CHAPTER VIIRA MAKES A NEW SPEARAdhhad been dead a long time, now, and Ra was his great-great-great-great-grandson. He was called Ra because that was the word the Ape-Men used to mean big, or strong, and Ra was the strongest boy in the valley.He lived with his mother and father and several brothers and sisters in a cave high up among the rocks, and because his father was lame, Ra had to do most of the work for the family. He knew how to say a number of words, queer little cries and grunts that meant things, and the hair on his body was not as thick and shaggy as Adh's had been. The Ape-People had been living in caves, protected from the weather, for a long time now, and as they did not need so much hair to keep them warm, the great law of Nature we have heard about before, had begun to take their hair away from them. But it wasnot until Man began to wear clothes that he really lost his coat of hair.There were many Ape-Men in the valley now, descendants of Adh and his wife, and they had hollowed other caves in the soft rock and earth of the hillsides at the upper end of the valley, digging with sharp-pointed sticks and stones. They lived on raw fish, and fruits, roots and nuts, just as Adh and his family had done before them, and the eggs of wild birds, and the young fledglings, which they found in nests among the trees and rocks. They carried long wooden spears, and clubs, and were quick and strong. And because there were plenty of fish in the stream, and in the lake at the lower end of the valley, even during the cold rainy season, they had never thought of storing up food for the Winter. Of such things as clothes, or fire, they knew nothing at all.There were high, rough hills, covered with thick forests, all about the valley, except at its lower end, where the great lake spread out, pouring its waters into the country below through a narrow gorge between two hills. Because thevalley was protected in this way, few enemies came into it to attack the cave men. When one appeared, as sometimes happened, the hunters, with their clubs and spears, would attack it in a body, and while it often happened that some of them were killed, they usually were able to overcome the intruder in the end, or drive him from the valley. The most terrible of these enemies was the sabre-toothed tiger, larger than any tiger you have seen in the circus, with two long sharp teeth or fangs, curving down like sabres from his upper jaw. When this terrible beast appeared, the cave men usually hid in their caves, afraid.Once, when Ra was about twenty years old, a huge beast like an elephant, with long shaggy hair and great curving tusks came splashing up along the marshy shores of the lake, and began to strip and eat the tender leaves and fruit from the young bushes and trees.Ra, who was spearing fish at the upper end of the lake, had never seen such a creature before, and when he caught sight of it coming towards him he was very much frightened.He quickly gave the alarm, and soon twenty ormore of the cave men ran up, and surrounding the huge creature, began to attack it by throwing stones at it, at the same time making a loud noise, hoping to scare it away.The great creature did not mind the stones, at first, for he scarcely felt them, as they bounced from his thick, hairy sides, but soon one of the stones struck him near the eye and hurt him, and he turned on the cave men with a snort of pain, waving his long trunk about in the air.When the cave men saw him coming they did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with all their might at his huge sides with their spears. The spears, however, with their wooden points, while strong enough to pierce a fish, were of no use against the elephant's tough hide, and fell back blunted or broken. Ra, as he saw the great beast coming toward him, its little red eyes gleaming, its long trunk swinging to and fro, drove his spear with all his might at its flank but the point was splintered from the blow and he barely escaped with his life. Three of his companions were trampled to death by the savage creature as they tried to escape, and two more were seized in its great trunk and crushed. The cave men, frightened, ran back to their caves and sat there, helpless, until the animal, unable to find them, had eaten his fill of the leaves and fruit, and gone away, leaving a trail of stripped and broken bushes and trees behind him.THE FIGHT WITH A MAMMOTHThe cave men did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with with their spears.Ra worried a great deal about this fight. He was very angry with the beast because it had killed one of his brothers, and he could not understand why his spear had failed to pierce the elephant's hide. Its point, rubbed sharp on a rock, had always been strong enough to kill the largest fish, but now it was blunt and broken, and Ra did not like it any more.As he sat in the sun before the cave, trying to cut a new point to his spear with a stone, an idea came into his head. Why could he not in some way fasten the stone