Frederic Kummer - The First Days of Man

One night, when the cold rains were over, and the trees in the valley were covered with fresh new leaves, Adh was sitting on a flat rock in front of his cave, eating a large fish.

He was not thinking of anything, except how good the fish tasted, when suddenly his quick ears heard a sound, and looking up he saw a great beast, like a bear, covered with hair, making its way slowly up the rocky hillside toward him.

It was a huge, clumsy animal, much larger than himself, but it walked on all fours, snuffing the air as though it smelt the fish Adh had been eating. The Ape-Man had never seen such a creature before.

The hair on Adh's neck stood straight up, for he was very much frightened, and his first thought was to run away as fast as his legs would carry him. Then he remembered his wife and child, lying asleep inside the cave, and instead of running away, he picked up some heavy stones and threw them at the oncoming enemy.

One of the stones hit the beast on the shoulder, but instead of stopping, it gave a grunt of rage and came on faster than ever, straight toward the cave.

Adh picked up his club from where it lay on the rock beside him and stood before the door of the cave, chattering and screaming with anger and fear. His wife, awakened by the noise, came out of the cave and stood just behind him, holding the young one in her arms, and also uttering shrill cries.

The creature's black snout, with small fiery red eyes, came slowly forward until Adh could feel its breath on his face. Then, just as the beast started to rear up on its hind legs, Adh raised his club, and springing forward, struck the animal across the nose with all his might.

The Ape-Man was very strong, and his blow was a terrible one. The great beast gave a howl of pain, and rearing up, tried to reach Adh with its huge claws. But Adh's fear had all left him, now. His eyes gleamed, and his mouth foamed with rage. Raising his club he struck again and again, until the beast, with blood streaming from its crushed snout, turned tail and ran away down the rocky hillside. There was a great deep wound in Adh's breast, where the claws of the beast had torn him, but he hardly knew it, in his joy at winning the fight. He pounded his clenched fist on his chest until the sound echoed through the valley, and uttered shrill cries of defiance.

His wife came up to him and stroked and patted him proudly, chattering all the time with pleasure. This made Adh feel very happy, and he pounded his club on the rocks and grunted with delight. He had made this great beast fear him, and the thought filled him with pride.

That night, as he lay on the floor of the cave, a terrible fear came over him. What if the creature should come back again, while he was asleep, and carry him off. He got up, and crouched for a long time in the door of the cave, his club ready in his hands. After a while he grew sleepy and wished that there were something across the cave door to keep the beast out, in case he came back. The thought worried him so much that at last he went out, and getting four or five large stones, rolled them to the mouth of the cave, and after crawling inside, fixed them so that the hole by which he crept in and out was almost blocked. After that he went to sleep without feeling afraid.

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