The Quest for Fire

_A Novel of Prehistoric Times

) |Pictures byJ.O. Bercher

 igi ee mews 3
| BORROWER‘s
eg, ae a
Names =

Roeny

Quest for fire

HOLCOMB
HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
 HOLCOMB
HIGH SCHOOL [| BR
ARY

DATE DUE

ES
E:
$53 te ces

TAT
TT
 HE QUEST FOR FIRE, considered by many the finest
T of J. H. Rosny’s portrayals of prehistoric life, is the
story of three young warriors of the Oulhamr tribe who
journey through vast, unknown expanses to recover life-
giving Fire, which has been extinguished by an enemy
tribe. It is a powerful and compelling story of prehis-
toric struggle and man’s first agonizing steps toward
civilization.
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2023 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation

_ https://archive.org/details/questforfirenoveOOOOjhro
<< The Quest for Fire >>
; a

ry
AJ - 7 -

~ d
—s
~~

,
a

2
eA we PS ap Py

—a
~The Quest for Fire
A Novel of Prehistoric Times
jel Rosny |Pictures by J. O. Bercher
TRANSLATION BY HAROLD TALBOTT

Pantheon Books
© Copyright, 1967, by Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright
Conventions. Published in New York by Pantheon Books, a division
of Random House, Inc., and simultaneously in Toronto, Canada, by
Random House of Canada Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card
Number: 67-14227. Manufactured in the United States of America.
Translated from the French “La Guerre du Feu” published by Societé
Nouvelle des Editions G.P.
2 ee ae
To Theodore Duret
this journey into
far-distant prehistory.
HIS ADMIRER AND FRIEND,

J. H. Rosny

HOLCOMB
HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
 Tisa 7
+ a

|ae | Ate Hine

 CONTENTS

Part One
1 « The Fire Dies pan
a * The Mammoth and the Aurochs + 16
Ieee inistne aye. 2.8
tv + The Giant Lion and the Tigress - 36
v + Inthe Stone Shelter + 49
vir > Escapeinthe Night = 59

Part Two
I ame hne Ashes) &) 167
m1 * The Lookout by the Fire - 72-
ut * On the Banks of the Great River + 83
IVs The Alliance Between Man and
Mammoth + 89
v + The Flight - 94
 vi « The Search for Gaw + 101
vu + Life with the Mammoths + 114

Pare’ Three
pe Dhetbittle Ven 125
m1 - The Granite Ridges = 132
m + A Night in the Swamp + 137
Iv + Combat in the Willows + 141
v + Across the Land of Waters - 147
vi * The Blue-Skinned Men + 151
vi + The Giant Bear Is in the Gorge + 156
Vill > «Lhe Rocks 165
ix + Aghoo the Hairy + 17
x +. The Endless Night - 184
<< Part One >>
—— a -—. =

Tee
_

=.
 CHAPTER ONE

ae en AY)

The Fire Dies

HRouGH the terrible night the band of Oulhamrs

fled. What had befallen them, wounded and ex-
‘hausted, made all effort seem useless: the Fire was dead.
They had tended the Fire in three cages; four women
and two warriors had fed it with fuel night and day.
Even in the darkest days the Fire was given the material
to live by. Sheltered from rain and flood, it had crossed
rivers and swamps, never failing to burn, a blue flame at
dawn and blood red at night. The sight of it had power
to chase away the black lion and the yellow, the cave
 DHE BOO
E See SEO Rebel RAE

bear and the gray bear, the mammoth, tiger, and leopard;
the red fangs of fire protected man against the whole
vast world. Fire was the source of all delights. It drew a
delicious odor from meat; by it the points of spears were
made hard, and hard stone could be split. Fire warmed
the body and made it rested and strong; it gave reassur-
ance to the band through rustling forests, across endless
savannas, in the dark depths of caves. Fire was father,
guardian, and savior. But it was more ferocious and ter-
rifying than the mammoths themselves when it escaped
from its cage and devoured the trees.
It was dead!
The enemy had destroyed two cages; in the third
cage, while they fled, the band had seen the Fire fade
and become small, too weak to eat up the swamp grass,
flickering like an animal that is sick. Finally it became a
tiny reddish insect bruised by every gust of wind. It
went out, and the Oulhamrs, dispossessed, fled through
the autumn night. There were no stars. The heavy sky
and the water touched oppressively; the creepers
stretched out their clammy tendrils; reptiles were heard
scuttling about. A few of them — men, women, and
children — sank in the mire and disappeared. As far as
possible the band stuck to a higher and firmer line of
country, seeking out fording points and dry spots. The
way had been familiar to three generations of the Oul-
hamrs, but they needed the light of the stars. Toward
dawn they approached the savanna.
A chill light filtered through the chalky clouds. The
wind was swirling over water as thick as pitch, full of

(4)
 THE FIRE DIES

algae swollen like pustules. Here sluggish saurians wal-

lowed among the flowering rushes and water lilies. A
heron flew up into an ash tree, and there before them
appeared the savanna with its trembling growth, stretch-
ing into the distance beneath a russet mist.
The men drew themselves up, less exhausted, and hav-
ing crossed through the rushes, they found themselves
in the grass, on firm ground.
Once the deadly tension was lifted, many of them
turned into inert animals. They tumbled to the ground
and sank into sleep. The women resisted better than the
men; those who had lost their children in the swamp
howled like wolves; all of them had a sinister sense of
the downfall of the race and the harsh days to come.
Some of the women had managed to save their babies,
and these raised them in their arms toward the clouds.
In the new light Faouhm counted his band with the
aid of fingers and sticks. Each stick stood for the fingers
of both hands. He counted badly, but he perceived that
there remained only two sticks of warriors, over two
. sticks of women, less than two sticks of children, and a
few old men.
Despite his own strength, Faouhm was in despair. He
no longer had faith in his height or his great arms. His
broad face covered with tough hairs, his yellow eyes like
a leopard’s, betrayed defeat. He examined his wounds
from enemy spears; now and then he licked the blood
which still lowed from his forearm.
As with every man in his defeat, his mind reverted to
the moment when he might have conquered. The Oul-

(5)
 THE OUES © hORe eR E

hamrs had hurled themselves forward for the slaughter,

and Faouhm himself had bashed heads with his club.
They were about to wipe out the men and carry off the
women, killing the enemy’s fire, and then they would
hunt on new savannas and in abundant forests. What had
become of their advantage? Why had the Oulhamrs
spun around in terror, why was it their bones that got
broken, their guts that were torn out, their lungs and
throats that screamed in agony, as the enemy invaded
their camp and overturned the sacred Fires. Thus the
questions slowly emerged in Faouhm’s dull mind. He
set upon the memory like a hyena upon a carcass. He
could not abide defeat, not sensing himself any less
energetic, courageous, or ferocious.
The light attained its full strength, rolling across the
swamp, illuminating the muddy tracks and drying out
the grasslands. The joy of morning was in the savanna.
The water looked lighter, less evil and dangerous; it sent
out long ripples of malachite and pearl, displaying pale
sulphurs and glints of mica. Algae were in triumphant
abundance; the water sparkled with white and yellow
water lilies; iris stood tall, and marshy euphorbia, yellow
loosestrife, and flowering rushes grew profusely. There
were broad gulfs of ranunculus with beds of tufty or-
pine winding through them, and sedge, pink willow
herb, cresses, and sundew. Here were jungles of reeds
and willows where waterfowl swarmed, sandpipers,
teals, plovers, lapwings shimmering like jade. Herons
stalked the banks of the rust-colored creeks; chattering
cranes frisked about on a headland; barbed carp attacked

(6)
 THE FIRE DIES

tenches; and the last dragonflies spun about in lazuli zig-

zags, making strokes of green flame.
Faouhm considered his people. Covered with yellow
clay and green algae, scarlet with blood, the band gave
off an odor of fever and rotting flesh. Some of the men
were twisted like pythons, others stretched out like sau-
rians. Their wounds were turning black, hideous body
wounds and worse ones on the head, where they were
enlarged by the blood-reddened sponge of hair. Nearly
all of them would recover, those who had been hit worst
having succumbed on the other shore or perished in the
water.
Taking his eyes off the sleeping warriors, Faouhm ex-
amined those who were feeling defeat more bitterly than
exhaustion. Many showed the fine stature of the Oul-
hamrs. They had heavy faces, low craniums, fierce jaws.
Their skin was tawny rather than black; almost all had
hairy chests and limbs. The subtlety of their senses in-
cluded smell, in which they matched animals. They had
big eyes, often ferocious and sometimes haggard, but
beautiful in the children and some young girls.
Faouhm raised his arms to the sun with a long yell.
“What will become of the Oulhamrs without Fire?”
he cried. “How shall they live on the savanna and in the
forest? Who will defend them against shadows and win-
ter blasts? They will have to eat raw meat and bitter
plants, never to warm their limbs, and their spearheads
will remain soft. The lion, the saber-toothed tiger, the
bear, the tiger, the giant hyena will eat them alive during
the night. Who will recapture Fire? That man shall be

(7)
 T HE OWW.
2 Sab BOR: TRIE:

Faouhm’s brother; he shall have three shares of the

game, four shares of the booty; he will receive Gammla
as his portion, daughter of my sister, and if I die, he will
command.”
Then Naoh, son of the Leopard, rose and said:
“Let me have two warriors swift of foot and I will go
and seize Fire from the sons of the Mammoth, or from
the man-eaters who hunt by the banks of the Great
River.”
Faouhm did not look upon him with favor. Naoh was
the greatest in stature of the Oulhamrs. His shoulders
were broadening still. There was no more agile warrior;
none could outrun him. He had struck down Mouh, son
of the Urus, whose strength approached Faouhm’s. And
Faouhm feared him.
Naoh disliked the chief, but he thrilled at the sight of
Gamma, stretched out, lithe and mysterious, with her
hair like foliage. If he had her for his woman, he would
not mistreat her, for he did not like to see fear spreading
over a face and making people strangers.
At another time Faouhm would have found Naoh’s
words unwelcome. But the catastrophe had brought him
down. Perhaps alliance with the son of the Leopard
would be a good thing; if not, he would not hesitate to
put him to death. So, turning toward the young man, he
said, ““Faouhm has but one message. If you bring back
Fire you shall have Gammla without giving any ransom
in exchange. You shall be Faouhm’s son.” He held up
his hand as he spoke slowly and roughly with scorn.
Then he signaled to Gammla. She came forward, trem-

(8)
 LHE, OU Stl HOR] URE

bling, raising her fiery, expressive eyes. She was aware

that Naoh stalked her in the grass and amid the shadows.
When he appeared at a bend in the grassland as if he
was going to fling himself upon her, she was afraid of
him. Sometimes, however, the sight of him wasn’t dis-
agreeable. She hoped at once that he would die under
the blows of the man-eaters and that he would bring
back Fire.
The rough hand of Faouhm came down on the girl’s
shoulder. “Who is better made among the daughters of
men?” he cried in his savage pride. “She can shoulder a
doe, walk without weakening from dawn to dusk, with-
stand hunger and thirst, dress animal hides, and swim
across a lake; she will bear unconquerable children. If
Naoh brings Fire back, he will come and take her with-
out giving axes, horns, shells, or furs.”
Then Aghoo, son of the Aurochs, hairiest of the Oul-
hamr tribe, came forward: “Aghoo wants to conquer
Fire. He shall go with his brothers in search of the ene-
mies across the river. He shall die by the axe, spear, jaws
of the tiger, or claws of the giant lion, or he will return
Fire to the Oulhamrs, without which they are weak like
stags or antelopes.”’
Nothing of his face was visible but a mouth bordered
by raw flesh and a pair of murderous eyes. His squat
stature exaggerated the length of his arms and the enor-
mous width of his shoulders. His whole being expressed
a brutal strength, tireless and without pity. No one knew
the limit of his strength: he had not used it against either
Faouhm or Mouh or Naoh. It was known to be enor-

(10)
 THE FIRE DIES

mous. He never tried it in any peaceful contest: all who

had crossed his path had fallen, whether he had stopped
at mutilating one of their limbs or had done away with
them and added their skulls to his trophies. He lived
apart from the band with two brothers, hairy like him-
self, and several women reduced to servitude. Although
the Oulhamrs naturally practiced harshness toward
themselves and ferocity toward others, they feared the
excessive degree to which the sons of the Aurochs car-
ried these virtues.
Faouhm hated Aghoo as much as the son of the Leop-
ard did, and he had more fear of him. The shaggy and
cunning strength of the brothers seemed unconquerable.
If one of the three wanted a man to die, all of them
wanted it; whoever declared war on them must perish
or else wipe them all out.
Faouhm answered with rough deference: “If the Au-
rochs’ son brings Fire back to the Oulhamrs, he shall
take Gammla with no ransom; he shall be the second
man in the band, whom all warriors shall obey in the
chief’s absence.”
Aghoo listened grimly; turning his shaggy face to-
ward Gammla, he studied her. His round eyes grew
hard and menacing.
“The daughter of the Swamp will belong to the
Aurochs’ son; anyone who lays a hand on her shall be
destroyed.”
These words angered Naoh. Violently accepting the
challenge, he shouted, “She will belong to the one who
brings back Fire!”

(11)
 THE SOlUeE Sie By ORGS bel Rely

“Aghoo will bring it back!”

They stared at each other. Till that day there had
been no cause for quarrel between them. Their con-
sciousness of each other’s strength had kept them apart,
and without common interests or an immediate source
of rivalry they never encountered each other nor hunted
together. Now Faouhm’s speech had caused hatred.
Naoh grasped his axe in the left hand and his spear in
the right. When Aghoo hurled the challenge, his broth-
ers silently came forward, looking sneaky and dangerous.
They strangely resembled him but were even wilder,
with patches of reddish hair and eyes that were cloudy
like the covers of beetle wings. Their suppleness was as
alarming as their strength.
All three were stalking Naoh, ready to kill. But a cry
rose from the warriors. Even those who blamed Naoh
for the mildness of his hatreds did not wish to see him
die after the destruction of so many Oulhamrs, and since
he promised to bring back Fire. He was known to
abound with stratagems, to be tireless, and able to keep
alive the feeblest flame, making it shoot up from the
ashes: many had faith in his chances. In truth, Aghoo
too possessed the patience and guile to bring undertak-
ings to conclusion, and the Oulhamrs understood the
usefulness of a double attempt. They rose up in a mob,
and Goun the Dry-Bones gave expression to the hazy
notions of the crowd:
“Do the Oulhamrs want to disappear from the earth?
Do they forget that enemies and floods have destroyed
so many warriors? All those who can carry the axe,

(12)
 THE FIRE DIES

spear, and club must live. Naoh and Aghoo are strong
among those who hunt in the savanna: if one of them
dies, the Oulhamrs will be weakened more than if num-
bers of others perished... The daughter of the Swamp
will serve the one who brings Fire back to us.”
“So be it!”” rough voices seconded.
And the women shouted, ““Gammla shall belong to
the one who captures Fire!”
Aghoo shrugged. He despised the crowd but judged
it untimely to stand up to it. Sure of outstripping Naoh,
he would wait for a better opportunity to combat his
rival and do away with him. His chest swelled with con-
fidence.

As the sun rose higher, Aghoo and Naoh made ready

to depart. The Hairy Ones carried club, axe, spear, and
the flint-tipped javelin. Naoh, who counted on guile
rather than force, had passed up sturdy warriors for two
agile youths, Gaw and Nam, who could run long dis-
tances. Each one had an axe, a spear, and javelins. For
himself Naoh added an oak club, a whole branch which
had merely been roughed down and hardened in the
fire. This was the weapon he preferred over all the
others, and which he pitted against even the huge flesh-
eaters. ;
First Faouhm addressed the Aurochs: “Aghoo saw
the light before the Leopard’s son. He will choose the
route. If he heads toward the Twin Rivers, Naoh will
circle the marsh at sunset .. . and if he circles the marsh,
Naoh will head for the Twin Rivers.”

(13)
 THE OUEST HORS ETRE

“Aghoo does not know his route yet!” protested the

Hairy One. “He is searching for Fire; he can go in the
morning toward the swamp. How does the hunter who
pursues the boar know where he shall kill it?”
“Let Aghoo change routes later,” interposed Goun,
whom the crowd gave a muttered backing. “He cannot
leave in the direction of the sunset and the Twin Rivers
at the same time. He must choose!”
In his obscure consciousness the son of the Aurochs
realized that it would be a mistake, not to stand up to
the chief, but to awaken Naoh’s mistrust. Turning his
wolflike face to the crowd he cried, “Aghoo will set out
toward the setting sun.” And making a blunt gesture to
his brothers, he set out along the edge of the swamp.
Naoh did not make up his mind so quickly. He want-
ed to feel the image of Gammla in his eyes still. She was
standing under an ash tree behind the group of elders.
Naoh stepped forward; he saw her face turned toward
the savanna. She had twisted marsh flowers in her hair,
and a water lily the color of the moon; a glow seemed
to emanate from her skin, more vivid than that of cool
rivers and the green wood of trees.
Naoh’s heart swelled so that he was choked with ten-
derness and anger; all those who separated him from
Gamma seemed as odious as the sons of the Mammoth
or the man-eaters. He raised his axe and said, “Daughter
of the Swamp, Naoh shall not return, he will disappear
in the earth, the sea, the bellies of hyenas, or he will
bring back Fire to the Oulhamrs. He will bring shells
to Gammla, blue stones, leopards’ teeth, and aurochs’

(14)
 THE FIRE DIES

horns.” At these words she gave the warrior a look full

of a child’s delight. But Faouhm, growing impatient,
said, “The sons of the Aurochs have disappeared be-
hind the poplars.”
So Naoh and his companions set out toward the south.

(15)
 CHAPTER TWO

ee Cee

The Mammoth and the Aurochs

AoH, Gaw, and Nam walked all day over the sa-
N vanna. It was at its period of growth. Grasses
followed upon grasses as waves succeed each other on
the sea. They bent beneath breaths of wind, crackled
in the sunlight, and gave off innumerable scents. Here
a hill would rise, followed by a hollow; then a stagnant
pool; a solitary rock would loom in the shape of a mas-
todon. Antelopes, hares, and saigas dashed by; bustards
and partridges flew up, wood pigeons glided, and cranes
and crows; horses, wild asses, and elk galloped in herds.
 THE MAMMOTH AND THE AUROCHS

A gray bear with the movements of a great ape and a

rhinoceros, stronger than a tiger and almost as terrible
as a giant lion, prowled about the green earth; aurochs
appeared on the horizon.
In the evening Naoh, Nam, and Gaw camped at the
foot of a mound; they could see nothing but the waves
of grass unfurling. The earth was flat and melancholy,
while in the vast skies the sunset composed and dis-
persed every formation of light and clouds. A purple
gulf remained for a long time deep in the sky, where
the stars like little sparkling stones appeared one after
another, and the evening breeze started up.
Accustomed to bonfires at night which were like
barriers of light set against the sea of shadows, Naoh
became aware of his puniness. The gray bear might
turn up, or the leopard, tiger, or lion, even though they
rarely came into the open spaces of the savanna. A herd
of aurochs would be like a flood drowning their fragile
human flesh; numbers gave the wolves the strength of
the giant beasts and hunger armed them with courage.
‘> The warriors fed on raw flesh. It was a gloomy meal,
for they loved the smell of roast meat. Afterward Naoh
took the first watch. He breathed the night with his
whole being. His nostrils perceived the breath of flow-
ers, the pleasant scent of grass, the stench of wild beasts,
the stale or musky odor of reptiles. His skin responded
to a thousand changes from cold to hot, from dampness
to dryness.
In the dark he watched for the deadly fangs and
claws and the gleaming eyes of the flesh-eaters. Many

(17)
 THE OUEST FOR EERE

recognized men as powerful animals and did not waste

time on them. Hyenas passed by with jaws worse than
those of lions, but they did not like a fight and were
looking for dead flesh. A pack of wolves circled and
for a long time howled around the mound. They made
a few menacing passes, one of them sometimes sneaking
up close, but they were afraid at first to attack these
erect beasts. Then slowly the ring tightened; their yelps
became less frequent and their breathing more rapid.
Naoh took a handful of earth and hurled it at the near-
est animal, yelling, “We have spears and clubs that can
destroy bears, aurochs, and lions!”
The wolf was hit on the muzzle and, surprised by the
sounds, ran away. The others called to each other and
appeared to take council. Naoh threw another handful
of earth. “You are too weak to fight the Oulhamrs! The
next wolf who comes near will spill his guts.”
Aroused by their leader’s voice, Nam and Gaw stood
up. These new silhouettes made the wolves retreat.

Naoh walked on for several days, avoiding attacks.

These grew more frequent as they came closer to the
forest. Although it was still a few days’ journey away,
its nearness was indicated by patches of trees and by the
appearance of the giant beasts. The Oulhamrs noted the
tiger and the giant panther. The nights became agoniz-
ing. The men set to work long before sunset surround-
ing themselves with obstacles; they searched for hollows,
boulders, and thickets, and they avoided trees. On the
fourth and fifth days they suffered from thirst. The

(18)
 THE MAMMOTH AND THE AUROCHS

earth offered no stream or pool. The desert grass grew

pale, and dry reptiles glittered among the stones. Insects
swooped down on the warriors’ skins and stung them.
When the shadows of the fifth day lengthened, the
earth became fresh and soft, the scent of water came
down from the hills, and a herd of aurochs was seen
traveling south. Then Naoh said to his companions,
“We will drink before sundown. The aurochs are head-
ing for a watering place.”
Nam, son of the Poplar, and Gaw, son of the Saiga,
needed to be given courage and confidence; in ex-
change they offered their docility. They were quick to
forget suffering and enjoy pleasure. A leader could de-
rive dependable services from them; it sufficed for them
to know his will and his courage. Since their departure
they had grown attached to Naoh. He sensed this and
from their attachment he drew further strength.
Long shadows spread from the forest trees, the grass
abounded with sap, and the setting sun lit up the herd
of aurochs like a flood of tawny waters.
+ Naoh’s last doubts disappeared: there beyond the
notch in the hills was the watering place. Nam and Gaw
knew it too, their nostrils flaring with the whiffs of
freshness.
“We have to beat the aurochs,” said Naoh.
For he was afraid that the watering place would be
narrow and that the huge animals would take up the
whole edge. The three men sped up to get to the hollow
in the hills before the herd.
The animals advanced slowly because of their great

(19)
 THE OU; Sch) BO RE RSE

numbers, the caution of the old bulls, and the tiredness

of the young. The Oulhamrs gained distance. Other
creatures were using the same tactic; they saw light-
footed saigas dart by, wild sheep, wild asses, and diagon-
ally to them, a herd of horses. A number of them had
already crossed the pass.
Naoh got a wide advance on the aurochs, so they
could drink without hurrying. Nam and Gaw kept
speeding up as their thirst grew stronger. They skirted
the hill and entered the pass. The water came into view,
the life-giving mother, more beneficent even than fire
and less cruel. It was almost a lake, extending to the
foot of a chain of rocks, with peninsulas cutting in, fed
from the right by a river, and falling into a chasm on
the left. There was access to it from three directions:
from the river, the pass the Oulhamrs had crossed, and
another pass between the rocks and one of the hills;
everywhere else rose walls of basalt.
The men cheered at the water. In the orange tint of
the setting sun it was quenching the thirst of the saigas,
the horses, the wild sheep with bearded faces, the asses
with dainty hoofs, the deer more flighty than falling
leaves. A brutal boar, quarrelsome and irritable, was the
only one who drank with no fear. The others, their
ears alert, their eyes darting, revealed the ceaseless
watchfulness of the weak.
Suddenly all ears pricked up, all heads turned toward
the stranger, and in rapid disorder horses, asses, saigas,
sheep, and deer fled through the pass in the direction of
the sunset. Only the boar remained, his little bloodshot

(20)
 THE MAMMOTH AND THE AUROCHS

eyes watching through their bristly lashes.

In the calm that followed the flight of the animals,
the Oulhamrs drank and deliberated. It was too late to
resume the route, and they had decided to take shelter
when they heard a rumble in the distance.
“The aurochs!” Naoh cried.
He turned his head to the western pass and the three
warriors listened. Then they lay down on the ground.
“Tt’s not the aurochs,” murmured Gaw.
And Naoh confirmed it: “They’re mammoths!”
Quickly they examined the site: the river flowed be-
tween the basalt hill and a wall of red porphyry with a
ledge wide enough for a huge animal to pass along. The
Oulhamrs scaled this. Through the stone ravine water
flowed in the eternal shade. Trees which had been felled
by debris or uprooted by their own weight stretched
horizontally across the abyss; others grew up out of the
depths, slender and extremely long, expending all their
vegetal energy to produce a few leaves in that place of
faint light.
‘It was Naoh who first spotted a cave. It was hol-
lowed in an irregular fashion, low and not very deep.
The Oulhamrs did not go in right away. First they
searched it thoroughly from the outside. At length
Naoh went ahead of his companions, lowering his head
and dilating his nostrils. He came upon bones with
pieces of flesh, horns, and jawbones. These disclosed
the presence of a terrible and powerful hunter; Naoh
continued to sniff the air. “It’s the gray bear’s cave,” he
declared. “It has been empty for more than one moon.”

