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Ernest d "Hervilly Aventures d "un petit garçon préhistorique en France Preface from the publisherThe French writer Ernest D'Herville (1839–1911) served as a communications engineer all his life, but at the same time he was well-known for the Parisian literary environment, and was friends with Victor Hugo. He tried himself in different kinds of literature: he wrote about twenty entertaining comedies for the theater, was known for historical, adventure, adventure novels, published collections of stories and essays, and published poems. Ernest D'Ervilli was not at all interested in modernity or the description of everyday life, giving free rein to his imagination. He placed the hero in bizarre, exotic places, so as not to embarrass himself with the accuracy of details and characters. The action of his books takes place in the era of King Charles IX, then in unknown Mauritania, then in mysterious Japan, then in Ancient Greece.
In 1859, Charles Darwin's revolutionary work "The Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Conservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life" was published. His publication aroused intense interest in natural sciences - anthropology, archeology, ethnography. Since then, many researchers have begun to carefully study the life of wild tribes and peoples, trying to use their example to discover the laws of development of ancient mankind. Ernest D "Ervilli did not stay away from this problem. In 1888 he wrote the fiction story" The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy in France ", which is rightfully considered his best work. "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" captivates the reader from the first pages. We are transported 25 thousand years ago, to those times when people fought with wild nature for life - they learned to use fire, made stone tools, tamed the first animals. In the center of the story is the young savage Krek, a smart and dexterous boy. The Kindred entrusted him with the most precious thing - to keep the fire in the cave. Krek recklessly leaves his post, and the hearth cools. For this offense, the boy is expelled from the tribe. He will have to overcome many trials in order to defend the right to life and find a new home. Chapter I on the river bank
 On a cold, cloudy and rainy morning, a little nine-year-old boy was sitting on the banks of a huge river. The mighty stream rushed forward uncontrollably: in its yellow waves, it carried away branches and grasses that had been knotted into heaps, trees uprooted and huge ice floes with heavy stones frozen in them. The boy was alone. He squatted in front of a bundle of freshly chopped cane. His thin body was accustomed to the cold: he did not pay any attention to the terrifying noise and crash of ice floes. The sloping banks of the river were densely overgrown with tall reeds, and a little farther up, like high white walls, steep slopes of chalk hills washed out by the river. The chain of these hills was lost in the distance, in the misty and bluish gloom - dense forests covered it. Not far from the boy, on the slope of the hill, just above the place where the river washed the hill, a wide black hole gaped like an enormous gaping mouth that led into a deep cave. A boy was born here nine years ago. The ancestors of his ancestors have long been huddled here. Only through this dark hole did the harsh inhabitants of the cave enter and leave, through it they received air and light, the smoke of the hearth escaped from it, on which the fire was diligently maintained day and night.
At the foot of the gaping hole were huge stones that served as a kind of ladder. A tall, lean old man with tanned, wrinkled skin appeared on the threshold of the cave. His long gray hair was pulled up and tied in a bun at the crown of his head. His flashing red eyelids were sore from the acrid smoke that eternally filled the cavern. The old man raised his hand and, covering his eyes with his palm under thick, overhanging eyebrows, looked towards the river. Then he shouted: - Crack! This hoarse, abrupt cry was like the cry of a frightened bird of prey. "Krek" meant "birder". The boy received such a nickname for a reason: from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in catching birds at night: he captured them sleepy in their nests and triumphantly brought them to the cave. It happened that for such successes he was rewarded at dinner with a hefty piece of raw bone marrow - an honorable dish usually reserved for the elders. Krek was proud of his nickname: it reminded him of his nocturnal exploits. The boy turned around to shout, instantly jumped up from the ground and, grabbing a bundle of reeds, ran to the old man. At the stone staircase, he laid down his burden, raised his hands to his forehead as a sign of respect, and said: “I'm here, Elder! What do you want from me? “Child,” the old man replied, “all of our people left before dawn in the woods to hunt for deer and broad-horned bulls. They won't be back until evening, because - remember this - the rain washes away the tracks of the animals, destroys their smell and carries away the pieces of wool that they leave on the branches and gnarled trunks of trees. Hunters will have to work hard before they meet their prey. This means that we can go about our business until the evening. Leave your reed. We have enough shafts for arrows, but few stone points, good chisels and knives: they are all sharpened, serrated and broken off. “What will you tell me to do, Elder? “Together with your brothers and me, you will walk along the White Hills. We stock up on large flints, they are often found at the foot of the coastal cliffs. Today I will tell you the secret of how to trim them. It's time, Krek. You have grown, you are strong, handsome and worthy to carry weapons made with your own hands. Wait for me, I will follow the other children. “I listen and obey,” Krek replied, bowing to the old man and barely holding back his joy. The old man went into the cave, from where suddenly strange guttural exclamations were heard, similar more to the cries of anxious young animals than to human voices. The old man called Krek handsome, big and strong. He must have wanted to cheer up the boy. Indeed, in fact, Krek was small, even very small, and very thin. Krek's broad face was covered with a red tan, thin red hair protruded above his forehead, greasy, matted, covered with ash and all kinds of rubbish. He was not very handsome, this miserable primitive child. But in his eyes a lively mind shone, his movements were dexterous and quick. He strove to move as quickly as possible and impatiently hit his broad foot with large toes on the ground, and with all his five he pulled himself strongly by the lips. Finally the old man came out of the cave and began to descend the high stone steps with an agility surprising for his advanced years. A whole horde of savage boys followed him. All of them, like Krek, were slightly covered from the cold by miserable cloaks of animal skins. The oldest of them is Gel. He is already fifteen years old. In anticipation of that great day when the hunters will finally take him on the hunt, he managed to become famous as an incomparable angler. The Elder taught him to carve deadly hooks from shells with the tip of a flint shard. Using a homemade harpoon with a serrated bone tip, Gel hit even huge salmon. Ryug the big-eared followed him. If at the time Ryug lived, a man had already tamed a dog, they would certainly say about Ryug: "He has a dog's hearing and scent." Ryug recognized by smell where fruits ripened in the dense bushes, where young mushrooms appeared from under the ground, with closed eyes he recognized trees by the rustle of their leaves.