to the end of his spear? The stone, he knew, was hard enough not to break against the toughest hide. It was a large and clumsy stone, however, and Ra soon saw that he could do nothing with it.The thought pleased him, but he said nothing to any of his friends about it. Instead, he hurriedoff to a place on the shore of the lake where a few days before he had seen some very sharp flat stones, quite different from the clumsy bit of rock he had found near the cave.He gathered several pieces of this stone, and amused himself by striking them against each other and breaking them. At last he got what he wanted, a flat, narrow piece, shaped something like the leaf of a tree, and about as long as his hand. The stone was very hard, and it took him hours to chip and rub it down until it had a sharp point. When at last it was done, he had another thing to think about. How was he to fasten the stone to the end of the spear?He took the spear and looked at it. The blow he had struck against the elephant's side had split the end of it. After a great deal of trouble Ra managed to force the thin flat stone into the split end of the spear. It looked very well, he thought, but he knew it would not stay there unless it were fastened in some way. Glancing about, he saw some of the long, tough marsh grasses that he had often used to string his fish together, when carrying them home. He took some strands of this grass and wrapped them around the end of the spear in such a way that the stone point was held tightly in place. It was a clumsy piece of work, for Ra had never used the grasses in such a way before, but it was strong, as he found out by spearing several fish in the shallow water of the marsh. When he went home, he was very proud of what he had done, and showed the new spear to his father, and to some of his brothers.THE BEGINNING OF THE STONE AGERa's invention of the stone-pointed spear gave the cave men new courage so that they became very fierce and bold.His father did not think much of it, and said wooden-pointed spears were good enough for anybody, but his brothers chattered with pleasure, and got Ra to show them where he had found the white stone, and how he had chipped the spear point into shape, and fastened it on. Before long, they too had stone-pointed spears, and as they made more and more of them they made them stronger and better, using the twisted entrails or guts of fish to bind the points in place, instead of the marsh grasses. Soon all the men in the valley were armed with stone-pointed spears, and some of them, taking Ra's idea, fixed stones in the ends of their heavy clubs, and withthe making of these stone-pointed spears and axes, Man had begun what is known as the Stone Age.Ra's invention was a great blessing to the cave men, for now they were able to fight their enemies on much more even terms. This gave them new courage, and they became very fierce and bold. But it was not only for making weapons that they began to use the hard, sharp bits of flint Ha had discovered. They soon found them useful for many other things. It was easier, to cut a fish to pieces, with a sharp-edged stone, than to tear it to bits with their fingers, so they began the use of flint knives, and later on they made all sorts of tools out of stone, which helped them very much in their daily lives. But these things came later."My new people have learned a great deal, since I have been away," said Mother Nature to the Sun. "Now I am going to teach them to eat meat.""How will you do that?" the Sun asked."By taking away their fish, so that when the Winter comes, they will be hungry."TYPES OF WEAPONS USED BY EARLY MAN"How can you take away their fish?" said the Sun."By taking away their lake," replied Mother Nature, "and for that I shall need Wind and Rain."So she called Wind and Rain to her."Wind and Rain," she said, "I want you to blow up a great storm, and turn the little stream in the valley into a mighty torrent, and when the torrent is strong enough, it will wash away the banks that dam up the lake at the lower end of the valley, and carry the lake, and all the fish in it, right down through the low country into the Ocean."So Wind and Rain made a terrible storm, and the Lightning flashed, and the Thunder roared, and all the cave men crept into their holes in the rocks, afraid. For three days the storm swept through the valley, tearing down the trees, stripping them of their fruit, and turning the stream into a raging muddy torrent, that tore along in its course like a flood.When the Sun at last shone again, and the cave men came out of their holes to see what had happened,their lake was gone, and in the foaming yellow torrent that poured through the valley there was not a single fish.Of course there was some food remaining, fruit, and nuts, and eggs, but with so many to feed it did not last long, and as the cold rainy weather came on, the cave men, without any fish to eat, were soon very hungry. Once more Mother Nature was about to teach them something new by means of suffering and pain.
