He took the spear and looked at it. The blow he had struck against the elephant's side had split the end of it. After a great deal of trouble Ra managed to force the thin flat stone into the split end of the spear. It looked very well, he thought, but he knew it would not stay there unless it were fastened in some way. Glancing about, he saw some of the long, tough marsh grasses that he had often used to string his fish together, when carrying them home. He took some strands of this grass and wrapped them around the end of the spear in such a way that the stone point was held tightly in place. It was a clumsy piece of work, for Ra had never used the grasses in such a way before, but it was strong, as he found out by spearing several fish in the shallow water of the marsh. When he went home, he was very proud of what he had done, and showed the new spear to his father, and to some of his brothers.
THE BEGINNING OF THE STONE AGE
Ra's invention of the stone-pointed spear gave the cave men new courage so that they became very fierce and bold.
His father did not think much of it, and said wooden-pointed spears were good enough for anybody, but his brothers chattered with pleasure, and got Ra to show them where he had found the white stone, and how he had chipped the spear point into shape, and fastened it on. Before long, they too had stone-pointed spears, and as they made more and more of them they made them stronger and better, using the twisted entrails or guts of fish to bind the points in place, instead of the marsh grasses. Soon all the men in the valley were armed with stone-pointed spears, and some of them, taking Ra's idea, fixed stones in the ends of their heavy clubs, and with the making of these stone-pointed spears and axes, Man had begun what is known as the Stone Age.
Ra's invention was a great blessing to the cave men, for now they were able to fight their enemies on much more even terms. This gave them new courage, and they became very fierce and bold. But it was not only for making weapons that they began to use the hard, sharp bits of flint Ha had discovered. They soon found them useful for many other things. It was easier, to cut a fish to pieces, with a sharp-edged stone, than to tear it to bits with their fingers, so they began the use of flint knives, and later on they made all sorts of tools out of stone, which helped them very much in their daily lives. But these things came later.
"My new people have learned a great deal, since I have been away," said Mother Nature to the Sun. "Now I am going to teach them to eat meat."