caused by the evil spirit of Big Foot and when they escaped from these
evils, he reported how the spirit of Strong Arm had befriended the
tribe. Always was One Ear dreaming dreams. He told how the spirit of
Strong Arm had counselled the people to make of Big Nose their leader
and chief, which they did.
As he grew in years and in power, One Ear demanded that the best joints
of meat, the warmest place by the fire, the safest cave or hut, be his
portion. These things he declared were the commands of Strong Arm.
And so One Ear became a great man of the tribe. When the forest fire
swept the plains and drove the wild fowl and the forest animals far
inland, and brought famine to the Cave People, One Ear reported that the
spirit of Strong Arm had done these things to punish the people because
they had not brought young fowl, of which he was very fond, every day to
One Ear.
Thus One Ear became the first priest of the tribe, protected before
other men in order that the good spirits might not take vengeance upon
the tribe should ill befall him. People brought him sharp knives and
soft skins with which he made himself warm when the far northern winds
blew cold in the winter time. And One Ear said good words to the great
spirits for these bearers of gifts, so that they might be prospered and
escape the sharp tooth of the crocodile.
By and by there came other dreamers of dreams who spoke with the great
spirits and also brought messages to the people. Strong arms of the
tribe clashed and there were great battles among the Cave People, till
the Pretenders were slain, when once more peace and harmony reigned
within the valley upon the shores of the great lake.
[Illustration]
QUESTIONS
For Those Holding Classes in Sociology for Children.
I
THE FIRE BEAST
1 In what sort of a climate may we expect to find prehistoric man
during the period of Lower Savagery, when he was without tools or
weapons except of the most primitive kind? Why?
2 Since agriculture in that early day was wholly unknown and
unnecessary, on what did the people subsist?
3 Did they cook their food? Why not?
4 Imagine yourself placed upon an uninhabited island without food,
clothing or shelter in answering these questions. What sorts of
shelter did the tribes possess, if any?
5 What sorts of weapons can you fancy people would be able to make
without tools, metals or fire?
6 What would you consider the very greatest discovery made by early
man? Why?
7 How was man able to protect himself from the wild beasts during the
periods of Savagery?
8 How were the enemies of man captured and slain in these days?
9 Why do we find the tribes of this period always dwelling close to
lakes, rivers or other bodies of water?
10 How do we gather that people in the period of Lower Savagery must
have lived either in tropical or semi-tropical regions?
II
THE ORNAMENT OF BIG NOSE
1 How did primitive man convey his wants and his ideas to his fellow
creatures before he possessed a wide articulate language?
2 Can you suggest any sharp weapons the Cave Men could make without
the use of tools? Name some.
3 Do you imagine the Cave People possessed longer arms than civilized
men? Why?
4 Was this period the Golden Age of Peace and Plenty that some people
suggest?
5 Do you imagine Cave Men were care free or that they were forced to
be cunning and furtive creatures of the forests?
6 Were the early savages superior to the other animals of that period
in running? In swimming? In fighting?
7 Had they longer teeth? Sharper claws? Greater physical protection
for the soft and delicate portions of their bodies?
8 To what do you attribute man’s survival amid a world of savage
enemies?
9 Was man more cunning? Was he more social?
10 If you have classes of children, suggest pantomime plays in which
they can convey ideas or desires to the others by means of
gestures.
III
WHEN RUN-FAST WENT HUNTING FOR A WIFE
1 Suggest ways for catching fish during this period.
2 Do you imagine that at this time man had any method for preserving
meat?
3 Would the low order of man’s tools and weapons restrict him in his
wanderings from place to place over the earth’s surface? Why?
4 Did primitive man first ornament or first clothe himself?
5 What were ornaments used to signify?
6 Which men would you imagine secured wives during early savagery?
7 Would you expect to see the strong and brave men win wives, or the
weak and cowardly?
8 How far were the Cave People able to count?
9 Did men gradually learn to use, first all their fingers, and then
their toes, to reckon with?
10 Primitive man must soon have discovered the use of sails for boats.
Out of what do you supposed they fashioned the first sails?
IV
LITTLE LAUGHING BOY
1 During what season would you imagine the Cave People learned,
invented, discovered most? Why?
2 What was the season of greatest danger? Why?
3 Were the feet of the Cave People prehensile? Were the Cave People
agile? Why?
4 Can any of the children of to-day walk up a slanting tree by
encircling its trunk with their arms?
5 What is a boomerang? Make one.
6 Why did wise Cave People always travel in groups?
7 Why was extreme individuality discouraged among the members of the
tribes?
8 What happened to the youth who was determined to “go it alone” in
those days?
