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第20节

before adam-第20节

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carried his body up the cliff with me; and perched out

the night in the entrance of my old cave; wherein were

Lop…Ear and my sister。  But first I had to endure a

storm of abuse from the aroused horde for being the

cause of the disturbance。  I had my revenge。  From time

to time; as the noise of the pack below eased down; I

dropped a rock and started it up again。  Whereupon;

from all around; the abuse of the exasperated Folk

began afresh。  In the morning I shared the dog with

Lop…Ear and his wife; and for several days the three of

us were neither vegetarians nor fruitarians。



Lop…Ear's marriage was not a happy one; and the

consolation about it is that it did not last very long。

Neither he nor I was happy during that period。  I was

lonely。  I suffered the inconvenience of being cast out

of my safe little cave; and somehow I did not make it

up with any other of the young males。  I suppose my

long…continued chumming with Lop…Ear had become a

habit。



I might have married; it is true; and most likely I

should have married had it not been for the dearth of

females in the horde。 This dearth; it is fair to

assume; was caused by the exorbitance of Red…Eye; and

it illustrates the menace he was to the existence of

the horde。  Then there was the Swift One; whom I had

not forgotten。



At any rate; during the period of Lop…Ear's marriage I

knocked about from pillar to post; in danger every

night that I slept; and never comfortable。  One of the

Folk died; and his widow was taken into the cave of

another one of the Folk。  I took possession of the

abandoned cave; but it was wide…mouthed; and after

Red…Eye nearly trapped me in it one day; I returned to

sleeping in the passage of the double…cave。  During the

summer; however; I used to stay away from the caves for

weeks; sleeping in a tree…shelter I made near the mouth

of the slough。



I have said that Lop…Ear was not happy。  My sister was

the daughter of the Chatterer; and she made Lop…Ear's

life miserable for him。  In no other cave was there so

much squabbling and bickering。  If Red…Eye was a

Bluebeard; Lop…Ear was hen…pecked; and I imagine that

Red…Eye was too shrewd ever to covet Lop…Ear's wife。



Fortunately for Lop…Ear; she died。  An unusual thing

happened that summer。  Late; almost at the end of it; a

second crop of the stringy…rooted carrots sprang up。

These unexpected second…crop roots were young and juicy

and tender; and for some time the carrot…patch was the

favorite feeding…place of the horde。  One morning;

early; several score of us were there making our

breakfast。  On one side of me was the Hairless One。

Beyond him were his father and son; old Marrow…Bone and

Long…Lip。  On the other side of me were my sister and

Lop…Ear; she being next to me。



There was no warning。  On the sudden; both the Hairless

One and my sister sprang and screamed。  At the same

instant I heard the thud of the arrows that transfixed

them。  The next instant they were down on the ground;

floundering and gasping; and the rest of us were

stampeding for the trees。  An arrow drove past me and

entered the ground; its feathered shaft vibrating and

oscillating from the impact of its arrested flight。  I

remember clearly how I swerved as I ran; to go past it;

and that I gave it a needlessly wide berth。  I must

have shied at it as a horse shies at an object it

fears。



Lop…Ear took a smashing fall as he ran beside me。  An

arrow had driven through the calf of his leg and

tripped him。  He tried to run; but was tripped and

thrown by it a second time。  He sat up; crouching;

trembling with fear; and called to me pleadingly。  I

dashed back。  He showed me the arrow。  I caught hold of

it to pull it out; but the consequent hurt made him

seize my hand and stop me。  A flying arrow passed

between us。  Another struck a rock; splintered; and

fell to the ground。  This was too much。  I pulled;

