CHAPTER VIII The Pictures on the Wall

Bek, the oldest man in the Clan¹, lived in a cave not very far from the one where Flame kept the Great Fire.

 

It was a wonderful cave, more wonderful even, the boys thought, than Flame’s. They were almost afraid to go into it, however, for the cave people thought old Bek had the power of making charms.

 

One day as Bolo peeped into Bek’s cave the old man was drawing a picture on a smooth place on the rock wall. He had a queer little lamp made of hollowed chalk-stone. This was filled with fat. Into the fat Bek had stuck a bit of the pith of a water-rush. He could light this little chalk-cup lamp and go on with his pictures when he had no need for fire.

 

“What are you doing?” asked Bolo.

 

“Come and see,” said Bek.

 

When Bolo went closer he saw that it was a drawing of a reindeer². He watched as Bek added line after line, bringing out the graceful³ curve of the neck, the turn of the long, branching horns, and the dainty, slender legs.

 

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“I should like to make a picture, too,” said Bolo eagerly.

 

“You may try,” said Bek, handing him the bit of brown soft stone he had been using.

 

So Bolo tried and tried, but when he was done no one could have told what it was he had been trying to draw.

 

“I will make pictures yet some day,” cried Bolo, throwing down the stone. “I will make the cave bear I killed, and the mammoths.”

 

“See here, now,” said Bek.

 

He took a large, smooth piece of the tusk⁵ of the mammoth⁴ the cave men had killed. One Eye had given him one of the ivory tusks⁶ because he knew the old man loved beautiful things, and the ivory was very smooth and beautiful. Then he took a sharp flint awl⁷ and began to make deep, careful marks in the ivory. Bolo watched him with great interest.

 

“Why, it is the mammoth itself,” he cried at last. “Only wait, Bek; the great tusk did not curve up quite like that. It was more like this.”

 

Bolo took the awl and made a mark that he thought showed more nearly how the tusk looked. Yet he was not quite satisfied and tried again, and the next time both he and Bek declared that the curve was right.

 

“Now we must put in the long hair,” said Bek, drawing short, straight lines down over the animal’s head and shoulders. “There, now! here is the eye, too, and the big, flapping ears. Ah, ha, my Bolo, we must show this to One Eye and see what he says.”

 

When One Eye saw the drawing he became very grave.

 

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“It is a charm,” he said. “Whoever carries that can never be harmed by a mammoth.”

 

So he bored a hole through one end of the ivory and ran a thong⁸ through it. Then he hung it about Bolo’s neck. The lad was very proud of his new ornament⁹ and showed everybody the wonderful picture Bek had made.

 

Day after day Bolo worked with Bek in his cave. Many were the drawings he made, or tried to make, and at last old Bek began to say he was doing very well.

 

“The animals like to have us make their pictures,” said Bek. “They think we want to be friends with them when we do that.”

 

“I will make them look more like animals,” said Bolo. “I will cut them out with my flint knife.” So after he had drawn¹⁰ a picture of a reindeer he cut it out very carefully.

 

Now it was Bek’s turn to be surprised.

 

“I had never thought of doing that,” he said. So he, too, tried to carve pictures of animals he had drawn.

 

By and by other cave men began to be interested in the pictures that Bek and Bolo made, and soon many of the men were trying their skill. The women brought a sort of red and brown clay, and painted the animals after the men had drawn them on the cave walls.

 

And although all this was thousands and thousands of years ago, the drawings and paintings are still to be seen. They tell us many things more than have been related here about the cave men of Bolo’s time. They tell us of another animal, more terrible than the cave bear or the mammoth, the dreaded¹¹ Sabre-Tooth, striped with rich, velvety¹² brown like a tiger, and strong and bloodthirsty[40] as a lion. They tell us of the ways in which the cave men fought and lived and learned, and so came to know many things that were never dreamed of in the days of Bolo. But all that is another story.

 

What is of more interest to us just now is to know that when Flame died, many years after the great hunt, Fisher was made Keeper of the Great Fire in her stead. This was the highest honor the Clan could show, excepting only the honor they had shown to One Eye when they made him their leader.

 

“Bolo must learn many things,” said One Eye. “I am growing old and the Clan must never again be without a lawmaker. And the man who is to make the laws must be fearless and wise and good.”

 

It was long after that, however, before Bolo took his place at the head of the Clan. For One Eye lived to an old age, and became wiser and more just with every year.

 

Little Antelope¹³ grew up as pretty and graceful as the beautiful animal whose name she bore. When the young Chief of another Clan, living in a valley far across the hills, saw her as she sat sewing skins beside her mother, and called to her to follow him, she did so gladly, for he was tall and brave and handsome.

 

There was another pretty maiden¹⁴, too, whom Bolo thought the loveliest he had ever seen. So, one day he found a new cave, where no one had ever lived, and made it ready for his own home.

 

But how he won the maiden, and what brave deeds he did in his long after years cannot be told here. That, too, is another story.

1 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

2 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。

3 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

4 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

5 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

6 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

7 awl   

n.尖钻

参考例句：

• Six awl make a shoemaker.六个鞋砧，练出一个鞋匠。
• It was fun to play with an awl.玩钻子是件很有趣的事。

8 thong   

n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带

参考例句：

• He fastened the dog to the post with a thong.他用一根皮带把狗拴到柱子上。
• If I switch with Harry,do I have to wear a thong?如果我和哈里调换，我应该穿皮带吗？

9 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

12 velvety   

adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的

参考例句：

• a velvety red wine 醇厚的红葡萄酒
• Her skin was admired for its velvety softness. 她的皮肤如天鹅绒般柔软，令人赞叹。

13 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

14 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。