The elder gave a sign, and they all set off. Gel and Ryug proudly stepped forward, and everyone else followed them seriously and silently. All the little companions of the old man carried on their backs baskets, roughly woven from narrow strips of bark. Some were holding short clubs with heavy heads, others were spears with stone tips, and still others were something like stone hammers. They walked quietly, walked lightly and inaudibly. It was not for nothing that the old people constantly told their children that they had to get used to moving silently and carefully, so as not to scare away the game while hunting in the forest and not fall into the claws of wild animals, and not to fall into an ambush by evil and insidious people. The mothers went to the exit of the cave and looked after the leaving with a smile. Two girls stood there, slender and tall, Mab and He. They looked after the boys with envy. Only one, the smallest representative of primitive mankind remained in the smoky cave. He was kneeling by the hearth, where a light crackled faintly in the middle of a huge heap of ash and extinguished coals. It was the youngest boy, Ojo. He was sad. From time to time he sighed softly: he desperately wanted to go with the Elder. But he held back his tears and courageously performed his duty. Today it is his turn to keep the fire going from dawn to night. Ojo was proud of it. He knew that fire is the greatest jewel in the cave. If the fire goes out, a terrible punishment awaits him. Therefore, as soon as the boy noticed that the flame was diminishing and threatened to go out, he quickly began to throw branches of a resinous tree into the fire in order to revive the fire again. And if sometimes Ojo's eyes were clouded with tears, then the only culprit of these tears was the acrid smoke of the fire. Soon he stopped thinking about what his brothers were doing now. Little Ojo was depressed by other concerns: he was hungry, and yet he was barely six years old ... He thought that if the elders and fathers returned from the forest tonight empty-handed, he would have only two or three pitiful sprouts of charcoal-toasted ferns for supper. Chapter II - One of the days of primitive times
 Ojo was hungry, and his brothers were even more hungry: after all, they walked for a long time in the cold wind. The eldest all the way, in whispers and signs, explained to them how to recognize the aquatic plants growing along the shore. In winter, when there is no meat, their fleshy roots can be filled with an empty stomach in half. He spoke, and his little companions were tormented by the desire to stealthily pick and swallow wild berries and fruits, which by some miracle survived the frost. But eating alone was strictly forbidden. Anything they found was brought into the cave. Children are accustomed to the fact that only in the cave, after being examined by the elders, the catch was divided among everyone. Therefore, they overcame the temptation to hunger and put everything they collected along the way into sacks. Alas! So far, they have found only a dozen small dry apples, a few skinny half-frozen snails and a gray snake no thicker than a human finger. Krek found the snake. She slept under the stone he turned. Krek had a habit of turning over all the stones that he could handle wherever he went. But if our travelers came across little edible along the way, then large pieces of flint were scattered in many along the slopes of the hills. The boys' sacks were heavier. The smallest walked bent under their burden. Yet they tried their best to hide their weariness. The children knew that their elders were used to enduring suffering in silence and would laugh at their complaints. The rain, light hail did not stop for a minute. Krek walked briskly after the old man, dreaming of the time when he would become a great and glorious hunter and would carry a real weapon, and not a little children's club. Sweat rolled off him like a hail, and no wonder: he was dragging two huge flint nodules. Gel and Ryug followed him, frowning, annoyed. Both of them, as if for fun, did not find anything during the whole journey. If only they caught some fish. They found only some kind of frozen spider, as hungry as they are. The rest wandered around at random, cringing and drooping their heads. The rain had long been pouring down their disheveled hair and sunken cheeks. So they walked for a long time. Finally, the Elder signaled to stop. All immediately obeyed him. “There is a good dry resting place on the bank under the canopy of a cliff,” he said. - Sit down ... Open your bags. Some lay down, some squatted on the sand. The boys gave the best place under the canopy to the Eldest. Krek showed the old man everything that was in the sacks, and respectfully presented him with a small snake. Such a tidbit, in his opinion, should have gone to the Elder.  But the old man quietly pushed the boy's outstretched hand and said: - This is for you! If there is no fried meat, I will chew the roots. I'm used to it, my fathers did it. Look at my teeth - you will see that I often had to eat raw meat and various fruits and roots. In the days of my youth, a wonderful friend - the fire that we all must honor - often left our camps for a long time. Sometimes for months, or even years, we, without having fire, worked hard on our strong jaws, chewing on raw food. Get to your food, kids. It's time! And the children eagerly pounced on the miserable treat that the old man gave them. After this meager breakfast, which only slightly satisfied the travelers' hunger, the old man ordered the children to rest. They huddled closely to each other to keep warm, and immediately fell asleep in a heavy sleep. Only Krek could not sleep a wink for a minute. Soon he will be treated like a real adult youth - this thought kept him awake. He lay motionless and furtively, with deep love and even with some fear, watching the old man. After all, the Elder had seen so much in his lifetime, knew so many mysterious and wonderful things. The old man, slowly chewing the root, carefully, with a keen and experienced eye, examined one by one the pieces of flint lying near him. Finally he chose flint, round and long, like a cucumber, and, holding it with his feet, stood it up. Krek tried to memorize every movement of the old man. When the flint was firmly gripped in this natural vice, the old man took another stone, heavier, with both hands, and several times carefully hit it on the rounded top of the flint. Light, barely noticeable cracks went along the entire flint. Then the Elder gently placed this rough hammer on the padded top and pushed his whole body against it with such force that the veins bulged on his forehead. At the same time, he slightly turned the upper stone, and from the sides of the flint long fragments of various widths, similar to elongated crescents, were flying off, thick and rough from one edge, thin and sharp from the other. They fell and scattered across the sand like the petals of a large wilted flower.  These transparent, honey-colored shards cut as well as our steel knives. But they were fragile and soon broke. The old man rested a little, then chose one of the largest fragments and began to beat it with light, frequent blows, trying to shape it into a spearhead. Krek involuntarily cried out in surprise and delight: he saw with his own eyes how knives and spearheads and arrows were made. The elder ignored Krek's exclamation. He began to collect the sharp blades. But suddenly he became alert and quickly turned his head towards the river. His usually calm and proud face reflected first surprise, then inexpressible horror. From the north came a strange, indistinct noise, still distant, sometimes terrifying growls. Krek was brave, and yet he was afraid. He tried to remain calm and, imitating the old man, became alert, clutching his club with his hand. The noise woke the children up. Trembling with fear, they jumped up from their seats and rushed to the old man. The elder told them to immediately climb to the top of the almost sheer cliff. The children immediately began to climb up, deftly clinging to each protruding stone with their hands, using each pothole in the rock to place their feet. On a small ledge not far from the summit, they lay on their bellies, licking their blood-torn fingers. The old man could not follow them. He remained under the ledge of the rock, and Krek stubbornly refused to leave him. - The oldest! He exclaimed. “An unknown danger threatens us, as you say. You love me and I will not leave you. We will die together or we will win together. You are unshakable and strong, you will fight, and I ... if evil people or wild animals come to us from there, I will bite through their liver. While Krek, waving his arms, uttered this warlike speech, the menacing noise increased. With every minute he was getting closer to the place where the old man and the child had taken refuge. - You, Krek, have sharp-sighted and young eyes. Look at the river. What do you see? - The sky was darkened by large birds. They circle above the water. Probably their angry screams scare us. - Do you see anything on the water? Look again. Are birds circling over the river? This means that they follow some prey floating on the river, waiting for when it will be possible to pounce on it. But who is it that growls and roars so terribly? I'll lift you up, take another look. But even in the hands of the Elder, Krek gazed into the distance in vain. - What is seen from above? - shouted the old man to the children, who were lying safe on the rock above his head. - You speak, Ryug. - Something huge, black can be seen on a white block far away, in the middle of the river, answered the boy. - But what it is - it is impossible to make out. Black moves. - Okay, Ryug. Is this a black broad-horned bull? - No, this monster is bigger than a broad-horned bull! Ryug exclaimed. - Listen, Elder! - cried Gel. - Now, not one, but two black spots are visible on the white block, and both of them are moving, and near them the block is completely red. - I see them! I can see them! - picked up Krek, turning pale and trembling all over. - There are two animals, and both are huge. They are on the ice, and the ice is larger than our cave. They don't move. Now they will sail past us. Here look! We are lost! The Elder put Krek on the ground and turned to face the river. What the old hunter saw made him pale with horror. Crack and the rest of the children cried and trembled with fear. On the frothy muddy waves, the noise of which merged with the deafening cry of countless birds of prey, a giant ice floe swam, circling and swaying. On the ice was a monstrous mammoth elephant with a shaggy mane. The animal's hind legs fell deeply, as if into a trap, into a crack in ice. The beast stood with difficulty leaning its front legs on the edges of the crack. The curved fangs were raised upward, and from the trunk, sticking out like a mast, a continuous bloody fountain gushed towards the sky. The entire body of the beast was covered with blood flowing from the pierced belly. He growled and roared in his death throes. Next to him lay a huge shaggy rhinoceros, which had struck a mammoth with its horn - it lay motionless and silent, strangled by its mighty enemy. At that moment, when the monsters floated on a bloody ice floe past the Elder, the giant elephant roared terribly and fell on the corpse of the defeated enemy. The earth shook with this dying cry. The echo repeated it for a long, long time, and the birds of prey