(21)
 THE OU EST” POR LR

Nam and Gaw were hardly familiar with this impos-

ing beast, as the Oulhamrs prowled in territory com-
mon to tigers, lions, aurochs, even mammoths, where
the gray bear was rare. Naoh had encountered him on
long-distance expeditions. He was familiar with his
ferocity, blind like the rhinoceros’s, his strength that
nearly equaled the giant lion’s, his furious and unshak-
able courage. The cave was empty, either because the
bear had abandoned it or was somewhere else for a few
weeks or a season, or because of some mishap in cross-
ing the river. The bear would probably not return that
night, Naoh was telling his companions, when an im-
mense noise vibrated through the rocks and along the
river. The powerful voices of the aurochs, like lions’
roars, reverberated throughout the pass. Naoh listened
apprehensively, for man seldom hunted the aurochs.
The bulls had an agility and grew to a height and pow-
er which their descendants would not possess. They
were aware of their strength, and they had no fear of
large beasts.
The three Oulhamrs had hardly left the darkness of
the cave when another noise arose, cutting through the
first as an axe splits the flesh of a goat. This cry was not as
deep and rhythmic as that of the aurochs. Yet, though
weaker, it heralded the strongest creatures that walked
the face of the earth. In that time the mammoth moved
about invincible. His height chased away lions and ti-
gers, discouraged the gray bear. For thousands of years
man would not measure himself against him, and the
rhinoceros alone, blind and stupid, dared to give fight.

(22)
 THE MAMMOTH AND THE AUROCHS

The mammoth was supple, swift, tireless, able to climb

mountains. He had a reasoning mind and a tenacious
memory. He grasped, moved, and measured objects
with his trunk, sweeping the ground with his huge
tusks. He handled himself wisely on expeditions and
was aware of his supremacy. Life was good for this red-
blooded beast, who was undoubtedly cleverer than the
elephants, debased by man’s long victory over them.
It happened that the leaders of the aurochs and the
mammoths approached the edge of the water at the
same time. The mammoths intended to pass first as al-
ways, and this rule found no opposition from the au-
rochs. However, some of the aurochs were irritated,
led on by bulls who were not very familiar with the
mammoths but were used to other herbivores giving
way to them.
The eight chief bulls were gigantic, the largest of
them being the size of a rhinoceros. They were impa-
tient and burning with thirst. Seeing that the mammoths
wanted to pass first, they let out a long war cry, their
muzzles raised and their throats swelling like bagpipes.
The mammoths trumpeted. They were five old
males, their bodies like mounds and their feet like trees.
Their tusks, ten feet long, could cut through an oak;
their trunks looked like black pythons, their heads like -
rocks. They were armored in a skin that was thick like
the bark of an elm. Behind them followed the long herd
the color of clay.
Meanwhile, with their lively little eyes fixed on the
bulls, the old mammoths blocked the route, peacefully,

(Cay)
 THE MAMMOTH AND THE AUROCHS

imperturbably, as if in meditation. The eight heavy-

eyed, humpbacked aurochs, with woolly, bearded heads,
their horns arching in opposite directions, shook their
thick manes laden with mud. The strongest among
them lowered his thick forehead with his horns glinting.
He rushed head on against the nearest mammoth. Hit
on the shoulder, though he cushioned the blow with a
lash of his trunk, the colossus fell to his knees. The au-
rochs had the advantage, and redoubled the attack with
his sharp horns; all the mammoth could do was use his
trunk clumsily. In this huge melee of muscles the au-
rochs employed frenzied daring. With the nape of his
neck palpitating and his muzzle frothing, his movements
were neat and sure. He would win if he could knock
down his adversary and open his belly where the skin
was less thick and the flesh more sensitive.
The mammoth was aware of this, and his perilous
situation made him clear-headed. Just one bound would
put him on his feet again, but for this the aurochs would
have to slacken the attack.
‘At first the combat had taken the other males by sur-
prise. The four mammoths and the seven bulls stood
face to face in awesome expectation. None made a
move to intervene; they all felt the same menace. The
mammoths showed the first signs of impatience. The ~
tallest, breathing heavily, shook his membranous ears
like giant bats’ wings and began to advance. Almost
at the same time, the one who was fighting the bull
dealt him a violent blow in the legs with his trunk. The
aurochs staggered in his turn and the mammoth got to

(25)
 TH ES OU ES BO Rel Rag:

his feet. The huge beasts again found themselves face to

face. The mammoth, driven by rage, raised his trunk
and trumpeted the signal to attack. His curved tusks
hurled the aurochs down, breaking his bones. Then,
advancing from one side, the mammoth brought his
trunk down again. With increasing rage he crushed his
adversary’s body, stamped upon the long entrails and
broken ribs, covering himself with blood up to his chest.
The ghastly agony of the vanquished was drowned out
in a rumble of noises: the battle between the huge males
had begun. The seven aurochs and four mammoths
hurled themselves against each other in blind battle,
their bodies melded in a formless swarming mass, an
immense crush of flesh molded in pain and rage.
In the first shock of battle inferior numbers had given
the mammoths a disadvantage. One was brought to the
ground by three bulls; another was immobilized on the
defensive. But the other two gained a quick victory.
Hurling themselves together against their antagonists,
they pierced, crushed, and tore them apart. They lost
more time in stamping on their victims than they had
put into beating them. Then when they became aware
of their companions’ peril, they charged: the three au-
rochs who were set upon destroying the colossus were
taken by surprise. They were overwhelmed in a single
mass. Two were crushed beneath the heavy feet, and
the third got away. With him the bulls who were fight-
ing still were taken along, and the aurochs experienced
the contagion of terror. First came uneasiness as before
a storm, silence, a strange immobility that seemed to

(26)
 THE MAMMOTH AND THE AUROCHS

spread throughout the multitude. Then, eyes darting

aimlessly, hoofs trampling like a downpour of rain, a
hurtling retreat that became a battle in the narrow pass,
in which each beast was transformed into fleeing energy
and panic-stricken projectiles, the strong knocking
down the weak and the swift ones escaping over the
others’ backs, while everywhere bones were breaking
like trees felled by a cyclone.
The mammoths did not think of pursuit: once more
they had shown the measure of their power and they
knew themselves to be the masters of the earth. They
lined up on the bank of the watering place and began
to drink so that the water level was lowered in the
streams.
On the side of the hills a host of smaller animals, still
terrified by the struggle, watched the mammoths drink.
The Oulhamrs also watched, stupefied by one of na-
ture’s great events.

(27)
 CHAPTER THREE

$$$ rr > __—_—

In the Cave

HE night was about a third over. The white moon

a bt through a cloud. Its rays played on the
river, on the brooding rocks, and one by one it dis-
solved the shadows of the watering place. The mam-
moths had departed; nothing was seen except from time
to time a prowling animal, or a solitary brown owl on
its silently flapping wings. And Gaw, whose turn it
was, stood guard at the entrance to the cave. He was
tired; his thoughts were rare and fleeting, only aroused
by sudden noises, growing smells or new ones, by the
 TeNGe eke GrAs Var

starts and falls of the wind. He was in a torpid state

where things were growing dimmer except for the feel-
ing of danger. The sudden flight of a saiga made him
raise his head. It was then he noticed, across the river on
the steep top of the hill, a massive silhouette that swayed
as it walked. Its heavy yet supple limbs and solid head
tapering at the jaw, and a certain strangely human ap-
pearance, indicated a bear. Gaw knew the cave-dwell-
ing bear, huge and with a bulging head, which lived
peacefully in its lair and its pasture land, a herbivore
that hunger alone would induce to eat flesh. The bear
coming toward him was not of this kind. Gaw was sure
when he saw it silhouetted in the moonlight: the flat
cranium was covered with fur. In its movement the
Oulhamr recognized assurance and menace, the ferocity
of the carnivore. It was the gray bear, the rival of the
great felines.
Gaw recalled the legends brought back by men who
had traveled on the highland. The gray bear kills au-
rochs and urus and can transport them more easily than
the lion can carry an antelope. With one sweep of his
claws he can open the chest and belly of a man; he can
strangle a horse with his paws, stand up to lion and
tiger. Old Goun believed that he yields only to the
giant lion, the mammoth, and the rhinoceros.
The son of the Saiga did not feel the sudden terror
that he would have on sighting a tiger. For his encoun-
ters with cave bears had taught him that they were mild
and untroublesome. At first this recollection reassured
him; but the speed of the beast impressed him more and

(29)
 IN THE CAVE

more as its silhouette came into focus, so that Gaw ran

back to his leader.
He had only to touch his hand and the tall figure
stood up in the darkness. “What does Gaw want?”
asked Naoh, coming to the entrance of the cave.
The young warrior stretched his hand toward the
hilltop; the leader’s face showed consternation:
“The gray bear!”
He examined the cave. He had taken care to gather
stones and branches; there were several stone blocks
near by which could make access to the cave difficult.
But Naoh was thinking of fleeing, and escape was only
possible by way of the watering place. If this swift, tire-
less, and determined animal decided on pursuit, he
would almost certainly catch the fugitives. Their sole
resource would be to climb a tree, as the gray bear
could not climb. On the other hand, he was capable of
waiting an unlimited time, and in the area there were
only trees with small branches.
_Had the beast seen Gaw squatting, camouflaged,
among the stone blocks and intent on not moving? Or
was he the cave’s occupant, coming back after a long
journey? As Naoh wondered, the animal began the
descent of the steep slope. When he was on surer
ground he raised his head, sniffed the damp air, and
broke into a trot. For an instant the warriors thought
he was leaving. But he stopped in front of the spot
where the ledge was accessible: all retreat became im-
practicable. Upstream the ledge was interrupted by a
sheer drop. Downstream they would have to run for it
(31)
 THE OWES LE ORE ERY

right under the eyes of the bear. He would have time to

cross the narrow river and block the fugitives’ way.
The only thing left was to wait for the animal to leave
or attack the cave.
Naoh wakened Nam and the three of them got to
work rolling blocks of stone.
After some hesitation the bear decided to cross the
river; he reached the ledge and began to climb. Nam
and Gaw shuddered; the instinctual awareness of hu-
man weakness choked them. Not even Naoh was calm.
He knew the adversary, and he knew it would take him
a short time to kill three men. His thick skin and
granite-hard bones were nearly invulnerable to the jave-
lin, axe, and spear.
Meanwhile the Oulhamrs finished piling up the stone
blocks. Soon nothing was left but an opening to the
right at about a man’s height. When the bear got near,
he shook his head with a growl and looked about, dis-
concerted. For if he had smelled the presence of men
and heard the noise of their working, he had not ex-
pected to find that the lair where he had spent so many
seasons was closed up. He showed no caution upon
recognizing the odor of weak animals whom he ex-
pected to feed on, but he was perplexed. He stretched
himself in the moonlight, feeling comfortable in his fur,
showing his silvery breast and wagging his cone-shaped
head. Then, because of his morose nature, he became
irritated and let out a hoarse noise. Impatient, he stood
upon his hind legs, like a huge and hairy man with legs
too short and torso out of proportion, and leaned over

(32)
 Te Nee Ee OrAnvars

toward the opening that was still free.

In the darkness Nam and Gaw held their axes ready.
The son of the Leopard raised his club: they waited
for the beast to stick his paws in so they could hack at
them. Instead the huge head came first, with its padded
forehead, slavering lips, and teeth like spear points. The
axes struck, the club whirled about helplessly because
of the stone protrusions at the opening. The bear
growled and withdrew. He was not wounded: there
wasn’t a trace of blood on his muzzle. His jaws twitched
and his eyes gleamed with fury at being attacked. All
the same he didn’t ignore the lesson, but changed his
tactic. As a burrowing animal experienced in handling
obstacles, he knew that it was sometimes better to pull
them down rather than face a dangerous passage head
on. So he touched the wall, then pushed it. It vibrated
at his weight.
With increased effort the animal worked with his
paws, shoulder, and head, sometimes hurling himself
against the barricade or poking it with his shiny claws.
Finding a weak spot, he broke through the wall and
made it shake. He hurled all his effort on that spot,
which was especially favorable since the men’s arms
were too short to reach it. Naoh and Gaw, acting as
buttresses against the bear, succeeded in stopping the ~
swaying, while Nam leaned over the opening and took
aim at the bear’s eye with his javelin.
Shortly the bear discovered that the weak point had
become unshakable. This change in events stupefied
and exasperated him. He stopped and sat down to con-

(33)
 TO) Ee OCUEESaise EO RS el RoE

sider the wall and to sniff it. He shook his head as if in

disbelief. Finally he came back to the obstacle, hitting
it with his paw and shoulder. Seeing that it still resisted,
he lost patience and gave way to his own brutal nature.
The free opening hypnotized him. It appeared to be
the only point that could be crossed. So he threw him-
self against it in fury. A shaft whistled in the air and
struck him near the eyelid without slowing down his
attack. All the impetus of the charge, the mass of his
flesh with the blood coursing through it, impelled his
energies: the wall crumbled.
Naoh and Gaw had rushed to the back of the cave.
Nam found himself caught in the monstrous paws. He
had no hope of defending himself; he was like an ante-
lope caught by a giant panther or a horse struck down
by a lion; arms outstretched and mouth gaping, in a
dulled state he waited for death. But Naoh, who had
been taken by surprise, recovered his fighting spirit. He
threw away the axe, which he deemed useless, and took
his knotty oaken club in both hands.
The beast saw him coming. He put off doing away
with the weak prey that palpitated beneath him, and
brought his strength to bear against the adversary, thun-
dering down on him with paws and fangs while the
Oulhamr brought down his club. The weapon struck
first, hitting the bear on the jaw. One of its spikes hit
a nostril. The blow, though it glanced sideways and
was not very effective, was so painful that the beast
buckled. The second blow bounded off his indestruct-
ible cranium. Already the immense beast had pulled

(34)
 IEN] TeHee (CrACV.EB

himself together and charged frantically, but the Oul-

hamr had taken refuge in the shadows in front of a jut-
ting rock. Just in time, he disappeared; the bear collided
violently into the basalt. Naoh came from the side and
with a war cry bashed the staggering beast along the
spine with his club. Weakened by the impact against
the rock, the bear swayed on his haunches, and Naoh
crushed his nostrils, paws, and jaws while Nam and
Gaw split open his chest with their axes.
When at last the hulk stopped panting, the three men
looked at each other in silence. It was a great moment.
Naoh was shown to be the most awesome of the Oul-
hamrs, and of all men, for neither Faouhm, nor Hoo,
the son of the Tiger, nor any of the warriors whom
Goun the Dry-Bones could remember had ever slain a
gray bear with his club. And the legend was etched in
the young men’s minds to transmit to future genera-
tions and increase their hopes, if Nam, Gaw, and Naoh
did not die in the quest for Fire.

(35)
 CHAPTER FOUR

EE
Se

The Giant Lion and the Tigress

wo days elapsed. Naoh and his companions left the

savanna behind, traveling ever southward. They
were crossing the forest now. It seemed interminable,
interspaced with islands of grass and stones, lakes,
ponds, and gullies. It spread out slowly, with unexpect-
ed rises, sheltering hyena, boar, wolf, roebuck, elk, and
wild sheep. The rhinoceros with his cutlass tusk and
even the giant lion wandered there. There also roamed
the mammoth, who left behind a trail marked by de-
struction more violent than that of flood or cyclone.
 THE GIANT LION AND THE TIGRESS

In this awesome territory the Oulhamrs found food

in abundance. Knowing they were themselves the prey
of flesh-eaters, they walked alertly in triangle formation
in order to control the widest possible space. By day
their keen senses could guard them from ambush, but
their most dangerous enemies only hunted in the dark.
The Oulhamrs chose with care their places of shelter;
they halted long before nightfall. Often they took ref-
uge in a hollow. At other times they relied on rocks, or
else sheltered in deep thickets or among densely grow-
ing trees.
More than anything else, the lack of Fire made them
suffer. On nights when there was no moon, it seemed
to them that they had entered the darkness forever. It
weighed them down and engulfed them. Each evening
they watched the underbrush as if they expected the
flames to spark in their cage and swell to devour the
dead branches. But all they saw were the lost sparks of
the stars or the eyes of a beast. Their weakness and the
immensity of their surroundings crushed their spirits.
“After a few days, finally the forest opened up.
Woods still filled the west, but in the east a plain
stretched out, part savanna and part brush with a few
islands of trees. A river flowed to the east, banked with
black poplar, ash, aspen, alder, rushes, and reeds. Stones”
lay about at random in reddish masses. And although it
was still broad daylight, long shadows darkened the
sun’s rays.
The three men considered the terrain with misgiv-
ings: many animals would cross the plain to the bank
(37)
 THEO UgiiS dab OR Beas

of the river when darkness came on. So they made

haste to drink, and then explored the site. But they
found that the stones were too small and too scattered
to use for building a shelter. They were ready to go
back to the forest when Nam noticed, not far from the
bank, some enormous boulders very close together, two
of which touched at the top; it made a cavity with four
openings. The first three would let in animals smaller
than men— wolves, dogs, or panthers. The fourth
would allow a tall warrior to pass, provided he lay flat
on the ground. It would not be passable for bears, lions,
or tigers.
At a signal from their companion, Naoh and Gaw
ran up. They were afraid at first that they would not
be able to squeeze into the refuge. But by lying on the
ground and twisting his head, Naeh got in with no
effort. In this way, they found themselves safer shelter
than any hitherto, for the stone blocks were so heavy
and so tightly jammed that a herd of mammoths
couldn’t have torn them apart. There was space as
well, for ten men could have easily fitted in.
The prospect of a perfect night overjoyed the Oul-
hamrs. For the first time since their departure they
could laugh at the threat of animals.
They ate the raw flesh of a fawn they had killed in
the morning, with nuts they had gathered in the forest.
Then they sat outside the shelter, looking over the
countryside. A few elk and deer were making for the
water. Crows flew up with a war cry; an eagle glided
at the level of the clouds. Then a lynx bounded in pur-

(38)
 THE GIANT LION AND THE TIGRESS

suit of a teal, and a leopard slunk furtively among the

willows.
Suddenly the three men lifted their heads, their
senses heightened by peril. Their hesitation was momen-
tary: at a sign from Naoh, Nam and Gaw slipped un-
der the sheltering rocks. He followed them himself at
the moment a giant stag sprang from the forest. The
beast was in precipitous flight. His head with its great
web of horn was thrown back, a foam mixed with
crimson flowed from the nostrils, the hooves surged
like branches in a cyclone. The stag had’ made thirty
bounds when the enemy leaped into view. It was a
tiger with stocky limbs and a limber spine, who cov-
ered twenty yards with each move. His flexible leaps
seemed like gliding in air. Each time the feline reached
the ground there was a brief pause and a reconcentra-
tion of energy.
In the stag’s less ample movements there wasn’t a
pause. Each jump was the accelerated succession of the
one before. At this point in the pursuit he was losing
ground. For the tiger the race had just begun, whereas
the deer had come from a distance.
. “The tiger will catch the great stag,” said Nam in a
trembling voice.
Naoh, watching the chase with fascination, replied,
“The giant stag is tireless!”
Not far from the river the stag’s speed was halved.
With a tremendous effort he sped up again. The two
bodies hurled themselves on with equal speed, then the
leaps of the tiger got smaller. Undoubtedly he would
(39)
 LHELOURST DORR TREE

have given up the chase if the river had not been close;
he hoped to gain ground by swimming, for which his
body was well made. When he got to the riverbank
and plunged into the water, the stag was thirty yards
ahead. The tiger dashed into the stream with amazing
velocity, and the stag advanced at a barely slower rate.
This was the moment of life or death. As the river was
not wide the stag still could land with a lead. If he hesi-
tated climbing the bank he would be caught. He knew
it, but risked making a detour to choose a landing
point: this was a pebbly little promontory with a gradu-
al slope. The stag had calculated right; after a slight
hesitation he climbed out ten yards ahead of the tiger.
On landing, the tiger’s paws got tangled; he stumbled
and somersaulted: the stag was in the clear. There was
nothing for the tiger to do but halt the pursuit. He
crossed the river again and stretched out his body on
the bank.
Suddenly the carnivore leaped to his feet. His paws
stiffened as with his great yellow, staring, almost hag-
gard eyes he watched a monster animal advance from
the forest. It looked like a tiger, but taller and more
compact; its mane was a lion’s, and its deep chest and
sedate pace. Although it advanced without pause, aware
of its supremacy, it showed the hesitation of animals
that are not on their own hunting ground. But the
tiger was. For ten seasons he had held sway over the
territory, and the other beasts, leopard, panther, and
hyena, had lived in the shadow of him. He had only to
choose the prey and it was his. No creature stood up to

(40)
 THE GIANT LION AND THE TIGRESS

the tiger when, on a chance encounter, he slaughtered

elk, buck, stag, urus, aurochs, or antelope. Only the
crossing of an invulnerable rhinoceros made him stand
aside, or that of a mammoth with his massive feet, for
he judged it too difficult to fight them. The kind of ani-
mal which had just appeared was unknown to him, and
he wasastonished.
It was a very rare animal of ancient origins, a species
which had been dying out for thousands of years. All
his instincts told the tiger that it was stronger, better
armed, and faster than himself, but his long experience
of victory made him revolt against his fear. As the
enemy approached he moved aside rather than retreat-
ed; his manner remained threatening. When the dis-
tance between them was sufficiently shortened the lion-
tiger swelled his huge chest and roared. Then, gather-
ing his forces, he sprang in attack, covering thirty feet.
The tiger drew back and turned to beat a retreat. Then
his rage made him wheel around again and accept the
combat, his eyes gleaming.
* Suddenly he was no longer by himself. A tigress had
just appeared on the grassland, and came running up
to the defense of her mate.
The giant lion hesitated, doubtful of: his strength.
Perhaps he would have withdrawn at that point and left
the tigers to their territory had not his adversary, ex-
cited by the mewing of the approaching tigress, shown
signs of attacking. The enormous feline could resign
himself to yielding place, but the recollection of all the
flesh he had torn apart and the limbs he had crushed
(41)
 TH EY OW ES GEOR SEER

forced him to punish aggression. The distance between

him and the tiger was a single leap. He covered it with-
out hitting his mark, as the other had veered and was
attempting to attack on the flank. The lion stopped to
meet the assault. Claws and fangs interlocked with a
clattering and hoarse breathing. The tiger, being shorter,
tried to get his enemy by the throat. He nearly suc-
ceeded, but was thrown off by able movements. He
found himself laid out under a crushing paw, and the
giant lion proceeded to rip open his belly. The entrails
gushed out like blue creepers, the scarlet blood spilled
over the grass, and a terrible howl made the savanna
tremble. Then the tigress approached. Hesitantly she
sniffed the warm flesh, taking in the defeat of her male,
and let out a wail for help.
At this the tiger got up with a final warlike impulse,
but he was entangled in his own entrails and held mo-
tionless, his limbs failing, though his eyes were still full
of life. Instinctively the tigress gauged the energy re-
maining to the creature who had shared the prey with
her, watched over her cubs, protecting their kind
against countless traps. Now she was aware that some-
thing more terrible than tigers stood before her and so,
quivering with the will to live, with a hollow groan
and a long glance behind her she turned tail and made
for the forest.
The giant lion made no move to follow her; he was
reveling in his supremacy. The tiger no longer worried
him; nevertheless he kept an eye on it, hesitating to
finish it off, for he had the prudent temperament of a

(42)
 THE QUEST FOR EERE

conqueror, who fears to receive wounds needlessly.

The red glow of evening came on, filtering through
the forest depths; the animals of the day grew still. As
the sun sank behind a sea of cliffs, the great moon rose
in the east.
No other creature was to be seen but the two beasts.
In the shadows a multitude of animals could smell their
menacing presence. The giant lion once again sensed
his failing strength. The numberless prey were teeming
in the thickets and clearings, and yet he feared hunger
every day. For he carried his scent with him. It gave
him away more surely than his step, the crunch of the
earth, grass, leaves, and branches; it was the terror and
the means of safety of the weak. Suddenly everything
fled into hiding and the land was deserted. The feline
seemed to be alone in the world
As the night was drawing on, the great beast became
hungry. He had been driven from his territory by a
flood, and since then he had crossed many rivers and
roamed unfamiliar lands. Now that he had conquered
the tiger his nostrils flared, seeking other scents in the
wind. Then hunger made him turn back to the warm
innards of the defeated animal. He sniffed them but
was repelled as by poison. Impatiently he leaped on
the tiger and finished it off. Then he began to prowl.
The profile of the jagged stones attracted him. His
sense of smell was not equal to the wolves’, and since
the stones were against the wind he had been unaware
of the men’s presence. Approaching, he realized there
was prey and began hopefully to sniff the air.