9 Was the Cave Man the King of the Forests, Monarch of all he
surveyed that we sometimes read about? Why not?
10 It is true that the Cave Man was weaker than most of his enemies
and yet he has managed to outlive and outthrive them all. Give
some reasons for this.
V
HUNTING AN ECHO
1 Did the Cave People know what an Echo is?
2 Could they explain their reflections in the rivers and lakes?
3 What was their idea of a shadow?
4 What was the origin of their belief in spirits?
5 What made them think the dead came back again; that they were not
really dead, but lived in the spirit world?
6 How did they explain their dreams?
7 How would a primitive man explain the rain? Or Fire? Floods? Give
some suggestions of your own.
8 How did the Cave People probably first secure a fire?
9 How did they learn to keep a fire going?
10 What were one or two ways by which they first learned how to _make_
a fire?
VI
THE FLOOD
1 What were some of the great early catastrophes?
2 What was probably the earliest sort of power used to propel a boat
or raft?
3 What would we naturally expect the first boats or floats to be?
Why?
4 Would it be possible to build a raft with nothing but stone tools?
5 How would you fasten such a raft together?
6 What were the first natural paddles?
7 Can you propel a boat through the water with your hands?
8 How could a boy live in a great banyan tree for several days?
9 Where would he secure food?
10 Could you make a hollow in a log without steel knives or saws or
other modern tools? How?
11 Would such a hollow log serve as a crude boat?
VII
BIG FOOT’S NEW WEAPON
1 Did fire enable the savage tribes to preserve their meat?
2 Did fire bring any greater degree of security to the tribes? How?
3 Do the animals you know fear fire?
4 Have any other animals besides man learned to use a fire?
5 Does a cat or a dog ever make use of a fire? How?
6 Has any animal besides man ever learned to keep a fire going or to
_build_ a fire?
7 Could a dog build a fire even if he _knew how_? Why not?
8 Has the thumb of man, which was probably once a toe like the great
toe of your foot, been a help in his struggle for existence?
9 Without thumbs would we have ever learned more than to push things
about?
10 Did fire equip man so that he would wander more freely over the
earth’s surface? How?
VIII
THE FIRST PLANTING
1 How did man probably discover the use of flint?
2 How can you build a fire without matches and without flint?
3 In what other ways may flint be used?
4 What is cannibalism?
5 How did the people first discover agriculture?
6 In what kind of a climate would sowing and reaping be necessary?
7 Name several ways by which we might discover that seeds sprout, and
bear.
8 How would primitive man probably explain a garden?
9 What would make him eager to possess a garden?
10 Why do people progress more in a temperate climate than in a
tropical region? Explain.
11 Why did the Cave People believe in miracles?
12 What is a miracle?
13 Did savage and barbarous men like to work?
14 What makes people remember things?
15 When do we learn by doing things?
16 What things are we most likely to forget?
IX
THE FIRST POT
1 What did the very first men do when they wanted a drink of water?
2 How did they first carry water into their caves?
3 Of what did they weave baskets?
4 Of what are our dishes made to-day?
5 How did prehistoric folks learn to make pots?
6 Which did they need to learn first, pot-making or fire-building?
7 How did men probably learn to cook things to eat?
8 How did they undoubtedly learn to bake clay pots?
9 Why did savage tribes decorate themselves?
10 Can you tell how to make a hollow clay pot without a form to make
it over?
X
THE ARROW THROWERS
1 With what did the early men tip their arrows?
2 Where did they get strings for their bows?
3 And of what were bows made?
4 Can you suggest a way by which they chanced to invent the bow and
arrow?
5 What advantage did a bow and arrow possess over a bone javelin?
6 Will an arrow travel farther?
7 Name half a dozen early weapons.
8 Why did the Cave People want to possess the weapons of strong and
brave men?
9 Did they think a man’s weapons possessed the characteristics of the
man?
10 Did they believe the dead heard what you said about them?
XI
THE FIRST PRIEST
1 Why did a dead man’s enemies speak well of him?
2 Did the Cave People believe that a dead man could injure them?
3 Or that he could help them?
4 Did they, very naturally, exaggerate the virtues of the dead until
the dead seemed superhuman?
5 When the Cave Dwellers were driven to a colder climate did they
learn to plant? To clothe themselves? Why?
6 Who was generally chief of the tribe? Why?
7 If a Cave Man told the people that the spirit of a dead chief had
laid commands upon him, would they believe him?
8 How did ancient priests happen to happen?
9 Might not people sometimes fabricate stories of their interviews
with the spirits of dead chiefs?
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as
printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
End of Project Gutenberg's Stories of the Cave People, by Mary E. Marcy