flamed up and crackled, and we danced and gibbered with delight. Then we began to throw on larger pieces of wood. We put on more and more, until we had a mighty30 fire. We dashed excitedly back and forth31, dragging dead limbs and branches from out the forest. The flames soared higher and higher, and the smoke-column out-towered the trees. There was a tremendous snapping and crackling and roaring. It was the most monumental work we had ever effected with our hands, and we were proud of it. We, too, were Fire-Men, we thought, as we danced there, white gnomes32 in the conflagration33.
The dried grass and underbrush caught fire, but we did not notice it. Suddenly a great tree on the edge of the open space burst into flames.
We looked at it with startled eyes. The heat of it drove us back. Another tree caught, and another, and then half a dozen. We were frightened. The monster had broken loose. We crouched34 down in fear, while the fire ate around the circle and hemmed35 us in. Into Lop-Ear’s eyes came the plaintive36 look that always accompanied incomprehension, and I know that in my eyes must have been the same look. We huddled37, with our arms around each other, until the heat began to reach us and the odor of burning hair was in our nostrils. Then we made a dash of it, and fled away westward38 through the forest, looking back and laughing as we ran.
By the middle of the day we came to a neck of land, made, as we afterward39 discovered, by a great curve of the river that almost completed a circle. Right across the neck lay bunched several low and partly wooded hills. Over these we climbed, looking backward at the forest which had become a sea of flame that swept eastward40 before a rising wind. We continued to the west, following the river bank, and before we knew it we were in the midst of the abiding-place of the Fire People.
This abiding-place was a splendid strategic selection. It was a peninsula, protected on three sides by the curving river. On only one side was it accessible by land. This was the narrow neck of the peninsula, and here the several low hills were a natural obstacle. Practically isolated41 from the rest of the world, the Fire People must have here lived and prospered42 for a long time. In fact, I think it was their prosperity that was responsible for the subsequent migration43 that worked such calamity44 upon the Folk. The Fire People must have increased in numbers until they pressed uncomfortably against the bounds of their habitat. They were expanding, and in the course of their expanding they drove the Folk before them, and settled down themselves in the caves and occupied the territory that we had occupied.
But Lop-Ear and I little dreamed of all this when we found ourselves in the Fire People’s stronghold. We had but one idea, and that was to get away, though we could not forbear humoring our curiosity by peeping out upon the village. For the first time we saw the women and children of the Fire People. The latter ran for the most part naked, though the former wore skins of wild animals.
The Fire People, like ourselves, lived in caves. The open space in front of the caves sloped down to the river, and in the open space burned many small fires. But whether or not the Fire People cooked their food, I do not know. Lop-Ear and I did not see them cook. Yet it is my opinion that they surely must have performed some sort of rude cookery. Like us, they carried water in gourds45 from the river. There was much coming and going, and loud cries made by the women and children. The latter played about and cut up antics quite in the same way as did the children of the Folk, and they more nearly resembled the children of the Folk than did the grown Fire People resemble the grown Folk.
Lop-Ear and I did not linger long. We saw some of the part-grown boys shooting with bow and arrow, and we sneaked46 back into the thicker forest and made our way to the river. And there we found a catamaran, a real catamaran, one evidently made by some Fire-Man. The two logs were small and straight, and were lashed47 together by means of tough roots and crosspieces of wood.
This time the idea occurred simultaneously48 to us. We were trying to escape out of the Fire People’s territory. What better way than by crossing the river on these logs? We climbed on board and shoved off. A sudden something gripped the catamaran and flung it downstream violently against the bank. The abrupt49 stoppage almost whipped us off into the water. The catamaran was tied to a tree by a rope of twisted roots. This we untied50 before shoving off again.
By the time we had paddled well out into the current, we had drifted so far downstream that we were in full view of the Fire People’s abiding-place. So occupied were we with our paddling, our eyes fixed51 upon the other bank, that we knew nothing until aroused by a yell from the shore. We looked around. There were the Fire People, many of them, looking at us and pointing at us, and more were crawling out of the caves. We sat up to watch, and forgot all about paddling. There was a great hullabaloo on the shore. Some of the Fire-Men discharged their bows at us, and a few of the arrows fell near us, but the range was too great.
It was a great day for Lop-Ear and me. To the east the conflagration we had started was filling half the sky with smoke. And here we were, perfectly52 safe in the middle of the river, encircling the Fire People’s stronghold. We sat and laughed at them as we dashed by, swinging south, and southeast to east, and even to northeast, and then east again, southeast and south and on around to the west, a great double curve where the river nearly tied a knot in itself.
As we swept on to the west, the Fire People far behind, a familiar scene flashed upon our eyes.
It was the great drinking-place, where we had wandered once or twice to watch the circus of the animals when they came down to drink. Beyond it, we knew, was the carrot patch, and beyond that the caves and the abiding-place of the horde53. We began to paddle for the bank that slid swiftly past, and before we knew it we were down upon the drinking-places used by the horde. There were the women and children, the water carriers, a number of them, filling their gourds. At sight of us they stampeded madly up the run-ways, leaving behind them a trail of gourds they had dropped.
We landed, and of course we neglected to tie up the catamaran, which floated off down the river. Right cautiously we crept up a run-way. The Folk had all disappeared into their holes, though here and there we could see a face peering out at us. There was no sign of Red-Eye. We were home again. And that night we slept in our own little cave high up on the cliff, though first we had to evict54 a couple of pugnacious55 youngsters who had taken possession.
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1
wizened
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| adj.凋谢的；枯槁的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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backbones
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| n.骨干( backbone的名词复数 )；脊骨；骨气；脊骨状物 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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6
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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7
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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8
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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9
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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10
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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11
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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12
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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13
hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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14
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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15
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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16
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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17
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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19
scenting
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| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
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20
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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21
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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22
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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24
rhinoceroses
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| n.钱，钞票( rhino的名词复数 )；犀牛(=rhinoceros)；犀牛( rhinoceros的名词复数 )；脸皮和犀牛皮一样厚 | |
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25
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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26
mimicked
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| v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的过去式和过去分词 )；酷似 | |
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27
poke
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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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28
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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29
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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30
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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32
gnomes
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| n.矮子( gnome的名词复数 )；侏儒；（尤指金融市场上搞投机的）银行家；守护神 | |
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33
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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34
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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36
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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37
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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38
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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39
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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40
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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41
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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42
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
migration
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| n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙 | |
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44
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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45
gourds
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| n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 ) | |
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46
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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47
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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48
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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49
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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50
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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51
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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52
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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53
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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54
evict
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| vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走 | |
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55
pugnacious
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| adj.好斗的 | |
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