(44)
 Se GAA Ne ON TAIND) TICE LIGR ESS

The Oulhamrs shivered as they watched the huge

silhouette. In the sunset they saw the lion-tiger circling
about their refuge; he poked his muzzle into the cracks;
his eyes flashed like violet stars; everything about him
spoke of haste and hunger. When he got to the open-
ing the men had slipped through, he tried to stick his
head and shoulders in, making the Oulhamrs wonder if
the rocks were stable. With each movement of the
heavy animal, Nam and Gaw huddled together gasp-
ing with fear. Filled with hatred at being stalked, Naoh
pitted his intelligence against the beast’s ancient instinct
and strength. His anger grew as the beast started to
scratch the earth. Although the giant lion was not a
burrowing animal, he knew how to enlarge an opening
or overturn an obstacle. His effort threw the men into
consternation, prompting Naoh to squat down and
strike out with his spear: he hit the beast’s head, making
him let out a furious roar and stop digging. The lion’s
eyes searched the darkness and clearly made out the
three silhouettes.
‘He resumed his prowling, trying all the exits, always
coming back to the larger one. At length he began to
dig again: another blow from the spear interrupted his
labor and made him retreat, this time with less surprise.
In his thick mind he knew that to get into the lair was”
impossible, yet he wouldn’t abandon the prey, hoping
that what was so close would not escape. After one last
look at the men he seemed to ignore their existence,
and took off for the forest.
The three Oulhamrs were exultant; their haven

(45)
 THEY OURS eh ORS URE

seemed even safer than before. They thought the giant

lion would surely return, but as they had no very pre-
cise consciousness of time, they enjoyed the fullness of
the present moment; the period separating the evening
twilight from the dawn seemed inexhaustible.
As was his custom, Naoh had taken the first watch.
He wasn’t sleepy. Excited by the fight between the
tiger and the giant lion, he was conscious of all the
ideas accumulated from tradition and experience turn-
ing about in his mind. They combined confusedly, to
form his conception of the world. And already the
world was vast in the Oulhamrs’ intelligence. They
knew the path of the sun and the moon; the cycles of
darkness following light and light succeeding darkness,
of the cold season alternating with the hot; the routes
of streams and rivers; birth, old age, and the death of
men; the form, habits, and strength of the numberless
beasts; the growth of trees and plants; the art of fashion-
ing the spear, axe, club, knife, and javelin and how to
handle them; the movement of wind and clouds, capri-
cious rain, and wild thunder. Finally, they knew of
Fire — the most terrible and the gentlest of living things,
strong enough to destroy a whole savanna and forest
with their rhinoceroses, lions, tigers, bears, aurochs, and
and uruses.
The life of Fire had always fascinated Naoh. Like
the beasts it has to have prey: it feeds on branches, dry
grass, grease. It grows. Each fire is born of other fires,
each fire can die. But the stature of a fire is unlimited,
and on the other hand it can be cut in two endlessly

(46)
 PH Pe GAN GD fVON ANDI HE ei rGRESS

and each piece will live. It decreases when deprived of

food, making itself as small as a fly, yet it can come
alive again along a blade of grass to become as vast as
a swamp. It is an animal and it is not an animal. It has
neither paws nor crawling body, yet it outstrips ante-
lopes; no wings, yet it flies in the clouds; no mouth, yet
it breathes, growls, roars; no hands or claws, yet it takes
possession of wide expanses. Naoh loved, hated, and
revered it. As a child he had sometimes felt its bite. He
knew it made no distinctions of person, ready to devour
those who sustained it, more deceitful than the hyena,
more ferocious than the panther. But its presence was
a delight; it dispelled the cruelty of cold nights, gave
repose to the exhausted, and made man’s weakness im-
posing.
In the dim light of the basalt rocks Naoh saw in his
mind’s eye the camp bonfire and the glimmer that
played on Gammla’s features.

The moon was halfway to the zenith when Gaw took

the watch for Naoh, who was drowsy. Vaguely in the
background the river could be heard flowing in the
vast silence. Then menacing sounds returned, roars in
the underbrush, twigs snapping in the bushes, hyenas
and wolves together sending up howls from their bloody —
jaws. Gaw poked his head out of the stone shelter and
using sight, hearing, and smell, searched the terrain. An
agonized cry, a short growl, then the branches parted.
The giant lion came out of the forest carrying a deer
between his jaws. Beside him, still humble but already

(47)
 EPHESOULBST EOR IT RE

familiar, the tigress crept like a gigantic reptile. Both

headed for the men’s refuge.
Filled with fear, Gaw touched Naoh’s shoulder. The
men watched the two beasts a long time. The lion was
tearing apart his prey, and the tigress watched the kil-
ler of her mate out of the corner of her eye, sometimes
shying away with sudden fear and uncertainty. And
Naoh felt a terrible apprehension grip his chest and stifle
his breathing.

(48)
 CHAPTER FIVE

a Cee
In the Stone Shelter

HEN the morning trailed across the earth the giant

lion and the tigress were still there. They were
asleep near the deer carcass in the pale rays of sunlight.
And the three men, safe in their stone refuge, could not
take their eyes off them. ;
Naoh thought that the memory of blows from the
spear had drawn the giant lion back to the rocks; he
regretted that useless action. For the Oulhamr had no
doubt that the beasts could communicate with each
other and that each one would take a turn watching
 TH ie OQ UE Sot bh Oe hy RE

beside the shelter. Stories crossed his mind about the ran-
cor and tenacity of animals that had been offended by
men. Sometimes his anger got the better of him; he got
up and brandished his club or axe. But the anger was
quickly stilled: despite his victory over the gray bear,
he estimated that a man was no match for the great
carnivores. The trickery that had succeeded in the dark-
ness of the cave would not be effective against the
giant lion or the tigress. He saw no alternative to com-
bat: either they would die of hunger in the stone shelter
or they would have to take advantage of a moment
when the tigress was alone. But would he be able to
count altogether on Nam and Gaw? He shook himself
as if he were cold; he saw the eyes of his companions
fixed on him. He felt the need of reassuring them:
“Nam and Gaw have escaped from the jaws of a bear;
they will escape the claws of the giant lion!”
The two young Oulhamrs turned their faces toward
the sleeping animals. Naoh replied to their thoughts:
‘The giant lion and the tigress won’t always be together.
Hunger will separate them. When the lion is in the
forest we will fight, but Nam and Gaw will have to
obey my commands.” The son of the Poplar, who was
quicker to express himself, cried, “Nam will obey to
the death!” The other raised his two arms: “With Naoh,
Gaw fears nothing!”
The leader looked at them kindly; it was as if the
energy of life itself had infused them, and with a wave
of feelings which they had no words to express, Nam
and Gaw brandished their axes, letting out war cries.

(50)
 IN THE STONE SHELTER

At the sound, the felines started: the Oulhamrs yelled

louder, signaling defiance; the beasts growled angrily.
Then calm returned.
The three men waited, possessing the same patience
as the beasts. Nam and Gaw dozed off at intervals.
Naoh ruminated on vague and monotonous projects
like those of the mammoths, wolves, or dogs. They still
had enough meat for a meal, but thirst was beginning
to torment them: still, it would not become intolerable
for a while.
Toward evening the giant lion stood up. Darting an
angry glance at the stone blocks, he assured himself of
the enemy’s presence, and began to circle about in
front of the gaps in the shelter. At length, remembering
that the fortified spot could not be entered and that
sharp claws sprang out from it, he stopped prowling
and lay down near the deer carcass. The tigress was
there before him. They made short work of what was
left, and then the huge lion turned his reddish head
toward the tigress. A kind of tenderness emanated from
the wild beast to which the tigress responded with a
mewing, her long body stretched out on the grass. The
lion-tiger rubbed his muzzle against the spine of his
companion and licked her with his rough and flexible
tongue. She yielded to his caress with half-open eyes,
then she stepped back menacingly. The male growled, a
subdued and coaxing growl, while the tigress played
about in the evening light. The orange streaks of light
made her look like a dancing flame; she flattened her-
self out like a huge snake, crawled into the grass, and

(51)
 THEOEeSith eh
O Rie hn

hid, then took off again with great leaps. Her compan-
ion stood still and taut at first, his eyes gleaming red in
the sun, then he rushed upon her. She dashed off, slip-
ping into a grove of ash trees, and he slunk after her.
When Nam saw them disappear, he said, “They’ve left:
we must cross the river.” “Doesn’t Nam have any ears
or smell?” said Naoh. “Or does he think he can leap
faster than the giant lion?”
Nam lowered his head: a cavernous growl arose near
the ash trees which gave significance to Naoh’s words.
The warrior understood the peril was as close as when
the carnivores were sleeping in front of the basalt rocks.
Nevertheless, some hope remained to the Oulhamrs:
because of their union, the lion-tiger and the tigress
would all the more feel the need of a lair, for the great
beasts rarely lodge on the bare earth, especially in the
rainy season.
When their enemies reappeared, the giant lion’s pace
was solemn and heavy; the tigress circled about him
with tremendous gaiety. They came back to sniff the
presence of the men just as the sun sank, when an im-
mense shiver came across the land and hungry animals
raised their voices; the monstrous jaws kept passing
back and forth in front of the Oulhamrs, eyes of fire
dancing like gleams in a swamp. At length the lion
crouched while his companion slunk off into the grass.
The moon lit up the tigress, who prowled the savanna
and the forest looking for prey. Her movements wor-
ried Naoh, but the tigress finally went so far afield that
they could have given battle to her companion. If Nam

(52)
 IN THE STONE SHELTER

and Gaw’s strength had been comparable to his own,

Naoh could have risked the offensive. He suffered from
thirst, while Nam suffered even more; even though it
was not his turn to watch he could not sleep. In the
dark, the feverish eyes of the young Oulhamr were
open; Naoh himself was dejected. Never before had he
felt the distance so great that separated him from the
band.
He dreamed on and slept lightly enough to be wak-
ened by the least approach. Time passed beneath the
stars. Naoh only awoke on the return of the tigress.
She brought back no prey but seemed exhausted. The
lion-tiger had gotten up, sniffed her a long time, and
gone off to hunt in his turn. He also followed along
the edge of the river, crouched in the bushes, and
pushed on into the forest. Naoh was engrossed in
watching him. He often had to wake the others (Nam
had succumbed to sleep), but a sure instinct warned
him that the brute was not far enough away yet. Final-
ly he made his decision; he touched his companions on
the shoulder, and as soon as they were on their feet he
whispered, “Are Nam and Gaw ready to fight?”
. They answered, “The son of the Saiga will follow
Naoh!” “Nam will fight with spear and axe!”
The young warriors considered the tigress. Although
the beast was still lying down, she was by no means
asleep; at some distance, with her back turned to the
basalt blocks, she watched. Now Naoh during his
watch had silently cleared the exit. If the attention of
the tigress was caught immediately, a single man, two
(53)
 TH ke O UES ORD RE

at the most, would have time to dash from the shelter.

Having made sure that the weapons were in good
shape, Naoh began by advancing his spear and club,
then he slipped out with great care. Luck was with
them: the howls of wolves and the calls of a screech
owl covered the slight noise of their bodies brushing
the earth. Naoh made it to the prairie and already Gaw’s
head was coming through the opening. The young war-
rior came out with a brusque movement, the tigress
turned around and stared fixedly at the two men. Sur-
prised, she did not attack at once, so that Nam could
come out in his turn. Then the tigress made a single
bound with a mew for help; she continued to come
closer to the men without haste, sure that they could
not escape. Meanwhile, they had raised their spears.
Nam must hurl his first, then Gaw, and both should aim
at the paws. The son of the Poplar took advantage of a
good range. The weapon whistled through the air, hit-
ting too high, close to the shoulder. Whether it was
that the distance was too great or that the point had
struck on a bias, the tigress seemed not to feel any pain;
she growled and sped up. In his turn, Gaw hurled his
weapon. He missed the beast, who had shied to the
side. It was Naoh’s turn. Stronger than his companions,
he could inflict a deep wound. He hurled the spear
when the tigress was only twenty paces away and hit
her in the nape. The wound did not stop the beast,
whose speed increased.
She hit the three men like a boulder: Gaw was
downed by the blow of claws on his chest. But the

(54)
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

heavy club of Naoh had struck; the tigress howled

with a broken paw while the son of the Poplar attacked
with his spear. She swerved at prodigious speed, flat-
tened Nam on the ground, and stood up on her hind
paws to reach Naoh. The monstrous jaws were upon
him, and her burning fetid breath; a claw tore at him,
but his club struck again. Howling with pain, the beast
was dizzied, permitting the man to get free and bash a
second foot. The tigress wheeled upon herself, trying
to get her balance; she slashed at the air while the club
struck relentlessly at her limbs. The animal fell, all her
paws broken, and Naoh could have disposed of her,
but his companions’ wound worried him. He found
Gaw standing, his torso red with spurting blood, three
long wounds streaking his flesh. As for Nam, he lay
stunned, with wounds that seemed light. A deep pain
spread in his chest and loins; he could not get up. To
Naoh’s questions, he answered like someone half asleep.
Then the leader asked, “Can Gaw make it to the river?”
“Gaw will go to the river,” murmured the young
Oulhamr.
Naoh lay down and pressed his ear to the ground,
then he took a long breath. Nothing revealed the ap-
proach of the giant lion, and since after the turmoil
of combat thirst had become intolerable, the leader
lifted Nam in his arms and carried him to the water.
There he helped Gaw quench his thirst, drank abun-
dantly himself, and gave Nam to drink by pouring the
water between his lips from the hollow of his hands.
Afterwards he headed back to the basalt rocks with

(56)
 IN THE STONE SHELTER

Nam on his shoulder, supporting Gaw, who staggered.

The Oulhamrs hardly knew how to treat wounds:
they covered them with a few leaves, choosing aromatic
ones from an instinct more animal than human. Naoh
went out to look for willow and mint leaves, which he
crushed and applied to Gaw’s chest. The blood was
flowing less freely, and it looked as if the wounds were
not fatal. Nam came out of his stupor but his limbs
remained motionless. Naoh did not forget to speak en-
-couragement: “Nam and Gaw fought well — the sons
of Oulhamr will proclaim their courage.”
The young warriors’ faces lit up with the joy of
_ seeing their leader again victorious. ““Naoh defeated the
tigress,” murmured the son of the Saiga in a hoarse
voice, “as he had conquered the gray bear!”
“There is no warrior as strong as Naoh!” Nam ex-
claimed.
Then the son of the Leopard repeated the words of
hope so forcefully that the wounded men felt confi-
dence in the future: “We shall bring back Fire!” and
he» added, “The giant lion is still far away: Naoh will
look for game.”
Naoh moved back and forth across the plain, mostly
close to the river. Now and then he paused before the
tigress, who was alive but unable to move. Her eyes”
gleamed in spite of her bleeding flesh: she watched the
tall warrior moving around her. The wounds on flank
-and back were light but her paws would take a long
time healing.
Naoh stopped close to the defeated prey; attributing

(57)
 TH EVO Ey Sei oe OR borinoe,

human feelings to her, he cried, “Naoh has broken the

tigress’s paws: he has made her weaker than a mother
wolf.” At the warrior’s approach she tried to raise her-
self with an angry, frightened growl. He lifted his
club: “Naoh could kill the tigress and she could not
raise a single claw to fight him.”
A distant noise was heard. Naoh crept up in the tall
grass. Does appeared, running from wolves that could
not be seen yet but whose howls were audible. They
dashed into the water upon catching the scent of the
tigress and of the man, but Naoh’s javelin whistled
through the air. One of the does turned aside, hit in
the flank. Naoh swam several strokes and caught her. He
finished her with a blow of the club, hiked her onto his
shoulders, and carried her on the run to the shelter as
he smelled the approach of danger. As he slipped
through the rocks, the giant lion came out of the forest.

(58)
 SE DO)
Sa
Escape in the Night

y HE next day Naoh saw that Gaw’s wounds were

healing, but the warrior was still unable to regain
the strength that had ebbed away with his blood. As
for Nam, although he was no longer in pain, one of his
legs still remained useless. Naoh was consumed by im-
patience and worry.
That night the giant lion roamed farther off as the
beasts grew more aware of him. His presence filled the
dark shadows of the forest and shot fear along the
riverbank. The lion had a bitter task, since he was
 Teh E, OURS hy ORE EeiGker

himself insatiable and he had to feed the tigress. They

both endured hunger; their life was more desperate and
miserable than that of the wolves.
During the absence of the giant lion, Naoh went to
the river; Gaw dragged along after him. When they
had quenched their thirst, they took back water for
Nam in a piece of hollowed bark.
By the second day Nam and Gaw felt themselves
strong enough to cross the stretch of water, and Naoh
set the time of their escape for that night. All after-
noon the lion-tiger showed signs of anxiousness. He
came out of his sleep shivering: Naoh surmised that
without doubt that night, when the lion went off to
hunt, he would look for a lair as well. His absence
would be prolonged.
Night came upon them heavy and humid. The chalk-
red sunset stretched across the sky for a long time; the
grass and the trees bent beneath a downpour of rain
and the leaves fell to the ground with a sound like feeble
rustle of wings or the buzz of insects. The Oulhamrs
would have time to cross the river; the rain would help
them in their retreat; it would soak the ground and
wipe out the odor of their traces, which the giant lion
would not follow with any acuteness.
Sometime after twilight the giant cat began to prowl.
First he explored the neighboring territory, assuring
himself that there was no prey close at hand, and then,
as on other evenings, he penetrated deep into the forest.
Naoh waited uncertainly, because the odor from the
humid vegetation did not permit the scent of the beasts

(60)
 ESCAPE IN THE NIGHT

to become easily apparent. The noise of the leaves and

the falling rain confused his hearing as well. At last he
gave the signal, taking the lead in the expedition, while
Nam and Gaw followed on his right and left.
First they must cross the river. During his expedi-
tions Naoh had discovered a fordable point just to the
middle of the current. From there they would have to
swim toward a boulder, where the ford resumed. Be-
fore setting out to cross the river, the warriors covered
their tracks. They made several feints for a while close
by the water, doubling back on themselves and then
resuming their direction, stopping short and stamping
in order to emphasize the trace of their movements.
They swam for the ford rather than approaching it
directly.
Once across, they resumed the maneuver of criss-
crossing their path, executing great twists and arbitrary
curves. When they had covered several hundred yards
of ground they considered that enough had been done
to throw off their pursuer, and they continued the jour-
ney straight ahead. They advanced for a while in silence,
~ then Nam and Gaw called to one another while Naoh
pricked up his ears. In the distance the roar had cut
through the air. Three times it was repeated, followed
by a long-drawn-out mewing.
Nam cried, “It’s the giant lion!”
“Let’s walk faster,” muttered Naoh.
They went on a few hundred feet without any noise.
Then the beast’s voice reverberated from closer by.
Again they increased their speed, while the roars con-
(61)
 THE OUE SE OR SEER

tinued, abrupt, strident, full of rage and frustration.

They understood that the beast was running about
after their muddled traces; their hearts pounded in their
chests like a pickaxe against a tree trunk. They felt
naked and defenseless before the crushing mass of the
dark. The giant lion could only follow by the trail
they left, and if he crossed the river he would find
himself up against the men’s ruse and would not be
able to discover what direction they had taken.
A tremendous roar split the air. Nam and Gaw drew
closer to Naoh. “The giant lion has crossed the water,”
Gaw murmured.
“Keep going!” commanded their leader, while at the
same time he stopped and lay on the ground in order
to catch the sound’s reverberations.
New noises burst upon each other.
Standing up, Naoh cried, “The giant lion is still on
the other side of the river.”
The howling voice grew fainter. The beast had
abandoned pursuit and was withdrawing to the north.
They walked on for a long while. The downpour
had turned to a drizzle, but the shadows remained deep.
A thick wall of clouds masked the stars. All they could
see was the ephemeral glow of phosphorus which
plants give off and which hovers on the surface of
water.
Nam and Gaw began to tire. Nam felt his bones
weakening, and Gaw’s wounds had begun to smart; it
was time to look for shelter. Still, they covered several
more miles. The air became more humid again; the

(62)
 ESCAPE IN THE NIGHT

wind rose over the open stretches. They guessed that

a large body of water was close by, and soon their
expectation was confirmed.
Everything seemed at peace. The slightest of noises
indicated the flight of an animal; a form would appear
and disappear again in a rapid bound. Naoh at last
selected an immense black poplar for their shelter. The
tree could offer no defense against the attack of a
beast, but how to find a sure refuge in the dark, or one
that was not occupied? The moss was damp and the
air sharp. It mattered little to the Oulhamrs; their skin
was as resistant to the elements as the hide of bears or
boars. Nam and Gaw stretched out on the ground and
instantly went off to sleep; Naoh stood watch. He was
not tired; he had taken a long rest beneath the basalt
rocks and, well conditioned to marches, to labors, and
to fighting, he steeled himself to extend his watch so
that Nam and Gaw might build up their strength.

(63)
<< Part Two >>
 CHAPTER ONE

aay
ey Eu ED)

The Ashes

‘sor a long time they remained in the darkness that

had slowed up their escape. Then light filtered
through in the east. Spreading softly amid the mossy
clouds, it came down like a cloth of pearls. Naoh saw
that a lake, of which he couldn’t see the end, obstructed
the southern route. The lake rippled slowly. The Oul-
hamrs wondered if they should go around it to the
east where a range of hills could be seen, or toward the
west, which was pale and flat terrain dotted with trees.
The light remained weak. A soft breeze from the
 THEE OUR Sitie ORs eh Beko:

land played on the water. High up the wind rose, part-

ing the clouds and blowing them about. The outline of
the moon in its last quarter showed through the rav-
eled clouds, then against the blue expanse of the sky.
To the sharp eye of Naoh the lay of the land was visi-
ble to the frontier of the horizon. To the east he dis-
cerned hillsides with their tree-lines etched against the
moonlight, which showed the direction their journey
was to take; to the south and west the lake stretched
indefinitely.
Silence reigned, seeming to spread from the water up
to the silvery crescent in the sky. The wind grew so
weak that it barely sighed in the leaves.
Tired of standing motionless and impatient to get a
clear view, Naoh left the shade of the poplar and
prowled along the riverbank. According to the forma-
tion of land and vegetation, the site opened up or nar-
rowed, the eastern extremes of the lake becoming clear-
er. Numerous tracks indicated the passage of herds and
beasts of prey.
Suddenly, with a shudder, the Oulhamr stopped. His
eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, while his heart
beat with anxiety and strange fascination. Memories
crowded in upon him with such force that he imagined
he could see the Oulhamr camp, the smoking fire, and
the supple figure of Gammla. For there in the green
grass was a hollowed place with embers and half-con-
sumed branches; the wind had not yet dispersed the
white powder of the ashes.
Naoh imagined the relaxation of a halt, the aroma of

(68)
 LHE ASHES

meat being roasted, the tender warmth and ruddy flick-

ering of the flames. But at the same time, in his mind he
saw the enemy.
Fearful and prudent, he knelt down to examine the
traces of the dangerous wanderers. Shortly he calcu-
lated that there were at least two times as many warriors
as the fingers on his two hands, and no women, old men,
or children. It was a forage and reconnaissance expedi-
tion which bands sometimes sent out at great distances.
The state of the bones and meat fibers confirmed the
evidence he drew from the grass.
Naoh needed to know where the hunters came from
and what direction they had taken. He feared they be-
longed to the race of man-eaters, the Kzams, who since
_Goun’s youth had occupied the southern territories on
either side of the Great River. The height of this race
exceeded that of the Oulhamrs and of all other races
that had been seen by the chiefs and the old men. They
alone fed on the flesh of their own kind, though they
did not prefer it to the flesh of elk, boar, fallow deer,
roebuck, horse, or wild ass. Their population did not
seem large: only three bands were known of, whereas
Ouag, the greatest traveler born among the Oulhamrs,
had encountered everywhere peoples that did not eat
the flesh of men.
As memories kept coming to Naoh, he did not stop
following the tracks. The task was easy, as the wan-
derers, confident of their numbers, disdained to cover
their traces. They had circled the lake to the east and
(69)
 THE ASHES

were probably trying to regain the banks of the Great

River.
Two plans offered themselves to Naoh: to catch up
with the expedition before they reached their hunting
grounds and make off with the Fire by trickery; or else
to get ahead of them to their band, which was without
its best warriors, and look for a favorable opportunity.
In their youthful impatience, the three men decided on
the first plan.
So as not to take the wrong road they must first fol-
low the trail. Naoh’s savage imagination, sweeping across
water, hills, and steppes, kept seeing the roaming war-
riors who carried with them men’s supreme weapon. His
reverie had the precision of reality. For a long time the
watcher gave himself up to it, while the wind calmed
down, grew weak, and ceased from leaf to leaf, from
one blade of grass to the next.