seemed to freeze for a moment in the air. But then, with renewed fury, they threw themselves into the attack of the ice raft, where two giant corpses now rested. The kites and eagles finally pounced on their prey. The block of ice disappeared from sight, carrying away the corpses of terrible animals. The old man wiped the sweat from his chapped face with his hand and called his little companions. Chattering teeth, barely stepping with trembling legs, the poor things went down to the old man, whose hand was still convulsively gripped by Krek. How could you get to work now? The lesson in making flint tools was postponed, and everyone in gloomy silence, cautiously glancing around, moved back to the cave. Every minute the children turned around and looked back. They could still hear the sound of flying birds. It seemed to them that they were overtaken by one of those voracious beasts, which, probably, followed the terrible ice floe. But little by little they calmed down, and Krek, smiling, said in Ryugu's ear: - Ojo envied us when we left. And now, perhaps, he will be glad that he had to remain the keeper of the fire: he was not as scared as we were. But Ryug shook his head and retorted: - Ocho bold! He'll probably regret not seeing these monsters. aldebaran.ru Adventure of a prehistoric boy On a cold, cloudy and rainy morning, a little nine-year-old boy was sitting on the banks of a huge river. The mighty stream rushed forward uncontrollably: in its yellow waves, it carried away branches and grasses that had been knotted into heaps, trees uprooted and huge ice floes with heavy stones frozen in them. The boy was alone. He squatted in front of a bundle of freshly chopped cane. His thin body was accustomed to the cold: he did not pay any attention to the terrifying noise and crash of ice floes. The sloping banks of the river were densely overgrown with tall reeds, and a little farther up, like high white walls, steep slopes of chalk hills washed out by the river. The chain of these hills was lost in the distance, in the misty and bluish gloom; dense forests covered her. Not far from the boy, on the slope of the hill, just above the place where the river washed the hill, a wide black hole gaped like an enormous gaping mouth that led into a deep cave. A boy was born here nine years ago. The ancestors of his ancestors have long been huddled here. Only through this dark hole did the harsh inhabitants of the cave enter and leave, through which they received air and light; the smoke of the hearth escaped from it, on which the fire was diligently maintained day and night. At the foot of the gaping hole were huge stones that served as a kind of ladder. A tall, lean old man with tanned, wrinkled skin appeared on the threshold of the cave. His long gray hair was pulled up and tied in a bun at the crown of his head. His flashing red eyelids were sore from the acrid smoke that eternally filled the cavern. The old man raised his hand and, covering his eyes with his palm under thick, overhanging eyebrows, looked towards the river. Then he shouted: - Crack! This hoarse, abrupt cry was like the cry of a frightened bird of prey. "Krek" meant "birder". The boy received such a nickname for a reason: from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in catching birds at night: he captured them asleep in their nests and triumphantly brought them into the cave. It happened that for such successes he was rewarded at dinner with a hefty piece of raw bone marrow - an honorable dish usually reserved for the elders and fathers of the family. Krek was proud of his nickname: it reminded him of his nocturnal exploits. The boy turned around to shout, instantly jumped up from the ground and, seizing a bundle of reeds, ran up to the old man. At the stone stairs, he laid down his load, raised his hands to his forehead as a sign of respect and said: “I am here, the Elder! What do you want from me? ”“ Child, ”the old man replied,“ all of our people left before dawn in the woods to hunt for deer and broad-horned bulls. They won't be back until evening, because - remember this - the rain washes away the tracks of the animals, destroys their smell and carries away the shreds of wool that they leave on the branches and gnarled trunks of trees. Hunters will have to work hard before they meet their prey. This means that we can go about our business until the evening. Leave your reed. We have enough shafts for arrows, but few stone points, good chisels and knives: they are all sharpened, serrated and broken. ”“ What will you tell me to do, Elder? ”“ You will walk along the White Hills with your brothers and with me. We will stock up on large flints; they are often found at the foot of the coastal cliffs. Today I will tell you the secret of how to trim them. It's time, Krek. You have grown, you are strong, handsome and worthy to carry weapons made with your own hands. Wait on me, I will follow the other children. ”“ I listen and obey, ”said Krek, bowing to the old man and with difficulty restraining his joy. The old man went into the cave, whence suddenly strange guttural exclamations were heard, more like the cries of anxious young animals than human voices. '' The old man called Krek handsome, big and strong. He must have wanted to cheer up the boy; after all, Krek was really small, even very small, and very thin. Krek's broad face was covered with a red tan, thin red hair protruded above his forehead, greasy, matted, covered with ash and all kinds of rubbish. He was not very handsome, this miserable primitive child. But there was a lively mind in his eyes; his movements were dexterous and swift. He strove to move as quickly as possible and impatiently hit his broad foot with large toes on the ground, and with all his five fingers tugged on his lips. Finally the old man left the cave and began to descend the high stone steps with an agility surprising for his advanced years. A whole horde of savage boys followed him. All of them, like Krek, were slightly covered from the cold by miserable cloaks of animal skins, the oldest of which was Gel. He is already fifteen years old. In anticipation of the great day when the hunters would finally take him on the hunt, he became famous as an incomparable fisherman. The oldest taught him how to carve deadly hooks from shells with the tip of a flint shard. With the help of a homemade harpoon with a serrated bone tip, Gel hit even huge salmon, followed by Ryug the Big-Eared. If at the time Ryug lived, a man had already tamed a dog, they would certainly say about Ryug: “He has a dog's hearing and scent.” Ryug would recognize by smell where fruits ripened in the frequent bushes, where young mushrooms appeared from the ground ; with his eyes closed, he recognized the trees by the rustle of their leaves. The oldest gave a sign, and they all set off. Gel and Ryug proudly stepped forward, and all the others followed them seriously and silently. All the old man's small companions carried on their backs baskets, roughly woven from narrow strips of tree bark; some held in their hands a short club with a heavy head, others a spear with a stone tip, and still others something like a stone hammer. They walked quietly, walked lightly and inaudibly. It was not for nothing that the old people constantly told their children that they needed to get used to moving silently and carefully, so as not to scare away the game and fall into the claws of wild animals while hunting in the forest, and not to be ambushed by evil and treacherous people. The mothers approached the exit from the cave and with a smile. They looked after them, and there were two girls, slender and tall, Mab and He. They looked after the boys with envy. Only one, the smallest representative of primitive mankind remained in the smoky cave; he was on his knees near the hearth, where in the midst of a huge heap of ashes and extinguished coals a light crackled faintly. This was the youngest boy, Ojo. He was sad; from time to time he sighed softly: he desperately wanted to go with the Elder. But he held back his tears and courageously performed his duty. Today it is his turn to keep the fire going from dawn to night. Augo was proud of that. He knew that fire is the greatest jewel in the cave; if the fire goes out, a terrible punishment awaits him. Therefore, as soon as the boy noticed that the flame was diminishing and threatened to go out, he began to quickly throw branches of a resinous tree into the fire to revive the fire. And if sometimes Ojo's eyes were clouded with tears, then the only culprit of these tears was the acrid smoke of the fire. Soon he would think stopped talking about what his brothers are doing now. Other worries depressed little Ojo: he was hungry, and yet he was barely six years old ... He thought that if the elders and fathers returned from the forest tonight empty-handed, he would receive only two or three miserable escapes for dinner fern fried over charcoal. write in the comments whether to continue kripipasta.com
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D "Hervilli Edgar. Book: The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy. Page 1 | ED "ERVILLA ADVENTURE OF A PRHISTORIC BOY CHAPTER I On the river bank On a cold, cloudy and rainy morning, a little nine-year-old boy was sitting on the banks of a huge river, a mighty stream rushing uncontrollably forward: in its yellow waves, he carried away branches and grasses, torn up trees and huge ice floes with heavy stones frozen in them. was alone. He squatted in front of a bundle of freshly chopped cane. His thin body was accustomed to the cold: he paid no attention to the terrible noise and crash of ice floes. The sloping banks of the river were densely overgrown with tall reeds, and a little further rose like high white walls, the steep slopes of chalk hills washed out by the river. The chain of these hills was lost in the distance, in a misty and bluish dusk; dense forests covered it. Not far from the boy, on the slope of the hill, just above the place where the river washed the hill, a wide black hole gaped like a huge gaping mouth, leading into a deep cave. Here nine years ago the boy was born. The ancestors of his ancestors have long huddled here. Only through this dark hole the harsh inhabitants of the cave entered and left, through it they received air and light; the smoke of a hearth escaped from it, on which the fire was diligently maintained day and night. At the foot of the gaping hole lay huge stones, they served as a kind of ladder. At the threshold of the cave appeared a tall, lean old man with tanned wrinkled skin. His long gray hair was pulled up and tied in a bun at the crown of his head. His flashing red eyelids were sore from the acrid smoke that eternally filled the cavern. The old man raised his hand and, covering his eyes with his palm under thick, overhanging eyebrows, looked towards the river. Then he shouted: - Crack! This hoarse, abrupt cry was like the cry of a frightened bird of prey. "Krek" meant "birder". The boy received such a nickname for a reason: from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in catching birds at night: he captured them asleep in their nests and triumphantly brought them into the cave. It happened that for such successes he was rewarded at dinner with a hefty piece of raw bone marrow - an honorable dish usually reserved for the elders and fathers of the family. Krek was proud of his nickname: it reminded him of his nocturnal exploits. The boy turned around to shout, instantly jumped up