Part 7

All the Cave People shivered with fear, for they thought this was a very foolish thing. They believed that the spirits of the dead grow angry when their weapons are broken or destroyed and they felt sure that the spirit of Strong Arm would punish Big Foot for the desecration he had worked on the club of the old chief.

But Big Foot was too angry to be afraid. White foam appeared upon his lips. When he thought of the spirit of Strong Arm he longed for a tangible foe, with flesh upon his bones that he might crush, with red juice in his skin that he might spill, with ears and a nose that he might bite and twist and tear. He desired an enemy into whose soft belly he might hurl one of his sharp arrows.

But there were only the Cave People beside him and the menace in their eyes and their lips, pulled back, snarling from their teeth, made him afraid. So he lifted up his voice in a frenzy of hate and scorn while he called the name of “Strong Arm! Strong Arm! Maker of lies;” he called him, and “Fool! Coward! Weak One! Baby!” and “Snake-that-crawls!” while he made violent gestures of hatred and disgust.

The Cave People watched him fearfully. To them it did not seem the part of wisdom to mock and defy the spirit of Strong Arm, which still lived, though his body had perished. Something was bound to happen. Strong Arm had never permitted any man to speak thus of him when he was living in the flesh and they did not believe his spirit would endure insult from Big Foot. Indeed, yes, something was sure to happen.

But it was not good for the whole tribe to be punished or blamed for the foolishness of Big Foot. This they knew and they made haste to put wide distances between themselves and him, pursuing their own work or their own ends with much ostentation as far as possible removed from his presence. If the spirit of Strong Arm was hiding in the valley and had chanced to overhear the evil words of Big Foot, no flat-headed savage among the tribe wanted Strong Arm to fancy he had anything to do with these things. They washed their hands of the whole affair and departed from the immediate presence of Big Foot.

The more Big Foot raved, the oftener One Ear called upon the spirit of Strong Arm, crying:

“Brave one! Wise one! Swift of foot” and “Give us of thy counsel!” And the Cave People began talking in loud voices of the good deeds of their old chief, of his courage and strength, of his wisdom and his “Eye-that-never-slept.”

While Big Foot defied the spirit of Strong Arm, One Ear and the Cave People sought to propitiate him with loud words of admiration and some flattery.

“Stronger than the hairy mastodon” they called him and “Father of all the lions.” He could outleap the mountain goat and outclimb the longest armed ou-rang-oo-tang. His voice was like the thunder and his breath like the winds that bend the trees on the river banks.

They felt more certain than ever that something was going to happen. They expected the spirit of Strong Arm to make it happen. But they did not desire to share in untoward events if a little information given to the spirit of Strong Arm could prevent this thing.

But the day passed, and the sun slid down the wings of the sky into the red fire of the lake, and still Big Foot strutted about with loud and boasting words. Still the Cave People waited and hoped, and were afraid.

And that night the spirit of Strong Arm again appeared to One Ear in a dream and his voice was fierce with anger against Big Foot and, in the dream, he counselled One Ear to tell the Cave People to push Big Foot from the tallest crag along the mountain gorge so that his body would be crushed upon the sharp stones below.

In the morning One Ear told these things to the people of the tribe and they drank the words of Strong Arm eagerly, begging Big Foot to join in a hunt for the wild goat amid the slopes of the mountain. But Big Foot was afraid and hid in his hut, making queer mouthings and snatching food from the children and waving his sharp arrows.

So the Cave People gathered about One Ear urging him to meet the spirit of Strong Arm once more and to ask for more wisdom on how to dispatch the evil man who brought dangers and conflict to the tribe.

Again in the morning One Ear called the people together, saying that the spirit of Strong Arm counselled the people to build fires about the hut of Big Foot in the night so that he might be destroyed.

And so, when darkness wrapped the valley in her soft folds, the Cave People stole from their shelters, each bearing branches and glowing coals from the camp fire, which they hurled in the door of Big Foot, with stones and spears so that he might not escape and injure the tribe.

The night was black and Big Foot was unable to hit the people with his sharp arrows. Coals were thrown upon the dry thatch of his hut and soon the flames encircled him with their burning tongues.

And when it was discovered that his body was burned to ashes and that the spirit of Big Foot had escaped, the Cave People rejoiced in their hearts. But their lips were dumb. For the first time they spoke well of Big Foot, whom they hated in their hearts. For was not the fate of Big Foot proof of the foolishness of speaking ill of the dead! Was not the victory of the Cave People who had spoken well of Strong Arm proof of their wisdom in these things?

The Cave People believed the spirit of Big Foot would be actively inimical to the tribe, just as they believed that the spirit of Strong Arm had proved itself to be the friendly father of the people.