(71)
 CHAPTER TWO

oe

The Lookout by the Fire

or two days the Oulhamrs had been following the

FE trail of the man-eaters. First they circled the lake
to the foot of the hills; then they came into land where
trees alternated with grasslands. Their task was easy be-
cause the travelers were advancing nonchalantly, light-
ing big fires to roast their prey and shelter themselves
from the cold, foggy nights.
On the other hand, Naoh constantly used tricks to
fool anyone who might be following. He chose hard
ground, or supple grass which quickly snapped back;
 THE LOOKOUT BY THE FIRE

he took advantage of stream beds, forded or swam

across certain turns in the lake, and sometimes criss-
crossed his tracks. Despite these precautions he gained
ground. On the second day he was so close to the enemy
camp that he believed they could reach it in one night’s
march.
“Nam and Gaw must get their weapons ready and
have courage,” he said. “Tonight they will see Fire
again!”
The young warriors were excited at the prospect of
seeing the leaping flames, while they were frightened at
the thought of the enemy’s strength.
“First let’s rest,” continued the son of the Leopard.
“We will sneak up on them while they are asleep and
try to take the watchers by surprise.”
Nam and Gaw felt the presence of a greater peril
than all the others, for the legend of the Kzams was
formidable. Their strength, bravery, and ferocity ex-
ceeded that of all known men. Sometimes the Oulhamrs
had taken small groups of them by surprise and wiped
them out: more often, it had been the Oulhamrs who
had perished under the slashing axes and clubs of the
Kzams. According to old Goun, they were descended
from the gray bear; their arms were longer than other
men’s, their bodies as hairy as those of Aghoo and his
brothers. And because they fed on the bodies of their
enemies, they frightened more timid peoples. When the
son of the Leopard had spoken, Nam and Gaw bowed
their heads, trembling; then they rested till the middle
of the night.
(73)
 THEA OUEHS © EF ORGE TRE

They got up before the light of the crescent moon

whitened the sky. Naoh had identified the trail before-
hand, and they marched at first in darkness. At the ris-
ing of the moon, they realized that they had gotten
sidetracked; then they recovered the trail. They pushed
their way through underbrush, skirted some swamp-
land, and crossed a river. At last, from the top of a hill-
ock, hidden amid scrubby grass, with terrific emotion
they saw the Fire. Nam and Gaw shivered; Naoh re-
mained squatting motionless and breathing heavily. After
so many nights spent in the cold, the rain and darkness,
with so many things to fight — hunger, thirst, the bear,
the tigress, the giant lion — it was before them at last,
the brilliant sign of Man.
It was not far from a pond, on a plain dotted with
turpentine trees and sycamores, a semicircular bonfire
whose flames flickered languidly over the logs. It threw
out a twilight glow which permeated and enlivened
everything around it.
The men were sleeping, covered with skins of elk,
wolves, mountain goats. Their axes, clubs, and javelins
were scattered about on the ground; two warriors were
watching. One of them, seated on a pile of dry wood,
his shoulders covered with a goatskin, had his hand on
his spear. A ray of light played on his face, which was
covered up to the eyes with hair like a fox’s. His hairy
hide resembled a mountain goat’s. He had a flat nose
with circular nostrils; the weight of his long arms
hunched his shoulders, and his legs were short, thick,
and bowed. The other watcher walked furtively around

(74)
 Dine OOOU h BY HE ETRE

the fire. He stopped at intervals, pricked an ear, and

sniffed the damp air which sank to the plain as the hot
vapors rose up from the fire. His height was equal to
Naoh’s, his head enormous with ears like a wolf, pointed
and retractile. His hair and beard grew in tufts between
spots of saffron-colored skin. The three Oulhamrs could
see his eyes glittering in the half-light or gleaming
blood-red in the reflection of the flames. He had pec-
toral muscles flexed above a flat stomach, triangle-shaped
thighs, shins like the head of an axe, and feet that would
have been short but for the length of the toes. The
whole body, heavy and jointed like a buffalo’s, dis-
played an immense strength but less capacity for speed
than the bodies of the Oulhamrs.
The watcher had interrupted his course; he turned
his head in the direction of the hill. Doubtless a vague
scent bothered him, in which he recognized neither the
smell of animals nor that of his own people. The other
watchman, with less acute nostrils, dozed on.
“We are too close,” Gaw remarked softly. “The wind
carries our scent to them.”
Naoh nodded his head, for he was much more afraid
_ of the enemy’s power of smell than of his sight or hear-
ing. “We must go against the wind!” Nam added. “The
wind is following the trail of the Kzams,” Naoh replied.
“Tf we turn, they will be walking behind us.” He did
- not need to explain his thoughts: Nam and Gaw under-
stood as well as the beasts the necessity of following,
not preceding, prey except to ambush them. Mean-
while, the watcher spoke to his companion, who shook
(75)
 TE VOLE SSO Rarer,

his head. He seemed about to sit down in turn, but he

changed his mind and walked in the direction of the hill.
‘We must retreat!” said Naoh. He looked for a shel-
ter which would obstruct their scent. A thick bush grew
close to the summit; the Oulhamrs concealed themselves
in it, and as the wind was light it did not penetrate, but
carried an odor that was too weak for human nostrils.
Shortly, the watcher stopped; after taking several deep
breaths he returned to camp. The Oulhamrs remained
motionless for a long time. The son of the Leopard
sought out strategies with his eyes in the dimmed glow
of the bonfire, but he came up with nothing. For if the
slightest obstacle can deceive sharp eyesight and if it is
possible to walk softly enough on the steppe to fool
antelope or elk, still an odor is given off when a man
passes and it remains on his track; only distance or a
counter-blowing wind can hide it. The yelping of a
jackal made Naoh lift his head. He listened to it in si-
lence at first, then he let out a short laugh. ““We are now
in the country of jackals,” he said. “Let Nam and Gaw
try to kill one.”
His companions looked at him in astonishment. He
continued: “Naoh will keep watch in this bush. The
jackal is as tricky as a wolf; a man could never approach
him. But he is always hungry. Nam and Gaw must put
down a piece of flesh and wait at a short distance. When
the jackal comes, your spear must be quicker than he is.”
Jackals are not difficult to follow; their voices give
them away: they know that no animal hunts them for
prey. The two Oulhamrs came across them near a glade

(76)
 THE LOOKOUT BY THE FIRE

of turpentine trees. There were four of them hunched

over some bones, from which they had chewed all the
meat. They didn’t run away at the sight of the men, but
kept darting watchful glances at them. They yelped
softly, ready to take off as soon as they considered the
chance comers too close. Nam and Gaw did as Naoh
had told them. They placed a quarter of a doe on the
ground, and after withdrawing they remained as mo-
tionless as the trunks of the turpentine trees. The jack-
als prowled with short paces on the grass. Their fear
lessened at the smell of meat. Although they had often
encountered these upright animals, they had never ex-
perienced men’s tricks; still, judging them stronger than
themselves, they followed only at a distance and acted
with caution. Hence they prowled for a long time close
by the Oulhamrs, circling about, hiding in the glade,
and coming out again to circle the motionless bodies.
The crescent moon gleamed in the east before their mis-
trust and their patience had come to an end. Still their
_ approaches were more daring; they came up to twenty
_ paces from the bait and stopped for a long time, mur-
muring among themselves. Finally their greed decided
them. They rushed in a body so as not to give the ad-
vantage to any one of them. It was as quick as Naoh_
had said, but the spears were even quicker. They pierced
the flanks of two jackals while the others carried off
the prey; then the axes put an end to what life was left
in the wounded beasts.
When Nam and Gaw brought back the skins, Naoh
exclaimed, “Now we can trick the Kzams, for the odor

(77)
 THE OU ES tb ORE GRE

of the jackals is much more powerful than our own.”

Fed with branches and boughs, the fire had revived.
Its devouring flames rose smokily over the plain; the
sleeping figures could be made out more distinctly with
their weapons and provisions; two new watchers had
replaced the others, both seated, suspecting no danger.
“Those ones are easier to surprise,” said Naoh after
considering them attentively. “Nam and Gaw have
chased the jackals; the son of the Leopard will hunt in
his turn.” ‘
He walked down the hill, carrying the skin of
jackal, and disappeared into the underbrush. First he
moved at some distance from the Kzams in order not to
be discovered. He crossed the undergrowth, climbed
among the high grasses, circled a pond shaded by reeds
and rushes, crisscrossed among linden trees, and at
length turned up about four hundred feet from the
fire behind a bush. The watchers hadn’t moved. One of
them had barely perceived the jackal’s smell, which
was not a cause of alarm. And Naoh took in all the
details of their camp. First he measured the number of
warriors and their height. Almost all of them were
powerfully built, with deep chests, long arms, and short
legs. The Oulhamr felt that none of them could outrun
him. Then he examined the lay of the land. An empty
space where the earth was bare separated him on the
right from a little knoll. Behind it there were some
bushes, then a bank of high grass veering to the left.
This grass spread out in a sort of promontory up to five
or six paces from the fire. Naoh did not hesitate for

(78)
 THE LOOKOUT BY THE FIRE

long. While the watchers’ backs were turned he

climbed the knoll. He could not go fast. At each move-
ment of the watchers he stopped, flattening himself like
a reptile. He felt upon him the double glow of the fire
and of the moon like subtle hands. At last he got to the
shelter and, slipping beneath the bushes, crossed the
grassy strip and reached the fire. He was almost en-
circled by the sleeping warriors, most of whom were a
spear-length away. If the watchmen gave the alarm at
the slightest false move, he would be caught. However,
he had one chance: the wind was blowing in his direc-
tion, carrying the smoke with it and drowning in it his
scent and the smell of the jackal. Further, the watchers
seemed almost unconscious; they barely raised their
heads at intervals.
Naoh appeared in the full moonlight, bounded like
a leopard, stretched out his hand, and snatched a brand.
Hardly had he gotten back to the strip of grass when a
yell went up, while one of the watchers rushed after
him and the other hurled a spear. Almost simultaneous-
ly, ten silhouettes jumped up. Before any Kzam had
found his trail, Naoh had crossed the line at which his
retreat could be cut off. With a war cry he dashed
straight toward the hillock where Nam and Gaw were
waiting for him. The Kzams followed him in a scat-
tered body, grunting like boars. Despite their short legs
they were agile, but not quick enough to catch up to
the Oulhamr, who bounded before them like a stag as
he brandished the torch. He reached the hillock with
(79)
 THE LOOKOUT BY THE FIRE

an advance of five hundred feet and finding Nam and

Gaw on their feet, he cried, “Run ahead!”
Their svelte silhouettes scampered off almost as
quickly as their leader. The son of the Leopard fol-
lowed them effortlessly, stopping now and then to ex-
amine the firebrand. He was torn between worrying
about the pursuers and his anxiety not to lose the spark-
ling prey for which he had endured so much suffering.
The flame had gone out; there only remained a red
glow, lively enough to give Naoh hope that at the first
opportunity he could revive it and feed it.
When the moon had gone a third of its course, the
Oulhamrs found themselves at a network of ponds.
They recognized a track they had already covered,
narrow and winding, but solid underfoot, as the base
was porphyry. They set off at once, and then made a
halt. Two men could hardly advance together, espe-
cially for combat; here, it would be easy for the Oul-
hamrs to outdistance the Kzams. Naoh calculated his
chances with the double instinct of animal and man and
concluded that he had time to make the fire grow. The
red ember had got even smaller; it grew darker and
dimmer. The three men looked for grass and dry wood. |
There were dead reeds, rotting ferns, and sapless wil-
low branches in abundance: all of this vegetation was
damp. They tried some branches with slender ends,
_ leaves, and twigs that were short or delicate. The fad-
ing ember was barely revived by Naoh’s breath. Sev-
eral times blades of grass were livened with a light glow

(81)
 THE OUEST FOR VERE

which grew for an instant, stopped wavering on the

end of a blade, diminished, and died, killed by the
dampness from the water. Then Naoh thought of the
jackal hide. He pulled out several tufts of fur and tried
to make the flame catch. Some glowed a bit; joy and
fear came by turns to the Oulhamrs; but each time,
despite infinite precautions, the tiny palpitations
stopped and went out. There was no more hope! The
ash gave off only a frail glimmer; one last scarlet dot de-
creased at first to the size of a wasp, then to that of a
fly, then to that of a minuscule insect flitting across
the surface of the ponds. At last, it was extinguished,
and an immense sorrow froze the spirits of the Oul-
hamrs and left them emptied.

(82)
 CHAPTER THREE

$+Se
On the Banks of the Great River

HE chase had lasted two days. It was breathless and

full of feints. The Kzams were relentless either out
of' concern for their future — the three Oulhamrs could
be the advance guard of many—or because’ of their de-_
structive instinct and hatred of strangers. The endur-
ance of the fugitives was equal to their speed. They
could have greatly outdistanced their pursuers, but
Naoh was set on conquering Fire. At night, after as-
suring the necessary advance for Nam and Gaw, he
prowled about the enemy camp. He slept little but
 LHE QUES FORTE PRE

deeply. As the ins and outs of this pursuit required

numerous detours, the son of the Leopard was obliged
to cut considerably toward the east so that at the end
of the second day they came in sight of the Great
River. It was at the top of a conical hill from which
descended a crevice of porphyry where floods, rain,
and vegetation had hewed out banks, dug holes, torn
out blocks, but which for hundreds of millennia would
resist the brutal and patient ravages of the elements.
Like Fire, the river’s waters seemed to the Oulhamrs
a being without limits. Like Fire, water diminished,
augmented, surged from an invisible source, lashed out
across the earth, devouring beasts and men. So Naoh
reflected before the inexhaustible floods. But it was
necessary to seek shelter. Islands offered refuge against
the onslaught of beasts, but were hardly efficacious
against men since they would hinder their movements,
making the conquest of Fire impossible and exposing
them to traps. Naoh preferred the riverbank. He set
up camp on a schist boulder which was slightly elevated
over the site. The sides were sheer and the top part
formed a plateau on which ten men could lie down.
They finished the preparations for their camp at twi-
light. There was enough distance between the Oul-
hamrs and their pursuers for them to have no fear |
throughout the night. The air was cold; a few clouds |
floated in the scarlet sunset. While eating their meal of
raw flesh, nuts, and mushrooms, the warriors observed |
the darkening earth.

(84)
 OUNSL EH Pe BreAGNIIGS Olber Hob eG iR EAC ORI VE R

In the light, they could still make out the islands if

not the far bank of the river. Wild asses passed by, then
a herd of horses went down to the river’s edge. They
were stocky animals whose heads seemed thick because
of their matted manes. Their pace was interrupted and
sped up nervously; they stood bent over the water,
trembling and full of mistrust. Then they drank quick-
ly and raced off. As the night unfolded, jackals yelped
and their light silhouettes could be seen sneaking about.
The Oulhamrs slept alternately till the dawn. Then
they resumed the descent of the Great River. They
were stopped by mammoths. The herd covered an area
a thousand feet wide and three times that in length.
They pastured, picking tender plants and ripping up
roots. Sometimes, rejoicing in their strength, they
chased each other over the soft earth or struck each
_ other lightly with their hairy trunks.
Naoh was not in the least afraid of them: he knew
that they did not attack any animal unless they were
bothered. “Aoum, son of the Crow, made an alliance
_ with the mammoths,” he said.
“Why shouldn’t we do the same as Aoum?” asked
—Gaw.
“Aoum understood the mammoths,” Naoh objected, ©
“but we do not.”
Nevertheless, he was struck, by the idea. He thought
about it as he circled the gigantic herd at a distance.
And translating his thoughts into words, he continued
| aloud: “The mammoths don’t have words like men, to

(85)
 PAE VOW ES i] BOR ETRE

talk with each other. They know the call of their lead-
ers; Goun says that they take on command the position
assigned to them, and that they take counsel before
setting out for new territory. If we were to figure out
their signs we could make an alliance with them.”
Then he noticed an enormous mammoth who was
watching them pass. He stood apart from the herd,
farther along the riverbank among some young pop-
lars, grazing on tender shoots. Naoh had never en-
countered a mammoth of such proportions. His height
was fully thirty feet. A thick mane like a lion’s grew
on his neck; his hairy trunk seemed like an animal in
itself, resembling a tree or a snake. The sight of the
three men seemed to interest him.
Naoh called, “The mammoths are strong! The Great
Mammoth is stronger than all the others. He can crush
tiger and lion like worms. He can upset ten aurochs
with the shock of his chest. Naoh, Nam, and Gaw are
the Great Mammoth’s friends!” The mammoth raised
his huge ears. He listened to the sounds, then slowly
shook his trunk and trumpeted. “The mammoth has
understood!” cried Naoh, joyfully. “He knows that |
the Oulhamrs have acknowledged his power.”
Again he cried, “If the sons of the Leopard, the
Saiga, and the Poplar recover Fire, they will cook |
chestnuts as a gift for the Great Mammoth!”
As he spoke, he noticed a pond in which water lilies |
were growing. Naoh was aware that mammoths liked|
their stalks, which grow under water. He signaled to

(86) |
 ON THE BANKS OF THE GREAT RIVER

his companions and they began to pull up the long

brownish plants. When they had made a big pile, they
washed them carefully and carried them toward the
colossal beast. Fifty paces from him, Naoh resumed
speaking:
“Here you are! We have picked these plants for you
to graze on. Thus you will know that the Oulhamrs
are the friends of the mammoths.” And he withdrew.
Curious, the giant approached the stalks. He knew
them well; they were to his taste. As he ate them, with-
out haste and with long pauses, he observed the three
-men. Sometimes he raised his trunk to sniff, then he
swung it in a peaceful manner. Then Naoh drew close
with unnoticeable movements. He found himself be-
fore those colossal feet, under that powerful trunk and
the tusks as long as the body of an aurochs. He was
like a field mouse facing a panther. In a single move
the beast could reduce him to crumbs. The trunk
grazed him. It encircled his body and sniffed him.
‘Breathless, Naoh touched the hairy trunk in turn. Then
he plucked grass and young shoots which he offered
as a sign of alliance.
When they saw Naoh stroking the beast with his
hand, Nam and Gaw were filled with joy and pride. ~
“Naoh is making an alliance with the mammoth!”
whispered Nam. “Naoh is the most powerful of men.”
Meanwhile, the son of the Leopard cried, “Let Nam
(and Gaw approach in turn in the same manner as Naoh
thas done. They will pick grass and shoots and offer

(87)
 THE OWES FOR EERE

them to the mammoth.” The young warriors listened

to him warmly and full of trust. They advanced at the
same slow pace as their leader, picking tender grass and
young stalks as they went. When they were close,
they held out what they had gathered. As Naoh did
the same, the mammoth came to eat it. Thus was knit-
ted the alliance of the Oulhamrs with the mammoth.

(88)
 CHAPTER FOUR

ee
ae
‘The Alliance Between Man
and Mammoth

i
HE moon had grown bigger. It was approaching
| ae night when it would rise as vast as the sun.
The Kzams and the Oulhamrs were encamped four
miles away from each other along the river. The Kzams ~
occupied a dry strip of territory. They warmed them-
selves at the roaring fire and ate large pieces of meat,
) for their hunt had been abundant, while the Oulhamrs
were sharing a few roots and the flesh of a wood pi-
geon in silence amid the cold and humid shadows.
Two miles from the shore the mammoths were asleep
 LHE OCVES tt ORE TRE

in a glade of sycamores. During the day they had per-

mitted the presence of the three Oulhamrs among them, _
but with the approach of dusk their humor changed. |
Either they were fearful of a trap, or else their sleep
was hindered by the men’s presence. Sensing this, the
Oulhamrs had camped beyond the limit at which their
scent could be troublesome.
That night Naoh asked his companions, “Are Nam
and Gaw ready for exhaustion? Are their limbs supple
enough and is their wind strong?” The son of the Pop-
lar replied, “(Nam slept part of the day. Why shouldn’t
he be ready for combat?” And Gaw in turn said, “The —
son of the Saiga can cross the distance between us and
the Kzams at top speed.”
“Good! Naoh and his young companions will set out
toward the Kzams. They will struggle all night to con-
quer Fire.”
Nam and Gaw rose in one movement and followed
their leader. As they approached the camp of the
Kzams their speed slowed. Then, at the bend of a wil-
low thicket, still far off, flames shone splendidly, made
pale by the moonlight. The Kzams were sleeping.
Three watchers tended the fire and kept guard over
the night.
Concealed in the vegetation, the prowlers spied on
the camp. They held in readiness dry twigs and finely
cut branches: the Fire would never again die between |
their hands before they had imprisoned it in the bark |
cage lined with flat stones. But how to approach the:
flame? How to draw away the attention of the Kzams, ,

(90)
 THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN MAN AND MAMMOTH

who were on the lookout since the night that the son
of the Leopard had appeared at their fireside?
Naoh said, “Here is the plan. While Naoh goes back
up the river, Nam and Gaw will stray into the plain
around the camp of the Kzams. At one moment they
will hide themselves and at another come into the open.
When the enemies rush after them they will take flight,
but not at top speed, for the Kzams must have some
| hope of catching them so that they will pursue for a
| long time. Nam and Gaw must use all their courage not
to flee too quickly. They will draw off the Kzams up to
the red rock. If Naoh is not there, they must pass on
_ between the mammoths and the Great River. Naoh
| will find their trail.”
_ The young men obediently slipped through the
+ underbrush while the son of the Leopard headed for
the riverbank. Some time passed. Then Nam showed
himself beneath a catalpa tree and disappeared. Then
) the shadow of Gaw was seen furtively against the grass.
_ The watchers gave the alarm. The Kzams raced up in
t disorder with long yells and assembled about their
leader. He was a warrior of middle height as thickset
as a cave bear. Twice he raised his club, barked out
commands, and gave the signal. The Kzams spread out ©
j in six groups in a semicircle.
» Naoh anxiously watched them disappear, then he
| thought of nothing but conquering the Fire. Four men
| were guarding it, chosen among the strongest. One
|especially inspired fear. As thickset as the leader but
) taller, the very size of his club implied his strength. He

(91)
 THE QUEST FOR EBIRE

was standing full in the light. Naoh could make out his
enormous jaw, eyes shadowed by thick eyebrows, short
legs of a massive triangular shape. Less heavy, the other
three had torsos that were just as thick and long arms
with tough muscles. Naoh’s position was favorable; a
light but continuous wind was blowing toward him,
carrying his scent away from the watchers. Jackals
were prowling on the savanna, giving off a sharp smell.
He had, as well, kept one of the skins. He sneaked up
within sixty feet of the fire, and paused for a long time.
Then, as the moon came out from behind some poplars,
he rose and let out a war cry. Surprised by his sudden
appearance, the Kzams stared at him. Their amazement —
did not last long and they raised their stone axes, clubs,
and spears.
Naoh cried, “The son of the Leopard has come
across the savannas, forests, mountains, and rivers be-
cause his tribe is without Fire. If the Kzams let him
take a few brands, he will withdraw without combat.”
They did not understand these words from a foreign
tongue any more than they would have understood the |
howl of wolves. Seeing that he was alone, they thought
only of killing him, and rushed on him in a body.
When the biggest was within range, he threw a flint- |
tipped spear. He hurled it with strength and skill. The |
weapon grazed Naoh’s shoulder and fell to the damp |
|
earth. The Oulhamr, who preferred to conserve his
}
own weapons, picked it up and hurled it back. Whis- |
tling through the air, the spear described a curve; it |
pierced the throat of a Kzam, who staggered and fell.

(92)

|
 THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN MAN AND MAMMOTH

His companions riposted simultaneously, letting out

doglike cries.
Naoh had only time to dive to the ground to avoid
the trenchant points, and the Kzams, believing him hit,
rushed up to finish him off. Already he had bounded up
and returned the assault. A Kzam, hit in the stomach,
stopped pursuing, while the other two hurled their
spears one after the other. Blood gushed from Naoh’s
thigh, but feeling that the wound was superficial, he
began to circle about his adversaries, for he was most
afraid of being surrounded. He dashed off and came
back and at length found himself between the fire and
his enemies.
“Naoh is quicker than the Kzams!” he cried. “He
will take the Fire and the Kzams will have lost two
warriors.”
He bounded forward again and came near the flame.
But as he stretched out his hands to seize some brands,
he, noticed with anxiety that they were almost all
| burned up. He went around the bonfire in the hope of
» finding a branch that could be carried, but his search
- was vain. And the Kzams were almost upon him! He
/ wanted to run, but he bumped against a stump and
stumbled, so that the enemy managed to bar the way
; and drive him to the fire.
Although the bonfire filled’a considerable space, and
| was on raised ground, he could have leaped over it and
fled. But a great despair filled him at the idea of re-
|turning vanquished in the night. Raising his axe and
his club together, he accepted combat.
(93)
 CHAPTER FIVE

Meme ie sn)
The Flight

HE two Kzams had slowed down but were still

an advancing. The strongest brandished a last javelin, |
which he hurled almost point-blank. Naoh deflected it |
with the back of his axe and the delicate weapon was |
lost among the flames. At the same moment the three |
clubs hurtled through the air; Naoh’s met the other |
two simultaneously and the crash stopped his adver- |
saries’ advance. The weakest of the Kzams had stag- |
gered; Naoh saw it, hurled himself upon him, and with |
an enormous blow broke his neck. He was hit himself: |
 THE FLIGHT

the knot of a club tore his left shoulder roughly. He

barely avoided a blow directly on the head. Breathless-
ly, he dashed backward to resume his position and wait
with his weapon aimed.
Although only one adversary remained, this was the
terrible moment. For he hardly had the use of his left
hand, while the Kzam stood erect in full force and
doubly armed. He was a tall warrior with a wide chest
circled by ribs more like an aurochs’ than a man’s, with
arms that exceeded Naoh’s in length by a third again.
His bowed legs, too short for running, assured him a
powerful balance.
Before the decisive attack, he examined the tall Oul-
hamr slyly. Judging that his advantage would be the
/ more sure if he struck with both hands, he kept only
his club; then he took the offensive. The weapons
crashed together, almost equal in weight, hewn out of
thick oak. The Kzam’s blow was stronger than that
_ of Naoh, who could not use his left hand, but the son of
the Leopard had parried with a transversal movement.
) When the Kzam renewed the attack he encountered a
void: Naoh had dodged. Now it was he who took the
offensive. On the third attempt his club came down like _
a boulder; it would have crushed his adversary’s head,
which he saved only by bringing up his sinewy arms.
Once more the knotty clubs banged together, and the
Kzam withdrew. He responded with a frantic blow
which almost tore the club from Naoh; before he could
resume his position the hands of the man-eater were
raised and came down on him. The Oulhamr could

(95)
 LME O GE Sia eb. RE Ror

cushion the shock but he could not stop the blow; hit
on the head, his knees buckling, he saw the earth, the
trees, and the fire revolving around him. In this fatal
second his instinct did not abandon him, and a supreme
energy rose from the depth of his being as, from an
angle, he hurled his club before the adversary had col-
lected himself. Bones cracked; the Kzam crumpled, and
his cry was stifled by death.
Then Naoh’s joy boiled up like a torrent. With a
rasping laugh he looked at the bonfire where flames
leaped. Beneath the distant stars, amid the roar of the
river, he could hardly conceive of his triumph.
“Naoh is master of Fire!”
His seemed to him the sovereign life in all the world.
He slowly circled the red being, stretched out his hand
toward it, exposed his chest to that caress that he had
missed so long. Then he murmured again, in delight
and ecstasy, ““Naoh is master of Fire.”
At length his happiness abated. He began to fear the
return of the Kzams. He had to carry off his conquest.
Untying the narrow stones he had carried with him
since his departure from the great swamp, he set about
joining them with blades of grass, bark, and reeds. As
he foraged about the camp a new source of joy came |
to him: in a hollow in the earth he came upon the cage
in which the man-eaters maintained their fire. It was
a sort of nest of bark reinforced with flat stones put |
together with crude skill and patient, solid work. A
little flame scintillated in it still. Although Naoh knew
how to fabricate fire cages as well as any man of his

(96)
 ADISLS) DRIC IKE eee

people, it would have been difficult for him to make

one as perfect as this. He would need leisure, a careful
choice of stones, and time for the numerous altera-
tions. The Kzams’ cage was composed of a triple layer
of schist held together on the outside by oak bark. It
was tied with flexible little branches, and a cleft allowed
it to be carried easily. These cages required constant
vigilance. It was necessary to protect the flame against
rain and winds, to take care that it did not grow too
small or enlarge beyond certain limits fixed by millen-
nial experience, and to renew the bark often.
Naoh was familiar with all the rites transmitted by
his ancestors; he lightly revived the fire and dampened
the exterior with a little water from a puddle, checked
the cleft and the state of the schist. Before escaping, he
collected the scattered axes and spears and threw a last
glance over the camp and the plain. Two of his adver-
saries were lying face up, staring at the stars; the other
two, in spite of their pain, remained motionless, making
believe that they were dead. Prudence and the law of
men required that they be finished off. Naoh ap-
proached the one who was wounded in the thigh; as
he was about to hurl his spear a strange disgust struck -
him; all hatred had evaporated in his joy and he could
) not bring himself to do away with another living being.
t Furthermore, it was more urgent to douse the fire. He
scattered the brands with the help of a club left by the
| vanquished and broke them up into fragments too small
to last till the warriors returned; then, tying the
wounded with some reeds and branches, he cried:

(97)
 THE, OWES tb ORVED RE

“The Kzams did not want to give a brand to the son

of the Leopard. Now the Kzams no longer have Fire.
They will wander through the night in the cold until
they rejoin their people. Thus the Oulhamrs have be-
come stronger than the Kzams!”
Naoh found himself alone at the base of the hill
where Nam and Gaw were to rejoin him. He was not
surprised: the young warriors must have made wide
detours before their pursuers. Having covered his
wounds with willow leaves, he sat down near the small
fire in which his destiny sparkled. Time flowed on
along with the waters of the Great River and the rays
of the rising moon. As the moon reached its zenith,
Naoh raised his head. In the myriad separate noises he
recognized a particular rhythm which belonged to man.
It was a rapid footstep, less complicated than the four-
legged beasts’. Almost imperceptible at first, it became
more precise, and then a breath of wind carried a sud-
den particular scent his way and the Oulhamr said to
himself:
“That is the son of the Poplar who has thrown the |
enemies off the track.”
For there was no indication of pursuit on the plain.
Shortly an agile silhouette was cast between two syca-
mores. Naoh saw that he had not been mistaken; it was
Nam who advanced in the silvery film of the moon-
light. He hastened to the foot of the hill and the leader |
asked, “Have the Kzams lost Nam’s trail?”
“Nam drew them far to the north, then outstripped |
them and for a long time walked in the river. Then he |

(98)
 THE FLIGHT

stopped, and he no longer saw, heard, or smelled the

Kzams.”
“Good,” said Naoh, laying his hand on the youth’s
shoulder. “Nam has been agile and skillfull. But what
has become of Gaw?”
“The son of the Saiga has been followed by another
band of Kzams. Nam did not cross his trail.”
“We will wait for Gaw! And now look, Nam.”
Naoh led his companion behind the hill where, in a
notch, Nam saw a little flame gleaming warmly.
“There!” said the leader. “Naoh has conquered Fire.”
The young man let out a great cry. His eyes grew
big with the light; he knelt before the son of the
Leopard and murmured, “Naoh is as skilled as a whole
band of men. He will be the great chief of the Oul-
hamrs and no enemy will be able to resist him.”
They sat down by the little fire, and it was as if the
bonfire of nights protected them with its angry strength
atthe entrance to their native caves under the cold
stars, among the fireflies of the Great Swamp. The idea
of. the long return was no longer painful to them; when
they left the land of the Great River, the Kzams would
— not pursue them. They would cross regions where only —
beasts prowled in the solitude. They dreamed on a long
} time. The future was upon them, and for them it was
full of promise. But when the moon began to grow in
the western sky, fear lay in their hearts.
=

“What is keeping Gaw?” whispered Naoh. “Has he

/ been unable to throw off the Kzams? Has he been
stopped by a swamp or caught in a trap?”