from the ground and, seizing a bundle of reeds, ran up to the old man. At the stone stairs, he laid down his load, raised his hands to his forehead as a sign of respect and said: “I am here, the Elder! What do you want from me? ”“ Child, ”the old man replied,“ all of our people left before dawn in the woods to hunt for deer and broad-horned bulls. They won't be back until evening, because - remember this - the rain washes away the tracks of the animals, destroys their smell and carries away the shreds of wool that they leave on the branches and gnarled trunks of trees. Hunters will have to work hard before they meet their prey. This means that we can go about our business until the evening. Leave your reed. We have enough shafts for arrows, but few stone points, good chisels and knives: they are all sharpened, serrated and broken. ”“ What will you tell me to do, Elder? ”“ You will walk along the White Hills with your brothers and with me. We will stock up on large flints; they are often found at the foot of the coastal cliffs. Today I will tell you the secret of how to trim them. It's time, Krek. You have grown, you are strong, handsome and worthy to carry weapons made with your own hands. Wait on me, I will follow the other children. ”“ I listen and obey, ”said Krek, bowing to the old man and with difficulty restraining his joy. The old man went into a cave, from where suddenly strange guttural exclamations were heard, more like the cries of anxious young animals than human voices. '' The old man called Krek handsome, big and strong. He must have wanted to cheer up the boy; after all, Krek was really small, even very small, and very thin. Krek's wide face was covered with a red tan, thin red hair protruded above his forehead, greasy, matted, covered with ash and all kinds of rubbish. He was not very handsome, this miserable primitive child. But there was a lively mind in his eyes; his movements were dexterous and quick. He strove to move as quickly as possible and impatiently hit his broad foot with large toes on the ground, and with all his five fingers tugged on his lips. Finally the old man left the cave and began to descend the high stone steps with an agility surprising for his advanced years. A whole horde of savage boys followed him. All of them, like Krek, were slightly covered from the cold by miserable cloaks of animal skins, the oldest of which was Gel. He is already fifteen years old. In anticipation of the great day when the hunters would finally take him with them on the hunt, he became famous as an incomparable angler. The oldest taught him to carve deadly hooks from shells with the tip of a flint shard. Using a homemade harpoon with a serrated bone tip, Gel struck even huge salmon, followed by Ryug the Bigger. If at the time Ryug lived, a man had already tamed a dog, they would certainly have said about Ryug: “He has a dog's hearing and scent.” Ryug would recognize by smell where fruits ripened in the dense bushes, where young mushrooms appeared from under the ground; with his eyes closed, he recognized the trees by the rustle of their leaves. The oldest gave a sign, and they all set off. Gel and Ryug proudly stepped forward, and all the others followed them seriously and silently. All the old man's small companions carried on their backs baskets, roughly woven from narrow strips of tree bark; some held in their hands a short club with a heavy head, others a spear with a stone tip, and still others something like a stone hammer. They walked quietly, walked lightly and inaudibly. It was not for nothing that the old people constantly told their children that they needed to get used to moving silently and carefully, so as not to scare away the game and fall into the claws of wild animals while hunting in the forest, and not to be ambushed by evil and treacherous people. The mothers approached the exit from the cave and with a smile. They looked after them. Two girls stood there, slender and tall, Mab and He. They looked after the boys with envy. Only one, the smallest representative of primitive mankind remained in the smoky cave; he was kneeling by the hearth, where, in the midst of a huge heap of ash and extinguished coals, a light crackled faintly. It was the youngest boy, Ojo. He was sad; from time to time he sighed softly: he desperately wanted to go with the Elder. But he held back his tears and courageously performed his duty. Today it is his turn to keep the fire going from dawn to night. Augo was proud of that. He knew that fire is the greatest jewel in the cave; if the fire goes out, a terrible punishment awaits him. Therefore, as soon as the boy noticed that the flame was diminishing and threatened to go out, he began to quickly throw branches of a resinous tree into the fire to revive the fire. stopped talking about what his brothers are doing now. Other worries depressing little Ojo: he was hungry, and he was barely six years old ... coals. CHAPTER II One of the days of primitive times Ojo was hungry, and his brothers were even more hungry: after all, they walked for a long time in the cold wind. The eldest all the way, in whispers and signs, explained to them how to recognize the aquatic plants growing along the shore. In winter, when there is no meat, their fleshy roots can fill an empty stomach with a sin. He spoke, and his little travelers were tormented by the desire to stealthily pick and swallow wild berries and fruits, which somehow miraculously survived the frost. But eating alone was strictly forbidden. Anything they found was taken to the cave. Children are accustomed to the fact that only in the cave, after being examined by the elders, the catch was divided among everyone. Therefore, they overpowered the temptations of hunger and put into sacks everything they collected along the way. Alas! So far, they have found only a dozen small dry apples, a few skinny, half-frozen snails and a gray snake no thicker than a human finger. Krek found the snake. She slept under the stone he turned. Krek had a habit of turning over all the stones that he could handle, wherever he went, but if our travelers came across little edible along the way, large pieces of flint were scattered along the hillsides in abundance. The boys' sacks were heavier. The smallest walked bent under their burden. And all the same, they tried their best to hide their fatigue. The children knew that the elders were accustomed to endure suffering in silence and would laugh at their complaints. The rain, small hail did not stop for a minute. Krek walked briskly after the old man, dreaming of the time when he would become a great and glorious hunter and would carry a real weapon. , not a little children's club. Sweat rolled off him like a hail, and no wonder: he was dragging two huge flint nodules. Gel and Ryug followed him, frowning; annoyance filled them. Both of them, as if for fun, did not find anything during the whole journey. If only they caught some fish. They found everyone, just some kind of frozen spider, as hungry as they were. The rest wandered around at random, cowering and drooping their heads. The rain had been pouring down their disheveled hair and sunken cheeks for a long time. Finally, the Elder signaled to stop. Everyone immediately obeyed him. “There is a good dry resting place on the beach under the canopy of a cliff,” he said. - Sit down ... Open your bags. Who lay down, who squatted on the sand. The boys gave the best place under the shed to the Eldest. Krek showed the old man everything that was in the sacks and respectfully presented him with the little snake. Such a tidbit, in his opinion, should have gone to the Elder. But the old man quietly pushed the boy's outstretched hand and said: - This is for you! If there is no fried meat, I will chew the roots. I'm used to it, my fathers did it. Look at my teeth - you will see that I often had to eat raw meat and various fruits and roots. In the days of my youth, a wonderful friend - the fire, which we all must honor, often left our parking lots for a long time. Sometimes for months, or even years, we, having no fire, worked hard on our strong jaws, chewing raw food. Get to your food, kids. It’s time! ”And the children eagerly pounced on the miserable treat that the old man had given them. After this meager breakfast, which only a little satisfied the travelers' hunger, the old man ordered the children to rest. They huddled close to each other to get warm, and immediately fell asleep with a heavy sleep. Only Krek could not sleep a wink for a minute. Soon he will be treated like a real grown-up youth - this thought kept him awake. He lay motionless and furtively, with deep love and even with some fear, watching the old man. After all, the Elder had seen so much in his lifetime, knew so many mysterious and wonderful things. The old man, slowly chewing the root, carefully, with a keen and experienced eye, examined one after another the pieces of flint lying near him. Finally he chose flint, round and long, like a cucumber , and, holding him with his feet, he stood up. Krek tried to remember every movement of the old man. When the flint was firmly clamped in this natural vice, the old man took another stone, heavier, with both hands, and several times carefully hit it on the rounded top of the flint. Faint, barely noticeable cracks went along the entire flint. Then the Elder gently placed this rough hammer on the studded top and fell on it with his whole body with such force that the veins bulged on his forehead; while doing so, he slightly turned the upper stone; from the sides of the flint long fragments of various widths flew off, similar to elongated crescents, thick and rough on one edge, thin and sharp on the other. They fell and scattered across the sand like the petals of a large wilted flower, transparent, honey-colored shards that cut like our steel knives. But they were fragile and soon broke. The old man rested a little, then chose one of the largest fragments and began to beat it with light, frequent blows, trying to give it the shape of a spearhead. Krek involuntarily cried out in surprise and delight: he saw with his own eyes how they make knives and spear and arrowheads. The elder ignored Krek's exclamation. He began to collect the sharp blades, but suddenly he became alert and quickly turned his head towards the river. His usually calm and proud face reflected first surprise, and then inexpressible horror. From the north came some strange, indistinct noise, still distant; sometimes terrifying growls were heard. Krek was brave, and yet he was afraid. He tried to remain calm and, imitating the old man, became alert, clutching his club with his hand. The noise woke the children. Trembling with fear, they jumped up from their seats and rushed to the old man. The elder told them to immediately climb to the top of the almost sheer cliff. The children immediately began to climb up, deftly clinging to each protruding stone with their hands, using each pothole in the rock to place their feet. On a small ledge, not far from the summit, they lay on their stomachs, licking their blood-torn fingers. The old man could not follow them. He remained under the ledge of the rock, and Krek stubbornly refused to leave him. "The Elder!" He exclaimed. - An unknown danger threatens us, as you say. You love me and I will not leave you. We will die together or we will win together. You are unshakable and strong, you will fight, and I ... if evil people or wild animals come to us from there, I will bite through their liver.