And One Ear continued to dream dreams, which he related to the Cave People, giving them words of wisdom and courage from the spirit of Strong Arm and evil words from the spirit of Big Foot. Thus they grew to believe wondrous things of Strong Arm. His virtues grew with the passing of the suns, just as his strength increased and his wisdom was extolled until he became almost a god to the people of the tribe.

And when ill befell the Cave People, One Ear told them it had been caused by the evil spirit of Big Foot and when they escaped from these evils, he reported how the spirit of Strong Arm had befriended the tribe. Always was One Ear dreaming dreams. He told how the spirit of Strong Arm had counselled the people to make of Big Nose their leader and chief, which they did.

As he grew in years and in power, One Ear demanded that the best joints of meat, the warmest place by the fire, the safest cave or hut, be his portion. These things he declared were the commands of Strong Arm.

And so One Ear became a great man of the tribe. When the forest fire swept the plains and drove the wild fowl and the forest animals far inland, and brought famine to the Cave People, One Ear reported that the spirit of Strong Arm had done these things to punish the people because they had not brought young fowl, of which he was very fond, every day to One Ear.

Thus One Ear became the first priest of the tribe, protected before other men in order that the good spirits might not take vengeance upon the tribe should ill befall him. People brought him sharp knives and soft skins with which he made himself warm when the far northern winds blew cold in the winter time. And One Ear said good words to the great spirits for these bearers of gifts, so that they might be prospered and escape the sharp tooth of the crocodile.

By and by there came other dreamers of dreams who spoke with the great spirits and also brought messages to the people. Strong arms of the tribe clashed and there were great battles among the Cave People, till the Pretenders were slain, when once more peace and harmony reigned within the valley upon the shores of the great lake.

QUESTIONS

For Those Holding Classes in Sociology for Children.

I

THE FIRE BEAST

1 In what sort of a climate may we expect to find prehistoric man during the period of Lower Savagery, when he was without tools or weapons except of the most primitive kind? Why?

2 Since agriculture in that early day was wholly unknown and unnecessary, on what did the people subsist?

3 Did they cook their food? Why not?

4 Imagine yourself placed upon an uninhabited island without food, clothing or shelter in answering these questions. What sorts of shelter did the tribes possess, if any?

5 What sorts of weapons can you fancy people would be able to make without tools, metals or fire?

6 What would you consider the very greatest discovery made by early man? Why?

7 How was man able to protect himself from the wild beasts during the periods of Savagery?

8 How were the enemies of man captured and slain in these days?

9 Why do we find the tribes of this period always dwelling close to lakes, rivers or other bodies of water?

10 How do we gather that people in the period of Lower Savagery must have lived either in tropical or semi-tropical regions?

II

THE ORNAMENT OF BIG NOSE

1 How did primitive man convey his wants and his ideas to his fellow creatures before he possessed a wide articulate language?

2 Can you suggest any sharp weapons the Cave Men could make without the use of tools? Name some.

3 Do you imagine the Cave People possessed longer arms than civilized men? Why?

4 Was this period the Golden Age of Peace and Plenty that some people suggest?

5 Do you imagine Cave Men were care free or that they were forced to be cunning and furtive creatures of the forests?

6 Were the early savages superior to the other animals of that period in running? In swimming? In fighting?

7 Had they longer teeth? Sharper claws? Greater physical protection for the soft and delicate portions of their bodies?

8 To what do you attribute man’s survival amid a world of savage enemies?

9 Was man more cunning? Was he more social?

10 If you have classes of children, suggest pantomime plays in which they can convey ideas or desires to the others by means of gestures.

III

WHEN RUN-FAST WENT HUNTING FOR A WIFE

1 Suggest ways for catching fish during this period.

2 Do you imagine that at this time man had any method for preserving meat?

3 Would the low order of man’s tools and weapons restrict him in his wanderings from place to place over the earth’s surface? Why?

4 Did primitive man first ornament or first clothe himself?

5 What were ornaments used to signify?

6 Which men would you imagine secured wives during early savagery?

7 Would you expect to see the strong and brave men win wives, or the weak and cowardly?

8 How far were the Cave People able to count?

9 Did men gradually learn to use, first all their fingers, and then their toes, to reckon with?

10 Primitive man must soon have discovered the use of sails for boats. Out of what do you supposed they fashioned the first sails?

IV

LITTLE LAUGHING BOY

1 During what season would you imagine the Cave People learned, invented, discovered most? Why?

2 What was the season of greatest danger? Why?

3 Were the feet of the Cave People prehensile? Were the Cave People agile? Why?

4 Can any of the children of to-day walk up a slanting tree by encircling its trunk with their arms?

5 What is a boomerang? Make one.

6 Why did wise Cave People always travel in groups?

7 Why was extreme individuality discouraged among the members of the tribes?

8 What happened to the youth who was determined to “go it alone” in those days?

9 Was the Cave Man the King of the Forests, Monarch of all he surveyed that we sometimes read about? Why not?

10 It is true that the Cave Man was weaker than most of his enemies and yet he has managed to outlive and outthrive them all. Give some reasons for this.

