by J. H. Rosny
Heavy stones lay around him. He rolled several of them to the entrance of the pass, while Ouchr, the Wah and the women carried others. . . . Between the two pools, they saw the Chellians crawling along. Death lay in the advance of those sombre figures.
Aoun said, “The son of Urus and three women will defend the pass. Zouhr and the other women will build the raft.”
The Wah hesitated. He fixed his trembling eyes on his companion. The other, understanding his fear, added, "There are four spears, and two harpoons. I have my club and the women their javelins. If we are not strong enough, I will ask for assistance. Go, only the raft can save us.”
Zouhr gave way. Aoun chose Ouchr and another deep-chested woman to remain with him. When he turned round to choose a third, he saw Djeha, who advanced towards him shaking her hair. He wished to put her aside, but she looked at him with eager gentleness. Love was upon him, the tender choice which, among the Oulhamrs, only Naoh had experienced. The old story repeated itself; he forgot peril and death.
The Dhole-Men approached. Having threaded their way between the pools they spread out over the rocky bank. One of them, whose body was as hairy as that of a bear, displayed enormous arms; he wielded without difficulty a spear which was heavier than Aoun’s club. They scattered as they approached the mass of rocks, so as to discover a way round. There were several gullies hollowed out of the mass, but they all ended in perpendicular walls of rock; the defile seemed to be the only way out.
Aoun, Ouchr, Djeha and the third woman were completing its fortification; they also collected boulders with which to crush the assailants. There were two ways of gaining access to the pass: either directly by the bed of the water course through which the spring and autumn rains made their way, or obliquely through a labyrinth of boulders. The direct way would allow of an assault three or four men deep; the roundabout way forced the besiegers to adventure themselves one by one, but the attack could be made from above on those below . . .
The Chellians stopped a hundred ells from the rock. They watched the movements of Aoun and the women; their large faces mocked them and their blue lips shewed brilliant white teeth. Suddenly they set up a lugubrious howling, which was reminiscent of the howling of wolves and dholes. Aoun displayed his harpoon and his club!
“The Oulhmars will take the Men-of-the-Fire’s hunting grounds from them!”
Ouchr joined her hoarse voice to that of the son of Urus; she cried, “The Dhole-Men have massacred our brothers and sisters. Our allies will destroy the Dhole-Men down to the very last. . .”
Then there was a long silence. A warm damp wind came up from the marshes. Eagles and vultures hovered over the crests. Monstrous gavials could be seen on the islands; the sound of the river was heard in the vast solitude, fresh, living and unending as in the first days of the world . . .
The Chellians divided into two bands. The chief led the first among the maze of boulders; the others tried to reach the defile by the direct way, hiding themselves in the fissures and behind boulders . ,.
Aoun’s sparkling eyes counted the enemy. He lifted up his bow ready strung; Ouchr and her companions, at the first signal, were to stone the assailants . . . But they remained invisible or only appeared among obstacles which made it almost impossible to hit them. A Chellian did however shew himself; the bow twanged and an arrow pierced his ribs. Hoarse shouts were heard; the wounded man disappeared . . . Aoun was on the alert and was ready with a second arrow.
Soon they returned to the attack, especially those who were trying to make their way by the indirect road, where several warriors had reached the height of the defile. They could not be seen. To carry out their plan they would have to get even higher and scale a narrow ledge, from which they could jump down one by one . . .
Meanwhile the direct way was invaded; a powerful voice thundered and fifteen men hurled themselves forward in a furious dash. Arrows whistled, boulders were pushed down and rebounded, ferocious and plaintive cries re-echoed from the rocks . . . The Chellians had not been arrested in their course. Despite endless stones hurled at them and the flinging of a spear, they succeeded in getting to within eight ells of the pass. Three had rolled down into the ravine, two others were wounded; Aoun saw the mass of faces coming ever nearer to him; he could see the fire in their eyes and hear their panting breath. Then with a desperate effort he flung an enormous boulder, while the women made the stones roll wildly. A lugubrious howling resounded from the rocks; the besiegers retired falling over each other, and Aoun was about to detach another boulder when a stone hit him on the skull.
