Chapter 1
Adamant and Naive
Once upon a time violent beasts ruled the jungles. Lions, leopards and hyenas roamed the golden savannah in search of prey to devour. Eagles, hawks, vultures and other birds of prey flew in the skies looking for their next meal. Crocodiles and sharks swam the rivers and oceans looking for victims to consume. The sun, like a fire-breathing dragon flew across the sky daily and roasted the inhabitants below. This land, a brutal fiery wilderness, was the first home of humanity.
Against the wild predators, man was as helpless as a tortoise on its back. His eyes could not see very far, neither could they pierce through the veil of darkness at night. When man plucked fruit from the trees, he could not smell the musky scent of the leopard hiding in the branches. He could not hear the lions shadowing his every move. He could not see their brown hides hiding in the golden grass. Even drinking water by the river was dangerous, for crocodiles lurked beneath the surface. Man could not run very long from the hyenas, they would tear him limb from limb. For man it was a grave world indeed. But for the carnivores and the birds of prey, it was a time of plenty. They would prey daily on human flesh.
It is unclear what the origins of man were. Because early man did not possess the written word, it is uncertain where the human families came from. Some people attributed their origins to the sky father who had descended from on high to make man in his image. A few human families did not believe in gods and cared not about their origins. Other clans thought that the first men had come from beneath the earth surface as children of the earth mother goddess. The earth worshipping clans believed that an earth goddess had created them within the bowels of the land with her own hands. They thought that in the beginning the earth had shaken violently and split open. And from that hole in the ground, the original men, women and children had emerged. Still, other clans thought that they were the children of the various animals and trees in the wild. They thought they were the offspring of the lion, the crocodile, the leopard, baobab, the fish, the great apes or the antelope. And so they took these animals as their sacred forebears and totems.
Some human families believed they had evolved from lions. They speculated that in the heavens lived a god named Leomann who had the body of a man and the head of a male lion. This lion-man god had a wife who had the body of a human female and the head of a lioness. The lion-man god rode on sphinxes. The lion-man god could breathe fire and had created the world by roaring it into existence. The humans who revered the lion-man god believed that thunder was the lion god’s roar and lightning was the fire that the god breathed out when it rained. To the human families that worshipped the lion-man god, lions were sacred animals that they respected because they believed that they were once lions themselves.
There were many human families loitering about in the jungles. Every week the predators would prey on them, eating of their flesh and drinking of their blood. But one human was tired of living in fear. His chin was now fertile. His voice deepened and his shoulders broadened. His fountain of life was overflowing with the living waters. The boy had become a man. He and his family normally spent their days and nights among the trees that bore fresh fruit. They could hide from wandering predators in the tall grass and thick bushes. The tall trees offered refuge at night. The man sat in the grass and looked at his family around him. His uncles, nieces, aunts, nephews and friends were all eating wild fruit that afternoon. They gorged on ginger bread plums and custard apples. They were all as naked as he was and were not ashamed to walk around in the nude. His family was of dark complexion and had short and black curly hair.
Their numbers were slowly dwindling. Every week the carnivores dragged off another of his kin. He had lost too many of his relatives to the swift footed leopards and found it difficult to sit around waiting to be devoured. The family once had strength in numbers. But now their size had shrunk and there were not enough eyes to detect a lurking predator. There were only nine of them left. It was just yesterday when a pack of hunger crazed hyenas burst through the forest in search of human flesh. As usual, the family scampered up the trees for safety, but the man’s mother was too slow and the hyenas caught her. The family could only watch helplessly as the beasts tore her to pieces and devoured alive. No tears could bring his mother back to the land of the living.
And so the sun rose and set, the moon went through its cycles, the wind rushed back and forth and the carnivores killed off the man’s family. The man saw his father swallowed completely by a gigantic python. He witnessed his sister dragged into the river by cold-blooded crocodiles and drowned. His brothers disappeared in the night, probably in the jaws of stealthy leopards. One day the man woke up and he was all alone.
***
The young man was on his own against the wild animals. The man wished he could be like the predators of the wild. If only he could run as fast and jump as high as them. Why could he not have powerful limbs as a lion had? Why did he not have the jaws of a hyena and eyes that could see in the dark like those of a leopard? Why had the gods not given him the deafening roar of a male lion in its prime?