suddenly; with all my might。  Lop…Ear screamed as the

arrow came out; and struck at me angrily。  But the next

moment we were in full flight again。



I looked back。  Old Marrow…Bone; deserted and far

behind; was tottering silently along in his handicapped

race with death。 Sometimes he almost fell; and once he

did fall; but no more arrows were coming。  He scrambled

weakly to his feet。  Age burdened him heavily; but he

did not want to die。  The three Fire…Men; who were now

running forward from their forest ambush; could easily

have got him; but they did not try。  Perhaps he was too

old and tough。 But they did want the Hairless One and

my sister; for as I looked back from the trees I could

see the Fire…Men beating in their heads with rocks。

One of the Fire…Men was the wizened old hunter who

limped。



We went on through the trees toward the cavesan

excited and disorderly mob that drove before it to

their holes all the small life of the forest; and that

set the blue…jays screaming impudently。  Now that there

was no immediate danger; Long…Lip waited for his

grand…father; Marrow…Bone; and with the gap of a

generation between them; the old fellow and the youth

brought up our rear。



And so it was that Lop…Ear became a bachelor once more。

That night I slept with him in the old cave; and our

old life of chumming began again。  The loss of his mate

seemed to cause him no grief。  At least he showed no

signs of it; nor of need for her。 It was the wound in

his leg that seemed to bother him; and it was all of a

week before he got back again to his old spryness。



Marrow…Bone was the only old member in the horde。

Sometimes; on looking back upon him; when the vision of

him is most clear; I note a striking resemblance

between him and the father of my father's gardener。

The gardener's father was very old; very wrinkled and

withered; and for all the world; when he peered through

his tiny; bleary eyes and mumbled with his toothless

gums; he looked and acted like old Marrow…Bone。  This

resemblance; as a child; used to frighten me。  I always

ran when I saw the old man tottering along on his two

canes。  Old Marrow…Bone even had a bit of sparse and

straggly white beard that seemed identical with the

whiskers of the old man。



As I have said; Marrow…Bone was the only old member of

the horde。 He was an exception。  The Folk never lived

to old age。  Middle age was fairly rare。  Death by

violence was the common way of death。 They died as my

father had died; as Broken…Tooth had died; as my sister

and the Hairless One had just diedabruptly and

brutally; in the full possession of their faculties; in

the full swing and rush of life。  Natural death?  To

die violently was the natural way of dying in those

days。



No one died of old age among the Folk。  I never knew of

a case。 Even Marrow…Bone did not die that way; and he

was the only one in my generation who had the chance。

A bad rippling; any serious accidental or temporary

impairment of the faculties; meant swift death。  As a

rule; these deaths were not witnessed。



Members of the horde simply dropped out of sight。  They

left the caves in the morning; and they never came

back。  They disappearedinto the ravenous maws of the

hunting creatures。



This inroad of the Fire People on the carrot…patch was

the beginning of the end; though we did not know it。

The hunters of the Fire People began to appear more

frequently as the time went by。  They came in twos and

threes; creeping silently through the forest; with

their flying arrows able to annihilate distance and

bring down prey from the top of the loftiest tree

without themselves climbing into it。  The bow and arrow

was like an enormous extension of their leaping and

striking muscles; so that; virtually; they could leap

and kill at a hundred feet and more。 This made them far

more terrible than Saber…Tooth himself。  And then they

were very wise。  They had speech that enabled them more

effectively to reason; and in addition they understood

cooperation。



We Folk came to be very circumspect when we were in the

forest。 We were more alert and vigilant and timid。  No

longer were the trees a protection to be relied upon。

No longer could we perch on a branch and laugh down at

our carnivorous enemies on the ground。 The Fire People

were carnivorous; with claws and fangs a hundred feet

long; the most terrible of all the hunting animals that

ranged the primeval world。



One morning; before the Folk had dispersed to the

forest; there was a panic among the water…carriers and

those who had gone down to the river to drink。  The

whole horde fled to the caves。  It was our habit; at

such times; to flee first and investigate afterward。 We

waited in the mouths of our caves and watched。  After

some time a Fire…Man stepped cautiously into the open

space。  It was the little wizened old hunter。  He stood

for a long time and watched us; looking our caves and

the cliff…wall up and down。  

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