3　史前人類

史前人類開始為自己制造工具

早期人類不懂得時間意味著什么。他不會記住生日、結婚紀念日或忌日。他對日、周和年沒有一點概念。但是他以一種粗略的方式記下了季節的變化。因為，他注意到寒冬過后必定是暖春——春季之后就是酷暑，這時，水果熟了，野外的谷穗可以吃了。夏季過去，狂風驟起，吹落了樹葉，許多動物就開始準備漫長的冬眠。

但現在，一件非同尋常的、相當恐怖的事情發生了。氣候出了問題。溫暖的夏季姍姍來遲，果實還沒有成熟，曾經長滿青草的山頂如今深埋在厚厚的積雪之下。

有群野人與其他動物比鄰而居。一天早上，他們從高山上游蕩下來。看上去身體羸弱、面黃肌瘦。他們大聲呼叫，可是沒人明白。他們似乎在說自己很餓。可是這里沒有足夠的食物供給新、老居民。所以，當他們想多住些日子時，爆發了一場可怕的戰爭。他們用爪一樣的手腳當作武器，結果有的舉家喪命；剩下的人逃回自己的山坡，最后還是凍死在風雪之中。

there was a terrible battle with claw-like hands and feet and whole families were killed. The others fled back to their mountain slopes and died in the next blizzard.

But the people in the forest were greatly frightened. All the time the days grew shorter and the nights grew colder than they ought to have been.

Finally, in a gap between two high hills, there appeared a tiny speck of greenish ice. Rapidly it increased in size. A gigantic glacier came sliding downhill.Huge stones were being pushed into the valley. With the noise of a dozen thunderstorms torrents of ice and mud and blocks of granite suddenly tumbled among the people of the forest and killed them while they slept.Century old trees were crushed into kindling wood. And then it began to snow.

It snowed for months and months. All the plants died and the animals fled in search of the southern sun.Man hoisted his young upon his back and followed them. But he could not travel as fast as the wilder creatures and he was forced to choose between quick thinking or quick dying. He seems to have preferred the former for he has managed to survive the terrible glacial periods which upon four different occasions threatened to kill every human being on the face of the earth.

In the first place it was necessary that man clothe himself lest he freeze to death. He learned how to dig holes and cover them with branches and leaves and in these traps he caught bears and hyenas, which he then killed with heavy stones and whose skins he used as coats for himself and his family.

Next came the housing problem. This was simple. Many animals were in the habit of sleeping in dark caves.Man now followed their example, drove the animals out of their warm homes and claimed them for his own.

但是居住在森林里的人非常擔心。因為白天變得越來越短，晚上也比從前更冷了。

終于，在一個山谷出現小片綠冰，它很快變大，形成大塊冰川，順坡滑下，把巨石推進山谷。伴隨著十幾聲雷鳴般的巨響，冰塊、泥土和一塊塊花崗巖突然砸落在林中熟睡的人們身上，人們死傷慘重。百年古樹也被砸成碎片，只能用作引火棍。接著，天空中又飄起了雪花。

大雪下了好幾個月。所有植物全都凍死。動物則趕緊逃離，去尋找溫暖的陽光。人類背著孩子，跟著其他動物一起逃走。可他沒有野獸跑得快，不得不面臨抉擇：或者急中生智征服自然，或者馬上死去。他似乎更愿意選擇前者，因為經歷了可怕的冰川時期后，他成功地生存了下來。這種可怕的冰期發生了四次，它威脅著地球上每一個人的生命。

首要的問題是，人必須穿保暖的東西，以免凍死。他學會了挖洞，把樹枝與樹葉蓋在洞口。當熊和土狼掉進這些陷阱時，他就搬起大石頭將它們砸死，把它們的皮毛做成自己和家人的衣服。

接下來就是住房問題。這很簡單。許多動物都習慣睡在黑暗的洞穴里。人類也學習它們，把它們從溫暖的窩里趕出去，占為己有。

即便如此，對大多數人來說，天氣還是很惡劣。老人和孩子大批死亡。這時，有位天才想到了火的妙用。有次出去打獵，他遭遇了森林火災。他記起當時差點被火烤焦。火在此前一直是敵人，現在卻成了朋友。人們把一棵枯樹拖進洞里，用燃

Even so, the climate was too severe for most people and the old and the young died at a terrible rate. Then a genius bethought himself of the use of fire.Once, while out hunting, he had been caught in a forest-fire. He remembered that he had been almost roasted to death by the flames. Thus far fire had been an enemy. Now it became a friend. A dead tree was dragged into the cave and lighted by means of smouldering branches from a burning wood. This turned the cave into a cozy little room.

And then one evening a dead chicken fell into the fire. It was not rescued until it had been well roasted.Man discovered that meat tasted better when cooked and he then and there discarded one of the old habits which he had shared with the other animals and began to prepare his food.

In this way thousands of years passed. Only the people with the cleverest brains survived. They had to struggle day and night against cold and hunger. They were forced to invent tools. They learned how to sharpen stones into axes and how to make hammers. They were obliged to put up large stores of food for the endless days of the winter and they found that clay could be made into bowls and jars and hardened in the rays of the sun. And so the glacial period，

which had threatened to destroy the human race, became its greatest teacher because it forced man to use his brain.

著的樹枝將其點燃。這樣，洞穴就變成了一個舒適的小家。

后來有一個晚上，一只死雞掉進火里。當人們把它揀出來時，它已被烤熟了，人們發現雞肉烤熟之后味道更美。于是，人類拋棄了和其他動物一樣的老傳統，開始燒火做飯。

就這樣，千萬年過去了。只有最聰明的人才活了下來。他們必須日夜在饑寒交迫中掙扎。他們必須發明工具。他們學會了怎樣把石頭磨光做成斧子和錘子。他們必須儲存大量的食物，為漫長的寒冬作準備。他們發現可以把黏土做成碗和壇子，然后放在太陽下曬干變硬。就這樣，冰期本來要毀滅整個人類，卻因逼著人類開動腦筋而成為人類最偉大的老師。