CHAPTER VIIRA MAKES A NEW SPEARAdhhad been dead a long time, now, and Ra was his great-great-great-great-grandson. He was called Ra because that was the word the Ape-Men used to mean big, or strong, and Ra was the strongest boy in the valley.He lived with his mother and father and several brothers and sisters in a cave high up among the rocks, and because his father was lame, Ra had to do most of the work for the family. He knew how to say a number of words, queer little cries and grunts that meant things, and the hair on his body was not as thick and shaggy as Adh's had been. The Ape-People had been living in caves, protected from the weather, for a long time now, and as they did not need so much hair to keep them warm, the great law of Nature we have heard about before, had begun to take their hair away from them. But it wasnot until Man began to wear clothes that he really lost his coat of hair.There were many Ape-Men in the valley now, descendants of Adh and his wife, and they had hollowed other caves in the soft rock and earth of the hillsides at the upper end of the valley, digging with sharp-pointed sticks and stones. They lived on raw fish, and fruits, roots and nuts, just as Adh and his family had done before them, and the eggs of wild birds, and the young fledglings, which they found in nests among the trees and rocks. They carried long wooden spears, and clubs, and were quick and strong. And because there were plenty of fish in the stream, and in the lake at the lower end of the valley, even during the cold rainy season, they had never thought of storing up food for the Winter. Of such things as clothes, or fire, they knew nothing at all.There were high, rough hills, covered with thick forests, all about the valley, except at its lower end, where the great lake spread out, pouring its waters into the country below through a narrow gorge between two hills. Because thevalley was protected in this way, few enemies came into it to attack the cave men. When one appeared, as sometimes happened, the hunters, with their clubs and spears, would attack it in a body, and while it often happened that some of them were killed, they usually were able to overcome the intruder in the end, or drive him from the valley. The most terrible of these enemies was the sabre-toothed tiger, larger than any tiger you have seen in the circus, with two long sharp teeth or fangs, curving down like sabres from his upper jaw. When this terrible beast appeared, the cave men usually hid in their caves, afraid.Once, when Ra was about twenty years old, a huge beast like an elephant, with long shaggy hair and great curving tusks came splashing up along the marshy shores of the lake, and began to strip and eat the tender leaves and fruit from the young bushes and trees.Ra, who was spearing fish at the upper end of the lake, had never seen such a creature before, and when he caught sight of it coming towards him he was very much frightened.He quickly gave the alarm, and soon twenty ormore of the cave men ran up, and surrounding the huge creature, began to attack it by throwing stones at it, at the same time making a loud noise, hoping to scare it away.The great creature did not mind the stones, at first, for he scarcely felt them, as they bounced from his thick, hairy sides, but soon one of the stones struck him near the eye and hurt him, and he turned on the cave men with a snort of pain, waving his long trunk about in the air.When the cave men saw him coming they did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with all their might at his huge sides with their spears. The spears, however, with their wooden points, while strong enough to pierce a fish, were of no use against the elephant's tough hide, and fell back blunted or broken. Ra, as he saw the great beast coming toward him, its little red eyes gleaming, its long trunk swinging to and fro, drove his spear with all his might at its flank but the point was splintered from the blow and he barely escaped with his life. Three of his companions were trampled to death by the savage creature as they tried to escape, and two more were seized in its great trunk and crushed. The cave men, frightened, ran back to their caves and sat there, helpless, until the animal, unable to find them, had eaten his fill of the leaves and fruit, and gone away, leaving a trail of stripped and broken bushes and trees behind him.THE FIGHT WITH A MAMMOTHThe cave men did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with with their spears.Ra worried a great deal about this fight. He was very angry with the beast because it had killed one of his brothers, and he could not understand why his spear had failed to pierce the elephant's hide. Its point, rubbed sharp on a rock, had always been strong enough to kill the largest fish, but now it was blunt and broken, and Ra did not like it any more.As he sat in the sun before the cave, trying to cut a new point to his spear with a stone, an idea came into his head. Why could he not in some way fasten the stone to the end of his spear? The stone, he knew, was hard enough not to break against the toughest hide. It was a large