(99)
 THE QUEST HOR FIRE

The plain was mute. The animals were silent. The

wind grew calm over the river and spread out in the
aspen trees; only the muted noise of the waters could
be heard. Must they wait till the dawn or begin the
search for the missing one? It was strangely disagree-
able to Naoh to leave Nam to guard the Fire. On the
other hand, the image of the young warrior pursued by
the Kzams bothered him. For the sake of the Fire,he
could abandon him to his fate, and it even was his duty
to do so, but he had developed a certain tenderness
toward his companions.
“Naoh will look for Gaw’s trail!” he said finally.
“He will leave the son of the Poplar to guard the Fire.
Nam will have no rest. He must dampen the bark when
it is too hot. He must never wander off for long except
to go to the river and back.”
“Nam will guard the Fire as if it were his own life,”
the young Oulhamr stoutly replied. He added with
pride, “Nam knows how to maintain the flame. His
mother taught him when he was as little as a wolf cub.”
“That’s good. If Naoh has not returned when the
sun reaches the top of the poplars, Nam must take
refuge near the mammoths, and if Naoh has not re-
turned before the end of the day, Nam must flee alone
toward the hunting grounds of the Oulhamrs.”
He went off. His whole being vibrated with distress,
and many times he looked back toward the diminishing |
silhouette of Nam, toward the little cage of fire in |
which he imagined he could still see a weak glimmer, |
although it had already mingled with the moonlight.
(100)
ne

Stor >>.

‘The Search for Gaw

o find Gaw’s track he first had to return toward

he camp of the Kzams. He walked more slowly;
his shoulder burned him under the willow leaves which
he had pressed on it and his head was humming. He
felt a pain in the spot where he had been hit by the
club, and he was disconsolate to note that after he had
conquered Fire his task still remained as harsh and un-
certain. He arrived in this state at the same ash grove
where he had sighted the camp of the Kzams with his
young companions. Then a red bonfire had outshone
 THE OVES® BOR] BLES

the rising moon: now the camp was mournful, the

burning logs dispersed by Naoh were all extinguished,
and the silvery light of night lay on the immobile ex-
panse: all that was heard was the intermittent moan of
a wounded man. Having consulted each of his senses,
Naoh was persuaded that the pursuers had not re-
turned. He walked toward the camp. The moans of
the wounded man stopped; it seemed as if there were
only corpses left. He did not tarry but walked in the
direction in which Gaw had fled, and he recovered his
trail. At first it was easy to follow, for it had been trod-
den by numerous Kzams almost in a straight line; then
it veered and wound between some hillocks, twisted
back on itself, and crossed through some underbrush. A
pond cut across it abruptly: Naoh picked it up again
only at the bend in the riverbank, damp now, as if
Gaw and the others had dived into the water.
Before a sycamore wood, the Kzams must have di-
vided into several bands; all the same, Naoh managed to
distinguish the right direction and walked on for an-
other mile or so. But then he had to stop. Thick clouds
engulfed the moon and the dawn had not yet revealed
itself.
Standing, Naoh ate a piece of dried flesh; then he
bent over the ground and resumed the trail. It led him
a few thousand feet on; leaving the wood, it crossed a
sandy plain where the grass was sparse and shrubby
trees were stunted; it wound through a terrain where
red reeds were rotting at the edge of ponds; it climbed
a hill and wound through knolls; finally it stopped at
(102)
eee
EL

THE SEARCH FOR GAW

the edge of the river which Gaw must certainly have

crossed. Naoh crossed it in turn and after surveying the
region extensively, he discovered that two trails con-
verged: Gaw might have been sighted by the Kzams.
At this, the leader reflected that it might be right to
abandon the fugitive to his fate in order not to risk for
the sake of a single existence his own life and Nam’s
and the Fire. But the pursuit had exasperated him; a sort
of fever throbbed at his temples, and an obstinate hope
prevailed in spite of all; he was also simply caught up
in the momentum of the thing begun.
Besides the two parties of Kzams, whose trick Naoh
had just recognized, he had to take into consideration
_ the group which had pursued Nam and which, after so
many twists and turns, had had the time to assume an
advantageous position: that is, if it had not also divided
into the surrounding groups. Confident of his superior
speed and his shrewdness, the son of the Leopard did not
hesitate to follow Gaw’s track, hardly even stopping to
examine the area. The ground became hard: granite ap-
peared beneath a poor topsoil of a bluish hue. Then an
escarpment appeared which Naoh decided to climb
because the tracks were now quite recent, so that from
the top he could hope to have a view of Gaw’s silhou-
ette or of a band of pursuers, The Oulhamr slipped into
the underbrush and made it to the top of the hill.
He let out a soft exclamation. Gaw had just ap-
peared on a strip of red earth, an earth which seemed
to have been watered by the blood of numberless herds.
A thousand feet behind him the men with thick torsos
(103)
 THE OULS DE BORE ERE

and short legs advanced, spaced at regular distances

from each other; to the north, a second group poured
out of the forest. Despite the length of the pursuit, the
son of the Saiga did not seem to be exhausted. The
Kzams showed at least as much fatigue as he did. Dur-
ing the long autumn night, Gaw had not broken into
a run, except to evade ambushes or to worry the enemy;
unfortunately the maneuvers of the Kzams had made
him lose his way. He pushed on aimlessly, having lost
the sense of whether he was at the foot of the rock
where he was supposed to join his leader or midway up
its slope.
Naoh could follow all the ins and outs of the chase.
Gaw was running toward a pine wood to the north-
east. The first group followed him, forming a broken
line which cut his retreat along a distance of a thousand
feet. The second group, which came from the north,
was beginning to curve in order to get to the wood at
the same time as the fugitive; but while he was ap-
proaching it from the southwest, they must get there
from the direction of the sunrise. This situation was not
desperate, nor even very unfavorable, provided the fugi-
tive veered toward the northwest as soon as he found
himself in cover. His speed would enable him to get a
suitable advance, and if Naoh joined him at that point
they could head in the direction of the Great River.
At a glance Naoh perceived the favorable route. It
was an expanse of undergrowth where he would be
hidden, which would take him to the level of the wood
in the direction of the sunset. He was just getting ready

(104)
ee eee

THE SEARCH FOR GAW

to go down the hill when he noticed a new circum-

stance, much more ominous, which made him start: a
third group was appearing, this time in the northwest.
Gaw could not avoid being trapped except by fleeing
to the west at great speed. He did not seem to be aware
of his peril, as he was taking a straight course. Once
more, Naoh hesitated between the necessity of safe-
guarding the Fire, Nam, and himself and the tempta-
tion to come to Gaw’s assistance: once more he yielded
to the enormous force which drives man and beast to
pursue the task begun.
After a long look at the area whose every detail was
fixed in his mind, the son of the Leopard went down
the hill. He followed the underbrush to its eastern limit,
then he cut across some high blue and reddish grass;
and as his speed far exceeded that of Gaw and the
Kzams, who were winded, he came in sight of the
wood before the fugitive had entered it. Now he had
to make his presence known. He imitated the belling of
an elk, which he repeated three times: it was a signal
familiar to the Oulhamrs. But the distance was too
great, Gaw might perhaps have heard it. under ordi-
nary conditions, but exhausted and with his attention
upon the pursuers, the call escaped him. So Naoh de-
cided to become visible; he dashed out of the high
grass, rushed in front of the enemy, and let out his
war cry. A long yell, repeated by the parties of the
Kzams which were coming from the west and from
the east of the wood, reverberated through space. Gaw
stopped, his knees trembling, full of joy and astonish-
(105)
 THE OU E'Sa) (ROW. ERE

ment; then, putting on all his speed, he rushed toward

the son of the Leopard. Already the latter, sure of be-
ing followed, was taking the line open to him in flight.
But the third party of Kzams were alerted and had
also changed their route so that they rushed up to cut
off the retreat, while the first pursuers dashed at great
speed in a direction almost parallel to the fugitive.
These maneuvers succeeded: the way to the west was
blocked at once by the Kzams and by a mass of rocks
that was almost inaccessible, and it was becoming
impossible to veer to the southwest where some of the
warriors were forming a semicircle. As Naoh led Gaw
straight toward the rocks, the Kzams, tightening their
circle, let out a cry of triumph. Several got within fifty
feet of the Oulhamrs and hurled their spears, but Naoh
plunged through a curtain of underbrush, leading his
companion through a passage he had seen from the top
of the hill. The Kzams yelled; several of them in turn
scrambled through the defile and the others circled the
obstacle.
However, Naoh and Gaw were fleeing at top speed,
and would have gotten a considerable advance ifthe
terrain had not been so rough, uneven, and varying.
When they came out the other side of the mass of
rocks, three Kzams turned up from the north and cut
their retreat. Naoh could have veered up the slope, but
he heard the growing sound of the pursuit. He knew that
on this side also his way would be blocked. All hesita-
tion would now be fatal. With his club in one hand
and his axe in the other, he made a dash right at the
(106)
 THE SEARCH FOR GAW

attackers, while Gaw’s fist tightened on the spear.

Fearing that the Oulhamrs would escape, the three
Kzams had split up. Naoh rushed at the one on his left;
he was a very young warrior, light and flexible, who
raised his axe to parry the attack. A blow of the club
disposed of his weapon and a second one downed him.
The two other Kzams had rushed upon Gaw, counting
on doing away with him quickly enough to reunite
their forces against Naoh. The young Oulhamr had
throw a javelin and wounded one of the aggressors
slightly. Before he could strike with his spear, he was
hit in the chest. He put himself on guard by a rapid
withdrawal and a leap to the side. While one of the
Kzams was attacking him from the front at great speed,
the other was trying to strike him from behind: Gaw
would have succumbed had not Naoh arrived. His
enormous club came down with the noise of a falling
tree. One Kzam sank to the ground; the other beat a
retreat toward a group of warriors who were advanc-
ing at top speed from the north. It was too late. The
Oulhamrs escaped encirclement and fled to the west
along a line that was not barred by the enemy, and at
each stride they augmented their lead.
They ran a long time over the resounding earth,
through the mire and among whistling grasses, through
the brush, over peat bogs, sometimes climbing slopes
and sometimes rushing headlong down them. Long be-
fore the sun was in the middle of the sky, they had
gained an advance of a mile. Often they hoped that the
enemy would stop pursuing, but when they reached
(107)
 i HeE eS) ByAGR Girth OUR. G ACW,

a peak they always discovered behind them the relent-

less pack of Kzams.
Meanwhile, Gaw was weakening. His wound had
not stopped bleeding. Sometimes it was only a tiny
trickle: despite the furious dash, the wound seemed
closed; but after the more demanding efforts or after
several wrong moves in a morass, the blood began to
spurt. When they came to some young poplars, Naoh
made a pad out of leaves, but the wound continued to
bleed under the bandage. Little by little, Gaw’s speed
became equal to, and then less than, the Kzams’. Now
each time the fugitives looked back, the advance guard
of the Kzams had gained ground, and with a deep rage
the son of the Leopard realized that if Gaw did not
pick up strength they would be caught before they
could rejoin the herd of mammoths. But Gaw did not
gain strength. There came a hill which he climbed with
extreme difficulty; at the top, his legs trembled, his face
became the color of ashes, his heart almost gave out, and
he staggered. And Naoh, turning toward the wild
bunch who were beginning to climb the slope, saw
how much their speed had lessened.
“If Gaw can run no more,” he said in a hollow voice,

—
“the Kzams will catch us before we get in sight of the
River.” :
“Gaw’s sight is dark, his ears whirr like crickets,”
stammered the young warrior. “Let the son of the Leop-
ard go on alone. Gaw will die for Fire and for Naoh.”
“Gaw will not die yet!”
And turning toward the Kzams, Naoh let out a

(109)
 THE QUEST BOR EERE

furious war cry. Then, throwing Gaw on his shoulders,

he resumed the flight. First, his great courage and im-
pressive musculature permitted him to keep his ad-
vance. He bounded over the sloping ground, carried
forward by the weight. As flexible as the branches of
an ash, his knees sustained this continual decline. At the
foot of the hill, his breathing quickened and his feet
grew heavier. Without his wound, which burned dully,
and without the blow on his head which made his ears
hum, even with Gaw on his shoulder he could have
outstripped the Kzams with their stocky legs, exhausted
by the long race. No beast of the steppe could have
sustained so long and arduous a trial. Now, without
relief, the distance separating him from the Kzams grew
smaller. He could hear their feet scrape the earth and
rebound.He knew at each moment how much they
were gaining. They were at five hundred paces, then at
four hundred, then at two hundred.
Then the son of
the Leopard put Gaw down on the ground, and with
haggard eyes he experienced the supreme hesitation.
“Gaw, son of the Saiga,” he said at last, ““Naoh can-
not carry you any longer before the Kzams!”
Having rested on his leader’s shoulder in spite of the
jouncing, Gaw raised himself and stretched his arms,
and the Kzams, who were within sixty feet, raised
their spears to begin the fight. Naoh turned to face
them, having resolved not to flee till the last moment.
The first projectiles whizzed; hurled from too far, most
of them fell without reaching the Oulhamrs. A single
one grazed Gaw’s leg, cutting him as lightly as a wild-
(110)
 THE SEARCH FOR GAW

rose thorn. In answer, Naoh hit the closest enemy.

Next he pierced the chest of a warrior who was run-
ning with great strides. This double exploit threw the
advance guard of the aggressors into a panic. They let
out a terrible yell, and stopped to await reinforce-
ments. The pause was favorable to the Oulhamrs. The
cut seemed to have awakened Gaw; with a hand that
was still weak, he seized a spear and brandished it,
waiting for the enemy to come within range.
Seeing this gesture, Naoh asked, “Has Gaw recov-
ered his strength? He must flee! Naoh will hold the
pursuers at bay.”
The young warrior hesitated, but Naoh added,
briefly, “Run!”
Gaw started to flee, at first with a stiff stride, then
growing surer as he went. Naoh, slow and menacing,
withdrew holding a spear in each hand, and the Kzams
hesitated. Finally, their leader ordered the attack. Spears
_ whistled and the men leaped. Naoh stopped two more
warriors in their tracks and took off.
The chase resumed across the endless land. Gaw’s
legs at times were strong and at times they buckled, his
muscles softened, and his breathing was harsh. Naoh
dragged him by the hand. The Kzams had not lost_
their advantage; they followed at a sustained jog with-
out even hastening, confident of their endurance. Soon
| Naoh could no longer drag his companion; fatigue and
fever increased his wound, his head buzzed, and to
make things worse, he hit his foot against a rock. The
=—
chief was somber. He listened to the jogging footsteps
(i111)
 THE OUEST FP ORSE

of the enemy; again they were only two hundred feet

away, then a hundred as the fugitives climbed a slope.
The son of the Leopard gathered his great forces and
maintained the distance to the top of the hill and there,
looking far to the east, his heart pounded with lassitude
and hope at once and he cried:
“The Great River... the mammoths!”
The vast water was indeed there, sparkling among
the poplars, alders, and ash. The herd was there also,
less than a mile away, grazing on roots and young
trees. Naoh dashed ahead, dragging Gaw, in a burst
which gained them a hundred feet. It was the last gasp.
They lost this slight advance again step by step. The
Kzams let out their war cry. When Naoh and Gaw
were two thousand feet beyond the top of the hillock,
the Kzams were almost on them. They maintained their
speed, all the more sure of catching the Oulhamrs, since
they would corner them in front of the herd of mam-
moths. They knew that in spite of their peaceful in-
difference, these animals would not suffer an alien
presence, and so would trample the fugitives. All the
same, the pursuers didn’t fail to shorten the gap. Their
breathing could now be heard, and it was still necessary
to cross a thousand feet more. Naoh let out a long cry
for help, at which a man was seen emerging from a
grove of plane trees. Then one of the enormous beasts
raised his trunk and gave a strident trumpet. It ran for-
ward, followed by three others, straight toward the son
of the Leopard. The Kzams, aghast and delighted,
stopped. They had only to wait for the Oulhamrs’ re-
Criz)
 THE SEARCH FOR GAW

treat to take aim and destroy them. However, Naoh

continued to run another hundred paces, and then
turning toward the Kzams, his face hollow with fa-
tigue and his eyes gleaming with triumph, he cried:
“The Oulhamrs have made alliance with the mam-
moths! Naoh laughs at the Kzams.”
As he spoke, the mammoths arrived. The Kzams
were stupefied to see the biggest of them put his trunk
on the Oulhamr’s shoulder. And Naoh continued:
“Naoh has captured the Fire. He has struck down
four warriors in the camp. He has killed four others
during the pursuit!”
The Kzams replied with furious yells, but as the
mammoths kept advancing they hastily withdrew, for
| they had no more conceived that man could combat
| these colossal herds than had the Oulhamrs.

Gii33)
 CHAPTER SEVEN

sp
eeeSis ee
Life with the Mammoths

aM had guarded the Fire well. It burned clear and

N pure in its cage when Naoh returned to it. And
although he had been extremely harassed and his wound
bit at his flesh like a wolf and his head buzzed with ©
fever, the son of the Leopard experienced a great mo-_
ment of happiness. |
Naoh then picked roots and tender plants in homage —
to the giant mammoth, for he figured that to be lasting, _
the alliance must be renewed each day. Only then did _
he go off to choose a retreat in the center of the great _
 LIFE WITH THE MAMMOTHS

herd to lie down while Nam took the watch.

“If the mammoths leave this pastureland,” said Nam,
“IT will waken the son of the Leopard.”
“The pasturage is abundant,” replied Nach. “The
mammoths will graze till evening.”
He fell into a sleep deep as death. When he awoke
the sun was setting across the savanna. Schist-colored
clouds had piled up and softly cradled the yellow disk
which looked like a vast water lily. Naoh felt his limbs
aching at the joints; fever played along his spine and in
his head. But the humming in his ears was lessening and
the pain in his shoulder abating. He got up and looked
at the Fire.
“Have the Kzams returned?” he asked Nam.
“They have not yet gone away. They are waiting at
the river’s edge in front of an island with high poplars.”
“Good!” replied the son of the Leopard. “They will
have no fire during the damp nights. They will lose
- courage and return to their people. Nam can sleep in
his turn.”
While Nam stretched out on the leaves and lichen,
Naoh examined Gaw, whose arms were flailing as he
dreamed. The young man was weak; his skin burning
hot. He breathed hoarsely, but no blood flowed from_
his chest. Then Naoh bent over the Fire. He had a
great desire to see it blazing amid a bonfire of dry
branches, but he put it off for a later day, for he first
| had to gain the permission of the leader of the mam-
_ moths for the Oulhamrs to spend the night in his camp.
| Naoh found the Great Mammoth standing solitary, ac-
(115)
 TH E00 2S fee ORT ene

cording to his habit, the better to watch over his herd

and observe the area. He was grazing on shrubby trees
whose heads hardly rose above the ground. The son of
the Leopard pulled up roots of edible ferns and moved
toward him. The beast stopped grazing at his approach;
he softly swayed his hairy trunk and took a few steps
in Naoh’s direction. Seeing his hands full of food, he
appeared content. Naoh held out the roots and whis-
pered:
“Leader of the Mammoths, the Kzams have not+yet
left the river. The Oulhamrs are stronger than the
Kzams, but there are only three of us while there are
more than two times two hands of them. They will kill
us if we stray from the mammoths.”
His hunger satisfied from a day at pasture, the mam-
moth ate slowly. When he had finished, he looked at
the sunset and then lay down on the ground, while his
trunk half encircled the man’s torso. Naoh concluded
that the alliance was complete; that he and Gaw could
wait in the camp of the mammoths till they were healed,
protected from the Kzams, and from the lions, tigers,
and gray bears. Perhaps he would even be allowed to
light the fire and taste the sweetness of cooked roots,
chestnuts, and meat.
Naoh no longer feared the Kzams; his alliance with
the mammoths had become perfect. Each morning he
was surer of his strength. His head no longer buzzed.
The wound in his shoulder, which was not deep, closed
rapidly and all his fever went away. Gaw was healing |
also, Often the three Oulhamrs, standing on a hillock, |

(116)
 LIFE WITH THE MAMMOTHS

defied their adversaries. They let out war cries and

brandished their spears. But the Kzams prowled in the
brush among the reeds, on the savanna, or bencath the
maples, sycamores, ash, and poplars. At times a hairy
chest was suddenly visible, or a head with long hair, or
else silhouettes whose forms were hard to make out slid
about in the half-light. And although they were with-
out fear, the Oulhamrs detested this evil presence. It
kept them from reconnoitering in the countryside; it
menaced their future, for they must soon leave the
mammoths to return to the north. The son of the Leop-
ard thought out ways of throwing the enemy off their
track. Three times a day he gathered nourishment for
the Great Mammoth and spent long periods seated next
to him, trying to understand his language and to make
him understand his own.
On the third day, the presence of the Kzams became
unbearable. Naoh had recovered all his strength, and
inactivity weighed on him. Seeing several hairy chests
appear among the plane trees, he was filled with rage
and exclaimed:
“The Kzams will not feed on the flesh of Naoh,
Gaw, and Nam.”
Then he called his companions together and said:
“T will make the Great Mammoth follow me. Thus
we will be able to combat the Kzams.”
When they had hidden the Fire in a safe place, the
Oulhamrs set to work. By offering food, they led the
| Great Mammoth away from the camp. Now and then
~Naoh spoke to him softly. After a certain distance, the

(117)
 LIFE WITH THE MAMMOTHS

huge beast hesitated. His sense of responsibility to the

herd grew with each stride. He stopped and turned his
head to the west. Then he ceased to advance, and when
Naoh cried to him the Great Mammoth replied with a
cry. The son of the Leopard retraced his steps and put
his hand on the trunk of his ally and said:
“The Kzams are hidden in the bushes. If the mam-
moths would help us to fight them, they would not
dare to prowl around the camp.”
The Great Mammoth remained impassive. He con-
tinued to consider the herd far behind him, for whose
safety he was responsible. Naoh knew that the Kzams
were hidden several arrow-shots away and could not
bring himself to abandon the attack. Followed by Nam
and Gaw, he slipped into the vegetation. Javelins whis-
tled through the air. Several Kzams stood up in the un-
derbrush to see the enemy better, and Naoh let out a
_ long, strident call for help. Then the great mammoth
appeared to understand. He let out a terrifying trumpet
which called up the herd, and bore down on the Kzams.
Naoh brandished his club; Nam and Gaw held their
axes in their left hands and spears in their right, letting
out a warlike clamor. The terrified Kzams dispersed
across the brush, but rage had seized the Great Mam-_
moth. He charged the fugitives as he would have a
rhinoceros, while at the Great River the herd could
be seen rushing in a wild mass.
_ The Great Mammoth reached the first fugitive. The
Kzam threw himself to the ground, howling with ter-
ror, but the muscular trunk curled to seize him. It

(119)
 oH Ee OVO, Sales FOR Bale Rel

hurled the man vertically ten feet from the ground,

and as he fell a huge foot crushed him like an insect.
The herd arrived. It surged over the brush; a tidal
wave of muscles engulfed the plain. The earth palpi-
tated. All the Kzams who were in their way from the
Great River to the knolls and ash woods were reduced
to a bloody pulp. Only then did the fury of the mam-
moths abate. The Great Mammoth halted at the foot of
a hillock, giving the signal to stop. They all stopped
with glowing eyes and bodies shaking with energy.
The few Kzams who had escaped disaster fled in be-
wilderment toward the south. Their ambush was to be
feared no more; they had renounced forever tracking
the Oulhamrs to devour them. They carried to their
tribe the astonishing news of the alliance between the
mammoths and the men of the north whose legend
would be perpetuated across numberless generations.
After the stampede, the mammoths continued to de-
scend the Great River, and soon their route separated
from the one the Oulhamrs must take to return to the
tribe. For the river, which at first took a northern
route, veered to the east and would soon flow back
toward the south. Unless the herd would consent to
abandon the neighborhood of the riverbanks, Naoh was
going to have to leave them. After so much security, |
the solitude seemed more bitter. One morning, Naoh
stopped in front of the Great Mammoth and said to |
him: |
“The son of the Leopard has made alliance with the |
herd of mammoths. His heart is content with them. He |
Gro)
 LIFE WITH THE MAMMOTHS

would follow them for seasons without number. But

he must again see Gammla at the edge of the great
swamp. His route is to the north and to the west.”
He let out a long sigh and called his companions.
Then, seeing the last of the herd disappear, he climbed
a hillock. From afar, he gazed at the Great Mammoth,
who had welcomed them and saved them from the
Kzams. His heart was heavy with fear and sorrow.