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Genre Tags Alternative History, Biographies & Memoirs, Fighting Fiction, Action, Military Prose, Detective, Children's Prose, Children's Fiction, Children's Action, Children's: Other, Other, Ironic Detective, Historical Prose, Historical Love Novels, Historical Adventures, History, Classic Prose, Classic Detective, Short Romance Novels, Space Fiction, Crime Detective, Romance Novels, Science Fiction, Action Romance Novels, Police Detective, Adventure: Other, Prose, Publicism, Russian Classics, Fairy Tales, Soviet Classics, Contemporary Prose, Modern Romance Novels , Social Fiction, Thriller, Horror & Mystery, Fantasy, Comedy Prose, Comedy Fiction, n / a Show all tags
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Summary of extracurricular activities "Study of the work of D. Ervilla" The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy "
Municipal budgetary educational institution "Klyuchevskaya basic comprehensive school"
OUTSTANDING LESSON ON THE TOPIC: "STUDY OF THE WORKS OF D. ERVILLI" THE ADVENTURE OF A PRHISTORIC BOY "
Developed a lesson
Elena Razvodova
teacher of history and social studies
Keys-2016
Summary of extracurricular activities.
Circle "I am a researcher-historian" ..
Class - 5-6.
Topic of the lesson: "Study of the work of D. Ervilla" The Adventure of a Prehistoric Boy "
Form of carrying out: extracurricular lesson.
Lesson technology: problem-dialogical, health preservation technology
Methods: activity-oriented, visual
Equipment: laptop, screen, projector.
Purpose: to systematize and deepen the previously acquired knowledge in history lessons.
Educational
introduce children to a work of literature
make it possible to understand that this work "tells its own story";
repeat known information about the life of primitive people.
Developing
to develop in each child his own attitude to a literary work, the ability to communicate;
teach to perceive the point of view of others in the process of group discussion;
develop the ability to design problems and find solutions
Educational
Personal:
foster a creative attitude to the cognitive process;
show a positive attitude towards your own results;
respect literature
Regulatory:
Cognitive:
be able to extract information presented in the form of a film strip;
be able to extract information from additional sources
Communicative actions:
form statements that are understandable for the partner in the form of a dialogue;
be able to negotiate with each other;
participate in brainstorming;
listen to and understand others;
argue your opinion
»I. Motivational stage (1 minute)
Hello guys. Do you know how puzzles are? If not, I'll help you.
A rebus is a word or phrase encrypted using pictures, numbers, letters or signs. The rebus is read from left to right. It is best to solve the rebus, armed with paper and a pen, so as not to forget the previously guessed. Commas to the right or to the left of the picture mean that in the word hidden with the help of the picture, you need to remove as many letters as the commas are. Instead of a picture, numbers can be used (usually 100, 2, 3, 5, 7).
Let's try to solve the puzzle.
So, the word history is encrypted here.
II. Knowledge update stage
Teacher's story.
What will our story be about? About a primitive boy. And the writer D. Ervigli will tell us about it. (showing a portrait of the writer.)
Ernest D'Herville (1839-1911), French journalist, novelist, poet and playwright. He served as a railway engineer, was friends with Victor Hugo. The main works were created in the period from 1868 to 1903. His only novel known to Russian readers, The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy, was written in 1887, published in 1888, and 10 years later translated into Russian by August Mezier. In Soviet times, the translation was processed for children by B.M. Engelgardt. The works of d "Ervilli were distinguished, as modern critics believed, for their bizarre style, special flavor, and plot ingenuity.
But before listening to the story, let's remember the primitive era and take part in a little quiz.
1 task. Short questions and answers. The correct answer is 1 point. 1. On which continent did scientists find the remains and traces of the life of the most ancient man on Earth? (Africa) 2. According to scientists, how long ago did the earliest people appear? (more than 2 million years ago). 3. Science that studies the past of mankind based on finds discovered during excavations (Archeology) .4. The main difference between ancient man and animals (the ability to make tools). 5. Homo sapiens appeared .. (40 thousand years ago) .6. What is the name of the cave where the drawings of primitive man were first discovered? (Altamira) 7. The first animal that was tamed by man (dog) 8. Which of the metals man mastered first? (copper) 9. In which human collective did property inequality appear? (in a neighboring community) 10. The tool of labor with which primitive people caught fish. (harpoon).
2 Task "Find Historical Errors". The correct answer is 5 points. Find historical errors in the text. One student was reading a textbook and dozed off. He dreamed of Africa more than two million years ago ... A group of people similar to monkeys is moving. Everyone is in a hurry to get away from the bad weather - the sky has turned black from clouds. Only two funny boys lag behind the others, enthusiastically talking about something "Stop chatting" - the leader shouts at them. Suddenly, heavy snow fell, everyone froze at once, even clothes made of animal skins could not protect people from the cold. Finally they hid in a cave. They immediately took them out of their bosoms and began to chew roots, nuts and even stale bread. Suddenly everyone froze with horror: a terrible predator - a huge dinosaur - was approaching the cave. What will happen next?! It was not possible to find out: the phone call interrupted the sleep at the most interesting place.
Let's summarize the results of the quiz.
III. The stage of discovering new knowledge.
Now we will see a film strip based on the work of D. Ervilli.
Physical education.
Imagine we are primitive people.
Here we are sneaking through the forest ..
Here we throw a spear at the beast.
Here we are running from the cave bear.
Here we are lighting a fire.
So we sat down by the fire and relaxed.
Discussion of the work.
What heroes of the work did we meet?
What was the name of the main character? Who is he?
How does the piece end?
Tell me, is Krek's punishment fair?
If you were in Krek's place, what would you do?
Come up with your end of the piece ..
Stage IV. Reflection.
Did you like the work?
Application.
1. Solve the rebus.
Task 2. Find Historical Errors. The correct answer is 5 points. Find historical errors in the text. One student was reading a textbook and dozed off. He dreamed of Africa more than two million years ago ... Here is a group of people similar to monkeys moving. Everyone is in a hurry to get away from the bad weather - the sky has turned black from clouds. Only two funny boys lag behind the others, enthusiastically talking about something "Stop chatting" - the leader shouts at them. Suddenly heavy snow fell, everyone froze at once, even clothes made of animal skins could not protect people from the cold. Finally they hid in a cave. They immediately took them out of their bosoms and began to chew roots, nuts and even stale bread. Suddenly everyone froze with horror: a terrible predator - a huge dinosaur - was approaching the cave. What will happen next?! Could not find out: the phone call interrupted sleep at the most interesting place
Literature:
1.D. Ervilli "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy"
2.http: //www.filipoc.ru/guess/rebus
3. film strip "Adventures of a prehistoric boy www / hobobo.ru
On a cold, cloudy and rainy morning, a little nine-year-old boy was sitting on the banks of a huge river.