and clumsy stone, however, and Ra soon saw that he could do nothing with it.The thought pleased him, but he said nothing to any of his friends about it. Instead, he hurriedoff to a place on the shore of the lake where a few days before he had seen some very sharp flat stones, quite different from the clumsy bit of rock he had found near the cave.He gathered several pieces of this stone, and amused himself by striking them against each other and breaking them. At last he got what he wanted, a flat, narrow piece, shaped something like the leaf of a tree, and about as long as his hand. The stone was very hard, and it took him hours to chip and rub it down until it had a sharp point. When at last it was done, he had another thing to think about. How was he to fasten the stone to the end of the spear?He took the spear and looked at it. The blow he had struck against the elephant's side had split the end of it. After a great deal of trouble Ra managed to force the thin flat stone into the split end of the spear. It looked very well, he thought, but he knew it would not stay there unless it were fastened in some way. Glancing about, he saw some of the long, tough marsh grasses that he had often used to string his fish together, when carrying them home. He took some strands of this grass and wrapped them around the end of the spear in such a way that the stone point was held tightly in place. It was a clumsy piece of work, for Ra had never used the grasses in such a way before, but it was strong, as he found out by spearing several fish in the shallow water of the marsh. When he went home, he was very proud of what he had done, and showed the new spear to his father, and to some of his brothers.THE BEGINNING OF THE STONE AGERa's invention of the stone-pointed spear gave the cave men new courage so that they became very fierce and bold.His father did not think much of it, and said wooden-pointed spears were good enough for anybody, but his brothers chattered with pleasure, and got Ra to show them where he had found the white stone, and how he had chipped the spear point into shape, and fastened it on. Before long, they too had stone-pointed spears, and as they made more and more of them they made them stronger and better, using the twisted entrails or guts of fish to bind the points in place, instead of the marsh grasses. Soon all the men in the valley were armed with stone-pointed spears, and some of them, taking Ra's idea, fixed stones in the ends of their heavy clubs, and withthe making of these stone-pointed spears and axes, Man had begun what is known as the Stone Age.Ra's invention was a great blessing to the cave men, for now they were able to fight their enemies on much more even terms. This gave them new courage, and they became very fierce and bold. But it was not only for making weapons that they began to use the hard, sharp bits of flint Ha had discovered. They soon found them useful for many other things. It was easier, to cut a fish to pieces, with a sharp-edged stone, than to tear it to bits with their fingers, so they began the use of flint knives, and later on they made all sorts of tools out of stone, which helped them very much in their daily lives. But these things came later."My new people have learned a great deal, since I have been away," said Mother Nature to the Sun. "Now I am going to teach them to eat meat.""How will you do that?" the Sun asked."By taking away their fish, so that when the Winter comes, they will be hungry."TYPES OF WEAPONS USED BY EARLY MAN"How can you take away their fish?" said the Sun."By taking away their lake," replied Mother Nature, "and for that I shall need Wind and Rain."So she called Wind and Rain to her."Wind and Rain," she said, "I want you to blow up a great storm, and turn the little stream in the valley into a mighty torrent, and when the torrent is strong enough, it will wash away the banks that dam up the lake at the lower end of the valley, and carry the lake, and all the fish in it, right down through the low country into the Ocean."So Wind and Rain made a terrible storm, and the Lightning flashed, and the Thunder roared, and all the cave men crept into their holes in the rocks, afraid. For three days the storm swept through the valley, tearing down the trees, stripping them of their fruit, and turning the stream into a raging muddy torrent, that tore along in its course like a flood.When the Sun at last shone again, and the cave men came out of their holes to see what had happened,their lake was gone, and in the foaming yellow torrent that poured through the valley there was not a single fish.Of course there was some food remaining, fruit, and nuts, and eggs, but with so many to feed it did not last long, and as the cold rainy weather came on, the cave men, without any fish to eat, were soon very hungry. Once more Mother Nature was about to teach them something new by means of suffering and pain.
RA MAKES A NEW SPEAR
Adhhad been dead a long time, now, and Ra was his great-great-great-great-grandson. He was called Ra because that was the word the Ape-Men used to mean big, or strong, and Ra was the strongest boy in the valley.