G20)
{ {
<<Part Three >>
 CHAPTER ONE

Se
The Little Men

EAVY rains came. Naoh, Nam, and Gaw bogged

H down in flooded regions, wandered beneath rot-
ting branches, crossed hilltops, and rested in the shelter
of foliage and in the hollows of rocks and fissures in.
the ground. The Fire was their joy and constant con-
cern. Sometimes when the rain was falling too thick
and uninterrupted, a shelter: became necessary. If the
rocks, trees, and soil did not offer one, they had to dig
one out or build it. Thus they lost many days; they also
lost time circumventing obstacles. But had they tried
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

to take a straighter course, they might have stretched

out their journey even more. They were heading for
the country of the Oulhamrs, guided by instinct and
by the sun.
They came to the edge of a sandy terrain cut by
granite and basalt deposits; it seemed to bar the whole
northeast, a bleak, miserable, and threatening landscape.
Two days passed before they saw the end of the plains
and naked dunes. They were hungry, as the alert and
swift prey escaped their traps; they were thirsty be-
cause the rain had lessened and the sand drank up the
water. More than once, they feared the death of the
Fire. On the third day, the grass grew less sparse and
tough; pines gave place to sycamores, plane trees, and
poplars; ponds became more frequent. The sky low-
ered, full of opaque clouds endlessly opening. The Oul-
hamrs spent the night under an aspen tree, having lit a
pile of spongy wood and leaves, which hissed under the
downpour and gave off suffocating smoke. Naoh took
the first watch, and then it was Nam’s turn. The young
Oulhamr walked about the fire, intent on reviving it
with a pointed stick and on drying out twigs to feed it.
The warrior suddenly shivered. His senses became
- alert. He recognized that something living was prowl-
ing around the fire, and he gently nudged his leader.
Naoh jumped up at once, and in his turn examined the
night. He knew that Nam was not mistaken: something _
alive was moving in the humid vegetation. Its scent —
was masked by the smoke, and yet the son of the Leop- |
ard surmised that men were present. With his spear
(126)
 THE LITTLE MEN

he gave three hard blows to the hottest part of the bon-

fire; the flames leaped, mingling scarlet and sulphur. At
a distance, silhouettes concealed themselves. Naoh wak-
ened Gaw. “Men have come,” he whispered.
Side by side, they tried to overtake the shadows, but
nothing appeared. There was no strange noise to trou-
ble the patter of the rain, no odor gave a clue in the
gusts of wind. Where had the danger gone? Was it a
band or just a few men haunting the solitude? Which
way should they go —to follow them or escape?
“Guard the Fire!” Naoh said at length.
His companions watched his body fade into the dis-
tance, diminish like smoke, and become absorbed by
the unknown. After a detour, he headed toward the
bushes where he had seen the men hiding. The fire
guided him. Although he was invisible himself, he
could distinguish something the color of red twilight.
He stopped frequently, his club and axe ready. Thanks
to the damp earth and his own caution, the most alert
wolf would not have heard his footstep. He stopped
before reaching the bushes. Time passed. He heard
nothing but the raindrops, plants rustling, and the flight
of a few animals. Changing direction, he passed by the
bushes and retraced his steps. No track was to be seen.
He was not surprised, having instinctively expected
this, and he went on in the direction of a mound which
he had noted in the twilight. After feeling his way a
bit, he reached the hillock and climbed it. Farther down
in a fold in the hill, a light showed through the mist;
Naoh recognized a man-made fire. It was at some dis-
(127)
 THE, OUESD “FORGE PRE

tance and the air was unclear, so that he could barely

make out a few twisted silhouettes. But he had no
doubt of what they were: he trembled. This time the
danger was greater, for the strangers had recognized
the Oulhamrs’ presence before they had been discov-
ered themselves.
Naoh returned to his companions, at first very slowly
and then faster when their fire became visible.
“Some men are over there!” he whispered. He point-
ed to the east, sure of his sense of direction. “We must
light the Fire in the cage again,” he added after a pause.
This job was confided to Nam and Gaw, while he
threw branches around the pile of burning logs in order
to make a sort of barrier; whoever approached could
make out the light from the flames but could not see
whether the fire was attended. When the cage was
ready and the provisions shared out, Naoh ordered their
departure. The rain had become lighter and there was
not a breath of wind. If the strangers did not bar the
road or discover their flight immediately, they would
notice the fire burning alone and, believing it defended,
would not attack until they had made a number of
feints; thus Naoh could gain a considerable advance.
Toward dawn the rain stopped. A weak light showed
in the sky and the dawn came feebly across the cloud-
banks. For some time the Oulhamrs climbed a slight
incline. When they were higher they saw at first only |
the savanna, underbrush, and forests the color of clay
or ochre with blue and russet islands.
“The men have lost our trail,” murmured Nam. But |

(128)
 THE LITTLE MEN

Naoh responded, “The men are following us!”

In fact, two figures appeared at a fork in the river,
swiftly followed by many others. In spite of the dis-
tance Naoh judged their stature to be strangely short;
the kind of weapons they were carrying could not be
made out. They did not see the Oulhamrs hidden
among the trees, and they stopped at intervals to verify
the tracks. Their number grew until the son of the
Leopard estimated it at about twenty. They did not
seem to have the same agility as the fugitives.
Unless they retraced their steps, the Oulhamrs had
to cross an almost empty zone of short grass. The best
thing would be to proceed without detours and to
count on the enemy’s tiring. As the slope went down
again the three men gained a good distance without
getting tired, and when they turned around they saw
the pursuers gesticulating on the summit, having lost
more ground.
When they regained the savanna Naoh was glad, and
at that moment there appeared from their left a group
of men whose structure he recognized. Were these the
same ones they had sighted earlier who, accustomed to
the territory, had taken a shorter route than the fugi-
tives? Or was it another band of the same race? They~
were near enough for a clear view of the smallness of
their bodies: the forehead of the tallest one would
hardly have reached to Naoh’s chest. They had rather
square heads with angular features, skin the color of
red ochre, and though they seemed frail, their agile
movements and bright eyes indicated a race full of life.
(129)
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

At the sight of the Oulhamrs they let out a cry which

resembled the croaking of crows, and brandished spears
and javelins.
The son of the Leopard stared at them in stupefac-
tion. Except for the hair that grew in little tufts on
their cheeks and the aged look of some of them, despite
their weapons and the size of their chests, he would
have taken them for half-grown children. At first he
did not imagine that they would dare to risk combat;
they hesitated. And when the Oulhamrs raised their
clubs and spears, and Naoh’s voice, which dominated
theirs as the thundering of a lion dominates the call of
crows, resounded over the plain, they slunked off. But
they must have been in a warlike humor; their cries
were taken up again menacingly. Then they dispersed
in a semicircle. Naoh realized that they wanted to get
an aim. Fearing their trickery more than their strength,
he gave the signal to retreat. The Oulhamrs easily out-
distanced their pursuers, who were slower than the
Kzams: if no obstacles occurred, they would not be
caught. But Naoh was worried about the terrain and
possible traps. He ordered Nam and Gaw to continue
running, and putting down the fire cage, he began to
observe the enemy. In their excitement they had gotten
separated. Three or four of the most agile were in ad-
vance of the group. The son of the Leopard lost no time.
He picked up some stones to add to his weapons and
ran at top speed toward the little men. One of them
who seemed to be the leader let out a shrill cry; they
all stopped. Already Naoh was close to the one he

(130)
 THE LITTLE MEN

wanted to reach. He shouted, ‘“Naoh, the son of the

Leopard, does not wish ill to you men. He will not
strike if you stop pursuing!”
They all listened with impassive faces. Seeing that
the Oulhamr was not advancing, they resumed their
enveloping attack. So Naoh whirled a stone around in
his hand and cried, “The son of the Leopard will beat
the Little Men!”
Three or four javelins were shot at this menacing
gesture: their range was very inferior to what the Oul-
hamrs could achieve. He threw the stone. It struck the
man he had aimed at and made him fall. Quickly he
hurled a second stone, which missed, then a third,
which struck the chest of a warrior. Then he made a
derisive sign, holding up a fourth stone, and hurled a
spear with a terrible countenance. The Little Men un-
derstood signs better than the Oulhamrs and the Kzams
because they made less use of articulate language. They
knew that the spear would be more dangerous than
the stones; the ones in front moved back to the group,
and the son of the Leopard withdrew at a slow pace.
They followed him at a distance; each time one of them
got ahead of his companions, Naoh let out a roar and
brandished his weapons. Thus the Little Men knew
that there was more danger in splitting up than in
staying together, and Naoh, having accomplished his
aim, moved on.
The Oulhamrs fled for the rest of the day, and when
they stopped, the Little Men had not been within sight
for a long time.

(131)
 CHAPTER TWO

—__++~f
(ga >

The Granite Ridge

owarD the middle of the next day bushes and

ee, became more frequent, they had to
constantly keep an eye on the narrowing horizon. All
the same, Naoh did not believe that the Little Men
were close. If they had not given up pursuit, they must
be following the track of the Oulhamrs at a consider-
able distance.
Their meat supply was finished, so the three men
drew closer to the riverbank, where prey abounded.
They failed to catch a bustard, which took refuge on
 THE GRANITE RIDGE

an island, but afterwards they captured a small bream

at the head of a stream. Then Naoh speared a water
rail and Nam caught a few eels. They lit a fire of dry
grass and branches, delighted with the smell of meat
roasting. Life was good, strength filled their youthful
limbs; they believed they had tired out their pursuers.
They were just finishing gnawing the bones of the
water rail when some animals leaped from the bushes.
Naoh realized that they were fleeing from an enemy.
He got up in time to spot a furtive form among the
vegetation.
“The Little Men have returned!” he said.
Danger was greater than before, for the Little Men
could follow the Oulhamrs under cover, cutting off
their route by ambush. A strip of almost bare territory
lay ahead between a swamp and the brush. The Oul-
hamrs hastily fueled the cage and collected their weap-
ons and the meat that was left. Nothing hindered their
departure. If the enemy followed them through the
brush they would lose ground, hindered by the vege-
tation and handicapped by their slower speed. The
arid heath widened, then grew narrow through some
trees, shrubs, and high grass. Yet the ground remained
- solid, and Naoh was sure of having outdistanced the
_ Little Men: while no obstacle came up they would-
keep their advantage.
But there were obstacles. The swamp sent out tongues
into the plain, deep havens, pools, canals choked with
| viscous plants. The fugitives saw their route endlessly
obstructed: they had to turn, make detours, and even

(133)
 TH BOW
b Seb Ou Rar RoE

backtrack. At length they were hemmed in on a granite

ridge touched on the right by a wide stretch of water
and flooded on the left by autumn freshets. The ridge
sloped down and disappeared; the Oulhamrs found
themselves a target on three sides; they either had to
back up or expect chance attacks.
It was a crucial moment. If the Little Men were at
the entrance of the granite strip, all retreat would be
impossible. The Oulhamrs rapidly tried the exits. In the
distance a brownish mass rose which could be either an
island or the resumption of the ridge. Gaw and Naoh
looked for a ford and found nothing but deep water
and the treacherous mire and ooze. So their last chance
lay in turning back. They quickly decided on that and
set about it in haste. They covered two thousand feet
and came out of the swamp again, facing tufty vegeta-
tion interrupted by only occasional islands and short
grass. Nam, who was in the lead, stopped abruptly and
said, “The Little Men are there.”
Naoh picked up stones and threw them rapidly at the
thicket Nam had pointed to: slight but unmistakable
sounds of movement indicated the enemy’s where- |
abouts. Retreat had become impossible. They had to |
prepare for combat. To avoid being surrounded, they
took up a position on the ridge; with the light from the
fire they would be shielded from surprise attack.
Naoh, Nam, and Gaw let out their war cry. And as
they brandished their weapons, Naoh cried, “The Little
Men are wrong to pursue the Oulhamrs, who are as
strong as bears and as agile as saigas. If the Little Men

(134)
 THE GRANITE RIDGE

attack, they will die! Naoh alone will kill a great num-
ber. Nam and Gaw will also kill. Do Little Men want
to let so many of their warriors die to destroy three
Oulhamrs?”
From everywhere among the bushes and the high
grasses, voices came. The son of the Leopard realized
that the enemies were ready for war and death.
At first the Little Men did not appear, fearing an
ambush or waiting for a wrong move from the Oul-
hamrs, but they showed themselves at the end of the
day and throughout the night. By the light of the fire
they could be seen springing from their hiding places,
advancing up to the granite ridge and then retreating.
Despite the simulated attack, the aggressors stayed out
of range.
Toward dawn there was a sudden noise and it seemed
as if the bushes were advancing like living beings. When
the day broke Naoh saw a pile of branches obstructing
the approach to the granite strip: the Little Men let out
warlike cries. The Oulhamrs realized that protected by
the branches the Little Men would be able to hurl their
spears without coming into the open and could jump
out in full number for a decisive attack.
By night the situation of the three warriors was be-_
coming more and more serious. Seated by the fire,
Naoh was overcome by anxiety. He had fortified the
shelter, but he knew that soon his companions would
be weaker than the Little Men and he himself would
' probably hurl the spear with less accuracy, his club
strike with less killing force. Instinct told him to

(135)
 THRE OUTER Sit 8 Os bet Roe:

flee to the protection of the dark. But they would have

to surprise the Little Men and force a passage, which
was probably impossible. Fever came over him, he sat
up and prodded the fire, after which he walked in the
direction of the enemy. He gritted his teeth at the sight
of the pile of branches, which had been drawn nearer,
soon the enemy would be in a position to begin the
attack. Suddenly a sharp cry pierced the air, and a
vague form emerged from the water which Naoh rec-
ognized as a man. He was limping and blood flowed
from his thighs; his shape was strange, almost without
shoulders and with a very narrow head. At first it
seemed that the Little Men had not seen him; then a
clamor arose and javelins and stakes whistled through
the air. The figure evoked conflicting reactions from
Naoh, but then his fury arose against the attackers,
and he ran toward the wounded man as he would have
run to save Nam or Gaw. A spear struck him on the
shoulder without stopping him. He let out a war cry,
dashed to the wounded man, picked him up in single
movement, and beat a retreat. A rock hit his head and
a second spear grazed his shoulder blade. Then he was
out of range. That night the Little Men would not yet
risk a full struggle.

(136)
 CHAPTER THREE

<>
A Night in the Swamp

HEN the son of the Leopard had stirred up the

\ \ fire, he put the man down on the dry grass and
considered him with surprise and wariness. He was ex-
traordinarily different from the Oulhamrs, the Kzams,
and the Little Men. From his long thin head grew
shaggy hair that was not at all profuse; his eyes were
longer than they were wide, and their dark, dull, sad
surface seemed to look at nothing. His cheeks were hol-
low and his jaws weak, the lower one receding like that
of a rat; but what especially surprised the chief was
 TH EO S heb ORS EUR

the cylindrical body, almost without shoulders, so that

the arms seemed to grow out like the feet of a croco-
dile. The skin appeared dry and rough as if covered
with scales. The man had not moved since Naoh put
him down on the dry grass. Every now and then his
eyelids lifted slowly and a dull eye focused on the Oul-
hamrs. His breathing was noisy and hoarse, almost a
whine. He inspired a strong repugnance in Nam and
Gaw. Naoh, being more curious than his companions,
wondered where this man came from, how he hap-
pened to be in the swamp, who had wounded him. He
tried to tell him with signs that he would not be killed.
Then he pointed out the screen made by the Little
Men, signaling to him that it was from them death
would come. The man turned his face and let out a
feeble, guttural cry. Naoh felt he had understood. The
crescent moon was high in the sky, from which the
blue had disappeared. Sitting up, the man applied herbs
to his wound; sometimes a feeble glow showed in his
eye.
As the moon darkened, the rays of the stars stretched
across the water and the Little Men could be heard at
work. The Oulhamrs scrutinized the greenish water
with fear and distress while hunger gnawed at their
stomachs.
In the morning glow, the wounded man seemed
stranger still. His eyes were like jade, his long body
twisted about as easily as a worm, his soft, dry hand
bent back bizarrely. Suddenly he grabbed a spear and
hurled it at a water lily; the water splashed, and swiftly

(138)
 DH EOE: Sh Eb ORE ERE

withdrawing the weapon the man brought up a colossal

carp. Nam and Gaw let out cries of joy: the fish would
suffice for several men’s meals. They did not regret
that Naoh had saved the life of this strange creature.
Energy filled them anew: seeing that once more their
leader’s action had been beneficent, Nam and Gaw ex-
ulted. They no longer feared for their lives: Naoh
would figure out how to lay a trap for the Little Men,
make them perish in great numbers, and scare off the
rest.
The son of the Leopard did not share their hope.
He saw no way of escaping. The more he thought
about it, the clearer it was that his strategies were use-
less. He wore them out thinking them over in his mind.
He ended by counting on nothing but the strength of
his arm and onluck.

(140)
 CHAPTER FOUR

ww
Gre
Combat in the Willows

URING the morning the Little Men showed them-

D selves frequently. They clacked their thick jaws
in hatred and their triangular eyes gleamed. They bran-
) dished their javelins and spears from a. distance and
made as if to impale the enemies, kill them, crush their~
| heads, and rip open their stomachs.
_ When the sun was high in the sky the thin man
_ suddenly let out a shrill cry. He got up and waved his
; arms. A similar cry broke the silence across the swamp.
Then at a great distance on the shore the Oulhamrs
 THE QUE St. hORSE ERE

saw a man exactly like the one they had rescued. He

brandished an unknown weapon. The Little Men had
also seen him: they immediately sent out a detachment
in pursuit, but the man had already disappeared be-
hind the rushes. Naoh continued to scrutinize the area,
shaken and confused. For some time they saw the Little
Men running across the plains. Soon another group
were dispatched. Despite his wounded thigh, the thin
man was on his feet; his opaque eyes glowing, he let
out a hoarse cry. Events developed fast. Four times
more, Little Men were seen circling the swamp and
then disappearing. Finally, within some willows and
mangroves, around thirty men and women came into
view, with long heads, torsoes round and singularly
narrow, while the Little Men were revealed on three
sides. Combat had begun. When sighted, the Thin Men
hurled short javelins, not directly, but with the aid of
an object that the Oulhamrs had never seen. It was a
thick piece of wood or horn ending in a hook; and this
weapon gave the javelins a much greater range than
when they were thrown by hand.
At first the Little Men had the upper hand, although
a number were stretched on the ground. Reinforce-
ments arrived constantly. Their faces surged from
every direction, even from the redoubt opposite Naoh
and his companions. A frantic fury drove them on.
They dashed straight into the fray with long yells. All
the caution that they had shown against the Oulhamrs
had gone, perhaps because the Thin Men were familiar |
to them and they did not fear hand-to-hand combat, -

(142)
 ClOsVEBFAUD SIN Sy HP Wel
bo O1W:S

perhaps because an ancient hatred drove them on.

Naoh let the enemy entrenchment continue to
empty itself. He had made up his mind since the be-
ginning of the combat, without having to ponder a
solution. His decision came along with the certainty
that the Little Men’s triumph would bring his own
downfall. He hesitated about one thing alone: should
he abandon the Fire? The cage would hamper him in
combat; it would undoubtedly be broken in pieces. Also.
after the victory, fires would not be lacking, and death
would follow upon defeat. When he believed the mo-
ment favorable, Naoh briskly gave orders, and with a
war cry the Oulhamrs sprang out of their refuge at full
speed. Several javelins grazed them; already the three
warriors had got through the enemy’s screen. The con-
tact was rapid and fierce. There were six fighters there,
pressed one against the other, hurling spears. Naoh
threw a javelin, then bounded in, twirling his club.
The Little Men were overcome at the instant that Nam
and Gaw entered the fight.
In the willows hand-to-hand fighting had begun. By
themselves a few warriors armed with their strange
weapons had managed to find shelter in a pond, from
which they harassed the Little Men. But the latter had
the advantage of numbers and obstinacy. Their victory
appeared certain: it could not be snatched from them
without a lightning intervention.
Naoh took a long look at the melee. He saw the
leader whose voice guided the Little Men, a squat man
with hair streaked white, whose teeth were enormous.

(143)
 HEA 1ONU? BeSicie SHOR ESTERS,

Fifteen warriors surrounded him. With the roar of an

aurochs, Naoh attacked. Everything in his way fell be-
neath his club. But near the old warrior, spears bristled;
they closed the road, striking at the assailant. He suc-
ceeded in beating them down. Other warriors rushed
to their leader’s defense. Then, calling his companions,
with a supreme effort Naoh overthrew the barrier of
bodies and weapons and crushed the thick head of the
leader like a nut. At the same instant, Nam and Gaw
rushed to his aid.
Panic ensued. The Little Men realized that a ghastly
energy had overtaken them, and though they would
have fought to the last under their leader’s direction,
they felt abandoned when his voice was silenced. Pell-
mell, they fled without looking back.

Thirty men and ten women lay on the ground. The

majority were not dead. Blood flowed copiously; limbs
were broken and heads bashed; bodies bore gaping
wounds. A number of casualties would be finished be-
fore nightfall. Others would live a few days, and many
could be cured. But the enemy must undergo the law
of men. Naoh recognized its necessity, and allowed
his companions and the Thin Men to pierce their hearts
and crush or sever their heads. The massacre was swift;
Nam and Gaw hastened and the others acted according
to millennial methods almost without ferocity. Then
there was a torpid and silent pause. The Thin Men
bandaged their wounded. They did this in a more mi-
nutely careful and assured manner than the Oulhamrs.

(144)
 CONEBIAT SIONS EE Wall
LO WS

Naoh had the impression that they knew more than his
tribe but that their life was feeble. Their gestures were
flexible and slow; they tended a wounded man in twos
and even threes; sometimes they were caught in a strange
torpor and remained motionless with eyes fixed and
arms hanging like dead branches.
The women seemed less slow. They also appeared
more skillful and resourceful. After some time, Naoh
perceived that one of them even commanded their
band. However, they had the same dull eyes, the same
sad faces as their men, and their hair was sparse, grow-
ing in tufts with spots of scaly flesh between. Several
of these women came with two men to tend the
wounds of the Oulhamrs. A soft tranquility emanated
from their movements. They wiped away the blood
with aromatic leaves and covered the wounds with
crushed grass secured by straps made from bulrushes.
This bandaging was the definitive sign of their alliance.
To Naoh the Thin Men seemed much less crude than
the Kzams and the Little Men, or even than his brothers.
After being bandaged, the son of the Leopard re-
turned to the granite ridge to recover the fire cage. He
found it intact, the little flames still flickering. Seeing
them, victory seemed more complete and sweeter still.
Not that he feared lack of fire: the Thin Men would
surely give him some. But an obscure superstition guid-
ed him; he cleaved to these little flames, the fruit of
conquest; the future would have appeared menacing
if they had died out. Exultant, he brought them back
to the encampment.

(145)
 THE (QU E.Siay Gh Ome RE

They observed him curiously, and the woman leader

shook her head. Naoh showed by signs that his tribe
had seen fire die and that he had managed to reconquer
it. Nobody seemed to understand, and he wondered
whether this was not one of those miserable races who
did not know enough to warm themselves on cold days,
put night at a distance, and cook their food. Old Geun
used to say that such peoples existed, inferior to the
wolves, who surpass men in sharpness of hearing and
power of smell. Naoh was going to show them how to
make fire grow, when he noticed a woman among the
willows striking two stones together. At first sparks
flew; then a little red dot danced along a blade of grass
that was very tiny and dry; other blades flamed, which
the woman kept up softly with her breath: the fire
spread to leaves and twigs. The son of the Leopard
stood motionless in awe.
He approached the woman to examine the stones.
Instinctively she withdrew. Then, recalling that this
man had saved them, she held out the stones to him. He
felt them; they were cold. Then he took them in his
hands and examined them. When he was able to dis-
cover no fissure in them, his surprise grew. Anxiously
he wondered, “How does the fire get into the stones,
and why are they not hot?”
With fear and distrust he returned them to the
woman.