The mighty stream rushed forward uncontrollably: in its yellow waves, it carried away branches and grasses that had been knotted into heaps, trees uprooted and huge ice floes with heavy stones frozen in them.
The boy was alone. He squatted in front of a bundle of freshly chopped cane. His thin body was accustomed to the cold: he did not pay any attention to the terrifying noise and crash of ice floes.
The sloping banks of the river were densely overgrown with tall reeds, and a little farther up, like high white walls, steep slopes of chalk hills washed out by the river.
The chain of these hills was lost in the distance, in the misty and bluish gloom; dense forests covered her.
Not far from the boy, on the slope of the hill, just above the place where the river washed the hill, a wide black hole gaped like an enormous gaping mouth that led into a deep cave.
A boy was born here nine years ago. The ancestors of his ancestors have long been huddled here.
Only through this dark hole did the harsh inhabitants of the cave enter and leave, through which they received air and light; the smoke of the hearth escaped from it, on which the fire was diligently maintained day and night.
At the foot of the gaping hole were huge stones that served as a kind of ladder.
A tall, lean old man with tanned, wrinkled skin appeared on the threshold of the cave. His long gray hair was pulled up and tied in a bun at the crown of his head. His flashing red eyelids were sore from the acrid smoke that eternally filled the cavern. The old man raised his hand and, covering his eyes with his palm under thick, overhanging eyebrows, looked towards the river. Then he shouted:
- Crack! This hoarse, abrupt cry was like the cry of a frightened bird of prey.
"Krek" meant "birder". The boy received such a nickname for a reason: from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in catching birds at night: he captured them asleep in their nests and triumphantly brought them into the cave. It happened that for such successes he was rewarded at dinner with a hefty piece of raw bone marrow - an honorable dish usually reserved for the elders and fathers of the family.
Krek was proud of his nickname: it reminded him of his nocturnal exploits.
The boy turned around to shout, instantly jumped up from the ground and, grabbing a bundle of reeds, ran to the old man.
At the stone staircase, he laid down his burden, raised his hands to his forehead as a sign of respect, and said:
“I'm here, Elder! What do you want from me?
“Child,” the old man replied, “all of our people left before dawn in the woods to hunt for deer and broad-horned bulls. They won't be back until evening, because - remember this - the rain washes away the tracks of the animals, destroys their smell and carries away the pieces of wool that they leave on the branches and gnarled trunks of trees. Hunters will have to work hard before they meet their prey. This means that we can go about our business until the evening. Leave your reed. We have enough shafts for arrows, but few stone points, good chisels and knives: they are all sharpened, serrated and broken off.
“What will you tell me to do, Elder?
“Together with your brothers and me, you will walk along the White Hills. We will stock up on large flints; they are often found at the foot of the coastal cliffs. Today I will tell you the secret of how to trim them. It's time, Krek. You have grown, you are strong, handsome and worthy to carry weapons made with your own hands. Wait for me, I will follow the other children.
“I listen and obey,” Krek replied, bowing to the old man and barely holding back his joy.
The old man went into the cave, from where suddenly strange guttural exclamations were heard, similar more to the cries of anxious young animals than to human voices.
The old man called Krek handsome, big and strong. He must have wanted to cheer up the boy; in fact, Krek was small, even very small, and very thin.
Krek's broad face was covered with a red tan, thin red hair protruded above his forehead, greasy, matted, covered with ash and all kinds of rubbish. He was not very handsome, this miserable primitive child. But there was a lively mind in his eyes; his movements were dexterous and quick.
He strove to move as quickly as possible and impatiently hit his broad foot with large toes on the ground, and with all his five he pulled himself strongly by the lips.
Finally the old man came out of the cave and began to descend the high stone steps with an agility surprising for his advanced years. A whole horde of savage boys followed him. All of them, like Krek, were slightly covered from the cold by miserable cloaks of animal skins.
The oldest of them is Gel. He is already fifteen years old. In anticipation of that great day when the hunters will finally take him with them on the hunt, he managed to become famous as an incomparable fisher.
The Elder taught him to carve deadly hooks from shells with the tip of a flint shard. Using a homemade harpoon with a serrated bone tip, Gel hit even huge salmon.
Ryug the big-eared followed him. If at the time Ryug lived, a man had already tamed a dog, they would certainly say about Ryug: "He has a dog's hearing and scent."
Ryug recognized by smell where in the thick bushes the fruits ripened, where young mushrooms appeared from the ground; with his eyes closed, he recognized trees by the rustle of their leaves.
The elder gave a sign, and they all set off. Gel and Ryug proudly stepped forward, and everyone else followed them seriously and silently.
All the old man's little companions carried on their backs baskets, roughly woven from narrow strips of bark; some held in their hands a short club with a heavy head, others a spear with a stone tip, and still others something like a stone hammer.
They walked quietly, walked lightly and inaudibly. It was not for nothing that the old people constantly told their children that they had to get used to moving silently and carefully, so as not to scare away the game while hunting in the forest and not fall into the claws of wild animals, and not to fall into an ambush by evil and insidious people.
The mothers went to the exit of the cave and looked after the leaving with a smile.
Two girls stood there, slender and tall, Mab and He. They looked after the boys with envy.
Only one, the smallest representative of primitive humanity, remained in the smoky cave; he was kneeling by the hearth, where a light crackled faintly in the midst of a huge heap of ash and extinguished coals.
It was the youngest boy, Ojo.
He was sad; from time to time he sighed softly: he desperately wanted to go with the Elder. But he held back his tears and courageously performed his duty.
Today it is his turn to keep the fire going from dawn to night.
Ojo was proud of it. He knew that fire is the greatest jewel in the cave; if the fire goes out, a terrible punishment awaits him. Therefore, as soon as the boy noticed that the flame was diminishing and threatened to go out, he began to quickly throw branches of a resinous tree into the fire in order to revive the fire again.
And if sometimes Ojo's eyes were clouded with tears, then the only culprit of these tears was the acrid smoke of the fire.
Soon he stopped thinking about what his brothers were doing now. Little Ojo was depressed by other concerns: he was hungry, and yet he was barely six years old ...
He thought that if the elders and fathers returned from the forest tonight empty-handed, he would have only two or three pitiful sprouts of charcoal-toasted ferns for supper.
The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy Ernst D'Ervilli
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Title: The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy
By Ernst Dervigli
Year: 2015
Genre: Children's adventures, Foreign classics, Foreign children's books, Foreign adventures
About the book "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" by Ernst D'Ervilli
"The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" is a story by the French writer and ethnographer Ernst D'Ervilli for preschool and school children.
The events of the story "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" by Ernst D'Ervilli develop thousands of years before our era. The main character of the book is a nine-year-old boy named Krek. He lives in a tribe of prehistoric people who face various dangers every day and literally fight for life. There are people of different ages in the tribe: Krek's peers, six-year-old kids, adult men and women, and elderly people - elders. Each member of the tribe does a specific job so that everyone can survive. Someone is good at hunting, someone has an excellent nose for berries and mushrooms, someone got used to catching fish.
Despite the fact that Krek was only nine years old, he helped the tribe with might and main. On some days he had to keep the fire in the cave, on others he would go with other members of the group in search of edible berries and roots. But one day Krek disobeyed the order of his elders to watch the fire and left the cave. As a result, the flame went out. Without fire, the tribe was doomed to perish. Such offenses in the tribe were punishable by death. Krek had only one way to save his life - to find a way to light the fire.
The story "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" is distinguished by a rich plot, detailed and vivid descriptions of wildlife, a detailed description of the life of prehistoric people. From this work, young readers will learn how people lived thousands of years ago, what difficulties they faced every day and how they managed to preserve the human race.
Primitive people had many enemies: bad weather, wild animals and, of course, hunger. Sometimes the tribe was left without food for several days. That is why even the youngest representatives of the tribe did not sit idle and helped the elders as best they could. In primitive society, hierarchy was of great importance. The younger ones obeyed the elders, absolutely all people followed unwritten laws. Misconduct was punishable, since primitive people believed that a person who committed meanness would do it again.
