A. Belyaev - Classics fantasy – 5

It is higher than 2500 meters – already a kingdom of coniferous trees, and at the height of 5600 meters «the snow dwelling» begins in the true sense. Here the bear or a mountain goat only occasionally rises. As it is strange to stand on top of six-seven thousand meters, in ice air from which takes breath and to look down, at a green belt of tropical vegetation. Amazing show.

But I came not for the sake of beauty of the nature here. I looked for «the namesakes», traces of those who lived in this snow dwelling one hundred, one thousand, million years ago. My searches, however, were unsuccessful. Himalaja jealously hid the secrets under ice blocks.

The travel is accompanied by extraordinary difficulties here. Mountains are broken, crossed by gorges. At night intolerable cold. At all there is no fuel – either a bunch of a dry grass, or a bush. Snow, both ice, and eternal silence.

Conductors grumbled, and many of them abandoned me after one conductor fell in an abyss and broke. With me there were only three. To cut with them ice in search of remains of minerals would be madness. It was necessary to hope for the help of the nature: sometimes at a collapse of rocks or ice blocks bones of primitive animals are bared. But the destiny did not send me such lucky coincidence. And I already thought of disgraceful return.

But today’s morning rewarded me for everything. I represent how many noise will be done by my find in all scientific world.

Here is how it was.

Early in the morning I wandered between frozen rocks alone, with a rifle behind shoulders.

Having turned for the rock, I uvidat something forced me to shudder. It seemed to me that I hallucinate. I steps in twenty, at the rock, was faced a back to me by a biped animal. Otherwise I cannot call this being. Only the raincoat from the animal skin which is chopped off on the left shoulder was thrown his naked bronze body. A thick hair turned its head of hear into a shock. On hands and under skin of naked shoulders and a right shoulder-blade played muscles as huge spheres. He rested naked legs against ice as though it was the parquet, and held an ice block in hand. But this block did not constrain its movements at all. Holding suspended this weight, he all case moved forward and looked out for something below. At last, having snatched some moment, it with wild growl which was carried on the mountains as the thunderclap, threw a block down.

And immediately furious growl of a bear in reply sounded. The biped animal broke off still a big block and threw it down, and after that with the same growl itself rushed down.

In several jumps I was on its place.

Before me the new picture as if snatched out from Ice Age opened. Never to forget to me this picture.

At the bottom of a small ice hollow the blood-stained wild goat with the killed backbone lay. Over it there was on hinder legs, with the blood-stained head a bear. He furiously growled, having raised forepaws up, and from its mouth the blood stream flew on bluish ice. And towards to it, only with an ice block in hands, fearlessly there was other animal – biped.

Why the biped animal so hurried? Why it did not finish a bear from the safe rock? He was not able to cope with feeling of hunger at the sight of a delicious goat or considered a bear the informidable opponent?. Who will read thoughts under this thick skull?

Opponents quickly met halfway each other. When the distance between them was no more than one and a half meters, the biped animal laid down the ice shell into a bear. The blow had in the left eye. The bear sat down, raised a howl from pain and began paws to rub a muzzle.

But at the same moment, увидав the remained eye that the opponent made a jump, a bear, overcoming pain and falteringly growling, again rose in all the growth in a defensive pose. Also the biped animal stopped. Several minutes they were motionless. Then the biped animal slowly began to come from the gone blind eye of a bear. The bear began to move ahead in the same direction, around. So they passed two circles as fighters before a resolute fight.

I expected that they will fall arms of each other, but left differently.

At the beginning of the third circle the biped animal appeared near the goat lying on ice. With extraordinary speed he suddenly seized a goat, clamped a goat ear in strong teeth and with dexterity of a cat began to climb up ice ledges with the production.

Bear, having forgotten about heavy wounds, with the doubled roar rushed after the enemy who is carrying away a tasty breakfast. But the thief climbed up already almost four meters, and the bear in powerless rage scratched an abrupt ice slope.

I was delighted with courage, dexterity and resourcefulness of a biped animal – whether these qualities made him the tsar of the nature? – and already thought of how to me to avoid meetings with a giant. Suddenly shout of animal despair woke a mountain echo, and I saw how the biped animal together with a goat and the broken-off block flies down. With bump the body of a biped animal fell, the block pressed down his leg, and the bear with a victorious roar rushed on the victim. The biped animal was not given yet and, lying on a back, tried to reject fists paws of a bear with the huge shown teeth.

But situation it was almost hopeless. Here the bear broke skin from a brush of the right hand, here started sharp claws in the left shoulder… and the biped animal who just showed bravery miracles screamed with fear and pain as only animals can shout.

One minute I threw up a rifle, clung in the head of a bear and, risking to kill a biped animal, pulled the trigger.

The booming shot swept in mountains, the echo repeated it many times, and at once there came the silence. The bear killed on the spot failed all over on the enemy, having covered it with the huge hulk. Whether he is living, my biped animal?