V

HUNTING AN ECHO

1 Did the Cave People know what an Echo is?

2 Could they explain their reflections in the rivers and lakes?

3 What was their idea of a shadow?

4 What was the origin of their belief in spirits?

5 What made them think the dead came back again; that they were not really dead, but lived in the spirit world?

6 How did they explain their dreams?

7 How would a primitive man explain the rain? Or Fire? Floods? Give some suggestions of your own.

8 How did the Cave People probably first secure a fire?

9 How did they learn to keep a fire going?

10 What were one or two ways by which they first learned how to _make_ a fire?

VI

THE FLOOD

1 What were some of the great early catastrophes?

2 What was probably the earliest sort of power used to propel a boat or raft?

3 What would we naturally expect the first boats or floats to be? Why?

4 Would it be possible to build a raft with nothing but stone tools?

5 How would you fasten such a raft together?

6 What were the first natural paddles?

7 Can you propel a boat through the water with your hands?

8 How could a boy live in a great banyan tree for several days?

9 Where would he secure food?

10 Could you make a hollow in a log without steel knives or saws or other modern tools? How?

11 Would such a hollow log serve as a crude boat?

VII

BIG FOOT’S NEW WEAPON

1 Did fire enable the savage tribes to preserve their meat?

2 Did fire bring any greater degree of security to the tribes? How?

3 Do the animals you know fear fire?

4 Have any other animals besides man learned to use a fire?

5 Does a cat or a dog ever make use of a fire? How?

6 Has any animal besides man ever learned to keep a fire going or to _build_ a fire?

7 Could a dog build a fire even if he _knew how_? Why not?

8 Has the thumb of man, which was probably once a toe like the great toe of your foot, been a help in his struggle for existence?

9 Without thumbs would we have ever learned more than to push things about?

10 Did fire equip man so that he would wander more freely over the earth’s surface? How?

VIII

THE FIRST PLANTING

1 How did man probably discover the use of flint?

2 How can you build a fire without matches and without flint?

3 In what other ways may flint be used?

4 What is cannibalism?

5 How did the people first discover agriculture?

6 In what kind of a climate would sowing and reaping be necessary?

7 Name several ways by which we might discover that seeds sprout, and bear.

8 How would primitive man probably explain a garden?

9 What would make him eager to possess a garden?

10 Why do people progress more in a temperate climate than in a tropical region? Explain.

11 Why did the Cave People believe in miracles?

12 What is a miracle?

13 Did savage and barbarous men like to work?

14 What makes people remember things?

15 When do we learn by doing things?

16 What things are we most likely to forget?

IX

THE FIRST POT

1 What did the very first men do when they wanted a drink of water?

2 How did they first carry water into their caves?

3 Of what did they weave baskets?

4 Of what are our dishes made to-day?

5 How did prehistoric folks learn to make pots?

6 Which did they need to learn first, pot-making or fire-building?

7 How did men probably learn to cook things to eat?

8 How did they undoubtedly learn to bake clay pots?

9 Why did savage tribes decorate themselves?

10 Can you tell how to make a hollow clay pot without a form to make it over?

X

THE ARROW THROWERS

1 With what did the early men tip their arrows?

2 Where did they get strings for their bows?

3 And of what were bows made?

4 Can you suggest a way by which they chanced to invent the bow and arrow?

5 What advantage did a bow and arrow possess over a bone javelin?

6 Will an arrow travel farther?

7 Name half a dozen early weapons.

8 Why did the Cave People want to possess the weapons of strong and brave men?

9 Did they think a man’s weapons possessed the characteristics of the man?

10 Did they believe the dead heard what you said about them?

XI

THE FIRST PRIEST

1 Why did a dead man’s enemies speak well of him?

2 Did the Cave People believe that a dead man could injure them?

3 Or that he could help them?

4 Did they, very naturally, exaggerate the virtues of the dead until the dead seemed superhuman?

5 When the Cave Dwellers were driven to a colder climate did they learn to plant? To clothe themselves? Why?

6 Who was generally chief of the tribe? Why?

7 If a Cave Man told the people that the spirit of a dead chief had laid commands upon him, would they believe him?

8 How did ancient priests happen to happen?

9 Might not people sometimes fabricate stories of their interviews with the spirits of dead chiefs?

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's Stories of the Cave People, by Mary E. Marcy