The novel "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" by Ernst D'Herville will appeal to children of all ages. Despite the complex subject matter, it is written in a very simple and easy language. The plot of the story is rich and exciting, so the child will not be bored.
On our website about books lifeinbooks.net you can download for free without registration or read the online book "The Adventures of a Prehistoric Boy" by Ernst D'Ervilli in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, find out the biography of your favorite authors. For novice writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and advice, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary skill.
CHAPTER I On the river bank
On a cold, cloudy and rainy morning, a little nine-year-old boy was sitting on the banks of a huge river.
The mighty stream rushed forward uncontrollably: in its yellow waves, it carried away branches and grasses that had been knotted into heaps, trees uprooted and huge ice floes with heavy stones frozen in them.
The boy was alone. He squatted in front of a bundle of freshly chopped cane. His thin body was accustomed to the cold: he did not pay any attention to the terrifying noise and crash of ice floes.
The sloping banks of the river were densely overgrown with tall reeds, and a little farther up, like high white walls, steep slopes of chalk hills washed out by the river.
The chain of these hills was lost in the distance, in the misty and bluish gloom; dense forests covered her.
Not far from the boy, on the slope of the hill, just above the place where the river washed the hill, a wide black hole gaped like an enormous gaping mouth that led into a deep cave.
A boy was born here nine years ago. The ancestors of his ancestors have long been huddled here.
Only through this dark hole did the harsh inhabitants of the cave enter and leave, through which they received air and light; the smoke of the hearth escaped from it, on which the fire was diligently maintained day and night.
At the foot of the gaping hole were huge stones that served as a kind of ladder.
A tall, lean old man with tanned, wrinkled skin appeared on the threshold of the cave. His long gray hair was pulled up and tied in a bun at the crown of his head. His flashing red eyelids were sore from the acrid smoke that eternally filled the cavern. The old man raised his hand and, covering his eyes with his palm under thick, overhanging eyebrows, looked towards the river. Then he shouted:
- Crack! This hoarse, abrupt cry was like the cry of a frightened bird of prey.
"Krek" meant "birder". The boy received such a nickname for a reason: from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in catching birds at night: he captured them asleep in their nests and triumphantly brought them into the cave. It happened that for such successes he was rewarded at dinner with a hefty piece of raw bone marrow - an honorable dish usually reserved for the elders and fathers of the family.
Krek was proud of his nickname: it reminded him of his nocturnal exploits.
The boy turned around to shout, instantly jumped up from the ground and, grabbing a bundle of reeds, ran to the old man.
At the stone staircase, he laid down his burden, raised his hands to his forehead as a sign of respect, and said:
“I'm here, Elder! What do you want from me?
“Child,” the old man replied, “all of our people left before dawn in the woods to hunt for deer and broad-horned bulls. They won't be back until evening, because - remember this - the rain washes away the tracks of the animals, destroys their smell and carries away the pieces of wool that they leave on the branches and gnarled trunks of trees. Hunters will have to work hard before they meet their prey. This means that we can go about our business until the evening. Leave your reed. We have enough shafts for arrows, but few stone points, good chisels and knives: they are all sharpened, serrated and broken off.
“What will you tell me to do, Elder?
“Together with your brothers and me, you will walk along the White Hills. We will stock up on large flints; they are often found at the foot of the coastal cliffs. Today I will tell you the secret of how to trim them. It's time, Krek. You have grown, you are strong, handsome and worthy to carry weapons made with your own hands. Wait for me, I will follow the other children.
“I listen and obey,” Krek replied, bowing to the old man and barely holding back his joy.
The old man went into the cave, from where suddenly strange guttural exclamations were heard, similar more to the cries of anxious young animals than to human voices.
The old man called Krek handsome, big and strong. He must have wanted to cheer up the boy; in fact, Krek was small, even very small, and very thin.
Krek's broad face was covered with a red tan, thin red hair protruded above his forehead, greasy, matted, covered with ash and all kinds of rubbish. He was not very handsome, this miserable primitive child. But there was a lively mind in his eyes; his movements were dexterous and quick.
He strove to move as quickly as possible and impatiently hit his broad foot with large toes on the ground, and with all his five he pulled himself strongly by the lips.
Finally the old man came out of the cave and began to descend the high stone steps with an agility surprising for his advanced years. A whole horde of savage boys followed him. All of them, like Krek, were slightly covered from the cold by miserable cloaks of animal skins.
E. D "ERVILLI
ADVENTURES OF A PRHISTORIC BOY
CHAPTER I On the river bank
On a cold, cloudy and rainy morning, a little nine-year-old boy was sitting on the banks of a huge river.
The mighty stream rushed forward uncontrollably: in its yellow waves, it carried away branches and grasses bunched into heaps, trees uprooted and huge ice floes with heavy stones frozen in them.
The boy was alone. He squatted in front of a bundle of freshly chopped cane. His thin body was accustomed to the cold: he did not pay any attention to the terrifying noise and crash of ice floes.
The sloping banks of the river were densely overgrown with tall reeds, and a little farther up, like high white walls, the steep slopes of chalk hills washed out by the river.
The chain of these hills was lost in the distance, in the misty and bluish gloom; dense forests covered her.
Not far from the boy, on the slope of the hill, just above the place where the river washed the hill, a wide black hole gaped like a huge gaping mouth, which led into a deep cave.
A boy was born here nine years ago. The ancestors of his ancestors have long been huddled here.
Only through this dark hole did the harsh inhabitants of the cave enter and leave, through which they received air and light; the smoke of the hearth escaped from it, on which the fire was diligently maintained day and night.
At the foot of the gaping hole were huge stones that served as a kind of ladder.
A tall, lean old man with tanned, wrinkled skin appeared on the threshold of the cave. His long gray hair was pulled up and tied in a bun at the crown of his head. His flashing red eyelids were sore from the acrid smoke that eternally filled the cavern. The old man raised his hand and, covering his eyes with his palm under thick, overhanging eyebrows, looked towards the river. Then he shouted:
- Crack! This hoarse, abrupt cry was like the cry of a frightened bird of prey.
"Krek" meant "birder". The boy received such a nickname for a reason: from childhood he was distinguished by extraordinary dexterity in catching birds at night: he captured them asleep in their nests and triumphantly brought them into the cave. It happened that for such successes he was rewarded at dinner with a hefty piece of raw bone marrow - an honorable dish usually reserved for the elders and fathers of the family.
Krek was proud of his nickname: it reminded him of his nocturnal exploits.
The boy turned around to shout, instantly jumped up from the ground and, grabbing a bundle of reeds, ran to the old man.
At the stone staircase, he laid down his burden, raised his hands to his forehead as a sign of respect, and said:
“I'm here, Elder! What do you want from me?
“Child,” the old man replied, “all of our people left before dawn in the woods to hunt for deer and broad-horned bulls. They won't be back until evening, because - remember this - the rain washes away the tracks of the animals, destroys their smell and carries away the shreds of wool that they leave on the branches and gnarled trunks of trees. Hunters will have to work hard before they meet their prey. This means that we can go about our business until the evening. Leave your reed. We have enough shafts for arrows, but few stone points, good chisels and knives: they are all sharpened, serrated and broken off.
“What will you tell me to do, Elder?
“Together with your brothers and me, you will walk along the White Hills. We will stock up on large flints; they are often found at the foot of the coastal cliffs. Today I will tell you the secret of how to trim them. It's time, Krek. You have grown, you are strong, handsome and worthy to carry weapons made with your own hands. Wait for me, I will follow the other children.
“I listen and obey,” Krek replied, bowing to the old man and barely holding back his joy.
The old man went into the cave, from where suddenly strange guttural exclamations were heard, similar more to the cries of anxious young animals than to human voices.
The old man called Krek handsome, big and strong. He must have wanted to cheer up the boy; in fact, Krek was small, even very small, and very thin.
Krek's broad face was covered with a red tan, thin red hair protruded above his forehead, greasy, matted, covered with ash and all sorts of rubbish. He was not very handsome, this miserable primitive child. But there was a lively mind in his eyes; his movements were dexterous and quick.