He lifted his head; a face surmounted by red hair mocked him; four forms bounded down in quick succession. Aoun had fallen back. He held his club in both hands. Ouchr and Djeha brandished their javelins. There was room for three pairs of combatants to meet face to face.
There was a momentary truce. Fear of the stranger kept the Dhole-Men motionless; Aoun pondered whether he should call for help. . . . He was confronted by the enemy chief, who stood before him a picture of massive strength. His javelin was an ell longer than that of his companions; power and the habit of victory seemed to exhale from his whole being . . .
He began the attack and his javelin tore Ouchr’s side. But Aoun, with a weighty blow, beat down his weapon, and his club crushed the shoulder of a warrior who had sprung forward to assist his chief.
The man fell to the ground, and was at once replaced by another; new assailants came up from behind. Then Ouchr gave the cry for help, which was repeated by Djeha and the other woman, while the Chellians flung themselves upon them with wolf-like growls. The son of Urus struck down three javelins in as many strokes, breaking two of their points; Ouchr wounded a Dhole-Man in the chest, but the third woman sank down with a deep wound in her body . . .
The aggressors had recoiled before the colossal club. They were massed at the entrance to the pass; the chief with uplifted spear, stood an ell’s length in front of his men, the places of those whose weapons were damaged being taken by others.
With a fierce laugh and grinding his teeth, while his piercing eyes kept watch on every moment of his adversary, the Chellian chief charged. The Oulhamr avoided him, but the javelin tore his thigh and he stumbled; the chief gave a victorious cry . . . He was answered by the club. The thick skull of the tawny man was cracked; he fell backwards with a hoarse cry into the arms of his companions.
For a moment the Chellians hesitated; but their numbers continued to grow, and they charged again. The terrible club broke the points of their javelins and crushed their chests; Ouchr and Djeha fought without ceasing. They were forced to give way however, being outnumbered, and they were nearing the point where the defile grew wider and the Chellians’ attack would become more effective.
The son of Urus succeeded by an immense effort in breaking the javelins on every side of him, and the enemy became motionless ... A furious clamour arose from the other end of the defile, the Wolf-Women appeared; twice Zouhr’s bow twanged and his arrows were imbedded in the shoulders of the enemy. Aoun raised his club for a supreme blow.
Panic set in; the Dholes retired in a mass, dragging their wounded and even their dead with them; they overthrew boulders, rolled down the slope, took refuge among the rugged rocks and fissures. Only one dead man and one wounded one, who was groaning miserably, were left upon the ground. The women finished him off . . .
Uncertainty kept the besieged motionless at the entrance to the defile. The Chellians had once more become invisible; dead bodies lay among the blocks of schist.
Then the women became elated by victory. They stooped over the boulders, they shouted wildly. Aoun, despite his wounds, was filled with a proud joy. Was it not he who had broken the shock of the javelins, struck down the chief and spread terror among the Dhole-Men? He had also saved Dheja from the javelin which was about to pierce her breast; his look met that of the woman warrior and a subtle emotion mingled with his triumph, in the presence of those beautiful dark eyes and that magnificent hair, which wa
s more beautiful than the finest plants of the savannah or the jungle . . .
The Wah said, “Zouhr and the women have found wood in abundance . . . the raft is almost finished."
"It is welll The son of Urus will remain with six Wolf women to defend the defile . . . Zouhr will finish the raft with the others.”
A sound of lamentation arose. The wounded woman felt a mysterious horror creeping over her, the icy breath of complete nothingness. Turning her dilated eyes towards the heavens, she saw great vultures and white headed crows hovering over the dead bodies . . . Her small and narrow soul swelled with an immense desire. The forests and clear dawns passed before her eyes, the days of abundant life, the evenings when the fire shed its warm life around it. The memory of the past was hers, that memory which is bom of speech and resuscitates the days which have been spent, a possession which the gaurs, the dholes and the lions do not enjoy. For a moment she experienced bitter regret, the burning fever of remembrance. Then she became unconscious. The flash of insight which had laid death bare before her had faded away. She was only a dull animal which goes out, leaving the vast world undisturbed, and her face became rigid. Her companions set up a solemn wail, a confused melody which foreshadowed the rhythm and songs of a later humanity.
