The First Days of Man, as Narrated Quite Simply for Young Readers

by Frederic Arnold Kummer

When Mother Nature saw that the cave people liked the new thing she had sent them, she told Wind to blow the storm back again, so that Rain might fall on the blazing forest, and put out the flames before the trees were all burned up.

"But do not wet the little fire the cave people have kept burning among the rocks," she said, "for if you do, they will not be able to light it again. And I wish, Cold, that you would blow with all your might."

The cave people, gathered about the fire, felt the cold wind on their backs, and because the fire kept them warm, they liked it, and put more and more wood on it to keep it alive. Whenever it died down, and they felt cold again, they brought more branches and twigs. After a time, night came, and the bright yellow flames pleased them so much that they danced about the fire, chattering with delight.

Presently they grew sleepy, and lay down beside the fire, because it was warmer there, than it was inside the caves. And they went to sleep and forgot all about the fire, so that, when morning came, they woke up, chilled by the cold, to find that their fire was gone.

This made them feel very sad. Then one of the younger men, who was called Ab, because he was slow and lazy, like a bear, was very angry because the fire had gone out and left him cold, so he began to poke about among the ashes with a stick, and after a while, away down at the bottom of the pile, he found a bed of glowing red coals. He got some leaves and twigs and put them on the coals, and when the fire blazed up again, the cave people all shout Ai-Ai, and that became in time their word for fire. They called Ab Ai-Ab after that, because he was the one who had brought back the fire.

Mother Nature, who was watching the cave people, was glad when she saw that they had saved the fire, for she was afraid she might have to make it all over again for them. But she was not satisfied.

"The Rain will soon put it out," she said to the Sun, "if they do not carry it into their caves. I must teach them a lesson. But first, they must find out more about what Fire can do for them, so you had better keep on shining for a while."

The cave people, when they saw that the fire was burning again, left Ai-Ab and the women to keep it blazing, while they went out to hunt for food. They did not know, then, all the wonderful things Fire was going to do for them, but they liked it because it kept them warm.

There were two boys in one of the parties that went down the valley. One was called Tul, which meant quick, and the other was called Ni-Va, which meant fish, and they called him that because he was a very good swimmer. Tul and Ni-Va were not allowed to go outside the valley with the older men, but were told to search through the woods for the sweet roots of certain kinds of plants that the cave men ate, and for eggs, and the young wild birds.