“There was much grumbling, and my father called a council. But, when he
rose to speak, him the Sea-Lion thrust through the throat with a spear
and he died. And Dog-Tooth and Little-Belly, and Three-Legs and all that
held land said it was good. And Big-Fat said it was the will of God.
And after that all men were afraid to stand up in the council, and there
was no more council.
“Another man, Pig-Jaw, began to keep goats. He had heard about it as
among the Meat-Eaters, and it was not long before he had many flocks.
Other men, who had no land and no fish-traps, and who else would have
gone hungry, were glad to work for Pig-Jaw, caring for his goats,
guarding them from wild dogs and tigers, and driving them to the feeding
pastures in the mountains. In return, Pig-Jaw gave them goat-meat to eat
and goat-skins to wear, and sometimes they traded the goat-meat for fish
and corn and fat roots.
“It was this time that money came to be. Sea-Lion was the man who first
thought of it, and he talked it over with Dog-Tooth and Big-Fat. You
see, these three were the ones that got a share of everything in the Sea
Valley. One basket out of every three of corn was theirs, one fish out
of every three, one goat out of every three. In return, they fed the
guards and the watchers, and kept the rest for themselves. Sometimes,
when a big haul of fish was made they did not know what to do with all
their share. So Sea-Lion set the women to making money out of
shell—little round pieces, with a hole in each one, and all made smooth
and fine. These were strung on strings, and the strings were called
money.
“Each string was of the value of thirty fish, or forty fish, but the
women, who made a string a day, were given two fish each. The fish came
out of the shares of Dog-Tooth, Big-Fat, and Sea-Lion, which they three
did not eat. So all the money belonged to them. Then they told
Three-Legs and the other land-owners that they would take their share of
corn and roots in money, Little-Belly that they would take their share of
fish in money, Pig-Jaw that they would take their share of goats and
cheese in money. Thus, a man who had nothing, worked for one who had,
and was paid in money. With this money he bought corn, and fish, and
meat, and cheese. And Three-Legs and all owners of things paid Dog-Tooth
and Sea-Lion and Big-Fat their share in money. And they paid the guards
and watchers in money, and the guards and watchers bought their food with
the money. And, because money was cheap, Dog-Tooth made many more men
into guards. And, because money was cheap to make, a number of men began
to make money out of shell themselves. But the guards stuck spears in
them and shot them full of arrows, because they were trying to break up
the tribe. It was bad to break up the tribe, for then the Meat-Eaters
would come over the divide and kill them all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account