(146)
 CHAPTER FIVE

Se
re
Across the Land of Waters

HE Oulhamrs and the Thin Men, who called them-

4 Rares the Wahs, were crossing the land of waters.
Water stretched out in stagnant sheets, full of algae,
water lilies, flowering rushes, loosestrife, rushes, and
reeds. There were troublesome and frightening peat
bogs, lakes, rivers in networks interspersed with layers
of rock, sand, or clay. Water burst from the ground or
flowed down the slopes of hills, and sometimes, drain-
ing into fissures, was lost underground. The Wahs
knew by now that Naoh wanted to take a route be-
 THE QUEST BORD ETRE

tween the north and west. They shortened the journey,

wishing to guide him to the end of the humid region.
Their resources seemed innumerable. They would dis-
cover passages which no other kind of men would have
suspected; they constructed rafts, threw tree trunks
across ravines, or linked two shores by means of creep-
ers. They were slow but accomplished swimmers, pro-
vided that certain plants were not present, of which
they had a superstitious fear. Their actions seemed full
of uncertainty; often they behaved like creatures strug-
gling against sleep or just coming out of a dream, and
yet they almost never mistook the way.
There was an abundance of food. The Wahs were
familiar with numerous edible roots, but they especially
excelled in catching fish. They could spear them, catch
them with their hands, enmesh them in supple grass,
attract them at night with torches, and draw schools of
them into coves. At night around the fire, they tasted
a sweet and silent happiness. The Wahs loved to sit in a
group squeezed one against the other, as if their weak-
ness was fortified by the feeling of belonging, while the
Oulhamrs preferred to spread out, especially Naoh,
who enjoyed long intervals of solitude. Often the Wahs
would recite ancient deeds in a monotonous chant
which they repeated endlessly. None of this interested
the son of the Leopard. But he followed with intense
curiosity their actions in hunting, fishing, and direction-
finding, and watched with particular attention when
they used the projector weapon or drew fire out of
stones.

(148)
 THE OUEST FORDE ERE

He quickly learned to handle the projector. As he

inspired his allies with growing sympathy, they hid
none of their secrets from him. He could handle their
weapons and their tools, and learned how to repair
them, and when projectors were lost, he watched them
make new ones. The female leader even gave him one,
which he used with as much skill and much more pow-
er than the Thin Men. He was much slower at under-
standing the mystery of fire, because he continued to
fear it. He watched the sparks fly from a distance. The
questions he put to himself remained obscure and full
of contradictions. At first he thought that the Thin
Men had imprisoned the fire in the stones. But then he
was reassured when he saw sparks drawn out of pebbles
that had been lying on the ground. When he was cer-
tain that the secret had to do with the things themselves
and not with any power of men, his last fears were
dispelled. He also learned that to draw sparks two
different kinds of stones were needed. And when he
had himself made the first spark leap, he tried to light
a fire. After gathering a few dry leaves, Naoh struck
his stones one against the other. He worked with a vio-
lent passion. The blows were so heavy that one of the
stones burst in a thousand sparks. A glow stuck on one
of the leaves. Then, blowing carefully, he made the
flame grow; it devoured its feeble prey and seized other
leaves. Motionless, Naoh experienced the greatest joy.
He realized that he had just won something more po-
tent than any of his ancestors had possessed and that
now the fire would be forever his.

(150)
 CHAPTER SIX

etOY,
)
The Blue-Skinned Men

HE valleys sloped downward still. They crossed

land in which the autumn was almost as warm as
summer. Then deep forest appeared. A wall of creep-
ers, thorns, and bushes closed it off, through which the
Wahs dug a passage. The woman leader let Naoh know
that they were not going to accompany the Oulhamrs
any farther after they came out into the open again,
for beyond that they were’ unfamiliar with the terri-
tory. All they knew was that there was a plain, then a
mountain cut in two by a large ravine.
 HB OU ES Ve ORE RoE:

Soon after they entered the forest, the female leader

pointed to the undergrowth with a mysterious air.
Among the leaves of a fig tree, a bluish body had just
appeared in which Naoh recognized the shape of a
man. Remembering the Little Men, he trembled with
hatred and anxiety. The body disappeared. There was
a long silence. Forewarned, the Wahs stopped walking
and drew closer to one another. Then the oldest man
in the band spoke.
He said that the strength and fury of the blue-
skinned men was terrible and that above all they must
avoid taking the same route as they were passing
through their camp. He added that they detested noise
and gestures.
“Our fathers’ fathers,” he concluded, “lived in their
neighborhood without war. They yielded the way to
them in the forest. And the blue-skinned men in their
turn avoided our fathers’ fathers in the plain and on the
waters.”
Changing direction, the band moved through a forest
of sycamores and finally came out in a large clearing.
Suddenly Naoh discerned to the right a figure like the
one he had seen among the leaves of the fig tree. Two
other forms in succession could be made out in the sea-
green shadows. Branches rustled and a supple and pow-
erful creature emerged. No one could tell whether it
had come up on four feet like the hairy beasts and rep-
tiles or on two feet like birds or men. It seemed to squat
with its hind legs half stretched out on the ground and
its front limbs set back, poised on a thick root. Its face

(152)
 THE BLUE-SKINNED MEN

was enormous, with the jaws of a hyena, round eyes

that were alert and full of fire, a long, low cranium, and
a deep torso like a lion’s, only larger: each of its four
limbs ended in a hand. Dark hair, shining tawny and
blue, covered its whole body. It was from the chest and
shoulders that Naoh recognized a man, for the four
hands made it a singular creature and the head recalled
a buffalo, bear, or dog. After turning a wary and angry
face in all directions, the blue-skinned man rose up on
his legs and let out a cavernous growl.
At this, similar creatures sprang pell-mell from cover.
There were three males, a dozen females, several little
ones who were half hidden in the roots and grass. One
of the males was colossal, with gnarled arms like a plane
tree and a chest twice as vast as Naoh’s; he could over-
throw an aurochs and strangle a tiger. He carried no
weapons, but among his companions two or three held
leafy branches with which they scratched the earth.
The giant advanced toward the Wahs and the Oul-
hamrs while the others grunted in a group. He struck
his chest and the white mass of his teeth could be seen
gleaming between the heavy, trembling lips. At a sign
from the female leader, the Thin Men beat a retreat.
This they did without haste; obeying an ancient tradi-
tion, they abstained from any gesture or word. Naoh
imitated them, having confidence in their experience.
But Nam and Gaw, who were in front of the band,
remained indecisive for an instant. When they tried to
imitate their leader, the way was barred. The blue-
skinned men had spread out in the clearing. Gaw
(153)
 THE. OUES EP FOR ETRE

dashed into the undergrowth while Nam tried to cross

a clear space. He slipped so lightly and furtively that he
almost succeeded. But with a bound a female rose up
before him; he swerved. Two males ran up. While
skirting them, he stumbled. Two enormous arms seized
him: he found himself in the hands of the giant. He had
not had time to lift his weapons; an unbearable pressure
paralyzed his shoulders and he felt as weak as a saiga
under the weight of a tiger. Then, aware of the distance
which separated him from Naoh, he remained stunned,
his muscles immobile and the pupils of his eyes red.
The young man grew weak from the certainty of
death.
Naoh could not stand to see his companion killed; he
advanced, but the chief stopped him. She made him
understand that if he were to strike, Nam would perish.
He was caught between his intent to fight and his fear
of seeing the son of the Poplar crushed. He let out a
hoarse sigh and watched. The blue-skinned man had
lifted Nam: he ground his teeth, swung him, ready to
crush him against a tree trunk. Suddenly he stopped
moving. He looked at the inert body, then at the face.
Sensing no resistance, his terrible jaws relaxed and a
vague softness came into his wild eyes; he placed Nam
on the ground. Had the young man made a move to
defend himself or shown terror, the terrible hand
would have seized him again. He knew this instinctive-
ly and remained immobile. The entire band, males, fe-
males, and little ones, and gathered around. They all
recognized confusedly in Nam a structure analagous

(154)
 THE BLUE-SKINNED MEN

to their own. For the Little Men or the Oulhamrs this

would have been a strong motive to kill, but those blue-
skinned creatures were strangers to war, they did not
eat flesh, and they lived without traditions. Before
Nam, they remained full of uncertainty. His immobil-
ity appeased them, and they became less and less in-
clined to bite or strike him. As he had felt the breath
of destruction, now Nam sensed that his peril had less-
ened. He sat up slowly and waited. For a moment they
continued to observe him with a distant defiance; then
a female, tempted by a tender shoot, thought of nothing
but eating it; a male began to dig up roots; little by little
they all obeyed the deep need for nourishment. As they
drew all their strength from plants and as their choice
of food was more restricted than that of the elks or
aurochs, the task was long and continual.
The young Oulhamr was free. He rejoined Naoh,
who had advanced in the clearing, and still shaken from
the adventure, both watched the blue-skinned men dis-
appear into the forest.

(155)
 CHAPTER SEVEN

or Sm >

The Giant Bear Is in the Gorge

FTER a long march, Naoh and his companions crossed

A: notch in the mountains where they parted from
the Thin Men. Soon after, they were out on the pla-
teaus. There the autumn was cooler, endless clouds
rolled across the sky, winds blew incessantly, and grass _
and leaves decayed on the miserable earth.
Naoh, Nam, and Gaw hardly ever suffered from
hunger. The journey and its adventures had sharpened |
their instinct, skill, and wisdom. They could spot prey |
at a distance just as they could tell the enemy’s pres- |
 THE GIANT BEAR IS IN THE GORGE

ence. They could foresee wind, rain, and flood. Each

of their actions was adroitly adapted to an end and they
used energy economically. With one look they could
trace a favorable line of retreat, a safe resting place,
or good terrain for combat. They could orient them-
selves with almost as much assurance as migratory birds.
Despite mountains, lakes, stagnant waters, forests, and
floods which changed the lay of the land, they got
closer each day to the land of the Oulhamrs. Now they
hoped to rejoin the band within a few days.
Among many roads Naoh had chosen a long gorge
which he remembered having passed through with a
hunting party when he was Gaw’s age. Part of the
gorge was hollowed between chalk cliffs and part
opened into a ravine, ending in a sharply sloping corri-
dor where rock-slides often had to be climbed. The
warriors passed through it without mishap until they
were two-thirds of the way. Toward the middle of the
day, they sat down to eat. It was in a semicircular area,
a crossroads of crevasses and caves. They heard the roar
of a subterranean torrent falling into an abyss; two dark
holes opened into the rock which showed the traces of
cataclysms more ancient than any living species.
When Naoh had finished eating, he headed toward
one of these caverns and looked at it a long time. He
remembered that Faouhm had shown his warriors an
opening through which there.was a quicker way to the
plain. But the slope, full of loose rocks, was not fit for
climbing by a numerous group. It ought to be possible
} for three light men; Naoh wanted to try it. He went to
(157)
 IeHUhS GAASNet eB EoAcR Sal Ne Dh G OR GE

the back of the cave, recognized the fissure, and went

into it far enough to see a dim light that indicated a
nearby exit.
On his return he met Nam, who said to him, “The
giant bear is in the gorge!” A guttural call interrupted
him. Dashing to the entrance of the cave, Naoh saw
Gaw, concealed among some rocks in the attitude of a
warrior stalking prey. And the leader shivered with
fear. At the entrances to the circular area two mon-
strous beasts appeared. They had extraordinarily thick
coats the color of oak, which protected them against
the coming winter, thorns, and the harshness of the
rocks. One of them was as massive as an aurochs, with
short paws that were muscular and flexible and a swol-
len forehead like a rock covered with lichen. His vast
jaws could snap the head off a man and crush it. The
female had a flat forehead, shorter jaws, and a sideways
gait. “Yes,” murmured Naoh. “These are giant bears.”
They feared no creature. But they were to be feared
only when they were enraged or driven by excessive
hunger, for they did not live off meat very much. They
growled, and the male raised his jaws and shook his
head violently. “He is wounded,” Nam remarked.
Blood flowed over his coat. The Oulhamrs were
afraid that the wound was made by a human weapon.
In that case the bear would look for revenge. Once he
began an attack, he would not abandon it: no creature
was more stubborn. With his’ thick coat and tough skin,
he defied javelins, axes, and clubs. He could rip a man
open with a single blow of his paw, strangle him with
(159)
 THE OWES © eb ORS bake

one grip, chew him to pieces with his jaws.

“Where did they come from?” asked Naoh. “From
between those trees,” replied Gaw, pointing to some
fir trees growing on hard rock. The male came from
the right and the female from the left. By chance or
vaguely thought-out tactics they had managed to bar
the exits of the gorge. Attack seemed imminent. It was
evident from the rough voice of the male and the sly,
concentrated attitude of the female. They were still
hesitating because they thought slowly and their insinct
required certainty; they sniffed the air with long, deep
breaths to measure better the distance of the enemies
hidden among the rocks. Naoh gave his orders abrupt-
ly. When the bears got started, the Oulhamrs were al-
ready at the back of the cave. The son of the Leopard
made the young men go first; all three hurried as fast
as the rough ground and the detours of the passage per-
mitted.
Finding the cave empty, the giant bears lost time
identifying the trail among the tracks the Oulhamrs
had already left. At times they stopped, full of mistrust.
For if they feared no living being, they had a great
natural caution and a confused fear of the unknown.
They were familiar with the uncertainty of the rocks,
caves, and abysses; their tenacious memories held the
image of falling and crumbling boulders, ground giving
way, deep gulfs, avalanches, and water hollowing out
levels of stone.In their already long lives, no mam-
moth, lion, or tiger had threatened them. But strange
forces sometimes thwarted them: they carried the sharp
(160)
 Wiss CUA IE WIA TS TNr aeiatin ene

marks of stones; they had almost disappeared beneath

snows, and had felt themselves carried off by the tor-
rents of spring and held captive beneath landslides.
Now that very morning, for the first time, creatures
had attacked them. It was at the top of a sheer rock
which only lizards and insects could climb. Three ver-
tical animals were standing on the top. At the sight of
the giant bears, they had let out a cry and hurled sharp
sticks. One of them wounded the male, who, disorient-
ed by pain and rage, lost his clear-sighted instinct and
tried to get directly to the summit. He quickly gave
this up, and followed by his female, tried to find round-
about access. On his way he tore out the javelin and
sniffed it. Memories came to him. He had not often
encountered men, but the sight of them did not surprise
him any more than wolves or hyenas. As they had got
out of his way, he was familiar with neither their tricks
nor their traps and was not worried by them. This un-
foreseen adventure was more troubling. It disrupted the
order of things and introduced an unexpected menace.
The bear roamed on through the passages, trying slopes
and attentively sniffing the sparse scents. At length he
grew tired. Without his wound he would have kept
only the vague memory that sleeps beneath the flesh
and does not awaken until similar circumstances irritate
it. But twinges of pain from time to time brought back
images of the three men standing on the summit, and of
the sharp weapon. Then he would growl and lick him-
self. Soon the pain ceased to recall the image. The
giant bear thought of the difficult search for food as he
(161)
 THE, OUEST TOR ETE E

sniffed the men’s odor. Rage filled his chest. He sig-

naled to his female, who had taken another way, for
they could not both sustain themselves, especially in
cold weather, on surfaces that were too close. And
after assuring himself of the position and distance of
the enemy, he launched the attack.
In the dark fissure, Naoh at first was only aware of
the presence of his companions, then the heavy tread
of the brutes could be heard and their powerful breath-
ing: the bears were gaining on them. They had the ad-
vantage of being balanced on four limbs gripping the
ground, with their nostrils grazing the trail. Constantly,
one or the other of the Oulhamrs would bump into a
stone, stumble in a pothole, hit a projection of the wall;
and they had to carry weapons, provisions, and the fire
cages, which Naoh refused to abandon. As the little
flames burned very small at the bottom of the cages,
they did not light up the road; their feeble reddish light
lost itself in barely pointing out the formations on the
cave ceiling. At the same time it threw weird distortions
of the fugitives’ shadows.
“Quick! Quick!” cried the leader.
Nam and Gaw could not take a straight course, and
the giant beasts were approaching. At each step their
breathing could be heard more clearly. Their fury
grew as they felt the enemy closer, now one, now the
other letting out a growl. Their great voices echoed
among the stones. Naoh got a better idea of their enor-
mous structure, their terrible grip, and the irresistible
tearing of their jaws. Soon the bears were only a few
(162)
 1S eE eG IeAGNMee Bab AURS css ioNGed Heb) GORGE

steps away. The earth vibrated under Naoh, whom an

immense weight would soon crush. He faced his death.
Suddenly pointing the cage, he aimed its dim light at a
vibrating mass. The bear stopped short. The surprise
woke his caution. He considered the little flame vibrat-
ing over his paws, and let out a hollow call to his fe-
male. Then fury overcame him and he dashed upon the
man. Naoh drew back, and hurled the cage with all his
strength. It hit the bear’s nose and burned one eyelid.
He let out a roar of pain, and as he was collecting him-
self, Naoh gained ground.
A gray light filtered into the caverns. Now the Oul-
hamrs could make out the ground beyond: they were
not stumbling any more, but running at high speed.
The beasts resumed pursuit, redoubling their speed,
and as the light grew stronger the son of the Leopard
sensed that in the outside air the danger would become
stronger.
Once more the giant bear was close. His burning
eyelid had revived his rage, and all cautiousness had left
him. His head swollen with blood, nothing could stop
him. Naoh could feel his presence from the deep breath-
ing and brief, harsh growls behind him. He was about
to turn and fight when Nam let out a cry for help. The
leader saw a high projection which made the passage
smaller. Nam had already passed it and Gaw was side-
stepping it. The bear was growling three paces behind
when Naoh in his turn slipped through the gap, hunch-
ing his shoulders. His speed carrying him forward, the
beast knocked himself against the wall and only his
(163)
 te By sO) URES ee OR Bar Ra

immense muzzle passed through the opening. He gaped,

showing his teeth that were like scythes and grind-
stones, and letting out a great, sinister clamor. But
Naoh was no longer afraid, being suddenly at a distance
the beast could not cross: the stone, stronger than a
hundred mammoths and more durable than the life of a
thousand generations, arrested the bear as surely as
death itself. The Oulhamr gloated.
‘“Naoh is now stronger than the great bear. For he
has a club, an axe, and javelins. He can strike the bear,
the bear cannot return the blow.”
He had raised his club. At this, the bear recognized
the mountain traps he had fought against since his
childhood. He withdrew his head before the man
struck, and hid himself behind the rock projection. His
anger remained, expanding his ribs and beating against
his temples, pushing him to impetuous action, but he
did not yield to it. For he was led by a sagacious in-
stinct which did not ignore circumstances. Since that
morning, he had on two occasions realized that man
could inflict pain with strange blows. He began to ac-
cept his fate, a painful work was begun which would
later result in his placing these vertical beings among
the things that were dangerous. The female bear, less
experienced than her wounded male, growled at his
side. When the male’s cry indicated that caution was
necessary, she stopped advancing, imagining some trap
on the other side of the rock. For she could not imagine |

that any peril could come from these puny creatures |

hidden around the wall.

(164)
 CHAPTER EIGHT

aCE Oy) ees

The Rock

; HE descent was rough. Autumn had multiplied the

T sides and fissures. The three men made use of axes
_ and javelins. When they reached the plain the last ob-
; stacle was crossed; all that remained was to follow easy
trails well known to them.
They walked till evening: Naoh was looking for a
| bend in the river where he wanted to make camp. The
- day was dying under heavy clouds. A red glow floated
over everything, sinister and morose, accompanied by
the howling of wolves. These moved about in furtive
 THE QUEST FOR FERE

bands, stalking along the edge of bushes and trees.

Their number astonished the Oulhamrs. Some exodus
of herbivorous animals must have driven them from
neighboring territories and brought them together in —
this land rich in prey. They seemed to have exhausted
it. Their clamor indicated penury, and their speed a
feverish activity. Knowing that they were to be feared
in great numbers, Naoh hastened his course. At length
two packs were formed, on the right and on the left.
As the shadows blotted out the sunset, their eyes
showed more clearly; Nam, Gaw, and Naoh perceived
a multitude of little green fires darting about like fire-
flies. The warriors often retorted to the howls with
long war cries, sending ripples through this mass of
phosphorescent dots.
At first the wolves kept out of range of the javelins,
but as the shadows grew darker, they came closer; the
soft noise of their paws could be heard more distinctly.
Some of them had gotten ahead of the men. They
would stop abruptly, leap with sharp cries, or crawl in
a sly manner. The others came up behind, their voices
tearing the air. They had grown furiously impatient.
In the last light of the evening, the two packs oscillated |
like waves of palpitating flesh and breakers of noise.
At length, the stubborn pursuit worried the men. Fac- |
ing the almost darkened west among so many sly beasts,
they sensed the presence of death.
A group of wolves went ahead of Gaw, who was
walking on the left, and one of them stopped, showed
his gleaming teeth, and leaped. The young man ner-
(166)
 THE ROCK

vously hurled his spear. It pierced the beast’s side, and

it somersaulted with a long howl; Gaw finished it off
with a blow of his club. At the death cry the wolves
flocked around. Naoh feared the attack of the whole
pack. He called Nam and Gaw to him to intimidate the
beasts.
The Oulhamrs made their stand close together; sur-
prised, the wolves furled about them like waves. If one
had dared to rush them, all the others would have fol-
lowed and the bones of the men would be bleaching on
the plain. Brusquely Naoh hurled a javelin; a wolf fell
to the ground, his chest gaping. Seizing him by his hind
feet, the leader threw him among a group which were
bearing down on them on the right. The wounded ani-
mal disappeared among them, and the odor of blood
attracting the famished beasts, they started devouring
his living flesh. In the ensuing melee, the three men
raced off. A haze indicated that the river was near by —
at intervals Naoh saw it sparkling. Two or three times
he stopped to get his bearings. At last, pointing to a
grayish mass rising above the bank, he said, “Naoh,
Nam, and Gaw can laugh at the wolves.”
It was a great rock almost in the shape of a cube,
rising to five times the height of a man. It was accessible
from only one side. Naoh climbed it rapidly, having
} been familiar with it for many seasons. Following him,
1 Nam and Gaw found themselves on a flat surface
) sprinkled with bushes and an occasional fir tree. Thirty
+ men could camp there easily. Over toward the ash-gray
: plain, the wolves fought wildly. Ferocious rumbles,
(167)
 TH Ee OU Se ORS Re

long cries, and snarls were heard in the humid air. The
Oulhamrs enjoyed their security.
The wood crackled as the fire darted its red tongues,
sending up smoke and spreading a wide glow over the
water. From the solitary rock two segments of bare
riverbank extended. Rushes, willows, and poplars grew
at a distance, so that everything could be made out for
a range of twenty javelin throws.
Beasts were fleeing and hiding from the brightness
or running up to it in fascination. Two screech owls
flew into an aspen with eerie cries, a cloud of bats bil-
lowed, a wild flight of swallows wheeled on the other
shore, frightened ducks left cover and flew into the
darkness, long fishes surged up from the bottom like
silver smoke, arrows of mother-of-pearl, and coppery
spirals. The red glow also reveaied a stocky boar, who
stopped and grunted, a large elk, his spine quivering
and his head and antlers thrown back, the sly head of
a lynx with triangular eyes, coppery and ferocious,
appearing between two branches of an ash tree.
The men were aware of their security. In silence
they ate roasted meat, living happily in the warmth of
the fire. The band was near! Before two nights they
would see the waters of the Great Swamp. Nam and
Gaw would be welcomed as warriors: the Oulhamrs
would know of their courage, guile, and long patience,
and they would fear them. Naoh would have Gammla
for his reward and would command after Faouhm.
They thrilled with hope, and if their thought was short,
(168)
 THE ROCK

their instinct was prodigious, full of deep and precise

images.
Suddenly Nam started. With his back turned to the
fire, his gaze followed a reflection on the other shore
which played on the water, slipping among the willows
and sycamores. And with his hand outstretched, he
murmured, “Son of the Leopard, some men have come!”
A heavy feeling came over Naoh, and all three of
them concentrated on the spot. But the banks were
deserted, and nothing was heard but the lapping of
water. All that could be made out were animals, grass,
and trees.
“Was Nam mistaken?” asked Naoh. The young man,
sure of what he had seen, replied, “Nam was not
wrong: he saw men’s bodies among the willows—
there were two.” The leader doubted no more. He said
softly, “This is the country of the Oulhamrs. Those you
saw are hunters or scouts sent out by Faouhm.”
He stood up and stretched. It would be no use to
hide: friends and enemies would be too aware of the
significance of the fire. He cried out, “I am Naoh, son
of the Leopard, who has conquered Fire for the Oul-
hamrs. Let Faouhm’s scouts show themselves.”
The solitude remained impenetrable. Even the breeze-
had died down and the roars of wild animals. Only the
crackling of the fire and the fresh voice of the river
seemed to expand.
“Let Faouhm’s scouts show themselves!” the leader
repeated. “If they look, they will recognize Naoh,

(169)
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

Nam, and Gaw! They know they will be welcome.”

All three standing before the red fire showed sil-
houettes as visible as in plain day, and let out the call of
the Oulhamrs.
Waiting. It gnawed the hearts of the three com-
panions. It implied all the terrors of life. And Naoh
muttered, “They are enemies!”
Nam and Gaw knew it well and all their joy left
them. The peril that struck them that night was harder,
since their return seemed so close. It was more equivo-
cal since it came from men. On this ground near the
Great Swamp they had only expected their people’s
approach. Had Faouhm’s conquerors attacked them
again? Had the Oulhamrs disappeared from the earth?
Naoh saw Gammla conquered or dead. He ground his
teeth and threatened the other shore with his club.
Then he squatted by the fire in despair, thinking and
waiting. The sky had darkened in the east and the
moon in its last quarter had appeared across the savan-
na. It was red and flaming. It was still weak but its light
reached the shadows of the site: flight, which Naoh
was meditating, would be almost impossible if the hid-
den men were numerous and if they had laid an am-
bush. As he thought, a great shiver shook his body.
Downstream, he had just noticed a stocky figure in
silhouette. Although it disappeared rapidly into the
rushes, certainty pierced him like the point of a spear.
The men who were hiding were Oulhamrs to be sure,
but Naoh would have preferred Kzams or Little Men.
For he had just recognized Aghoo the Hairy.