In the dense forest there was no path to tread on, just bushes, thorns and grass. All he could see was a maze of trees and vines. Only a few rays of light found their way through the thick branches. The man was determined to make his own way in the world. He trudged through the long grass and between the trees. As the grass rustled under his feet, birds fluttered about the tree branches. The various birds chirped, cooed and clucked. His empty stomach bit at him, growling and barking like the predators of the animal kingdom. The nameless man’s eyes, though weak, detected a lemon tree that had bitter fruit. When life hands you bitter fruit, eat them, he thought. The sour fruits were too high in the tree for him to reach. The upright man saw a long slender stick on the grass. He realized that a stick in the hand is worth fruit in a tree, so he used it to knock the lemons down. After eating his fill, he sat down at the bottom of the tree. He felt weary, unsure of where he had come from or where he was going. Now alone, the predators would gobble him up him as easily as he had eaten the lemons. Though illiterate, he knew that there was strength in numbers. He understood that he could count on his relatives against the wild, however useless they were. The upright man just sat there with his head on his chin thinking of how he would get survive in the wild. He sighed.
Just then, from the tall green grass emerged a full-grown male lion. The beast charged at him, coming at a lightning speed and growling like the thunder. Before the man had the chance to climb up the tree he was resting against, the giant feline was upon him. Cat and man fell to the earth. The man’s mouth was full of curses while the lion growled menacingly. He tried to push the predator off him but all was in vain. The man sucked in breaths of air. He was growing tired. The black-maned lion clawed into his abdomen, determined to finish the kill. The lion and the man rolled around in the grass. The cat’s tail swung around wildly. The man cried out for help, but there was no one to help him. Then his eyes fell onto the stick that had helped him get the lemons. He reached for it frantically and held onto it tightly. The man stabbed the lion in the right eye. Right into the cat’s head the stick went. The man pushed the stick in harder. The beast snarled and grimaced. Slowly the cat fell to the side like a tired lover. From the looks of it, the cat had used up all of its nine lives. His foe lay there quietly, blood squirting from its eye. The man heaved as he dragged himself to a nearby tree and there he caught his breath. His wounds from the bite marks were bloody but not life threatening.
His beating heart began to slow down as he caught his breath. The man had just killed a lion. He now had a sense of self-worth. It was as though the lion’s strength transferred to him. Courage coursed through his veins. He could not roam the plains without a name. So he called himself Adamant, for he was adamant he would survive in the wild jungle. Nothing made life more pleasurable than a near death experience. The air was intoxicating. The colours seemed brighter, the flowers smelled sweeter and the sounds became clearer.
Adamant laid his eyes on the dead lion. It was as harmless as a leaf. Blood poured out of its right eye as it lay its massive head on its paw as if asleep. He wanted to be like a lion, strong and brave. Adamant decided he would wear the lion’s skin. The man tried to tear the skin with his own hands but failed. He realized that there was more than one way to skin a cat. The man then decided to use the round stones on the ground. Adamant took a stone, sharpened it against another stone until it was sharp enough to skin the cat. He dug into the lion and cut it open just as it had torn through the flesh of the weak. Then he took the lion’s skin and put it on a rock to dry up. When the skin was dry, he covered his genitals with it. Then he gazed upon the enormous teeth and claws of the predator. Adamant envied their size and power and so he broke the teeth and claws off. With strips of the lion’s skin as strings, he created a necklace and bracelet out of the lion’s teeth and claws. He put the necklace around his neck and the bracelet on his right wrist. With the lion’s mane, he created a headdress for himself. He also made a blanket and a carrying sack from what was left of the lion’s skin. Adamant then carved a circular wooden shield from the bark of a tree. The man now looked every inch like a hunter.
As the sunset, he continued to sharpen the stones that lay on the grass. They would be as sharp as the lion’s claws and as long as its canines. While busy sharpening the rocks, the bushes caught fire. He looked at the burning bush. Adamant had never seen anything like it before. It was almost night time and the fire shone like a little sun. The little sun, the fire, chased away the darkness around him and he could see well. Adamant felt the fire’s warmth. He was delighted as he basked in the fire’s heat.