– I do not remember how I ran away to a hollow. Rushed to a bear and, having grasped him by paws, began to pull. Futile effort. I, the Parisian of the twentieth century, possessed powerful weapon which strikes to death, but too weak hands which got used to deal with books, but not with carcasses of bears. I managed to release the head of unfortunate only. He was living and did not even faint. And he looked at me brilliant and blue as the sky, eyes.

My thunderous shot which at once laid a bear, my look, extraordinary for a biped animal – all this had to is strong to blow his mind. But at the same time, I am not mistaken, he understood the main thing: that I am a biped animal, come to the rescue him too. And in his look I read something similar to gratitude. Gratitude of the person to the person. The feeling of gratitude is also familiar to animals. But in his look there was something bigger. Animals so do not look. Yes, it was the person. The wild person, the unknown, the died-out primitive white race, but people.

However to argue there was not time. It was necessary to call to the aid. And I began to shoot, did not shoot all the cartridges yet. Then began to shout. Reciprocal shouts were heard soon. To me my conductors hurried.

With their help I managed to exempt the white savage from carcass of a bear and a block of ice. He did not groan though blood plentifully flowed from its wounds, through the broken-off muscles the humeral bone was visible, and the leg, apparently, was broken. I made bandaging, and then we with the greatest care incurred our precious burden to the parking lot.

Hardly to the brother I would show so many cares. And it is clear why: it was not just the person. It was, perhaps, the copy of the remote ancestors of the person only around the world. A number of indisputable signs spoke for it… I shouted on conductors when they stumbled, and itself mentally already anatomized him, weighed his brain, measured a facial angle…

Of course, it is not Pitecantropus erectus which remains of bones are found thirty three years ago by the Dutch doctor Dubois – питекантропус was closer to a monkey, than to the person, and died out already about one million years ago. And it is not the Heidelberg person living at the beginning of Ice Age – something between the person and a monkey; at last, it and not the Neanderthal person of Ice Age – that is lower and stockier… Most likely he is a kromanyonets, the primogenitor or rather incidentally remained descendant of these primogenitors of the people of Western Europe. Live kromanyonets. What will be told by my colleagues? What will tell all scientific world? It is better than a unicorn. I surpassed itself most.

June 13. My Adam, as I called the wild person, recovers quicker, than I thought. Two days after fight with a bear he lay in fever, without memory, growled and tried to rise. We with great difficulty managed to hold it in a bed.

Using his unconsciousness, I, admit, did not keep and made some researches of anthropometrical character. The volume of his skull – 1175 cubic centimeters (the gorilla – 490, at Europeans has 1400 cubic centimeters). Interestingly, how many his brain weighs?

When his life hung by a thread, at me, I repent, the thought flashed to provide it to itself. And if he died, I could anatomize immediately a corpse. How many difficult questions opening would resolve! But I kept – I will be frank up to the end – not on philanthrophy. I lay hopes for this wild person. I will take away it to Paris, I will teach to speak, I will tame, I civilize and how many extraordinary interesting he will be able to report then! The most interesting question: whether somebody else from its tribe remained or it is the last copy of prehistoric people?

He, certainly, owns something like the language consisting, however, of only several sounds similar to interjections.

«Aya», for example, he tells every time when wants to drink. Very often he publishes some additional sound similar to tts-a-a as though calling someone. And when I showed it a skin of the killed bear yesterday, he told: «At-at-at», and his face expressed pleasure.

I attentively examined his body. Extraordinary large volume of a breast was result probably of life at heights where air is very rarefied. On soles his skin мозолисто is thick. That is why it does not freeze legs.

Cheeks and even his forehead are covered with a down. On all body, in particular standing and on the back of hands, reddish hair, five-seven millimeters long grow. Of course, not they only, and the thick tempered skin and good cellulose protect it from cold.

On his raincoat I found the interesting «pin» made of ivory, decorated with the carved bird similar to a wood-grouse. Art is familiar to it. And he, obviously, climbed down mountains there where elephants are found.

Since that moment as I saved it from death, Adam shows to me dog attachment. When I tied up to it wounds, he grabbed my hand and licked a brush and a palm in a gratitude attack. Thus, I had pleasure to get acquainted with «a primitive kiss».

This morning Adam got out of a bed and, despite my ban though in general it is obedient, left a tent, broke a bandage and, having substituted a wound to the sun, lay till the evening. This mountain sun does miracles. The tumor fell down. The wound quickly drags on. Some more days, and we will go to a way. Whether it will go with me? Whether will leave the native mountains? Anyway, I will not leave it. Live or dead, it will be in Paris.

September 27. At last I houses, in Paris, in the small apartment! As long I did not write! Adam with me. But what it costed me!

Against my expectation, it followed me. Adam obeyed, is more faithful – tried to obey each my word as itself could master the primitive nature. Until we went down, to people, everything was good. But further…