Before Adam Page #9

"Before Adam" by Jack London, published in 1907, is a unique blend of science fiction, evolutionary theory, and adventure. It explores the idea of genetic memory through a narrator who experiences vivid dreams of a prehistoric past.

• Action and Adventure
• Science fiction

								

and down a run-way to the river. But he was better acquainted with the
locality and ran along the edge of the water and up another run-way. He
cut diagonally across the open space and dashed into a wide-mouthed
cave.

Before I knew it, I had plunged after him into the darkness. The next
moment I was badly frightened. I had never been in a cave before. I
began to whimper and cry out. Lop-Ear chattered mockingly at me, and,
springing upon me unseen, tumbled me over. He did not risk a second
encounter, however, and took himself off. I was between him and the
entrance, and he did not pass me; yet he seemed to have gone away. I
listened, but could get no clew as to where he was. This puzzled me,
and when I regained the outside I sat down to watch.

He never came out of the entrance, of that I was certain; yet at the
end of several minutes he chuckled at my elbow. Again I ran after him,
and again he ran into the cave; but this time I stopped at the mouth. I
dropped back a short distance and watched. He did not come out, yet, as
before, he chuckled at my elbow and was chased by me a third time into
the cave.

This performance was repeated several times. Then I followed him into
the cave, where I searched vainly for him. I was curious. I could not
understand how he eluded me. Always he went into the cave, never did he
come out of it, yet always did he arrive there at my elbow and mock me.
Thus did our fight transform itself into a game of hide and seek.

All afternoon, with occasional intervals, we kept it up, and a playful,
friendly spirit arose between us. In the end, he did not run away from
me, and we sat together with our arms around each other. A little later
he disclosed the mystery of the wide-mouthed cave. Holding me by the
hand he led me inside. It connected by a narrow crevice with another
cave, and it was through this that we regained the open air.

We were now good friends. When the other young ones gathered around to
tease, he joined with me in attacking them; and so viciously did we
behave that before long I was let alone. Lop-Ear made me acquainted
with the village. There was little that he could tell me of conditions
and customs—he had not the necessary vocabulary; but by observing his
actions I learned much, and also he showed me places and things.

He took me up the open space, between the caves and the river, and into
the forest beyond, where, in a grassy place among the trees, we made a
meal of stringy-rooted carrots. After that we had a good drink at the
river and started up the run-way to the caves.

It was in the run-way that we came upon Red-Eye again. The first I
knew, Lop-Ear had shrunk away to one side and was crouching low against
the bank. Naturally and involuntarily, I imitated him. Then it was that
I looked to see the cause of his fear. It was Red-Eye, swaggering down
the centre of the run-way and scowling fiercely with his inflamed eyes.
I noticed that all the youngsters shrank away from him as we had done,
while the grown-ups regarded him with wary eyes when he drew near, and
stepped aside to give him the centre of the path.

As twilight came on, the open space was deserted. The Folk were seeking
the safety of the caves. Lop-Ear led the way to bed. High up the bluff
we climbed, higher than all the other caves, to a tiny crevice that
could not be seen from the ground. Into this Lop-Ear squeezed. I
followed with difficulty, so narrow was the entrance, and found myself
in a small rock-chamber. It was very low—not more than a couple of feet
in height, and possibly three feet by four in width and length. Here,
cuddled together in each other’s arms, we slept out the night.




CHAPTER VI


While the more courageous of the youngsters played in and out of the
large-mouthed caves, I early learned that such caves were unoccupied.
No one slept in them at night. Only the crevice-mouthed caves were
used, the narrower the mouth the better. This was from fear of the
preying animals that made life a burden to us in those days and nights.

The first morning, after my night’s sleep with Lop-Ear, I learned the
advantage of the narrow-mouthed caves. It was just daylight when old
Saber-Tooth, the tiger, walked into the open space. Two of the Folk
were already up. They made a rush for it. Whether they were
panic-stricken, or whether he was too close on their heels for them to
attempt to scramble up the bluff to the crevices, I do not know; but at
any rate they dashed into the wide-mouthed cave wherein Lop-Ear and I
had played the afternoon before.

What happened inside there was no way of telling, but it is fair to
conclude that the two Folk slipped through the connecting crevice into
the other cave. This crevice was too small to allow for the passage of
Saber-Tooth, and he came out the way he had gone in, unsatisfied and
angry. It was evident that his night’s hunting had been unsuccessful
and that he had expected to make a meal off of us. He caught sight of
the two Folk at the other cave-mouth and sprang for them. Of course,
they darted through the passageway into the first cave. He emerged
angrier than ever and snarling.

Pandemonium broke loose amongst the rest of us. All up and down the
great bluff, we crowded the crevices and outside ledges, and we were
all chattering and shrieking in a thousand keys. And we were all making
faces—snarling faces; this was an instinct with us. We were as angry as
Saber-Tooth, though our anger was allied with fear. I remember that I
shrieked and made faces with the best of them. Not only did they set
the example, but I felt the urge from within me to do the same things
they were doing. My hair was bristling, and I was convulsed with a
fierce, unreasoning rage.

For some time old Saber-Tooth continued dashing in and out of first the
one cave and then the other. But the two Folk merely slipped back and
forth through the connecting crevice and eluded him. In the meantime
the rest of us up the bluff had proceeded to action. Every time he
appeared outside we pelted him with rocks. At first we merely dropped
them on him, but we soon began to whiz them down with the added force
of our muscles.

This bombardment drew Saber-Tooth’s attention to us and made him
angrier than ever. He abandoned his pursuit of the two Folk and sprang
up the bluff toward the rest of us, clawing at the crumbling rock and
snarling as he clawed his upward way. At this awful sight, the last one
of us sought refuge inside our caves. I know this, because I peeped out
and saw the whole bluff-side deserted, save for Saber-Tooth, who had
lost his footing and was sliding and falling down.

I called out the cry of encouragement, and again the bluff was covered
by the screaming horde and the stones were falling faster than ever.
Saber-Tooth was frantic with rage. Time and again he assaulted the
bluff. Once he even gained the first crevice-entrances before he fell

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