He lived with his mother and father and several brothers and sisters in a cave high up among the rocks, and because his father was lame, Ra had to do most of the work for the family. He knew how to say a number of words, queer little cries and grunts that meant things, and the hair on his body was not as thick and shaggy as Adh's had been. The Ape-People had been living in caves, protected from the weather, for a long time now, and as they did not need so much hair to keep them warm, the great law of Nature we have heard about before, had begun to take their hair away from them. But it wasnot until Man began to wear clothes that he really lost his coat of hair.
There were many Ape-Men in the valley now, descendants of Adh and his wife, and they had hollowed other caves in the soft rock and earth of the hillsides at the upper end of the valley, digging with sharp-pointed sticks and stones. They lived on raw fish, and fruits, roots and nuts, just as Adh and his family had done before them, and the eggs of wild birds, and the young fledglings, which they found in nests among the trees and rocks. They carried long wooden spears, and clubs, and were quick and strong. And because there were plenty of fish in the stream, and in the lake at the lower end of the valley, even during the cold rainy season, they had never thought of storing up food for the Winter. Of such things as clothes, or fire, they knew nothing at all.
There were high, rough hills, covered with thick forests, all about the valley, except at its lower end, where the great lake spread out, pouring its waters into the country below through a narrow gorge between two hills. Because thevalley was protected in this way, few enemies came into it to attack the cave men. When one appeared, as sometimes happened, the hunters, with their clubs and spears, would attack it in a body, and while it often happened that some of them were killed, they usually were able to overcome the intruder in the end, or drive him from the valley. The most terrible of these enemies was the sabre-toothed tiger, larger than any tiger you have seen in the circus, with two long sharp teeth or fangs, curving down like sabres from his upper jaw. When this terrible beast appeared, the cave men usually hid in their caves, afraid.
Once, when Ra was about twenty years old, a huge beast like an elephant, with long shaggy hair and great curving tusks came splashing up along the marshy shores of the lake, and began to strip and eat the tender leaves and fruit from the young bushes and trees.
Ra, who was spearing fish at the upper end of the lake, had never seen such a creature before, and when he caught sight of it coming towards him he was very much frightened.
He quickly gave the alarm, and soon twenty ormore of the cave men ran up, and surrounding the huge creature, began to attack it by throwing stones at it, at the same time making a loud noise, hoping to scare it away.
The great creature did not mind the stones, at first, for he scarcely felt them, as they bounced from his thick, hairy sides, but soon one of the stones struck him near the eye and hurt him, and he turned on the cave men with a snort of pain, waving his long trunk about in the air.
When the cave men saw him coming they did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with all their might at his huge sides with their spears. The spears, however, with their wooden points, while strong enough to pierce a fish, were of no use against the elephant's tough hide, and fell back blunted or broken. Ra, as he saw the great beast coming toward him, its little red eyes gleaming, its long trunk swinging to and fro, drove his spear with all his might at its flank but the point was splintered from the blow and he barely escaped with his life. Three of his companions were trampled to death by the savage creature as they tried to escape, and two more were seized in its great trunk and crushed. The cave men, frightened, ran back to their caves and sat there, helpless, until the animal, unable to find them, had eaten his fill of the leaves and fruit, and gone away, leaving a trail of stripped and broken bushes and trees behind him.
THE FIGHT WITH A MAMMOTHThe cave men did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with with their spears.
THE FIGHT WITH A MAMMOTHThe cave men did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with with their spears.
THE FIGHT WITH A MAMMOTH
The cave men did their best to get out of the way, at the same time striking with with their spears.
Ra worried a great deal about this fight. He was very angry with the beast because it had killed one of his brothers, and he could not understand why his spear had failed to pierce the elephant's hide. Its point, rubbed sharp on a rock, had always been strong enough to kill the largest fish, but now it was blunt and broken, and Ra did not like it any more.
As he sat in the sun before the cave, trying to cut a new point to his spear with a stone, an idea came into his head. Why could he not in some way fasten the stone to the end of his spear? The stone, he knew, was hard enough not to break against the toughest hide. It was a large and clumsy stone, however, and Ra soon saw that he could do nothing with it.
The thought pleased him, but he said nothing to any of his friends about it. Instead, he hurriedoff to a place on the shore of the lake where a few days before he had seen some very sharp flat stones, quite different from the clumsy bit of rock he had found near the cave.