Time passed. It seemed as if the Chellians had disappeared, but Aoun heard them moving on his left, and knew that they were making their way over the crests to cut off his retreat at the other end of the pass. If they succeeded their victory would be certain. Despite their losses they were still superior in numbers, strength and agility. The Oulhamr alone dominated them, and among the women Ouchr alone equalled one of their warriors; but Ouchr and Aoun were weakened by their wounds. The Oulhamr listened with growing anxiety to the enemy's movements.
At last several Chellians became visible. They had reached to within five ells of a ledge, sometimes by climbing on their companions’ shoulders, sometimes by hollowing out steps in the friable schist. To reach the ledge it would only be necessary to cut five or six more steps on a smooth slightly inclined slope. They began to cut the two first. Aoun flung his last spear in order to stop them, but the weapon ricocheted from a projection; he also threw some stones but the distance rendered them innocuous.
A direct attack appeared to be impossible. The struggle lay between those who were building the raft and those who were cutting the steps. As no attack on the defile was imminent, Aoun sent back two of the women to hurry on the Wah’s work.
The third step and then the fourth was cut. One more and the Dhole-Men would reach the ledge from which they could storm the crest. The last step appeared to be more difficult to cut than the others, but already a Chellian, mounted on the shoulders of one of his companions, was at work upon it.
Then Aoun said to those who waited with him, “Go and rejoin Zouhr. The raft must be finished . . . Aoun will defend the passage alone I”
Ouchr, having scrutinized the rocks, called the other women; Djeha cast a supplicating look towards Aoun and went off with a faint wail . . . Bending over the crenellated top, he threw stones, without being able to stop the Chellians. The work was finished. The first warrior dragged himself up to the ledge and was followed by another. Even the chief, who had been stupefied by Aoun’s club, crawled along the schist. Aoun reached the other end of the pass in a few bounds, and went down to the river. The first Chellians were already swarming over the crest.
“The raft is not finished," said Zouhr, “but it will bear us to the other bank.”
At a sign from Aoun, the women seized the extemporized interwoven mass of branches and creepers, and took it down to the river. A prolonged shout was heard: the Chellians were coming . . . The women hustled one another on to the raft, and the enemy was only fifty ells away when Aoun and Zouhr followed them.
“Before eight mornings are past we shall have annihilated the Dholes!” growled the son of Urus as the water carried their raft away.
THE RETURN TO THE CAVE
The raft drifted. The eddies of the stream made it turn round and round, or else the current carried it away with alarming swiftness. Several times the Wolf-Women had flung themselves into the water to lighten the raft, which, being hastily constructed, was in danger of breaking up. But this expedient had to be abandoned on account of the crocodiles.
Meanwhile they approached the further bank. Far away in the distance they could see the forms of the Chellians. They would have to cross the river in order to continue the pursuit, and they could not do so in any other manner than that which the fugitives had employed.
Aoun said to Zouhr, "We must walk till evening. Before four days are over we shall have reached the cave.”
They looked at each other; the same thought was at work in both their brains.
“Aoun and Ouchr are wounded,” said the Wah sadly.
The Oulhamr replied, “If we do not get ahead of them the Dhole-Men will exterminate us!”
Ouchr shrugged her shoulders disdainfully; her wound was slight. She picked some herbs which she laid upon her hurt, while Zouhr dressed that of his companion. Then the little band moved on again. The road lay through marshy ground and was very rough, but towards evening Aoun and Zouhr began to recognize it. The following day and the one after passed without alarms; they were two days march from the chain of basalt rocks; Zouhr multiplied devices to hide their trail. On the fifth morning the chain of basalt rocks appeared. From the top of a hill, near a bend of the river, they made out the long crenelated ridge. Aoun, who was shivering, fixed his ardent eyes on the dark mass and seized the Wah’s shoulder murmuring, "We shall see the tiger of the Kzamms again!”
