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

by Frederic Arnold Kummer

The little band of sea folk fought back as best they could, but the hill people were too many for them, and soon they were all killed. Then the hill men took their weapons, and ornaments, and clothing, and divided them up, and went on, shouting, toward the smoke they had seen.

They found other bands of the sea people along the shore, and some fought and were killed, while others ran swiftly back toward their homes to give warning to the tribe.

When Ban and his men reached the village of huts, a little army of the sea tribe stood ready to give battle, but they were not many, for most of the young men were away in their boats, fishing.

A terrible fight now began. The sea folk tried bravely to defend their homes, and killed many of Ban's men, but there were not enough of them, and before long they were overcome. Then the hill tribe swarmed down on the village, killed the old men and children, and took the women prisoners to make them slaves. The village they set on fire and burned.

Some few of the women escaped, and ran down to the shore of the river, near where it emptied into the sea. Here a path led to some rocks, where the fishermen got aboard their boats.

A great log canoe, seeing the smoke from the burning village, came quickly down the river, with ten men on each side paddling as hard as they could. They knew that their people were in danger, and came to save them. As they reached the little landing, the women who were huddled there cried out to them, telling them that a great army of strange men had killed all their companions, burned the village, and taken the women prisoners. At first those in the boat wanted to come ashore and fight, but in a moment Ban and his followers came crowding down toward the landing, shouting, and throwing stones and shooting arrows. So the men in the canoe quickly dragged the women aboard, and paddled away from the shore, out into the middle of the river, where the hill men could not get at them. Here many of their companions, who had been fishing in other canoes, joined them, shouting with rage at the enemy on shore, and shooting at them with bows and slings.

The battle raged in this way for hours, but although more of the sea people came up in their boats, they were not nearly as many as the hill men were, because most of the tribe had been lost in the first battle, defending their homes. So they dared not go ashore, for they knew if they did they would be killed.

All night they stayed in their boats, calling out in rage against their enemies, who shouted back, daring them to come ashore and fight. In the morning a storm came up, and scattered the boats. Some of them were driven ashore, and the men in them captured or killed by the hill people. Some were driven out to sea, and being small and light, were sunk. But the great log canoe in which the women had taken refuge had a grass-cloth sail, and the storm drove it far out over the ocean.