On this particular morning, which would have been Christmas morning had
it not come too early in the world's history, Fangs left the cave after
eating the whole of a water-fowl he had killed with a stone the night
before and some half dozen field mice which his wife had brought in. She
Fox and Red Lips had for breakfast only the bones of the duck and some
roots dug in the forest. Fangs carried with him a huge club, and in a
rough pouch made of the skin of some small wild animal a collection of
stones of convenient size for throwing. This was before man had invented
the bow or even the crude stone ax. He came back in a surly mood because
he had found nothing and killed nothing, but he brought a companion with
him. This companion, whom he had met in the woods, was known as Wolf,
because his countenance reminded one of a wolf. He could hardly be
called a gentleman, even as times and terms went then. He was evidently
not of an old family, for he possessed something more than a rudimentary
tail, and, had his face looked less like that of a wolf, it would have
been that of a baboon. He was hairy, and his speech of rough gutturals
was imperfect. He could pronounce but few words. He was, however, very
strong, and Fangs rather liked him.
What Fangs did when he came in was to propose a matrimonial alliance.
That is, he grasped his daughter by the arm and led her up to Wolf, and
then pointing to an abandoned cave in the hillside not far distant,
pushed them toward it. They did not have marriage ceremonies 200,000
B.C. Wolf, who had evidently been informed of Fangs's desire and who was
himself in favor of the alliance, seized the girl and began dragging
her off to the new home and the honeymoon. She resisted, and shrieked,
and clawed like a wild-cat. Her mother, She Fox, came running out, club
in hand, but was promptly knocked down by Fangs, who then dragged her
into the cave again. Meanwhile the bridegroom was hauling the bride away
through furze and bushes at a rapid rate. Red Lips had ceased to
struggle, and was thinking. Her thoughts were not very well defined nor
clear, but one thing she knew well--she did not want to live in a cave
with Wolf. She had a fancy that she would prefer to live instead with
Yellow Hair, a young cave man who had not yet selected a mate, and who
was remarkably fleet of foot. They were now very near the cave, and she
knew that unless she exerted herself housekeeping would begin within a
very few moments. Wolf was strong, but slow of movement. Red Lips was
only less swift than Yellow Hair. An idea occurred to her. She bent her
head and buried her strong teeth deep in the wrist of the man who was
half-carrying, half-dragging her through the underwood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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