A low laugh distended his lips. The refuge in which they had passed days of security, the enormous beast who was their friend, the clear mornings, and the evenings when the red light of the fire played about the platform, came back to him in incoherent and happy pictures . . . The great Oulhamr turned his face, emaciated by loss of blood, towards Djeha and said, “We can brave a hundred Dhole-men in the cave.”
Ouchr gave a stifled exclamation. She pointed down stream and they all distinctly saw the Chellians seven or eight hundred ells away. They resumed their flight as rapidly as the wounds of the Oulhamr and the woman-chief would allow. If they did not reach the chain of rocks before their enemies, they could not save themselves. There were at least twenty thousand ells to cover.
They had gone half the distance, but the Chellians had gained four thousand ells. They were swarming like jackals. The man they dreaded most among their enemies was weakened by his wound: they saw him limping along behind the little band and they shouted their war-cry in joyful triumph.
There was a short halt. Aoun fixed his eyes on Zouhr, mental as well as physical fever burnt in them. In that terrible moment the Oulhamr held back the Wah by his shoulder . . . But the howls came nearer; Aoun looked at Djeha, bowed his head towards his bleeding thigh, and measured the distance which separated him from the Dhole-Men.
He loosed Zouhr’s shoulder with a great sigh, his companion bounded towards the giant feline’s lair, while Aoun conducted the women and children to the cave.
THE GIANT FELINE or THE GIANT
When they reached the cave’s mouth, Aoun and the women were only two thousand ells in advance of their enemies. He climbed up to the platform first, with Ouchr, to organize the escalade; then the others arrived in succession. First the children were hauled up; the women followed; the last three were already half way up when the Dhole-Men threw a shower of sharp stones. They rebounded from the rock. Aoun brandished his last spear; Ouchr and her companions threw stones. The Chellians were still too few in number to attempt an assault, so they retired out of reach of the projectiles, and when the rear-guard came up, the Wolf-Women were all safely in the cave.
It was impregnable. One man or one woman alone could reach the ledge at a time; after that they would have to climb on their companions’ shoulders. One or two javelin thrusts would defeat each attempt.
The Chellians
understood this. They were examining the chain of rocks in the hope of finding another way, but all round the cave the wall of rock was uncompromisingly unscaleable.
The Dhole-Men did not care. They had only to wait. Hunger and thirst would yield up the besieged to them. Down at the defile they had been able to escape and cross the river. Death would be their portion the day they attempted to leave the cave. What could eleven women and two men do against twenty stalwart warriors?
When the women were in safety, Aoun placed two of them to watch on the platform and forbade anyone to follow him. Then, having lit a torch, he went down to the deep cavern. He was tortured by anxiety. He thought it was impossible that the giant feline should not have recognized Zouhr, and yet he doubted.
Half way down the sound of a growl hurried his footsteps. The fissure was there, through which he had so often spied upon the beast . . . Suddenly he breathed freely; he had seen Zouhr by the side of the carnivore, two enormous eyes glowed, and a halting whisper greeted the Oulhamr.
“The lion of the rocks is still the ally of the son of Earth and the son of Urus,” said the Wah.
It was a moment of dull joy and vast hopes.
“The Dhole-Men have not followed Zouhr’s trail?**
“They did not see him separate himself from the others: Zouhr had hidden himself among the boulders.”
After having sniffed at Aoun for a long time, the giant feline lay down again and began to go to sleep.
Aoun resumed, “Zouhr will only go out at night, with the Kzamm tiger ... he will attempt nothing against the Dhole-Men till Aoun is strong again ... In the day time Zouhr will only go as far as the pool . . . the pool is near . . . Aoun and the women will need water.”
Aoun sighed. He saw the pool, the river and springs. He was parched with thirst, which was increased by his wounds. He could not help saying, “Aoun is burnt up with thirst . . . but he will wait till evening.”