(170)
 CHAPTER NINE

SS>
Aghoo the Hairy

rn the space of several heartbeats, Naoh relived the

I scene when Aghoo and his brothers had stood be-
fore Faouhm and promised to conquer Fire. Menace
flamed in their eyes, strength and ferocity were in their
gestures. The Oulhamrs had listened to them with”
_ trepidation. Each of the three brothers would have
- stood his ground to Faouhm. With their chests as hairy
as a gray bear, their enormous hands, their arms hard
as oak branches, with their guile, skill, courage, their
indestructible solidarity, they were each worth ten
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

warriors. Thinking of all the men they had killed, a

boundless hatred contracted Naoh’s heart. How was he
to beat them? He, the son of the Leopard, believed
himself the equal of Aghoo: after so many victories his
self-confidence was complete; but Nam and Gaw
would be like leopards faced with these lions! Surprise
and conflicting emotions had not delayed Naoh’s reso-
lution. It was as rapid as the bound of a deer surprised
in its shelter.
“Nam will leave first,” he commanded, “then Gaw.
They will carry spears and javelins. I will throw them
their clubs when they are at the base of the rock. I will
carry only the fire.” For in spite of the mysterious
stones of the Wahs, he could not resign himself to
abandon the conquered flame.
Nam and Gaw understood that they must get ahead
of Aghoo and his brothers before they could rejoin the
tribe. Hastily they seized their arms, and Nam was al-
ready on his way down the escarpment, Gaw follow-
ing at the level of twice a man’s stature above him.
When Nam was almost at the bottom, a cry of terror
burst from the bank, succeeded by a bellowing, then
the screech of a bittern. Leaning over the edge of the
platform, Naoh saw Aghoo leap out of the rushes. He
came at full speed and an instant later his brothers
dashed out, one from the south and the other from the
east. Nam had just leaped onto the plain. At this point
Naoh felt his heart full of trouble. He did not know
whether he should throw Nam’s club to him or call
him back. The young man was more agile than the

(72)
 AGHOO THE HAIRY

sons of the Aurochs, but while they were converging

on the rock he would pass within range of a javelin.
After a brief hesitation the leader cried, “I will not
throw the club to Nam — it will weigh down his es-
cape! He must flee! Let him warn the Oulhamrs that
we are waiting here with the fire.”
Trembling, Nam obeyed, for he knew himself to be
weak before these formidable brothers who had gained
ground on him during his short pause. After several
bounds, he stumbled and had to regain his balance.
Seeing his danger growing, Naoh recalled his com-
panion. Already the hairy ones were near. The most
agile hurled his javelin. It pierced the young man’s arm
at the moment he began to climb the slope; the assail-
ant let out a war cry and rushed on Nam to crack his
skull. Naoh was waiting. With his awesome arm he
threw a stone: it made an arc in the half-light and
cracked the enemy’s femur, bringing him to the ground.
Before the son of the Leopard had chosen a second
projectile, the wounded man disappeared behind a bush,
letting out roars of rage.
Then there was a great silence. Aghoo went over to
his brother and examined his wound. Gaw helped Nam
to get back on the platform; Naoh, on his feet in the
double light of the fire and the moon, raised a piece of
porphyry in his two hands and stood ready to pelt the
aggressors. He spoke first: “Are not the sons of the
Aurochs of the same tribe as Naoh, Nam, and Gaw?r
Why do they attack us like enemies?” Aghoo the Hairy
stood up in turn. He let out a war cry and replied,

(173)
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

“A ghoo will treat you like friends if you will give him
his share of the Fire, and like elk if you refuse him.” A
snarling laugh came from his jaws; his chest was large
enough for a panther to sleep on. The son of the Leop-
ard cried, ‘““Naoh has conquered Fire from the Kzams.
He will share the Fire when he has rejoined the tribe.”
“We want Fire now. Aghoo will have Gammla, and
Naoh will receive a double portion of prey and booty.”
Fury shook the son of the Leopard. “Why should
Aghoo have Gammla? He was not able to conquer
Fire! All men have mocked him.”
“Aghoo is stronger than Naoh. He will rip you open
with his spear and break your bones with his club.”
“Naoh has killed the gray bear and the tigress. He
has killed ten Kzams and twenty Little Men. It is Naoh
who will kill Aghoo!”
“Let Naoh come down into the plain!”
“If Aghoo came alone, Naoh would have gone to
fight him alone.”
Aghoo’s laughter exploded like a roar: “None of you
will see the Great Swamp again!”
Both were silent. Shivering, Naoh compared the
slim torsos of Nam and Gaw to the fearful structures
of the sons of the Aurochs. Yet didn’t he have an
advantage? For if Nam was wounded, one of the three
brothers was incapable of pursuing an enemy. Blood
flowed from Nam’s arm. The leader applied ashes to it
and covered it with herbs. As he watched, he asked
himself how he would fight. It was impossible to sur-
prise Aghoo’s and his brothers’ vigilance. Their senses

(174)
 AGHOO THE HAIRY

were sharp and their bodies tireless. They had strength,

guile, skill, and agility. A little slower than Nam or
Gaw, they surpassed them in range. Only the son of
the Leopard was swifter and had more endurance. The
situation was piecing itself together in Naoh’s head,
and gaining coherence by his instinct. Thus he could
see the ins and outs of the flight and combat; he was
already all action while he remained squatting in the
copper glow. At last he got up and a sly smile flickered
in his eyes; he stamped out the fire like a bull pawing
the ground. First the fire must be put out so that, even
if they were the victors, the sons of the Aurochs would
not have Gammla or the ransom. Naoh threw the thick-
est brands into the river; with the help of his com-
panions he killed the fire with earth and stones. He only
kept alive one of the feeble flames in the cages. Follow-
ing this, he organized the descent. This time, Gaw
would go first. At the level of two men’s height he
would stop on a ledge large enough to keep his balance,
and throw javelins. The young Oulhamr quickly
obeyed. When he got to the assigned spot, he called
softly to warn his leader.
The sons of the Aurochs had joined battle. Aghoo
faced the rock, his spear in his hand; the wounded
man, standing against the bush, held his weapons ready;
and the third brother, Rouk the Red-Armed, who was
closer than the others, moved back and forward in a
circle. Standing on a ledge jutting from the platform,
Naoh sometimes leaned over toward the plain and
sometimes brandished a javelin. He seized the moment

(175)
 TEES OF ES ts BOR Sree RoE

when Rouk was closest to hurl his weapon. It covered

the distance, which astonished the son of the Aurochs,
but it needed a length five times a man’s height to hit its
mark. A stone which Naoh threw next fell at a lesser
distance. Rouk let out a sarcastic call: “The son of the
Leopard is blind and stupid.” Disdainfully, he raised
his club in his right hand. Furtively Naoh grabbed a
weapon prepared in advance: it was one of those pro-
jectors he had learned to use among the Wahs. He
gave the sling a quick turn. Rouk, sure that this was a
menacing gesture, continued his walk with a hoot of
laughter. As he was no longer facing the rock, the light
was not certain and he did not see the javelin coming.
When he saw it, it was too late; his hand was pierced at
the thumb joint. With a cry of rage, he let go of his
club.
Aghoo and his brothers were stupefied. The range
Naoh had attained far surpassed their expectation. Feel-
ing their power diminished before a mysterious trick,
all three withdrew. Rouk had not been able to pick up
his club in his left hand again.
Meanwhile, Naoh profited by their surprise to help
Nam get down; the six men found themselves on the
plain, alert and full of hatred. Suddenly the son of the
Leopard cut to the right, where the passage was larger
and more reliable. There Aghoo barred the way. His
circular eyes watched each of Naoh’s gestures. He was
marvelously coordinated to dodge the javelins. He
advanced in the hope that his adversaries would use up

(176)
 AGHOO THE HAIRY

their projectiles in vain against him, while Rouk came

up swiftly after him. But Naoh pulled up short,
swerved abruptly, and threatened the third brother who
was leaning on a spear, waiting. This movement forced
Rouk and Aghoo to head to the west; now there was
more space. Nam, Gaw, and Naoh rushed ahead with-
out having to fear that they would be within range.
“The son of Aurochs will not have fire!” the leader’s
voice resounded. “And Naoh will take Gammla.”
All three were fleeing across the plain; perhaps they
might have reached the band without combat, but
Naoh realized it was necessary to risk death for death
that very night. Two of the hairy ones were wounded.
To run away from the fight was to give them time to
heal, and the peril would return more dangerous than
ever. In this first phase of the pursuit, even Nam, in
spite of his wound, had the advantage. The three com-
panions gained another thousand feet. Naoh stopped,
handed the fire to Gaw, and said, ““You must run with-
out stopping toward the sunset until I rejoin you.”
They obeyed, continuing at the same speed, while
the leader followed more slowly. Soon he turned around,
faced the hairy ones, and threatened them with the
projector weapon. When he judged them close enough,
he cut toward the north, past their right flank, and
headed straight for the river. Aghoo understood. He
let out a roar like a lion and backtracked with Rouk to
the aid of the wounded warrior. Desperately he gained
a speed equal to Naoh’s. But this speed exceeded his

(177)
 tHE (OWES & Tb OR (Ee
R Ee

build. The son of the Leopard, better built for high

speed, regained the advantage. He arrived near the rock
with an advance of three hundred feet, and found him-
self face to face with the third brother.
He looked formidable as he waited. He hurled a
javelin. Off balance, he missed his aim, and already
Naoh rushed on him. The strength and skill of the
hairy one were such that in spite of his paralyzed leg
he could have beaten Nam or Gaw. To combat the
great Naoh he made a more powerful assault: the blow
of his club was so strong that it would have taken his
two legs to sustain the kick, and while he stumbled his
adversary’s weapon came down on the back of his neck
and knocked him to the ground. A second blow broke
his spine.
Aghoo was now a hundred feet away; Rouk, weak-
ened by the flow of blood from his hand and less agile,
was a hundred feet behind. Both arrived at their goal
like rhinoceroses, carried forward by so deep an in-
stinct of race that they forgot all strategy.
With one foot on the vanquished, the son of the
Leopard awaited them, his club ready. Three feet away,
Aghoo bounded in attack. Naoh had slipped away. He
ran after Rouk with the speed of an elk. With a final
motion, swinging his club with both hands, he struck
Rouk’s weapon which he had raised maladroitly in his
left hand; then, with a blow on the head, he knocked
down the second antagonist. Running off once more
from Aghoo, he cried, “Where are your brothers, son

(178)
 ANG H/OlOe T HB) HAT RY

of the Aurochs? Have I not killed them as I killed the

gray bear, the tigress, and the Kzams? And here I am
as free as the wind! My feet are fleeter than yours, my
wind stronger than an elk’s!”
Having regained his advance, he stopped and watched
Aghoo coming. He said, “Naoh does not want to flee
any more. This very night he will take your life or give
his own.”
He took aim at the son of the Aurochs. But his enemy
had recovered his guile: he slowed up and remained
watchful. The javelin whistled through the air. Aghoo
ducked and the weapon whizzed over his head.
“It is Naoh who is going to die!” he yelled.
He hurried no more; he knew that this adversary was
free to accept or refuse the fight. His furtive gait in-
spired fear. Each of his movements resembled a beast
of combat; death was carried with him in the shape of
the spear and the club. Despite the victory over his
brothers, he did not fear this great agile warrior with
swift arms and broad shoulders, for he was stronger
than his brothers and had never known defeat. No man
or beast had been able to resist his club. When he came
within range, he hurled the spear. He did it because he
had to; but he was not surprised to see Naoh dodge the
sharp point. And Aghoo dodged the enemy’s spear in
turn.
Now there was nothing but the clubs. These were
raised simultaneously; both were made of oak. Aghoo’s
had three knots; it had been polished with time and
(179)
 AGHOO THE HAIRY

gleamed in the moonlight. Naoh’s was more rounded,

less old, and dark in color. Aghoo struck the first blow.
He did not put all his strength into it; it was not in this
way that he hoped to surprise the son of the Leopard.
So Naoh got out of the way without difficulty and took
a sideswipe. The other warrior’s club met the blow; the
wood bashed together with a tremendous crack. Then
Aghoo leaped to the right and came back on the great
wasrior’s flank: he dealt the immense blow which had
broken the heads of men and beasts. It encountered
emptiness, while Naoh’s club came down on his. The
shock was so great that Faouhm himself would have
reeled; Aghoo’s feet held their ground like roots. He
was able to leap backward.
Thus they found themselves face to face with no
wounds, as if they had not been fighting. But all the
strength they possessed they put into the struggle.
Each recognized in the other a formidable adversary;
each knew that if he weakened for the space of a mo-
ment’s motion he would enter death.
Aghoo resumed combat with a hoarse yell. All his
strength passed into his arm: he brought down his club
without feint, resolved to crush all resistance. With-
drawing, Naoh opposed his weapon. He deflected the
blow but could not keep a knot from making a large
gash in his shoulder. The blood spurted, turning the
warrior’s arm red. Aghoo, sure of destroying once
again a life which he had condemned, raised his club;
it came down in a fearsome blow.
The rival had not waited for the club to come down,
(181)
 THE OWES tb ORD RE

and the momentum threw the son of the Aurochs for-

ward. Letting out a sinister cry, Naoh returned the
blow. Aghoo’s head rang like a block of oak, his hairy
body staggered; another blow brought him to the
ground.
“You shall not have Gammla!” roared the conqueror.
“You will not see the band or the swamp, and never
again will you warm your body by the fire!”
Aghoo got to his feet. His hard head was red, his
right arm hung like a broken branch, his legs no longer
had any strength. But stubborn instinct glimmered in
his eyes and he took up the club with his left hand. He
brandished it for a last time. Before it struck, Naoh
knocked it ten feet out of his hand. And Aghoo await-
ed death. Already it was in him; he did not understand
defeat otherwise; he remembered with pride all the
creatures he had killed before succumbing himself.
“Aghoo crushed the head and the heart of his ene-
mies,” he murmured. “He never left alive anyone who
disputed booty or prey with him. All the Oulhamrs
trembled before him.”
The cry came from his obscure consciousness, and if
he had been able to rejoice in his defeat he would have
done so. At least he felt virtue in never having shown
mercy, always annihilating the danger that is the rancor
of the vanquished. So his days seemed to him without
reproach. As the first death blow hit his head he let out
no cry; he cried only when thought had left him and
he was nothing but warm flesh, which Naoh’s club
(182)
 AGHOO THE HAIRY

stilled in its last quiverings. Then the conqueror went

to finish off the two brothers. And it seemed to him that
the power of the sons of the Aurochs had entered into
him. Turning toward the river, he listened to his heart
booming. Time was his! He no longer saw any end to it.

(183)
 eee
OS

The Endless Night

AacH day at sunset the Oulhamrs would wait in

E anguish for the departure of the sun. When only
the stars were left in the heavens or the moon was
buried behind clouds, they felt strangely puny and
miserable. Huddled in the darkness of a cavern or
beneath an overhanging rock, faced with the cold and
evening shadows, they dreamed of the Fire which used
to nourish them with its warmth and keep off the fear-
some beasts. The watchers never ceased to hold their
weapons ready; fear and strained attention harassed
 THE ENDLESS NIGHT

their brains and bodies: they knew that they could be

taken by surprise before being able to strike. A bear
had devoured a warrior and two women; wolves and
leopards had carried off some children; many of the
men bore scars of nocturnal combat.
Winter was coming. The north wind hurled its
spears; under clear skies frost bit them with sharp teeth.
And one night Faouhm, the chief, in a struggle against
a lion, lost the use of his right arm. Thus he became too
weak to impose his command, and disorder grew among
the band. Houm no longer wished to obey. Mouh
claimed to be first among the Oulhamrs. Both had their
partisans, while a small number remained faithful to
Faouhm. However, an armed struggle did not take
place, for all were tired: the old man Goun reminded
them of their weakness and of the peril that would re-
sult if they killed each other. They understood him: in
the hour of shadows they had bitterly regretted the
missing warriors. They despaired of seeing Naoh, Gaw,
and Nam or the sons of the Aurochs. Several times
search parties were sent out: they came back without
having discovered any trail. They became fearful of
the worst, that the six warriors had fallen beneath the
claws of wild beasts or the axes of men, or that they
had perished from hunger. The Oulhamrs would never
again see the helping Fire alive!
In spite of greater sufferings than the males, the
women alone maintained an undefined confidence. That
patient resistance which is the salvation of races sub-
sisted in them. Gammla was among the most energetic.

(185)
 THE QUEST FOR FIRE

Neither cold nor hunger impaired her youthful vigor.

In winter her hair grew longer; she tossed it about her
shoulders like the mane of a lion. Faouhm’s niece had
a profound knowledge of plants. On the prairie or in
the reeds she could spot roots, fruit, and edible mush-
rooms. Without her the great Faouhm would have
perished during the days when his wound kept him laid
up in a cave, exhausted by the loss of blood. Fire did
not seem to her as indispensable as to the others. Still
she desired it passionately, and at the beginning of each
night she wondered if it would be Aghoo or Naoh who
would bring it back. She would be ready to submit,
since respect for the stronger was deeply instilled in
her; she did not conceive that she could refuse to be the
wife of a conqueror, but she knew that life with Aghoo
would be harder.
An evening approached that looked frightening to
the band. The wind had dispelled the clouds. It passed
over the withered grass and black trees with a long
howl. A red sun as large as the hillside still lit up the
site. And in the twilight which was about to disappear
into endless time the band assembled, shivering with
fear. It was weak and mournful; when would the days
return when flames crackled as they ate up the logs?
Then an odor of roasting meat used to rise into the
evening, and a warm happiness came into their bodies,
as pitiful wolves prowled about, and bears, lions, and
leopards moved away from this sparkling, living thing.
The sun sank and in the bare west the light faded.
Old Goun, whose misery had grown with the years, let

(186)
 THE ENDLESS NIGHT

out a disquieting moan. “Goun has seen his sons and

the sons of his sons. Never did the Oulhamrs lack Fire.
Now there is no more Fire, and Goun will die without
seeing it again.”
The hollow of the rock in which the band was
sheltered was almost a cavern. In good weather it might
have been a suitable shelter, but now the wind whipped
their bodies. Goun continued: “The wolves will be-
come more daring each night.” Furtive shadows multi-
plied with the fall of night. The howls were longer
and more menacing; night poured out its famished
beasts. Only the last glimmer of twilight still kept them
at a distance. Anxiously the watchers walked in the
harsh air beneath the cold stars...
Suddenly one of them stopped and cocked an ear.
Two others imitated him. Then the first declared,
“There are men in the plain!” A shiver passed through
the band. With some of them fear dominated; others
were filled with hope. Remembering that he was still
chief, Faouhm got up from the fissure in which he was
resting. “Let all the warriors have their weapons ready!”
he commanded.
The Oulhamrs silently obeyed. The chief added,
“Let Houm take three young men and see who is
coming.” :
Houm hesitated, displeased at receiving orders from
a man who had lost the strength of his arm, but old
Goun interposed: “Houm has a leopard’s eyes, a wolf’s
ears, and a dog’s power of smell. He will know if the
men approaching are enemies or Oulhamrs.”

(187)
 LH E OU LS Ee FORTIER

So Houm and three young men set out. As they ad-

vanced the wild beasts fell upon their tracks. They
were soon out of sight. For a long time the tribe waited
in misery. Finally a long cry cleaved the darkness.
Bounding onto the plain, Faouhm yelled, “They are
Oulhamrs who are coming!” A terrific emotion pierced
all their hearts. Even the little children got up. Goun
stated what he and all the others were thinking: “Is it
Aghoo and his brothers... or Naoh, Nam, and Gaw?”
New cries resounded under the stars.
“Tt is the son of the Leopard!” Faouhm murmured
joyfully. For he feared the ferocity of Aghoo. But the
others thought only of the Fire. If Naoh brought it
back they were ready to kneel to him; if he did not,
hatred and disdain would meet his weakness.
At last Naoh was in sight. He arrived like a black
shadow on the gray plain, and Faouhm cried, “The
Fire! Naoh brings Fire!”
There was a tremendous commotion. Some people
stood stock still as if struck by an axe. Others leaped
about with frantic yelps. And the Fire was there.
The son of the Leopard held it in a stone cage. It
was a little red glow, a humble light that a child could
crush with a stone. But everyone knew the immense
strength that was going to spurt from this feeble being.
Panting and mute, frightened of seeing it die out, they
fed their eyes on its image. Then there rose up a cry so
loud that the wolves were frightened. The whole tribe
pressed about Naoh with gestures of humility, adora-
tion, and compulsive joy.
(188)
 THE ENDLESS NIGHT

“Don’t kill the Fire!” cried old Goun as the clamor

abated. Everyone spread out. Naoh, Faouhm, Gamma,
Nam, Gaw, and old Goun formed a nucleus in the
crowd and walked toward the rock. The tribe gathered
dry grass, reeds, and branches. When the bonfire was
ready the son of the Leopard brought the frail light
close to it. It caught at a few twigs at first; spitting, it
began to devour branches; then, roaring, it swallowed
up logs.
Speaking to the great Faouhm, Naoh asked, “Has not
the son of the Leopard fulfilled his promise? And will
the chief of the Oulhamrs carry out his own?” He
pointed to Gamma, standing in the red glow. She shook
her long hair. Flushed with pride, she had no more fear.
She participated in the admiration in which Naoh was
enveloped by the tribe.
“Gammla will be your wife as was promised,”
Faouhm replied almost humbly.
“And Naoh will command the tribe!” old Goun de-
clared boldly. He spoke thus not out of disrespect for
the great Faouhm, but in order to destroy rivalries he
considered dangerous. In this moment when fire had
just been reborn, no one would dare contradict him.
Exultant approbation welled up on every face. But
Naoh saw only Gammll; her long hair and fresh, lively
eyes spoke the language of his race. A profound indul-
gence toward the man who was going to bestow her
upon him rose in Naoh’s heart. Still, he understood that
a warrior with a useless arm could not command the

(189)
eS ee
oe eS knee
 THE ENDLESS NIGHT

Oulhamrs alone, and so he cried, “Naoh and Faouhm

will lead the tribe.”
In their surprise, everyone was quiet and for the first
time Faouhm felt his ferocious heart invaded by a con-
fused tenderness for a man who was not his own blood.
Meanwhile, old Goun, by far the most curious of the
Oulhamrs, wanted to know the adventures of the three
warriors. They were throbbing in Naoh’s brain, just
as alive as when he had so recently lived through them.
At that time words were few, their consistency weak,
their power to evoke short, brusque, and intense. The
great warrior spoke of the gray bear, the giant lion and
the tigress, the Kzams, mammoths, Little Men, Thin
Men, blue-skinned men, and the great cave bear. How-
ever, out of distrust and guile, he omitted the secret of
the fiery stones which the Wahs had taught him.
The roaring flames confirmed his narrative; by
crude gestures Nam and Gaw emphasized each episode.
Because it was the discourse of the conqueror, it struck
to the depths of all their beings and made their hearts
beat. And Goun cried, “There is not a warrior compar-
able to Naoh among our fathers — and there will not
be one among our children nor our children’s children!”
Finally, Naoh pronounced the name of Aghoo; his
listeners trembled like trees in a storm. For they all
feared the son of the Aurochs. “When did the son of
the Leopard see Aghoo again?” Faouhm interrupted
with a distrustful look at the shadows.
“One night ago,” replied the warrior. “The sons of

(191)
 THE .OU ES) © FOR rin

the Aurochs crossed the river. They appeared before

the rock where Naoh, Nam, and Gaw were camped.
Naoh fought them.”
Then there was a silence in which not even the
tribesmen’s breathing could be heard. All that could be
heard was the fire, the breeze, and the distant cries of
beasts.
‘““And Naoh defeated them,” the warrior proudly de-
clared. The men and women looked at one another.
Enthusiasm and doubt conflicted in their hearts. Mouh
expressed what they all were obscurely asking, “Did
Naoh kill all three?”
The son of the Leopard answered nothing. He
plunged his hand into a fold in the bearskin that en-
veloped him and tossed onto the ground three bloody
hands. “Here are the hands of Aghoo and his brothers!”
Goun, Mouh, and Faouhm examined them. They
could not be mistaken. Enormous and thick, the fingers
covered with hair like a wild beast’s, they evoked irre-
sistibly the formidable bodies of the hairy ones. Every-
one recalled having trembled before them. Rivalry was
extinguished in the hearts of the strong braves; the
weak identified their lives with Naoh’s; the women
sensed that the race would endure. And Goun the dry-
bones proclaimed, “The Oulhamrs shall fear no more
enemies!”’ Seizing Gammla, Faouhm prostrated her be-
fore the conqueror and said, “There. She shall be your
wife. And my protection is no longer upon her. She
shall kneel before her master. She shall go in search of

(192)
 THE ENDLESS NIGHT

the prey that you will kill and shall bring it back on her
shoulder. If she disobeys you, you may put her to death.”
Naoh, placing his hand on Gammla, gently raised her
up, and what seemed like time without end stretched
out before them.

(193)
74
 ( |
=

| ere
_- HOLCOMB
HIGH SCHOOL HRRARY
(
i i
<7 F

; se a
t
 HOLCOMB
HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
GIBRALTAR
LIBRARY
BINDING
Lire