there are no other men.”
“Are you sure, Wi? The place is big. If you go to the top of that
hill, you see other hills behind as far as the eye can look, and
between them plains and woods; also, there is the sea, and there may
be beaches beyond the sea. Why, then, should there not be other men?
Did the gods make us alone? Would they not make more to play with and
to kill?”
Wi shook his head at these revolutionary arguments, and Pag went on:
“As for the falling of the stone, it often happens when the heat of
the sun melts the edge of the ice or makes it swell. And as for the
groans and callings of the gods, does not ice crack when the frost is
sharp, or when there is no frost at all and it begins to move of its
own weight?”
“Cease, Pag, cease,” said Wi, stuffing his fingers into his ears. “No
longer will I listen to such mad words. If the gods hear them, they
will kill us.”
“If the people hear them, they may kill us because they walk in fear
of what they cannot see and would save themselves at the cost of
others. But for the gods—that!” and Pag snapped his fingers in the
direction of the glacier, which, after all, is a very ancient gesture
of contempt.
Wi was so overcome that he sat down upon a stone, unable to answer,
and, that first of sceptics, Pag, went on:
“If I must have a god, who have found men quite bad enough to deal
with, without one above them more evil than they, I would choose the
sun. The sun gives life; when the sun shines, everything grows, and
the creatures mate and the birds lay eggs and the seals come to bear
their young and the flowers bloom. When there is no sun only frost and
snow, then all these die or go away, and it is hard to live, and the
wolves and bears raven and eat men, if they can catch them. Yes, the
sun shall be my good god and the black frost my evil god.”
Thus did Pag propound a new religion, which since then has been very
popular in the world. Next, changing the subject rapidly, as do
children and savages, he asked:
“What of Henga, Wi? Are you going to challenge him to fight?”
“Yes,” said Wi fiercely, “this very day.”
“May you be victorious! May you kill him, thus and thus and thus,” and
Pag jabbed his flint knife into the stomach of the dead wolf. “Yet,”
he added reflectively, “it is a big business. There has been no such
man as Henga among our people that I have heard of. Although N’gae,
who calls himself a magician, is without doubt a cheat and a liar, I
think he is right when he says that Henga’s mother made a mistake. She
meant to have twins but they got mixed up together and Henga came
instead. Otherwise, why is he double-jointed, why has he two rows of
teeth, one behind the other, and why is he twice the size of any other
man and more than twice as wicked? Still, without doubt he is a man
and not what you call a god, since he grows fat and heavy and his hair
is beginning to turn gray. Therefore, he can be killed if anyone is
strong enough to break in that thick skull of his. I should like to
try poison on him, but you say that I must not. Well, I will think the
matter over, and we will talk again before you fight. Meanwhile, as
there may be no chance afterward when chattering women are about, give
me your commands, Wi, as to what is to be done if Henga kills you. I
suppose that you do not wish him to take Aaka as he desires to do, or
Foh that he may make a nothing of him and keep him as a slave.”
“I do not,” said Wi.
“Then please direct me to kill them, or to see that they kill
themselves, never mind how.”
“I do so direct you, Pag.”
“Good, and what are your wishes as regards myself?”
“I don’t know,” answered Wi wearily. “Do what you will. I thank you
and wish you well.”
“You are not kind to me, Wi. Although I am called the Twice-thrown-out, and the Wolf-man, and the Hideous, and the Barbed-tongued, still
I have served you well. Now, when I
“Are you sure, Wi? The place is big. If you go to the top of that
hill, you see other hills behind as far as the eye can look, and
between them plains and woods; also, there is the sea, and there may
be beaches beyond the sea. Why, then, should there not be other men?
Did the gods make us alone? Would they not make more to play with and
to kill?”
Wi shook his head at these revolutionary arguments, and Pag went on:
“As for the falling of the stone, it often happens when the heat of
the sun melts the edge of the ice or makes it swell. And as for the
groans and callings of the gods, does not ice crack when the frost is
sharp, or when there is no frost at all and it begins to move of its
own weight?”
“Cease, Pag, cease,” said Wi, stuffing his fingers into his ears. “No
longer will I listen to such mad words. If the gods hear them, they
will kill us.”
“If the people hear them, they may kill us because they walk in fear
of what they cannot see and would save themselves at the cost of
others. But for the gods—that!” and Pag snapped his fingers in the
direction of the glacier, which, after all, is a very ancient gesture
of contempt.
Wi was so overcome that he sat down upon a stone, unable to answer,
and, that first of sceptics, Pag, went on:
“If I must have a god, who have found men quite bad enough to deal
with, without one above them more evil than they, I would choose the
sun. The sun gives life; when the sun shines, everything grows, and
the creatures mate and the birds lay eggs and the seals come to bear
their young and the flowers bloom. When there is no sun only frost and
snow, then all these die or go away, and it is hard to live, and the
wolves and bears raven and eat men, if they can catch them. Yes, the
sun shall be my good god and the black frost my evil god.”
Thus did Pag propound a new religion, which since then has been very
popular in the world. Next, changing the subject rapidly, as do
children and savages, he asked:
“What of Henga, Wi? Are you going to challenge him to fight?”
“Yes,” said Wi fiercely, “this very day.”
“May you be victorious! May you kill him, thus and thus and thus,” and
Pag jabbed his flint knife into the stomach of the dead wolf. “Yet,”
he added reflectively, “it is a big business. There has been no such
man as Henga among our people that I have heard of. Although N’gae,
who calls himself a magician, is without doubt a cheat and a liar, I
think he is right when he says that Henga’s mother made a mistake. She
meant to have twins but they got mixed up together and Henga came
instead. Otherwise, why is he double-jointed, why has he two rows of
teeth, one behind the other, and why is he twice the size of any other
man and more than twice as wicked? Still, without doubt he is a man
and not what you call a god, since he grows fat and heavy and his hair
is beginning to turn gray. Therefore, he can be killed if anyone is
strong enough to break in that thick skull of his. I should like to
try poison on him, but you say that I must not. Well, I will think the
matter over, and we will talk again before you fight. Meanwhile, as
there may be no chance afterward when chattering women are about, give
me your commands, Wi, as to what is to be done if Henga kills you. I
suppose that you do not wish him to take Aaka as he desires to do, or
Foh that he may make a nothing of him and keep him as a slave.”
“I do not,” said Wi.
“Then please direct me to kill them, or to see that they kill
themselves, never mind how.”
“I do so direct you, Pag.”
“Good, and what are your wishes as regards myself?”
“I don’t know,” answered Wi wearily. “Do what you will. I thank you
and wish you well.”
“You are not kind to me, Wi. Although I am called the Twice-thrown-out, and the Wolf-man, and the Hideous, and the Barbed-tongued, still
I have served you well. Now, when I
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