Adamant’s stomach growled at him again. The fight with the lion had made him hungry. He had another bright idea; he decided to eat the lion, as it had eaten his people. Adamant and the lion would become one. And so the man bent down and cut the lion’s heart out. The lion’s meat was tough and difficult to chew. For a few minutes, he gnawed at the red flesh then it slipped and fell into the fire. For a while, it roasted until Adamant nervously picked it up and continued to eat it. To his pleasant surprise, the meat tasted better than all the fruits he had ever eaten. It was crispy, warm and easy to chew.
Adamant’s dream had become a reality. He was now one of the predators. With the fire, he could eat meat like any carnivore. By now, the sun was setting and the night’s darkness covered the land. The flames that were still spreading had turned into a magnificent blaze. The fire allowed him to see in the night like the nocturnal creatures and kept him warm during the cold nights. Adamant cut up parts of the lion. He took the predator’s brains and the liver, roasted them in the flames, and ate them. When he was sated fell asleep on the green grass with the fire beside him. Adamant slept peacefully for the first time in his life with the ‘little sun’ shining bright in the darkness of the night. Armed with the spears, shield, the fire and lion skin to wear, Adamant was no longer afraid.
***
With his manhood covered by the lion-skin Adamant roamed the plains unashamed. He was proud of his achievements, the fire, the stone tools and his garment. With the sharp stones, as sharp as his mind, Adamant wandered the wild without fear. And with his little sun as his friend the darkness no longer terrified him. And even though Adamant could not fly like the birds, his mind flew from the past to the future. He remembered the dark times when is family were picked off one by one, sometimes two by two. Then his mind flew to the future. Glory lay beyond. He decided he would go and find shelter in the caves in the mountains.
The hunted had become the hunter. Adamant preyed on antelope, small deer and other grazers. With his sharp stones tied to the end of the stick he was able to kill the fleet footed gazelle. And with the fire he could roast the flesh and devour it. Adamant preserved his meat by smoking it over a fire. In his travels, he carved into the bark and painted the rocks with the blood of his victims. He drew paintings of his hunting escapades and battles with carnivores on the boulders and trees. Adamant wanted to know where he came from and where he was going. This way he would not get lost as he headed for the caves in the mountains.
In the wild, life walked on a thread, like a fly on a spider web. Any day could be his last. In the vast space of the animal kingdom, there was no room for mercy or kindness. Adamant was constantly at odds with the predators but he got even with them. They came at him from the bushes. They jumped from the treetops. Some, like crocodiles, emerged from the waters. Vultures from the skies watched his every move. But armed with the sharp sticks, fire and jagged stones Adamant fought them all. He clubbed the hissing snake in the tree. He speared the female wild dog that bit at his ribs. His fire kept the hyenas at bay. Sometimes Adamant stole meat from lions. Such was his courage. The battles raged day and night and Adamant loved every moment. He painted his face with the blood of the vanquished. He loved life so much and breathed the air hungrily. But though victorious in battle, Adamant felt a void inside of him. The flesh of his prey could not completely fulfill him. He desired the company of other people. It was not good for him to be alone. Nevertheless, Adamant continued his lonely journey to the mountain. In the caves, he could find shelter and escape the cold winds and relentless rain.
***
It was nightfall when Adamant finally reached the caves in the hills and mountains. Up on the mountain slope were many caves. Adamant was grateful that he had a place to rest. By now dark hair covered his face, arms and chest. The hairy man walked into the dark cavern. As he walked along blindly, he stumbled and fell onto something soft and tender. Adamant felt around, his hand groped around something he knew all too well, an inviting breast, that which had fed him in his younger days. A woman’s voice emerged, ‘Who are you?’ half afraid and half relieved. The sound of a woman brought him delight. The voice made his heart leap.
‘I am Adamant, the King of the jungle, the slayer of beasts, the meat eater and the bringer of fire,’ Adamant boasted.
‘My family is all gone, killed by the lions. And now I, a poor lonely woman am all by myself.’ She began to sob.
‘There’s nothing to worry about, my dear. I have killed a hundred hyenas with the jawbone of an ass, split a lion into two and once I head butted a ram to death, completely breaking its neck. You are safe with me,’ Adamant said in the darkness.