He gathered several pieces of this stone, and amused himself by striking them against each other and breaking them. At last he got what he wanted, a flat, narrow piece, shaped something like the leaf of a tree, and about as long as his hand. The stone was very hard, and it took him hours to chip and rub it down until it had a sharp point. When at last it was done, he had another thing to think about. How was he to fasten the stone to the end of the spear?
He took the spear and looked at it. The blow he had struck against the elephant's side had split the end of it. After a great deal of trouble Ra managed to force the thin flat stone into the split end of the spear. It looked very well, he thought, but he knew it would not stay there unless it were fastened in some way. Glancing about, he saw some of the long, tough marsh grasses that he had often used to string his fish together, when carrying them home. He took some strands of this grass and wrapped them around the end of the spear in such a way that the stone point was held tightly in place. It was a clumsy piece of work, for Ra had never used the grasses in such a way before, but it was strong, as he found out by spearing several fish in the shallow water of the marsh. When he went home, he was very proud of what he had done, and showed the new spear to his father, and to some of his brothers.
THE BEGINNING OF THE STONE AGERa's invention of the stone-pointed spear gave the cave men new courage so that they became very fierce and bold.
THE BEGINNING OF THE STONE AGERa's invention of the stone-pointed spear gave the cave men new courage so that they became very fierce and bold.
THE BEGINNING OF THE STONE AGE
Ra's invention of the stone-pointed spear gave the cave men new courage so that they became very fierce and bold.
His father did not think much of it, and said wooden-pointed spears were good enough for anybody, but his brothers chattered with pleasure, and got Ra to show them where he had found the white stone, and how he had chipped the spear point into shape, and fastened it on. Before long, they too had stone-pointed spears, and as they made more and more of them they made them stronger and better, using the twisted entrails or guts of fish to bind the points in place, instead of the marsh grasses. Soon all the men in the valley were armed with stone-pointed spears, and some of them, taking Ra's idea, fixed stones in the ends of their heavy clubs, and withthe making of these stone-pointed spears and axes, Man had begun what is known as the Stone Age.
Ra's invention was a great blessing to the cave men, for now they were able to fight their enemies on much more even terms. This gave them new courage, and they became very fierce and bold. But it was not only for making weapons that they began to use the hard, sharp bits of flint Ha had discovered. They soon found them useful for many other things. It was easier, to cut a fish to pieces, with a sharp-edged stone, than to tear it to bits with their fingers, so they began the use of flint knives, and later on they made all sorts of tools out of stone, which helped them very much in their daily lives. But these things came later.
"My new people have learned a great deal, since I have been away," said Mother Nature to the Sun. "Now I am going to teach them to eat meat."
"How will you do that?" the Sun asked.
"By taking away their fish, so that when the Winter comes, they will be hungry."
TYPES OF WEAPONS USED BY EARLY MAN
TYPES OF WEAPONS USED BY EARLY MAN
TYPES OF WEAPONS USED BY EARLY MAN
"How can you take away their fish?" said the Sun.
"By taking away their lake," replied Mother Nature, "and for that I shall need Wind and Rain."
So she called Wind and Rain to her.
"Wind and Rain," she said, "I want you to blow up a great storm, and turn the little stream in the valley into a mighty torrent, and when the torrent is strong enough, it will wash away the banks that dam up the lake at the lower end of the valley, and carry the lake, and all the fish in it, right down through the low country into the Ocean."
So Wind and Rain made a terrible storm, and the Lightning flashed, and the Thunder roared, and all the cave men crept into their holes in the rocks, afraid. For three days the storm swept through the valley, tearing down the trees, stripping them of their fruit, and turning the stream into a raging muddy torrent, that tore along in its course like a flood.
When the Sun at last shone again, and the cave men came out of their holes to see what had happened,their lake was gone, and in the foaming yellow torrent that poured through the valley there was not a single fish.
Of course there was some food remaining, fruit, and nuts, and eggs, but with so many to feed it did not last long, and as the cold rainy weather came on, the cave men, without any fish to eat, were soon very hungry. Once more Mother Nature was about to teach them something new by means of suffering and pain.