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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Act I. 



A cavern in southern Fran 



Ela. Ah me! Ah me! I fear the worst, 

 For half the night is spent, and we're alone 

 And they, and he, all gone to hunt the hairy 



beast 

 Which no man yet has slain. They can but 



fail, 

 And failing, leave us here alone, to starve 



and weei>. 

 While in some forest glade their naked bones 

 Lie bleaching in the sun. 



ZUN [her father]. You sent them forth, 



'twas your desire, you said to them, 

 "Go kill the hairy mammoth, and bring home 

 Good meat for all the winter days." 



Ela. And if I did, 'twas theirs to know 

 I was but jesting; need they show 

 Such zeal to take a woman's word 

 As a command; as if they heard 

 The voices of the gods! 



ZuN. It was no jest — but hist ! I hear 

 A sound upon the breeze. It louder grows, 



and seems to bring a message of good 



cheer. 

 [Sound of shouting and laughine/; and 



presently a dozen men rush into the cave 



bearing the tusks, ears and tail of a 



mammo1}i.\ 



The Men. Ah ha! Ah ha! Ah ha! Ah ha! 

 The nuimmoth's dead, and we're alive — 

 save only one! 



Ela. Save only one! Come, tell me where 



is Akak, did he fall 

 A i)rey to this mad beast, and you rejoice, 



Avhile I must weep — 

 For he was all mine own! 



ce, with group of cro-magnon people 



DuK [leader of hand]. What matters Akak, 



we have slain 

 The hairy mammoth, and his meat 

 Will keep us all the winter days. 



Ela. What matters meat when he is gouef 

 When all I loved is gone, and you I hate! 



DuK. Come, hate us not, we did but follow 



your advice. 

 The beast, not we, did step on Akak as he 



fell. 

 The foremost in the fight. We think the price 

 A little one for such a victory. 



I'AXCK [wise man of tribe]. The stream of 



life from day to day 

 Has flowed unheeding on its way. 

 Who died, who lived, it mattered not. 

 The winter cold, the summer hot. 

 Were parts of an appointed i)lan, 

 Which never ended, nor began. 

 Yet now, in midst of ebb and flow 

 Of human tide, a date is set — 

 This noble deed, this mighty blow. 

 Which killed the beast, that we might get 

 Our meat for winter; this has met 

 The challenge of the cycles, and today 

 Historic progress lights our future way. 



ZcK [artist of the tribe]. Bring chisel, 



paints, and on the cavern wall 

 We'll paint the scene, that in the days to be, 

 As bright fire rays upon the picture fall. 

 Our sons and their sons' sons may know that 



we 

 The mammoth slew, and thus began 

 A path of progress for the feet of man — 

 Treading this path, he can but upward go, 

 His life no longer simple ebb and flow, 

 While Akak, slain, of all shall longest live, 

 On lips of men Avho eager praises give. 



Introduction to Act //. — The ani- 

 mals live the lives for which they are 

 fitted ; it can scarcely he said that their 

 powers exceed their performance. Man, 

 especially primitive man, is a creature 

 of unfulfilled promises. He is capable 

 of -he knows not what; hidden within 

 his mind are powers which may, under 

 other circumstances and in the ripe- 

 ness of time, transform the world. One 

 of the greatest obstacles to progress and 

 to human happiness in general is the 

 failure to appreciate what is possible; 

 man's inability to realize his own pow- 

 ers. Through long ages the Cro- 

 Magnon man, though endowed with a 

 splendid brain, lived in caves, primi- 

 tively and with little progress. This 

 condition of things is set forth in verses 



])urpurting to represent a discussion 

 among the angels in heaven. They de- 

 ])lore man's low estate, and finally de- 

 cide to Ijring him counsel. Thus, per- 

 haps, religion comes into the world; 

 Init, as we shall see, it is not altogether 

 intelligent or wise. The angels do not 

 know that num must slowly and with 

 labor tread the upward path, that he 

 cannot be made over all at once. They 

 do not know that progress may not be 

 altogether beneficial, that the changes 

 ahead are full of woe as well as weal; 

 that man, did he know what was com- 

 ing, might well refuse to leave his Eden 

 and enter upon a sea of troubles. Yet. 

 after all, they represent tlie future, and 

 through much error and travail man nmy 

 vet realize his true mission on earth. 