The woman was hungry. ‘Well, then, King of the Jungle, go out and find some food.’
‘I have some meat in my fur bag. It is smoked impala,’ he declared and took out the rib of an antelope.
‘I only eat fruits and vegetables. Only the predators eat flesh. How can you give me meat to eat?’ She asked.
‘Just eat it, it is delicious,’ he urged. He gave her the rib.
The woman began to gnaw at the rib, filling her mouth with the meat. The woman devoured the meat until there was nothing left. ’Hmm, it is delicious, but how?’
‘It’s because of my enlightenment. I am now like the predators. I can see in the dark and I can eat flesh. Let me show you what I have discovered.’ Adamant opened his fur bag and took out twigs, stones, dry grass and wood. He laid the twigs down and knelt on the floor of the cave.
All the woman could hear was scratching and blowing. ‘What are you doing?’ Adamant ignored her. Then from the darkness emerged a light. ‘You’ve made the sun, but how?’ She was flabbergasted. The naked woman moved fearfully away from the fire.
The light illuminated the cave, in its inner most interior lay a nest of snake eggs. Adamant looked up and saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Even in the dim lit cave, the eater of meat could see her young and supple fleshy parts. He could not wait to fondle her small breasts, caress her chestnut coloured skin, kiss her full lips, grip her small waist while pounding her medium sized buttocks violently from behind. With all these lewd thoughts circling inside his head, Adamant’s penis turned to stone. Adamant felt a blazing fire within his loins and a warm feeling within his chest. At last he had found a companion after many lonely nights. He had fallen in love at first sight. The arrows of love had struck him all over his body. ‘Put this on,’ he said as he gave her the skin of a lioness.
The woman covered her private area with the skin of the dead lioness. ‘My, my, you are smart and strong and…’ she hugged him again tightly then the duo sat down at the ancient fire place. ‘Tonight our love will burn like this little sun,’ she whispered.
Adamant took out the claws of the lioness he had killed and pierced her ear lobes with them. ‘You are now my wife. These claws in your ear lobes will remind you to listen to me. And they should remind you to be as protective as a lioness over our future family.’ Adamant caressed her short curly hair. ‘You and I should have as many children as the grass on the plains, for there is strength in numbers.’ The woman did not know as much about the world as he did. She was not as intelligent as he was, so he called her Naive and taught her many things. Adamant showed Naive which edible fruits to eat and the poisonous snakes she should avoid.
Later that night, as the fire burnt beside them, they made love. Naive threw herself at Adamant and embraced him. The man’s hand explored the woman’s flesh and he turned to stone once again. Adamant’s snake entered her garden and she ate from the fruit of his loins. After several bouts of lovemaking the two of them lay on the fur skin and watched the fire die until darkness completely surrounded them. Then they fell asleep.
***
Adamant continued to be a successful hunter. He rarely came back to the cave without meat to eat. Naive became a cave wife who cooked, cleaned and gathered berries. She beat about the bush as she gathered fruit. The couple lived happily together in the caves by the mountain. When not hunting or gathering fruit Adamant and Naive made love in the cave. They loved each other so much that every night Adamant’s snake would turn into a snake. Adamant painted scenes of his hunting escapades on the cave walls with the blood of his prey. The hunter painted the antelopes, the lions and himself with a spear. Adamant did it because he wanted to show future generations what a mighty huntsman he was. He also drew images of himself and Naïve making love at the fireplace.
Soon enough Naive soon bore Adamant two twins, Fig and Apple. Fig was the first to emerge from the womb. Adamant named his sons after his two favourite fruits, the fig and the wild apple.
The news about fire spread to the other human families and clans. Soon other men became like predators, hunting down prey and devouring it. Other people joined Adamant at his cave and soon they became a big clan of hunter gatherers. Like Adamant they too covered their genitals with the hide of lions. As their numbers increased, the clans followed the migrating herds and lived in grass huts made with sapling frames.
One day as Naive was plucking figs from the trees, which were Adamant’s favourite fruit, a black mamba snake bit her on the wrist. Within a short time the snake’s venom had killed her. Adamant and the clan mourned for many days then buried her so the predators would not devour her flesh. They placed round stones upon her burial pit to mark her grave.