He strove to move as quickly as possible and impatiently hit his broad foot with large toes on the ground, and with all his five he pulled himself strongly by the lips.
Finally the old man left the cave and began to descend the high stone steps with an agility surprising for his advanced years. A whole horde of savage boys followed him. All of them, like Krek, were slightly covered from the cold by miserable cloaks of animal skins.
The oldest of them is Gel. He is already fifteen years old. In anticipation of that great day, when the hunters finally take him with them on the hunt, he managed to become famous as an incomparable angler.
The Elder taught him to carve deadly hooks from shells with the tip of a flint shard. Using a homemade harpoon with a serrated bone tip, Gel hit even huge salmon.
Ryug the Bigger was following him. If at the time Ryug lived, a man had already tamed a dog, they would certainly say about Ryug: "He has a dog's hearing and scent."
Ryug recognized by smell where in the thick bushes the fruits ripened, where young mushrooms appeared from under the ground; with his eyes closed, he recognized trees by the rustle of their leaves.
The elder gave a sign, and they all set off. Gel and Ryug proudly stepped forward, and everyone else followed them seriously and silently.
All the old man's little companions carried on their backs baskets, roughly woven from narrow strips of bark; some held in their hands a short club with a heavy head, others a spear with a stone tip, and still others something like a stone hammer.
They walked quietly, walked lightly and inaudibly. It was not for nothing that the old people constantly told their children that they had to get used to moving silently and carefully, so as not to scare away the game and not fall into the claws of wild animals while hunting in the forest, and not to fall into an ambush by evil and treacherous people.
The mothers went to the exit of the cave and looked after the leaving with a smile.
Two girls stood there, slender and tall, Mab and He. They looked after the boys with envy.
Only one, the smallest representative of primitive humanity, remained in the smoky cave; he was kneeling by the hearth, where a light crackled faintly in the midst of a huge heap of ash and extinguished coals.
It was the youngest boy, Ojo.
He was sad; from time to time he sighed softly: he desperately wanted to go with the Elder. But he held back his tears and courageously performed his duty.
Today it is his turn to keep the fire going from dawn to night.
Ojo was proud of it. He knew that fire is the greatest jewel in the cave; if the fire goes out, a terrible punishment awaits him. Therefore, as soon as the boy noticed that the flame was diminishing and threatened to go out, he began to quickly throw branches of a resinous tree into the fire in order to revive the fire again.
And if sometimes Ojo's eyes were clouded with tears, then the only culprit for these tears was the acrid smoke of the fire.
Soon he stopped thinking about what his brothers were doing now. Little Ojo was depressed by other concerns: he was hungry, and yet he was barely six years old ...
He thought that if the elders and fathers returned from the woods tonight empty-handed, he would have only two or three pitiful ferns roasted over coals for dinner.
CHAPTER II One of the days of primitive times
Ojo was hungry, and his brothers were even more hungry: after all, they walked for a long time in the cold wind. The eldest all the way, in whispers and signs, explained to them how to recognize the aquatic plants growing along the shore. In winter, when there is no meat, their fleshy roots can be filled with an empty stomach in half.
He spoke, and his little travelers were tormented by the desire to stealthily pick and swallow wild berries and fruits, which by some miracle survived the frost. But eating alone was strictly forbidden. Anything they found was taken to the cave. Children are accustomed to the fact that only in the cave, after being examined by the elders, the catch was divided among everyone. Therefore, they overpowered the temptations of hunger and put everything they collected along the way into sacks.
Alas! So far, they have found only a dozen small dry apples, a few skinny, half-frozen snails and a gray snake no thicker than a human finger. Krek found the snake. She slept under the stone he turned. Krek had a habit of turning over all the stones that he could handle wherever he went.
But if our travelers came across little edible on the way, then large pieces of flint were scattered in many along the slopes of the hills. The boys' sacks were heavier. The smallest walked bent under their burden. And all the same, they tried their best to hide their fatigue. The children knew that their elders were used to enduring suffering in silence and would laugh at their complaints.
The rain, light hail did not stop for a minute.
Krek walked briskly after the old man, dreaming of the time when he would become a great and glorious hunter and would carry a real weapon, and not a little children's club. Sweat rolled off him like a hail, and no wonder: he was dragging two huge flint nodules.
Gel and Ryug followed him, frowning; annoyance filled them. Both of them, as if for fun, did not find anything during the whole journey. If only they caught some fish. They found everyone, just some kind of frozen spider, as hungry as they were.
The rest wandered around at random, cringing and drooping their heads. The rain had long been pouring down their disheveled hair and sunken cheeks.
So they walked for a long time. Finally, the Elder signaled to stop. All immediately obeyed him.
“There is a good dry resting place on the bank under the canopy of a cliff,” he said. - Sit down ... Open your bags.
Some lay down, some squatted on the sand. The boys gave the best place under the canopy to the Eldest.
Krek showed the old man everything that was in the sacks, and respectfully presented him with a small snake. Such a tidbit, in his opinion, should have gone to the Elder.
But the old man quietly pushed the boy's outstretched hand and said:
- This is for you! If there is no fried meat, I will chew the roots. I'm used to it, my fathers did it. Look at my teeth - you will see that I often had to eat raw meat and various fruits and roots. In the days of my youth, a wonderful friend - the fire, which we all must honor, often left our parking lots for a long time. Sometimes for months, or even years, we, having no fire, worked hard on our strong jaws, chewing raw food. Get to your food, kids. It's time!
And the children eagerly pounced on the miserable treat that the old man gave them.
After this meager breakfast, which only slightly satisfied the travelers' hunger, the old man ordered the children to rest.
They huddled closely to each other to keep warm, and immediately fell asleep in a heavy sleep.
Only Krek could not sleep a wink for a minute. Soon he will be treated like a real grown-up youth - this thought kept him awake. He lay motionless and furtively, with deep love and even with some fear, watching the old man. After all, the Elder had seen so much in his lifetime, knew so many mysterious and wonderful things.
The old man, slowly chewing the root, carefully, with a keen and experienced eye, examined one by one the pieces of flint lying near him.
Finally he chose flint, round and long, like a cucumber, and, holding it with his feet, stood it up.
Krek tried to remember every movement of the old man.
When the flint was firmly gripped in this natural vice, the old man took another, heavier stone with both hands, and gently hit it several times on the rounded top of the flint. Light, barely noticeable cracks went along the entire flint.
Then the Elder gently applied this rough hammer to the padded top and leaned on it with his whole body with such force that the veins bulged on his forehead; while doing so, he slightly turned the upper stone; from the sides of the flint long fragments of various widths flew off, similar to elongated crescents, thick and rough on one edge, thin and sharp on the other. They fell and scattered across the sand like the petals of a large wilted flower.
These transparent, honey-colored shards cut as well as our steel knives. But they were fragile and soon broke.
The old man rested a little, then chose one of the largest fragments and began to beat it with light, frequent blows, trying to shape it into a spearhead.
Krek involuntarily cried out in surprise and delight: he saw with his own eyes how knives and spearheads and arrows were made.
The elder ignored Krek's exclamation. He began to collect the sharp blades.
But suddenly he became alert and quickly turned his head towards the river. His usually calm and proud face reflected first surprise, then inexpressible horror.
From the north came some strange, indistinct noise, still distant; sometimes terrifying growls were heard. Krek was brave, and yet he was afraid. He tried to remain calm and, imitating the old man, became alert, clutching his club with his hand.
The noise woke the children up. Trembling with fear, they jumped up from their seats and rushed to the old man. The elder told them to immediately climb to the top of the almost sheer cliff. The children immediately began to climb up, deftly clinging to each protruding stone with their hands, using each pothole in the rock to place their feet. On a small ledge, not far from the summit, they lay on their stomachs, licking their fingers, which had been skinned with blood.
The old man could not follow them. He remained under the ledge of the rock, and Krek stubbornly refused to leave him.
- The oldest! He exclaimed. - An unknown danger threatens us, as you say. You love me and I will not leave you. We will die together or we will win together. You are unshakable and strong, you will fight, and I ... if evil people or wild animals come to us from there, I will bite through their liver.
